Possible to overcome a 2.8 GPA?

[PT84]

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Hi folks,

Just want to share my situation with you all in hopes that someone in a similar situation may be able to shed some advice. I graduated in 2006 with a degree in biochemistry from a competitve state school. I had a plethora of family problems growing up which resulted in an anxiety disorder when I was in college that basically kept me from going to class. I had zero motivation, goals, or drive and it's reflected in my transcript. It was a dark time, but the past is in the past. I graduated with a 2.8 GPA (science and cumulative), and my transcipt is a confusing mess. I got A's in 8 hours of organic, but failed intro to psychology and a classics course. Basically C's and B's in everything else. Needless to say I gave up on dentistry before I really even gave it a chance. I was lucky enough to land a good job after college (accounting) where I am still working today. They've paid for an MBA where I finished with a 3.5 GPA. More importantly, I've worked things out with my personal life and have pulled a complete 180 - I'm really happy with the person I am today. Knowing what I've been through in the past, I'm confident I can do anything if I give it my all.

Anyways, I don't hate my job, but I really don't want to be doing what I'm doing for the next 35-40 years. I know a job is a job, but my interest still lies with dentistry, and you only live once! If I haven't completely blown my chances I'd like to give it another crack. I studied for the DAT for 4 months after work and on weekends, and received a 22AA/22TS/22PAT. (I knew if I couldn't pull off a good DAT I'd have absolutely zero chance). I've seen the under 3.0 thread but feel most that information is quite dated as dentistry is much more competitive today than 4 years ago. To anyone who has read through this (thank you!), do you think I have a shot or am I pursuing this in vain? Any chance there's someone out there with a remotely similar situation?

Any advice or comments would greatly be appreciated and don't be afraid to be brutally honest!

 

[dcsk8element]

Hi folks,

Just want to share my situation with you all in hopes that someone in a similar situation may be able to shed some advice. I graduated in 2006 with a degree in biochemistry from a competitve state school. I had a plethora of family problems growing up which resulted in an anxiety disorder when I was in college that basically kept me from going to class. I had zero motivation, goals, or drive and it's reflected in my transcript. It was a dark time, but the past is in the past. I graduated with a 2.8 GPA (science and cumulative), and my transcipt is a confusing mess. I got A's in 8 hours of organic, but failed intro to psychology and a classics course. Basically C's and B's in everything else. Needless to say I gave up on dentistry before I really even gave it a chance. I was lucky enough to land a good job after college (accounting) where I am still working today. They've paid for an MBA where I finished with a 3.5 GPA. More importantly, I've worked things out with my personal life and have pulled a complete 180 - I'm really happy with the person I am today. Knowing what I've been through in the past, I'm confident I can do anything if I give it my all.

Anyways, I don't hate my job, but I really don't want to be doing what I'm doing for the next 35-40 years. I know a job is a job, but my interest still lies with dentistry, and you only live once! If I haven't completely blown my chances I'd like to give it another crack. I studied for the DAT for 4 months after work and on weekends, and received a 22AA/22TS/22PAT. (I knew if I couldn't pull off a good DAT I'd have absolutely zero chance). I've seen the under 3.0 thread but feel most that information is quite dated as dentistry is much more competitive today than 4 years ago. To anyone who has read through this (thank you!), do you think I have a shot or am I pursuing this in vain? Any chance there's someone out there with a remotely similar situation?

Any advice or comments would greatly be appreciated and don't be afraid to be brutally honest!

PT84, your DAT is very impressive considering the circumstances you were under studying for it. If you scored any lower on the DAT i wouldn't think you had a chance, and your TS 22 is great too to make up for ur gpa, that said i think you have to apply to the right schools, and also make sure they know your situation. Some schools like Nova won't even bother looking at what ur DAT is, they see ur gpa is below 3.5 they don't interview u (at least that's the impression i got from them lol). It seems to me the trend now days is since there are so many people rejected each year, and they're reapplying next year and so on, the schools are taking lots of older students who are more mature in life so that works in your favor as well. All in all i think you do have a chance if you apply early and to the right schools.

 

[notin]

i think you should look for a one year graduate certificate program in a science. while your dat is strong enough to get you attention all by itself, i imagine your gpa is really borderline even with the mba, and you're better off ensuring you get in this cycle than potentially wasting a year. you might want to go go talk to someone in admissions at your closest dental school to see what they think too.

also, you can explain your troubles during undergrad on the application, there's a section for it, and you can use your personal statement. make sure you balance getting the point across with not using it as an excuse, because in the end you're responsible for what you've done, but they certainly want to know if you were off your game for a while due to a circumstance that was temporary.

 

[TheGreenWave]

Its difficult to give you advice. Your DAT scores are stellar, congrats! Though Im sympathetic to your situation, adcoms may not be. With such high scores on the DAT you may land a couple of interviews, but who knows. Since you have been an accountant for a few years and probably have some money saved up here is what I would suggest: Apply to 1 year masters programs reasonably close to where you live. Once accepted, do your best to get a 4.0 and then apply to d-school. It may not be the quickest route to dentistry but it will likely be the less painful one. Good luck with everything! 🙂

 

[Sajitude]

Look at it like this, you have already finished all your prereqs and have completed the DATs. Just apply and see what happens. From what I have heard amazing DAT scores do not make up for a significantly low GPA. You have nothing to lose but $1k to apply so give it a go and let us know what happens. Hope this helps

 

[PT84]

Thanks for the thoughtful replies, I really appreciate it. I won't be applying this cycle as my extracurriculars and lors are out of date and since I'm employed I'm really in no rush. What would be the best course of action from here? If I need to take classes I'd like to take them at night if possible - for obvious reasons I really want to delay quitting my job for as long as I can. Thanks again!