postbacc OR masters? how to decide

[skylark]

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science gpa =3.2, overall gpa is a 3.5, DAT= TS18/AA19. If i dont get in this year, i will most likely also retake DAT to get higher.

with theses stats im not sure whether a postbacc at a local Cal State University OR a Masters program (such as Hopkins, Tufts) will be more beneficial.

POSTBACC:
-brings up the undergrad science gpa...but what happens if i DONT get into dschool AGAIN? i wont have a new degree and am pretty screwed. -do most postbacc students REALLY do that much better and have THAT much better luck the next cycle? predents makes it seem like postbaccs do wonders
-it might also be easier to get better grades in my postbacc at a local state college than if i do a masters (hopkins, Tufts) right?
-if i am a bio major and have had a good amount of credits...will the postbacc even help? do Dschools look at postbacc gpa as separate or do they just add it into the undergrad gpa...so essentially it's like i had 5 yrs in college

MASTERS
-it doesnt boost my undergrad gpa but gives me a new masters gpa. does that look better than postbacc undergrad courses cus it shows i can handle HARDER graduate courses?
-IF i dont get into dschool again, at least i have a masters and may look for a job. although i hate working in labs and dont know what non-lab options i would have.

OTHER
-Dad told me i should consider Masters like MBA or in Health Care Management. But i told him this will do nothing to enhance my re-app cus it doesnt show i can handle hard science courses.
-BUT these would be my other careers im interested in. tough situation :[

so manyy questions!!! please do the best to answer any

but my main quesion is WHICH OPTION WOULD YOU TAKE IF IN MY POSITION? should i do postbacc or masters w/o thesis? my father is totally stressing me out and grilling me about my future. THANKS!

 

[Futuredds2010]

science gpa =3.25, overall gpa is a 3.5, DAT= TS18/AA19. If i dont get in this year, i will most likely also retake DAT to get higher.

with theses stats im not sure whether a postbacc at a local Cal State University OR a Masters program (such as Hopkins, Tufts) will be more beneficial.

POSTBACC:
-brings up the undergrad science gpa...but what happens if i DONT get into dschool AGAIN? i wont have a new degree and am pretty screwed. -do most postbacc students REALLY do that much better and have THAT much better luck the next cycle? predents makes it seem like postbaccs do wonders
-it might also be easier to get better grades in my postbacc at a local state college than if i do a masters (hopkins, Tufts) right?
-if i am a bio major and have had a good amount of credits...will the postbacc even help? do Dschools look at postbacc gpa as separate or do they just add it into the undergrad gpa...so essentially it's like i had 5 yrs in college

MASTERS
-it doesnt boost my undergrad gpa but gives me a new masters gpa. does that look better than postbacc undergrad courses cus it shows i can handle HARDER graduate courses?
-IF i dont get into dschool again, at least i have a masters and may look for a job. although i hate working in labs and dont know what non-lab options i would have.

OTHER
-Dad told me i should consider Masters like MBA or in Health Care Management. But i told him this will do nothing to enhance my re-app cus it doesnt show i can handle hard science courses.
-BUT these would be my other careers im interested in. tough situation :[

so manyy questions!!! please do the best to answer any

but my main quesion is WHICH OPTION WOULD YOU TAKE IF IN MY POSITION? should i do postbacc or masters w/o thesis? my father is totally stressing me out and grilling me about my future. THANKS!

Your stats look pretty good to me. I would suggest bringing your science gpa up and it might be easier to do that in a post bac. If you can bring your sgpa up to 3.5 you should be set. Your DAT scores are ok. I think that if you increase your gpa and keep your DAT scores you should be fine. But if you want to really improve your chances you can try to get above 20 on AA and TS.

 

[skylark]

bump!

and another thing, with a science gpa 3.2, im guessing it would be hard to get a 3.4 with my postbacc grades added into it. so are Dschools just looking for a good year from me during my postbacc? thanks

 

[gimmecaffeine]

Tough choice.

Been there, decided to do a post-bac.

I think how much you can improve your GPA depends though on what classes you plan to take at a PB and what classes are available at the PB program (some programs don't have all the higher bio classes like Micro or immunology).That would determine how many A's you could boost your undergrad GPA with.

From my experience, dental schools love improvement. You're right, on predents, everyone with a PB seems to do well.

However, I think it also depends on what you really want to do. Some people here have applied two or three times, because they know that's what they want, and some have picked up MBA's or other Master's along the way, which I don't think gives you a disadvantage for having in any way.

 

[UFRalo]

Similar situation, though I haven't taken the DAT. I chose the MS route because I found it a better fit for me. My school does not offer post-bacc however, and I really like the department the MS is in (Microbio).

Post-bacc may be all you need though. As mentioned before, getting the sGPA up around 3.4 or higher would be good. Maybe just take a lot of science classes to boost it up.

 

[s2agrado]

Realize these are all opinions..

I would think the single biggest improvement you could make would be to get your DAT scores in the 20's. If you're confident you can do that, that would be my first priority if I were you. So judge how hard you prepared for the DAT and how confident you felt going in to take it.

Secondly, I would recommend a graduate level post-bacc, like VCU's. I'm currently doing it as a time-filler since I did an undergrad post-bacc last year. The graduate program is a 1 year certificate or 2 year master's program. That give's you both options. A program like this would provide you BOTH of your options (MS and Post-bacc). This would also show a Graduate GPA in AADSAS.

I recommend this because, I imagine you've exhausted most classes in your undergrad. I believe the main purpose of undergrad post-baccs is for people like me who never did health-science courses in undergrad (I'm a former engineer).

From my perspective, your GPA is decent, but your DAT is lacking (b/c most avg's are 19 nowadays). I think a strong DAT with a decent GPA would get you interviews.

Good luck!

 

[UFRalo]

Sorry for the confusion and you should definitely take everything suggested here with a grain of salt.

What I meant was taking some extra classes after you graduate may be all you need, not a post-bacc program. s2agrado is correct, post-baccs are for people who haven't taken science coursework in undergrad. You may just need to take some extra classes as a non-degree seeking student or some grad level classes. I don't think this would be as impressive as a MS or SMP or something like that though.

With that said, you also need to weigh the costs of going to Hopkins or Tufts. These programs are not cheap (Tufts reports $34,000 just for tuition http://www.tufts.edu/med/docs/about/offices/finaid/MAcosts0910.pdf) and there is a certain risk associated with going to a program like this. If you do mediocre or ok, that could end up hurting you. On the other hand, if you could find a master's w/o a thesis in some science field the course load may not be as heavy and you could probably do better. This may be the weaker route, but much safer than going through a very tough SMP where you are in the same classes with med/dent students.

I think that it would also be beneficial to increase your DAT scores. So maybe you should worry about that first. I know the situation you are in and it sucks, my mom was harping on me for a year about what I was going to do, but I got lucky and found a decent program I could use to help me get into dental school and prepare me for the possibility of a different career 🙂