Should I try?

[HEA17]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Me 29/M - goal become dentist

Engineering degree from top 15 national university. 2.9 GPA with upwards trend. Struggled in fist year classes C's in physics, chemistry and calc - two bad personal situations played a role here. Solid design engineering work experience after u grad.

MBA from top ten program 3.6 GPA. 2 years solid post MBA work experience - make about $150k.

Wife is a dentist and I am trained as a dental assistant (work emergencies and occasional weekends) and the "CFO" of the practice that she owns. I know a lot about running a dental practice and about what it means to be a dentist thanks to wife. I also work as an dental assistant In volunteer clinics.

My plan is to take some classes part time this fall at four year university then quit work to finish pre-reqs and take some higher level bio courses to raise my GPA. Getting to 3.0 is doable but the more credits I take have a diminishing return on moving the GPA needle. BI've been a decent standardized test taker (1400 SAT / 690 GMAT) and I plan to prepare for the DAT rather intensively.

Corporate life is killing me. I've worked for three different companies and been successful but I hate it. I'm passionate about dentistry and have considered running multiple practices as a business for my wife but I want to practice and treat patients!

Anyways my question is should I go for it? Would a 22DAT with a 3.0 ever cut it? Does my MBA / assisting experience count for anything? There are two dental schools within commuting distance of my wife's practice so I'm limiting my options. Does networking help with admission chances?

Thanks in advance

 

[osker246]

Only one way to find out. There are schools that are forgiving on low GPAs. I got into 3 schools with a 3.0 GPA. If you do well on the DAT and cast a wide net I would say you have a shot.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

[HEA17]

Only one way to find out. There are schools that are forgiving on low GPAs. I got into 3 schools with a 3.0 GPA. If you do well on the DAT and cast a wide net I would say you have a shot.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the reply! From your posts it looked like you scored 22. Any advice on how to find out which schools are forgiving on GPA? Any other advice as a non-traditional applicant?

 

[Life of Pablo]

Yes, if you bring up your GPA a bit I'm sure you'll have a good shot at a number of schools. Although some schools don't like older applicants, I think you would definitely diversify a student body so that's a plus. Also, your wife is a dentist so you have a direct connection to a dental school (they ask on your app if you have any family members in dentistry).

 

[HEA17]

Yes, if you bring up your GPA a bit I'm sure you'll have a good shot at a number of schools. Although some schools don't like older applicants, I think you would definitely diversify a student body so that's a plus. Also, your wife is a dentist so you have a direct connection to a dental school (they ask on your app if you have any family members in dentistry).

Thanks for the response! Any idea how to find out which schools like / don't like older applicants? Search the forum or maybe just infer from published age ranges / means?

 

[osker246]

ADEA guide book is a good start. It list lots of nice stats that you can use to gauge your chance. Write a good personal statement and discuss your life experiences and why you decided to change. IMO you have an the advantage on your application by having real world experience compared to a majority of other applicants.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

[osker246]

Thanks for the response! Any idea how to find out which schools like / don't like older applicants? Search the forum or maybe just infer from published age ranges / means?

The only thing that published ages mean is that older applicants are not applying. I don't believe for one minute that a school will rule out a applicant based on age.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

[rebecca_chatul_tov]

Corporate life is killing me. I've worked for three different companies and been successful but I hate it.

I'm military and 8 years older than you. I wouldn't say I hate my career, but it's lost some it's elan. I found out almost 2 years ago that our first child was going to be born with Downs Syndrome and that was enough for me to start knocking out my prereqs. I wanted to be able to make sure that I would always have the means to take care of him without having to worry about what would happen if I don't come back from Afghanistan the next time I go down range. My grades are marginally better than yours, but I am a lower than average candidate in terms of GPA. I haven't done a post-bacc and I'm studying for the DAT as we speak, pregnant, and working full time while applying to schools this cycle.

I literally have no idea if I am going to get in this cycle or not, but I do know that am going to be a year older whether or not I give this a shot. If I don't make it this cycle then I will back up and try again next year. Life is short, precious, and doesn't come with any guarantees that you or I will be around next year. If I can't find a way to make dental school happen I will make one.

I say if this is something that you really want then go for it. The worst that happens is that you invest money and time that doesn't yield a short-term return.

I would tell you to look into the University of New England's pre-med online program since you could still work and take classes with a flexible schedule, but someone will probably come behind me and tell you that it's a crap school and list a whole bunch of reasons I am an idiot with no clue. *shrugs* There are a few schools where you can do most of your pre-reqs online if you're concerned about putting your life on hold for a year or two taking classes.

 

[HEA17]

The only thing that published ages mean is that older applicants are not applying. I don't believe for one minute that a school will rule out a applicant based on age.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

ADEA guide book is a good start. It list lots of nice stats that you can use to gauge your chance. Write a good personal statement and discuss your life experiences and why you decided to change. IMO you have an the advantage on your application by having real world experience compared to a majority of other applicants.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Thank you! I will check it out as soon as the 17 digital version is available!

 

[HEA17]

I'm military and 8 years older than you. I wouldn't say I hate my career, but it's lost some it's elan. I found out almost 2 years ago that our first child was going to be born with Downs Syndrome and that was enough for me to start knocking out my prereqs. I wanted to be able to make sure that I would always have the means to take care of him without having to worry about what would happen if I don't come back from Afghanistan the next time I go down range. My grades are marginally better than yours, but I am a lower than average candidate in terms of GPA. I haven't done a post-bacc and I'm studying for the DAT as we speak, pregnant, and working full time while applying to schools this cycle.

I literally have no idea if I am going to get in this cycle or not, but I do know that am going to be a year older whether or not I give this a shot. If I don't make it this cycle then I will back up and try again next year. Life is short, precious, and doesn't come with any guarantees that you or I will be around next year. If I can't find a way to make dental school happen I will make one.

I say if this is something that you really want then go for it. The worst that happens is that you invest money and time that doesn't yield a short-term return.

I would tell you to look into the University of New England's pre-med online program since you could still work and take classes with a flexible schedule, but someone will probably come behind me and tell you that it's a crap school and list a whole bunch of reasons I am an idiot with no clue. *shrugs* There are a few schools where you can do most of your pre-reqs online if you're concerned about putting your life on hold for a year or two taking classes.

First off thank you for your service. Secondly, thank you for your thought out reply. Your story is certainly encouraging to me. Military service and a special needs child are a commitment that I couldn't even appreciate. My wife is very supportive of me going back to school and could bear the financial burden, but I'm just afraid of disrupting my career if it doesn't work out, then again I am miserable in my job .

Regarding your pre reqs how are you handling the lab portion with an online course?

 

[rebecca_chatul_tov]

Regarding your pre reqs how are you handling the lab portion with an online course?

So I have done all my chemistry (general and organic) through Oregon State University eCampus. For gen chem the lab is a "virtual" lab where you have to click on beakers and flasks and go through the motions with little animated gifs and stuff. The lab was actually moderately challenging and I had to work at getting the lab reports done correctly. For organic chemistry they offer a 10 day consolidated express lab where you are in the classroom from 9 am - 4 pm every day. I am flying out August 7th to do that with a doctors note from my OB because they offer it once a year during the summer.

I did my bio through UNE, which ships you the lab equipment in a box and then you have to do your own experiments at home and then answer the questions on the lab report. They offer most of the pre-med prereqs like A&P, biochem, microbiology and while they are not really really rigorous, they are not a cake walk either.

The one class that I wasn't able to really do online was physics I & II. I drove to a university an hour away to attend a night class. However, if you have a degree in engineering you should be good then.

I hope this helps point you in the right direction.