Terrible undergrad GPA, what are my chances?

[dentistry98]

I did terribly in undergraduate, was enrolled in one of those bs/dds accelerated program schools.
The same old "excuse" per say but went through depression, domestic abuse, major anxiety, and was a diagnosed alcoholic.

Graduated with 2.66 overall gpa and sub 2.5 sgpa.
Went to therapy, got better and barely graduated.
Took the DAT twice during undergrad both were sub 19AA.

Applied to a masters program at Rutgers as a dental scholars track, it looks like I will be graduating with a 3.75 gpa with a concentration in Pharmacology (i know, not great).

shadowed two doctors during undergrad (accumulating to about 100 hours),
and did some volunteering for about 50 hours,
and now, I currently work at an oral surgeon's office as a receptionist.

For some reason, my undergraduate professor were kind enough to be excited to write me a recommendation in May.
The others I'm planning on getting from professors at my masters program, and from the oral surgeon I'm working for.

I just took my third and last DAT and got a 23AA.

I know my undergrad GPA might make me disqualify at first glance, as I still have those C's and D's on my transcript,
(i once retook a course three times in undergrad, got a D all three times)
but it took me awhile to feel better mentally and physically to get myself to study again i guess.

I was just wondering if I even have a chance at dental school after failing undergrad. and what I can do to make my chances better.

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[Bigjt1420]

What's your overall GPA now? If it's still under 3.0, you won't even get looked at by many dental schools right off the bat. If it's above a 3.0, you have a chance because of your DAT. All that said, it's very unlikely in my eyes that you'll get in. I'm sorry, I wish I could help you better!

 

[dentistry98]

What's your overall GPA now? If it's still under 3.0, you won't even get looked at by many dental schools right off the bat. If it's above a 3.0, you have a chance because of your DAT. All that said, it's very unlikely in my eyes that you'll get in. I'm sorry, I wish I could help you better!

thanks for the reply,
I wrote in my original post
"Applied to a masters program at Rutgers as a dental scholars track, it looks like I will be graduating with a 3.75 with a concentration in Pharmacology (i know, not great)."

 

[DAT Destroyer]

I did terribly in undergraduate, was enrolled in one of those bs/dds accelerated program schools.
The same old "excuse" per say but went through depression, domestic abuse, major anxiety, and was a diagnosed alcoholic.

Graduated with 2.66 overall gpa and sub 2.5 sgpa.
Went to therapy, got better and barely graduated.
Took the DAT twice during undergrad both were sub 19AA.

Applied to a masters program at Rutgers as a dental scholars track, it looks like I will be graduating with a 3.75 gpa with a concentration in Pharmacology (i know, not great).

shadowed two doctors during undergrad (accumulating to about 100 hours),
and did some volunteering for about 50 hours,
and now, I currently work at an oral surgeon's office as a receptionist.

For some reason, my undergraduate professor were kind enough to be excited to write me a recommendation in May.
The others I'm planning on getting from professors at my masters program, and from the oral surgeon I'm working for.

I just took my third and last DAT and got a 23AA.

I know my undergrad GPA might make me disqualify at first glance, as I still have those C's and D's on my transcript,
(i once retook a course three times in undergrad, got a D all three times)
but it took me awhile to feel better mentally and physically to get myself to study again i guess.

I was just wondering if I even have a chance at dental school after failing undergrad. and what I can do to make my chances better.

Thank you for your detailed post and I think you have an excellent chance to get accepted into some dental schools, not all. You third attempt on the DAT shows how hard you worked. What I would suggest is to either call or go to the schools directly and get their advice. I think you have excellent chance at NYU if you want to stay in the area, and I would also add Meharry and Howard to the mix.

A strong personal statement will be what opens the door, if I read your story and how hard you have worked I would bring you in for an interview. Perseverance pays off, I know because it has many times throughout the course of my life.

I hope something I said makes sense and I wish you the very best...Nancy

 

[dentistry98]

Thank you for your detailed post and I think you have an excellent chance to get accepted into some dental schools, not all. You third attempt on the DAT shows how hard you worked. What I would suggest is to either call or go to the schools directly and get their advice. I think you have excellent chance at NYU if you want to stay in the area, and I would also add Meharry and Howard to the mix.

A strong personal statement will be what opens the door, if I read your story and how hard you have worked I would bring you in for an interview. Perseverance pays off, I know because it has many times throughout the course of my life.

I hope something I said makes sense and I wish you the very best...Nancy

Wow, Thank you so much for your response. I will keep this in mind, never thought to call the school directly.

 

[Bigjt1420]

thanks for the reply,
I wrote in my original post
"Applied to a masters program at Rutgers as a dental scholars track, it looks like I will be graduating with a 3.75 with a concentration in Pharmacology (i know, not great)."

Yeah, a 3.75 GPA in your masters, right? There is no way you raised it from 2.6 to 3.75 overall. So my point still stands

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Wow, Thank you so much for your response. I will keep this in mind, never thought to call the school directly.

Always happy to help! Keep us posted! I have a great feeling this will be a happy ending.

 

[dentistry98]

Yeah, a 3.75 GPA in your masters, right? There is no way you raised it from 2.6 to 3.75 overall. So my point still stands

Hi!
If you read my original post, I said that I graduated undergrad with a 2.66 and will be ending masters with a 3.75. Or do you mean that there is no way I improved my scores during my masters? I am a bit confused.
Thanks for the reply anyway.

 

[Bigjt1420]

What's your overall science GPA with your Masters GPA included? Just tell me that

 

[PerioDont]

What's your overall science GPA with your Masters GPA included? Just tell me that

Yes your overall GPA will be the key number here.

Even if you got in to NYU or other high dollar schools I’d reconsider if you are taking out loans to get there. Esp as you have the cost of the MS already and maybe some from undergrad too.

Those BS DDS programs are tough, most just are not ready at that age to do em.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I think that coming from the Rutgers dental MS tracks, you should be in a good position to just tell us your resiliency story when it comes to becoming a dentist. What type of support letters are you getting? Is there an articulation agreement with at least the home school?

Yeah, overall GPA matters but so will your most recent track record. Connect with current students attending the schools, especially those who went through your Masters program.

 

[dentistry98]

I think that coming from the Rutgers dental MS tracks, you should be in a good position to just tell us your resiliency story when it comes to becoming a dentist. What type of support letters are you getting? Is there an articulation agreement with at least the home school?

Yeah, overall GPA matters but so will your most recent track record. Connect with current students attending the schools, especially those who went through your Masters program.

Thank you for the reply, am new here so I didn't know there was as specific format I had to follow for "what are my chances". Thought "WAMC" was an acronym for a specific school for some reason, oops.

I also didn't know how to really figure out my overall GPA including both my undergrad and masters. My classmates and I are currently trying to figure it out because apparently our grade point differs from what we input in ADEA. All that said, it seems like my overall science GPA will still be under 3.0 still since my undergrad science GPA was so low.

I took your advice and asked around my classmates to see if there were similar cases like me, and it looks like many have gotten acceptances from dental schools after finishing this program, but we'll have to see. Thank you again for the reply.

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Thank you for the reply, am new here so I didn't know there was as specific format I had to follow for "what are my chances". Thought "WAMC" was an acronym for a specific school for some reason, oops.

I also didn't know how to really figure out my overall GPA including both my undergrad and masters. My classmates and I are currently trying to figure it out because apparently our grade point differs from what we input in ADEA. All that said, it seems like my overall science GPA will still be under 3.0 still since my undergrad science GPA was so low.

I took your advice and asked around my classmates to see if there were similar cases like me, and it looks like many have gotten acceptances from dental schools after finishing this program, but we'll have to see. Thank you again for the reply.

This is great news!

 

[Dental_Deane]

thanks for the reply,
I wrote in my original post
"Applied to a masters program at Rutgers as a dental scholars track, it looks like I will be graduating with a 3.75 with a concentration in Pharmacology (i know, not great)."

Hi Any updates? Similar situation. Great updated DAT score btw! and tbh I think you'll get in somewhere cause your overall gpa is 3.7 now, it almost disregards your undergrad gpa. Heavy on the Almost!!