The Image of Improvement to Dental Schools?

[aznriptide859]

Title says it all - how much does an admissions committee for dental schools value change/improvement over time?

I ask this, because my undergraduate history is pretty bad.

I started my freshman/sophomore year pretty badly (I won't disclose my GPA, but it was, to say the least, horrid), and was eventually dismissed from my first university. I reapplied to a more local one, and in the past two and a half years I've managed a 3.61 oGPA with a 3.55 sGPA (since the GPA from the previous university did not transfer). This is much, MUCH better than the GPA I left with at my previous institution.

Right now, I am currently worried regarding how much detriment my overall calculated GPA will hurt my application chances. I realize that GPA's can be split up by university by the AADSAS, however I believe my overall GPA between the two universities is going to be dreadfully low.

My other qualifications on my application seem a bit more promising though:

DAT: 23AA/21TS/24PAT
3 LOR's all received (two have told me they were, and I'm quoting, "stellar and convincing")
Over 200+ hrs shadowing (one of which was at a dental school)
5 employment jobs, 4 of which were research jobs (with 2 significantly involved in projects)
Tons of manual dexterity experience

I do realize that DAT scores and GPA are still the most paid attention to factors regarding a student's chances of admission, however if an image of improvement and considerably better grades in the past 2 years is presented, will that help my case in any possibility?

I still plan to apply to 15-17 schools, however after lurking around SDN a bit more, I'm starting to doubt if it'll be of any use.

Thank you for reading, any comments/criticisms/suggestions are welcome.

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[jeffity]

Title says it all - how much does an admissions committee for dental schools value change/improvement over time?

I ask this, because my undergraduate history is pretty bad.

I started my freshman/sophomore year pretty badly (I won't disclose my GPA, but it was, to say the least, horrid), and was eventually dismissed from my first university. I reapplied to a more local one, and in the past two and a half years I've managed a 3.61 oGPA with a 3.55 sGPA (since the GPA from the previous university did not transfer). This is much, MUCH better than the GPA I left with at my previous institution.

Right now, I am currently worried regarding how much detriment my overall calculated GPA will hurt my application chances. I realize that GPA's can be split up by university by the AADSAS, however I believe my overall GPA between the two universities is going to be dreadfully low.

My other qualifications on my application seem a bit more promising though:

DAT: 23AA/21TS/24PAT
3 LOR's all received (two have told me they were, and I'm quoting, "stellar and convincing")
Over 200+ hrs shadowing (one of which was at a dental school)
5 employment jobs, 4 of which were research jobs (with 2 significantly involved in projects)
Tons of manual dexterity experience

I do realize that DAT scores and GPA are still the most paid attention to factors regarding a student's chances of admission, however if an image of improvement and considerably better grades in the past 2 years is presented, will that help my case in any possibility?

I still plan to apply to 15-17 schools, however after lurking around SDN a bit more, I'm starting to doubt if it'll be of any use.

Thank you for reading, any comments/criticisms/suggestions are welcome.

Oh, sure!

What's your overall GPA and science GPA looking like? If that's REALLY ugly, they might not even bother to look at your recent trend of improvement. The rest of your app looks good. To me, anyway.

 

[aznriptide859]

Oh, sure!

What's your overall GPA and science GPA looking like? If that's REALLY ugly, they might not even bother to look at your recent trend of improvement. The rest of your app looks good. To me, anyway.

At best? Probably in the high 2's. At worst? Maybe in the mid to low 2's.

 

[Baba Yaga]

At best? Probably in the high 2's. At worst? Maybe in the mid to low 2's.

Conventional SDN wisdom, as far as I know, is to raise those 2.X's to 3.0's at least in order to get looked at.

 

[aznriptide859]

Problem is that would take another 1-2 years, and I'm planning to graduate in December. I am really hoping to be able to start dental school in the 2014, and not spend another 1-2 years doing post-bac and/or working in research labs.

 

[Baba Yaga]

Problem is that would take another 1-2 years, and I'm planning to graduate in December. I am really hoping to be able to start dental school in the 2014, and not spend another 1-2 years doing post-bac and/or working in research labs.

I don't see how that is up to you, though.

I have seen a couple of people with sub-3.0's get in on this forum, but they had other aspects of their application that were significant.

Your best bet is to continue with this application cycle and hope for the best, while continuing to take classes and doing well to get up to that 3.0 just in case you don't get in.

 

[tbond5]

I def agree with baba on this one. If you still can't get the 3.0 then I'd recommend a masters or post bacc.

 

[aznriptide859]

Thanks for the advice. I believe I will still apply this cycle, but perhaps also apply for a job and/or post-bac program just in case as a backup.

 

[parham3]

not disclosing your gpa will definitely give SDNers the right information to give you the best advice.