VERY low undergrad GPA. Rejected from post-bacc program. Any advice please

[2015ytos]

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Graduated from college in 2012 with Bachelor of Science degree, major in Biology and minor Chemistry with cumulative GPA of 2.5 and sGPA even lower. Applied to one of post bacc program near my house, but just received rejection letter.

I knew my chance of getting into this post bacc program was very low, but am very discouraged by this rejection, and don't know what step I should take next.. I took couple of the upper science courses from community college and got A's but I guess this didn't helped me much.

I know getting accepted to dental school seem impossible for me right now with what I've done. But since working as a dental assistant since graduating from college, I know this is what I want to do and I want to do whatever I can before giving up on this dream.

Should I take more upper science undergrad courses? will this help my super low undergrad GPA? Or should I apply to another post bacc or master program?

 

[Chga]

Barry University post-bac for pre-dental?

 

[cacajuate]

You need to do a masters program.

 

[Coloradoboulder]

I would also suggest a masters program. Browse around for science ones that will fit your needs. I think Barry is a common one that people post about here. Don't give up persevere and you can do this.

 

[2015ytos]

I would also suggest a masters program. Browse around for science ones that will fit your needs. I think Barry is a common one that people post about here. Don't give up persevere and you can do this.

Thank you.
Barry university is in Florida, and this is out of state for me and I haven't thought about going out of state for maters (because of my job and etc.). May I ask why Barry is common one that people recommend here?

 

[Coloradoboulder]

I would assume that the reason is that they have a great program. I am not too sure why someone else can help you on that. I don't know what state you are in but I think most science Masters will fit your needs.

 

[Bifenthrin]

With that GPA, definitely do a Masters. But you need to seriously rock that Masters. I'm talking like a 3.8 or higher in it to compensate for the extremely low undergrad GPA. And you're going to need to ROCK the DAT as well.

 

[2015ytos]

I would assume that the reason is that they have a great program. I am not too sure why someone else can help you on that. I don't know what state you are in but I think most science Masters will fit your needs.

I see. Thank you!

 

[PointEstimate]

Hate to be the bearer of bad new's but a 2.5 might be too low for Barry's BMS program:
https://www.barry.edu/biomedical-sciences/admissions/

You got to figure out how to do some serious damage control before you do a masters to help cure some past shortcomings.

 

[GinaS2K]

U should def apply to BarryU with the GPA (if u want to go Barry) or at least email the admission about ur situation. I had a similar GPA and got accepted to the program 2 years ago.

 

[Coloradoboulder]

I think she said she would rather stay instate due to personal preference.

 

[LaughingGas]

Graduated from college in 2012 with Bachelor of Science degree, major in Biology and minor Chemistry with cumulative GPA of 2.5 and sGPA even lower. Applied to one of post bacc program near my house, but just received rejection letter.

I knew my chance of getting into this post bacc program was very low, but am very discouraged by this rejection, and don't know what step I should take next.. I took couple of the upper science courses from community college and got A's but I guess this didn't helped me much.

I know getting accepted to dental school seem impossible for me right now with what I've done. But since working as a dental assistant since graduating from college, I know this is what I want to do and I want to do whatever I can before giving up on this dream.

Should I take more upper science undergrad courses? will this help my super low undergrad GPA? Or should I apply to another post bacc or master program?

-Mistake#1 = Upper science course and community college don't go along. If you want to take upper science courses, take them at 4 year university.
-With GPA that low, you probably will have to do postbac THEN a masters. I don't know any master programs that is willingly accept an applicant with that low GPA. Many of them had minimum GPA requirement of 2.75 or 3.0. But then, I have seen someone that got in with 2.5 gpa long time ago, so goodluck finding that thread.
-If you don't get accepted to another Master or postbac programs, do an informal postbac: keep taking upper div courses at a 4 year university not community college.
-Or you can try to gain admissions for 2nd bachelors in bio and take upper div bio courses.
-Read http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/the-under-3-0-club-part-02.362708/page-38 , do your homework and see how other applicants who had sub 3.0 GPA gained admissions.

 

[BabyShades]

I would probably do the following steps in order for you to boost that GPA and become a competitive applicant.

- Enroll an informal postbach program where you are taking 30-60 hours of upper division biology courses. Perhaps retake some of your courses as well, like your pre-requisites. Do not go back to school to just retake your pre-requisites, it should be several upper division biology and some of your pre-requisites. This will make your schedule very challenging. (1-2 years)

- Enroll a formal postbach program, like biomedical science or something. (1 year)

- Ace the DAT, and apply to dental schools. Your overall gpa should be a 3.3-3.47 after taking 90 extra hours.

- Enroll in a master program after you apply to dental schools.

- Overall, since you did pretty bad throughout your undergraduate. You need to demonstrate that you are capable of handling a rigorous course load and that you are dedicated for dentistry. That's why it may take you 3 extra years before applying again. I mean you can apply before those three years, but I think your chances will be slim.

Best of luck to you!

 

[xerxes106]

Everyone is saying do a masters, but why is everyone assuming OP will get into a masters if he/she didn't get into a post bacc? Most masters programs, especially hard science ones in the US, are far more competitive than post-baccs and have GPA cutoffs.
I would go with the plan you stated and take more upper level science classes, then go for a masters or post-bacc again.

 

[GinaS2K]

Just wanted to say, since I don't think anyone hit on this specifically, you are probably going to have to quit your job and make studying your full-time job if you want to get into dental school. Everyone who has answered so far has assumed that you would understand that and hasn't made a point of it, but I think it's an important point to make because you said you hadn't considered going to a post-bacc program out of state due to your job.

If you do the things you need to do to get into dental school, you will not have time to have a job because studying will be your full-time job. You need to take full course loads and they will be very hard. I don't know you or your capabilities, so I also want to say that there is a chance that you will not be able to do this and succeed (just like there is a chance that you will be able to do this and succeed). Whatever you do is up to you, but you need to realize that if the reason you had such low grades was because you were doing other things and not putting your studies as your #1 priority, then you are going to want to do the opposite in order to show schools that you can take on a rigorous course load. You have already finished a bachelor's degree--your GPA is going to be hard to budge and you're going to need a lot of credits of straight A's (quite frankly, anything lower than that, even an A-, is a waste of opportunity and your time--do the math).

Are those your corgis on ur profile pic? They are freakin cute.