What are my chances? Recommendations?

[roma14]

I'm sort of at a crossroads here and I'm not sure what my next move should be in terms of preparing for my dental school application. Any advice/tips is greatly appreciated...

Undergraduate GPA: ~3.1 (I had one semester where I really f*cked up, for various reasons. I had 3 F's and a W this semester but every other semester was A's, B's, and a couple C's.)
Science GPA: <3.0
DAT: AA 20 TS 20
Bio: 19
GC: 21
OC: 20
QR: 17
RC: 22
PAT: 20

Total volunteering: 80 hours
Shadowing: ~130 total hours (General dentistry, oral surgery, periodontics)
2 LOR's

Early applications start in a couple months and I plan on applying to at least 6 schools, including Louisville, Meharry, LECOM, Tennessee, maybe Augusta...

Any ideas on my chances for an interview?
In the meantime, I was planning on either applying for dental assisting jobs in order to gain some more clinical experience, but I'm not sure if it would even be of much help since I would only have been working for about a month by the time my app is sent out.

On the other hand, I'm considering doing a special master's program since my GPA is subpar. This is where I am conflicted... If I do dental assisting and still don't get accepted anywhere, I'll have to quit that job early and have to wait longer for enrollment into the master's program. But at the same time, I don't want to just sit around waiting for the master's program semester to roll around when I could have been finding a job that would boost my résumé for dental school. This is stressful AS F*CK lol. Any help??

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[DSchoolorBust202X]

I'm sort of at a crossroads here and I'm not sure what my next move should be in terms of preparing for my dental school application. Any advice/tips is greatly appreciated...

Undergraduate GPA: ~3.1 (I had one semester where I really f*cked up, for various reasons. I had 3 F's and a W this semester but every other semester was A's, B's, and a couple C's.)
Science GPA: <3.0
DAT: AA 20 TS 20
Bio: 19
GC: 21
OC: 20
QR: 17
RC: 22
PAT: 20

Total volunteering: 80 hours
Shadowing: ~130 total hours (General dentistry, oral surgery, periodontics)
2 LOR's

Early applications start in a couple months and I plan on applying to at least 6 schools, including Louisville, Meharry, LECOM, Tennessee, maybe Augusta...

Any ideas on my chances for an interview?
In the meantime, I was planning on either applying for dental assisting jobs in order to gain some more clinical experience, but I'm not sure if it would even be of much help since I would only have been working for about a month by the time my app is sent out.

On the other hand, I'm considering doing a special master's program since my GPA is subpar. This is where I am conflicted... If I do dental assisting and still don't get accepted anywhere, I'll have to quit that job early and have to wait longer for enrollment into the master's program. But at the same time, I don't want to just sit around waiting for the master's program semester to roll around when I could have been finding a job that would boost my résumé for dental school. This is stressful AS F*CK lol. Any help??

I would highly recommend you apply to AT LEAST 10-15 schools given your stats.

Also, if you are out of state for Augusta, I would not waste your money applying; they are very selective with OOS.

 

[roma14]

I would highly recommend you apply to AT LEAST 10-15 schools given your stats.

Also, if you are out of state for Augusta, I would not waste your money applying; they are very selective with OOS.

Noted, thanks!

 

[Lab_lover]

I'm sort of at a crossroads here and I'm not sure what my next move should be in terms of preparing for my dental school application. Any advice/tips is greatly appreciated...

Undergraduate GPA: ~3.1 (I had one semester where I really f*cked up, for various reasons. I had 3 F's and a W this semester but every other semester was A's, B's, and a couple C's.)
Science GPA: <3.0
DAT: AA 20 TS 20
Bio: 19
GC: 21
OC: 20
QR: 17
RC: 22
PAT: 20

Total volunteering: 80 hours
Shadowing: ~130 total hours (General dentistry, oral surgery, periodontics)
2 LOR's

Early applications start in a couple months and I plan on applying to at least 6 schools, including Louisville, Meharry, LECOM, Tennessee, maybe Augusta...

Any ideas on my chances for an interview?
In the meantime, I was planning on either applying for dental assisting jobs in order to gain some more clinical experience, but I'm not sure if it would even be of much help since I would only have been working for about a month by the time my app is sent out.

On the other hand, I'm considering doing a special master's program since my GPA is subpar. This is where I am conflicted... If I do dental assisting and still don't get accepted anywhere, I'll have to quit that job early and have to wait longer for enrollment into the master's program. But at the same time, I don't want to just sit around waiting for the master's program semester to roll around when I could have been finding a job that would boost my résumé for dental school. This is stressful AS F*CK lol. Any help??

You have a few options imo:

1. Easiest route: Up volunteering hours to at least 100 hours, work somewhere to save money, and apply to 10-15 schools like DSchooler said.
This is still risky and you may or may not hear back from schools. Some have a science gpa cutoff of 3.0.

2. More expensive route: get your masters & up volunteering to at least 100 hours. I’m finishing up my masters this May. I have friends who had similar stats as you, started in the masters program in the summer & finished it 4 semesters before matriculating (summer, fall, spring, summer).
I am bias towards this route, and believe it will increase your chances greatly if you can maintain a 3.7+.

If you have any personal questions for me, feel free to pm me


EDIT:
As far as you school list goes:
We can better help you by knowing your state of residency

 

[roma14]

You have a few options imo:

1. Easiest route: Up volunteering hours to at least 100 hours, work somewhere to save money, and apply to 10-15 schools like DSchooler said.
This is still risky and you may or may not hear back from schools. Some have a science gpa cutoff of 3.0.

2. More expensive route: get your masters & up volunteering to at least 100 hours. I’m finishing up my masters this May. I have friends who had similar stats as you, started in the masters program in the summer & finished it 4 semesters before matriculating (summer, fall, spring, summer).
I am bias towards this route, and believe it will increase your chances greatly if you can maintain a 3.7+.

If you have any personal questions for me, feel free to pm me


EDIT:
As far as you school list goes:
We can better help you by knowing your state of residency

Appreciate the advice. My state of residency is Tennessee btw. I definitely will see about some volunteering opportunities. Perhaps volunteering at a community dental clinic may be my best option if I can find a gig. While money isn't a huge concern, the Master's program is a last resort for me, albeit one that I'm more than willing to do. Obviously, maintaining that high GPA will be easier said than done. My questions is, though, if the Master's program is 12 months long (starting Summer or Fall 2019), would I still be able to apply for the next dental app cycle (Spring 2020) even though I would not have finished the program yet? In other words, would the program still benefit my resume despite not having finished it?

 

[AEZDent]

Appreciate the advice. My state of residency is Tennessee btw. I definitely will see about some volunteering opportunities. Perhaps volunteering at a community dental clinic may be my best option if I can find a gig. While money isn't a huge concern, the Master's program is a last resort for me, albeit one that I'm more than willing to do. Obviously, maintaining that high GPA will be easier said than done. My questions is, though, if the Master's program is 12 months long (starting Summer or Fall 2019), would I still be able to apply for the next dental app cycle (Spring 2020) even though I would not have finished the program yet? In other words, would the program still benefit my resume despite not having finished it?

I was in a similar situation and went the Master's route. Personally I don't think it'll help with getting any pre-dec interviews. However I would recommend talking to each schools admission's office to make sure that they know that you are in the master's program. This is what I did with a school and they basically held my application until they received my grades from first semester and was later interviewed and accepted there. I would recommend that you beef up your volunteer work, EC's and leadership experiences though.

 

[Lab_lover]

Appreciate the advice. My state of residency is Tennessee btw. I definitely will see about some volunteering opportunities. Perhaps volunteering at a community dental clinic may be my best option if I can find a gig. While money isn't a huge concern, the Master's program is a last resort for me, albeit one that I'm more than willing to do. Obviously, maintaining that high GPA will be easier said than done. My questions is, though, if the Master's program is 12 months long (starting Summer or Fall 2019), would I still be able to apply for the next dental app cycle (Spring 2020) even though I would not have finished the program yet? In other words, would the program still benefit my resume despite not having finished it?

I can really only speak for the program I am in. It's Barry's Biomedical Master's program. It offers 3 tracks: 1 year (3 semesters), 18 months (4 semesters), and 2 year (5+ semesters)
Regardless which track you end up doing, there are several students that are able to finish the program and proceed to dental school. It usually requires you putting the program on your application so dental schools know that you are improving your gpa. And like @AEZDent said, you will likely only get post-dec interviews so that schools can make sure you are doing well in your program before inviting you for an interview. Also worth noting: most schools will require you finish your master's before matriculating.
I took the 2 year track and applied this cycle so that I could start shortly after finishing my master's. So this is another option if you need to work on your study habits and/or make sure you have a competitive gpa in your master's program.