What Are My Chances & School Suggestions? Lower sGPA

[heroesque]

Hello! I'm putting together my list of schools to apply to (I've heard it's wise to apply to 10 or so schools) and I'm looking for input on whether I have a good chance of getting into any of these schools, and I'd also really appreciate any suggestions for schools I have matching stats with.

Date of submission: early/mid July
Overall GPA: 3.628
Science GPA: 3.41
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.18
DAT score (include AA and all sections): AA 22/TS 22/BIO 23/GC 22/OC 21/QR 20/RC 25/PAT 23
State of Residence: California

Undergrad Attended: UC Berkeley
Major: Public Health
Minority? No
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: 190 hours - 8hr ortho, 5hr pedo, the remainder GP)
Volunteering Experience: around 300 hours not including duties as officer of a club/meetings for each organization
- 50 hrs medical interpreting
- 50 hrs tutoring children from low-income families in Chinatown
- 105 hrs as a Health Advocate
- 60 hrs with a program to help seniors keep track of their blood pressure
Employment:
- 2 months of paid Health Advocate work
- 3 weeks (~90hrs) of dental sterilization experience
- 3 months of tutoring young kids
- 2 months (so far) of full time work as a dental care coordinator, I outreach to children and families, give oral health education, and help low-income children find appointments at clinics that accept Medi-Cal.
Research: none

Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere: first gen immigrant from China, I speak fluent Cantonese and some Mandarin
School list:
- UCSF (top choice)
- UOP
- UCLA (a reach for sure, but I might take it out because of my sGPA)
- Western
- USC
- ASDOH
- Tufts or Boston University
- one of the Florida schools

My biggest concern is how low my sGPA and BCP GPAs are and that I don't have any research, or any hands-on dental experience. A few of my peers also have dental assisting experience and I am worried that my lack of hands-on experience will dampen my chances. I'm really hoping to be able to get into a CA school or because long distance with my SO would be tough, and I love the west coast overall, but I feel like my chances aren't great...

I really haven't done too much research just yet so I'd appreciate any feedback, and I'm looking to add a couple more schools to my list!

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[TheDentalSchoolCoach]

With your BCP/sGPA, you should apply to more schools that take students with lower science GPA. Western, USC, ASDOH, Tufts, and BU are good choices. UCSF and UCLA are probably stretch school for you.

 

[heroesque]

With your BCP/sGPA, you should apply to more schools that take students with lower science GPA. Western, USC, ASDOH, Tufts, and BU are good choices. UCSF and UCLA are probably stretch school for you.

Thank you! I definitely plan on applying to those schools.

I know UCSF and UCLA are a reach but I was wondering whether UOP would be as well?

 

[macsak]

Thank you! I definitely plan on applying to those schools.

I know UCSF and UCLA are a reach but I was wondering whether UOP would be as well?

UOP is not a reach for you

 

[heroesque]

UOP is not a reach for you

Thanks for letting me know!! UOP is my top choice for the moment.

 

[Cthuluhoop]

A few of my peers also have dental assisting experience and I am worried that my lack of hands-on experience will dampen my chances.

I was worried about this as well, but I had 0 experience and had no trouble getting invites and acceptances. It's a nice addition to have, but it won't make or break you.

Those are some pretty dang pricey schools, but they are ones you will be competitive at, make sure you know how much they're going to cost you and what a repayment plan will look like monthly post-graduation.

 

[free wifi]

I think you have a solid chance for all the schools you have listed. Some say UCSF, UCLA and UOP are reach, but you never know! Plus, you graduated from UC Berkeley and schools know about the grade deflation. So I would say your GPA is not on the lower side.