What's the most realistic path forward for me in the dental career?

[Rvting]

As an update to one of my first posts:

It just seems that I don't really have a chance in the dental field. During my early college years I developed a GPA of 2.78, but my undergraduate GPA finished off as a 3.31. Overall comes to ~3.05, with a sGPA of ~2.79. Which really sucks because I suffered from mental health issues back in highschool and mostly recovered since then. I now have 164 graded hours, 64 in community/early college and 100 in undergrad. Hell, I only took certain stem classes, like calculus and trigonometry, for the sake of getting an associates (which was sold to me as a "big deal" by my EC program).

My DAT is a 19, and on my way to retake it
My sGPA is based on 268.3 QP and 96 graded hours.
oGPA is 500.2 QP and 164 graded hours.
60 hours shadowing, 40 hours dental volunteering.
Based on my trajectory, where do you think I'll be after 1 year post-bacc? what schools should I apply to if I should bother? It just feels like my graded hours is just too saturated(?)

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[PurpleSails]

If you have sGPA of ~2.79, I would assume that you received some low grades in science prerequisite classes? Make sure that schools you are considering don't have a gpa limit, many do for prerequisite classes, and usually require at least a 3.0. If so, you may have to retake those, or supplement it with qualifying upper-level courses. I also believe that outside the special circumstances for the semesters that were affected by COVID, schools only take graded classes into account, so make sure you have prerequisite classes all checked off.
Since your GPA is fairly on the lower side, you might want to make yourself more competitive in other areas. For example 60 hours of shadowing is pretty low, even for those with high GPA.
Of course GPA is very important, but remember it's a holistic process, so having a low GPA (as long as it's not under minimum) isn't a dealbreaker, make sure the other areas of the application are solid.
In terms of post-bacc, it really depends on what program you decide, and whether it would help you boost that sGPA especially.
In terms of which schools to apply to, I found the ADEA handbook/explorer really helpful when it comes to looking through average GPA/DAT scores/ acceptance rates, so look into that as a guide.
good luck!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Have you been hired as a dental assistant? Can you become a dental hygienist? It takes a team to run a great dental office, and not everyone there is a dentist.

 

[Rvting]

Have you been hired as a dental assistant? Can you become a dental hygienist? It takes a team to run a great dental office, and not everyone there is a dentist.

I have a couple of interviews coming up.

 

[PerioDont]

Have you been hired as a dental assistant? Can you become a dental hygienist? It takes a team to run a great dental office, and not everyone there is a dentist.

I agree a hygienist could be a good career choice. It will take a lot for you to rebuild that GPA

 

[Rvting]

I agree a hygienist could be a good career choice. It will take a lot for you to rebuild that GPA

How will a masters affect my GPA? Do dental schools focus more on the masters GPA rather than the undergrad?

All of this just because I thought I was making a smart investment when I was 16