fightingspirit said:
ok....i will be frank with you
listen up buddy, why the f...k are you obsessed with extracuricular crap? why the heck are you going to 3'd world countries. you're being a little strange and silly. you've done tons of volunteer/community stuff and now it's time to focus on your GPA for crying out loud. if i were you, i'd stick around in the U.S and brown-nose people and mobilize connections so that i'd get in. dental schools are not too crazy about extracurricular stuff like med-schools because the competition for dental schools is not as fierce as it is with med-schools. at least not yet. d-schools will look at your stats and how you'd affect their class stats. so please forget about that extracuricular bullcrap and stinky 3'd world country business and get yourself a job after graduation to make a few bucks that would serve you well when you go to d-school. however, you need to stay away from schools that have small classes because small class averages (small sample) dont resist outliers and your GPA is an outlier.
you WILL get into d-school if you apply early and if you use your manic/bipolar depressive disorder in a smart way.....your personnal statement should explain how you took a negative thing like manic depression and made a positive thing out of it....somewhere in the neighborhood of "above all odds and in spite of my mental handicap, i have been able to do well at my major classes and my DAT .....blah blah blah...my disability has taught me how to persevere and look at the bright side of things...i kindly ask of the admissions committee to consider my application as a whole and not focus on my flaw (GPA)...i have many strengths that can compensate for my weaknesses and these are...blah blah blah...i feel that i can bring inspiration to your entering class through blah blah blah...."..you know the rest..
also, i have an advice for you: PLEASE DO NOT APPLY TO D-SCHOOL BECAUSE YOU COULD NOT GET INTO MED-SCHOOL. IT IS UNFAIR FOR THOSE WHO HAVE A GENUINE AND DEEP-SEATED DESIRE TO BECOME DENTISTS. ALSO YOU'D NEVER BE HAPPY AND ALWAYS FEEL INFERIOR TO PHYSICIANS. IF YOU WANT TO BE A PHYSICIAN, YOU NEED TO GET A 30 (NOT LESS SINCE YOUR GPA IS LOW) ON THE MCAT AND APPLY TO OSTEOPATHIC MED-SCHOOLS (DONT WASTE TIME AND MONEY APPLYING TO ALLOPATHIC and if you cannot get 30 or above on the MCAT, than dont even bother DO schools cus they wont take you either and dont give up on the MCAT until you've taken it thrice). IF THESE DONT TAKE YOU, PICK up YOUR LUGGAGE AND A GOOD SWIM SUIT AND RIDE THE BULLET TO THE CARRIBEAN....
i know i am being harsh but you do need a reality check. you'll thank me for it later.
Dude you need to chill and there are other ways to give advice without being harsh. I'm not really stressin' about it so there's no reason for you to. Sometimes you don't always get what you want, and that's life, but you shouldn't obsess about it. You move on and see what's the next step. Do not make assumptions and judgements when you don't know the full story. The reason I'm going to India are for personal reasons, and people up there including some of my family need the help. If you read the earlier posts, I'm graduating in August 2006, and wanted to apply for the entering class of 2007. I don't need to get a job or work because money is not my biggest concern, and if I do have the time off, might as well help people if I can instead of just staying here for my own selfish reasons just to make money. Also my sister is getting married in India in December, so I figured I can just go early, but since people advised me not to go, I decided not to, but you need to chill. Second, my GPA is on the uprise, I have 3 quarters left including this one before graduation, so yes my focus is on my GPA, and so far I'm doing well on it, but it's too late to get it up to what I want it to be. And for your last advice, I'm not a med school reject, and dental school is not just a back up plan, I decided to switch my junior year due to other reasons not because I felt it was too difficult, If i wanted to go to med school, i can put my mind into it and really do it with all means possible even going to carribeans since few of my relatives got their MD degree through the carribeans, so im not just sucking it up and **** like that. I decided that I want to go through dental because I like the curriculum better, the time span, and yet I still can make a difference in people's lives. I like the time span due to personal family reasons because I DO have to pick up family responsibilities in the near future. If you do not know what I HAVE went through, don't be harsh in an ignorant manner. Even through what difficulties i have been, I'm not stressing it and let it ruin my life. **** happens, and you have to move on. I'm trying my best of what I am doing, so don't give me that reality check bull****. And yeah, you being a future doctor and all (hopefully) you'll realize that certain illnesses such as Manic Depressive are not fun to mock of or make fun of, and hopefully u're not like this with your patients in the future. Unlike some people I do care in making a difference in people's lives the positive way. The only reason I post this forum up is if I can get some CONSTRUCTIVE advice NOT criticism. So don't respond treating me like I'm some **** up, because I guarantee you I'm ten times the man you'll ever be. I'm sorry in being so harsh, but you need to be open-minded and not respond in an ignorant manner. Maybe you're the one who needs the reality check.
So back to the topic at hand,
I want to apply in late August because my GPA will be higher, and I will have more dental observership experience. I will have a year off and instead of working what should I do in order to help me better in getting into dental school if I get rejected from everywhere I apply? And another thing, noone really has responded to the original question at hand..where should I apply with my stats? When should I apply due to my GPA dilemma, since I will have a better GPA after I graduate? Please respond in a CONSTRUCTIVE manner? This is not a put down / rant forum. I believe we're all mature now.
