Will I have chance?

[JamesLee89]

Hello All,

I have actually graduated with Bachelors Degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management Major back in 2013, and decided that it was time for me to move on and pursue a dream goal in dentistry. The problem is, I have horrible GPA during my undergraduate which sitting at 2.79, I honestly didn't value education very much during my undergrad, instead I was working 40+ hours per week to build experience in hospitality industry while taking 12-15 hours of class and did not committe to study at all.

Currently, I just started taking summer courses at community college to finish all the pre reqs for dental school and have enrolled for fall for 5 courses and planning to take another 5 in spring.

I have taken Gen Chem 1 in first Summer Session and I'm in the process of finishing Gen Chem 2.

I strongly believe that I could ace all the rest of courses, and will be well prepared for DAT. Would I have a chance at Dental School at this point?

Just to add, I also took 5-6 courses at community college during my undergraduate, which I received C's for those courses since GPA would not transfer to my university so I didn't study. Would this affect from me getting into dental school as well?

Thank you for your time!

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[eldmd_32]

Most schools have a cap on the number of credits they'll accept from community colleges and others won't accept them for prereq credits at all. Before you jump into those additional 10 courses between fall and spring you should research the schools you'd like to apply to in the future to make sure you're not sabotaging yourself.

 

[JamesLee89]

Most schools have a cap on the number of credits they'll accept from community colleges and others won't accept them for prereq credits at all. Before you jump into those additional 10 courses between fall and spring you should research the schools you'd like to apply to in the future to make sure you're not sabotaging yourself.

Hey Thank you for your quick reply!

Yes, my main focuses are TX schools since im a TX resident and they would only require 30 hours from 4 yr university, and currently I have 105 from 4 yr university.

 

[eldmd_32]

Hey Thank you for your quick reply!

Yes, my main focuses are TX schools since im a TX resident and they would only require 30 hours from 4 yr university, and currently I have 105 from 4 yr university.

The Texas schools, specifically, will be an uphill battle for you due to the competition. Your gpa from your initial major will effect you when you attempt to apply. My advice to you is to kill the DAT and cast the net wider to schools outside of the state as well. Best of luck

 

[DMDDDSHopeful]

You have a long road ahead of you. You need to calculate what your cumulative GPA would look like with all A's from here on out.

Adcoms will look for BCP GPA, sGPA, and cGPA. Little s and c means science and cumulative respectively. Would these be over 3.0? >3.5 would be ideal.

You will need a good DAT score. If you take 5 classes this fall and next spring you won't have time for the DAT. Late summer DAT is no good so you may want to rethink your strategy unless you are planning to apply in 2019 to enter in 2020--which is fine.

You may also want to consider a SMP (special masters program) or traditional Masters. I would advise this to be a hard science program to showcase your ability to handle advanced science courses.

PM me if you have more questions. Hope this doesn't discourage you.

 

[JamesLee89]

The Texas schools, specifically, will be an uphill battle for you due to the competition. Your gpa from your initial major will effect you when you attempt to apply. My advice to you is to kill the DAT and cast the net wider to schools outside of the state as well. Best of luck

I see, I would be looking into it and trying to apply for 15+ school. Hopefully I atleast get an interview at TX school!

You have a long road ahead of you. You need to calculate what your cumulative GPA would look like with all A's from here on out.

Adcoms will look for BCP GPA, sGPA, and cGPA. Little s and c means science and cumulative respectively. Would these be over 3.0? >3.5 would be ideal.

You will need a good DAT score. If you take 5 classes this fall and next spring you won't have time for the DAT. Late summer DAT is no good so you may want to rethink your strategy unless you are planning to apply in 2019 to enter in 2020--which is fine.

You may also want to consider a SMP (special masters program) or traditional Masters. I would advise this to be a hard science program to showcase your ability to handle advanced science courses.

PM me if you have more questions. Hope this doesn't discourage you.

Hey thanks for your advise. No discouragement at all, I expected a long road ahead of me when I gave up my career that I had before. My plan is to take DAT end of May, after finishing up all the classes in early May, giving myself two-three weeks to review. Currently, I quit my job and basically quit myself from outside world to solely focusing on studying so I can really soak in every contents and subjects that I am taking and needed for DAT. So hopefully I am ready by end of May !

23 and above on DAT,
2.98 overall GPA
4.0 on sGPA,

That would more likely be my status by end of May. I am very hoping that I can land just a single interview which then I am very confident that I could do well in interview since thats where I majored in

 

[WolfsBane]

I see, I would be looking into it and trying to apply for 15+ school. Hopefully I atleast get an interview at TX school!

Hey thanks for your advise. No discouragement at all, I expected a long road ahead of me when I gave up my career that I had before. My plan is to take DAT end of May, after finishing up all the classes in early May, giving myself two-three weeks to review. Currently, I quit my job and basically quit myself from outside world to solely focusing on studying so I can really soak in every contents and subjects that I am taking and needed for DAT. So hopefully I am ready by end of May !

23 and above on DAT,
2.98 overall GPA
4.0 on sGPA,

That would more likely be my status by end of May. I am very hoping that I can land just a single interview which then I am very confident that I could do well in interview since thats where I majored in

Two things. Firstly two weeks for the dat review is not enough time in my opinion. Secondly I believe you need to bring it up a little more to like 3.15-3.25. You need to get better in the ec's if you have none. Research is a good idea as well. Hope this helps.


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[FeralisExtremum]

IMy plan is to take DAT end of May, after finishing up all the classes in early May, giving myself two-three weeks to review.

I'll second what Nathangw said above - you're going to want to set aside more than 2-3 weeks. Your science coursework will be fresh which is a good thing, but due to your low overall GPA, you will have a lot riding on a strong DAT performance. It's absolutely possible, but you want to give yourself more than 2-3 weeks to guarantee a high score. I'd aim for at least 6-8 weeks.

 

[JamesLee89]

I'll second what Nathangw said above - you're going to want to set aside more than 2-3 weeks. Your science coursework will be fresh which is a good thing, but due to your low overall GPA, you will have a lot riding on a strong DAT performance. It's absolutely possible, but you want to give yourself more than 2-3 weeks to guarantee a high score. I'd aim for at least 6-8 weeks.

Two things. Firstly two weeks for the dat review is not enough time in my opinion. Secondly I believe you need to bring it up a little more to like 3.15-3.25. You need to get better in the ec's if you have none. Research is a good idea as well. Hope this helps.


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Hey guys,

Would it be better if i take DAT in mid June instead to be more prepared then? And apply mid june? Or should I wait for my DAT score to be fully uploaded and apply in the early july?

I appreciate your feedback!

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Hey guys,

Would it be better if i take DAT in mid June instead to be more prepared then? And apply mid june? Or should I wait for my DAT score to be fully uploaded and apply in the early july?

I appreciate your feedback!

Apply as early as possible in the cycle so that your application will complete as soon as you take your DAT and your official scores upload, instead of having to wait for transcript verification. I'd aim to take the DAT around the end of June.

 

[amariesa]

Honestly, your chance is around 1-2% at best if I had to guess. The majority of schools have an automatic cutoff to which you wont even make. Also, it sounds like you dont have any science education outside of a few courses and imo they are harder than hotel management. With a 2.XX GPA, you will need a 25+ DAT and I dont see that happening. But thats just a random persons opinion.

 

[hizi]

Honestly, your chance is around 1-2% at best if I had to guess. The majority of schools have an automatic cutoff to which you wont even make. Also, it sounds like you dont have any science education outside of a few courses and imo they are harder than hotel management. With a 2.XX GPA, you will need a 25+ DAT and I dont see that happening. But thats just a random persons opinion.

I've heard about people getting in with worse stats than his so of course he has a chance.

 

[hizi]

Just study hard! there are post-baccs and special master programs for non traditional students like us.

It's a long journey, do not get discouraged and keep yourself motivated. Surround yourself with positive people and people with similar goals. Remember this, the only thing we can't beat is death.

Hope you make your dreams reality. I wish you the best.

 

[amariesa]

I've heard about people getting in with worse stats than his so of course he has a chance.

Every success story of a 2.XX GPA getting in stands on a mountain of rejections. These rejections costs time, money, and energy. Also, most of the people with 2.XX getting in show a HUGE swing in grades or they did something amazing like participate in the Olympics, give TED talks...etc. The overwhelming chances are that OP will waste time studying for DATS and applying for dental school, the money associated with applications, and energy would have been better put to other things.

Now if OP was talking about doing masters/ research and trying for grad school grades, the chances are better but he is just taking a few community college courses to cover the prereqs and applying with his low GPA and bachelors in hotel management. If he wants cheering on, then I really do wish him the best. But without a masters/phd, its a sinking ship.

 

[Rand627]

You're asking questions from pre-dents. Call schools. Get advice from people who know what they're talking about way better than us.