Please read this post for my background first:
In a really bad situation, still have a shot at dental school?
I've done really really well at my 4-year school since then (decided to stay one more quarter) and just received my Bachelor's. My GPA over last 3 quarters (2016-2017) is 3.95 taking 57 quarter units (38.02 semester units). I've done especially well last quarter, took 8 courses (27 quarter units) and received 3 A+s and 5 As. During the same quarter, I received 3 very strong letter of recs (2 science, 1 non-science) that can explain my new strong work ethic and academic turn around as well as my character.
Since I retook 1 D and 2 Fs (and my school accepts up to 4 courses replacement), I just graduated with a 3.8 UC GPA and received cum laude as well.
Because of the poor performing 2015-2016 school year (1.9 GPA, 3 Ws, 1 D, 2 Fs over just 28 quarter units) and subpar performance at 2-year college, my overall GPA is 3.43, science GPA is 3.27, and BCP GPA is 3.16.
After the spring finals, I am currently studying for DAT right now and planning on taking it late July/early August.
Questions:
1. In my background thread, some people advised me to do a post-bacc or master's due to my low GPA, but should I still do a post-bacc/master's after I improved my GPA?
2. How would the admission view my grade trend? I have one year of subpar performance at community college, then one year of disaster performance at university, then one year of excellent performance at university.
3. Because I didn't do much ECs other than research (~300 hrs) 2015-2016, and didn't do much ECs because of the heavy courseload 2016-2017, I am lacking in dental shadowing/volunteering. In the upcoming gap year, I will help my father to start up his own dental office (will work as manager+reception+dental assistant), while shadowing his friends at multiple different dental offices, and volunteering at Red Cross. Would that be enough or should I look for other opportunities?
4. While doing all of the above, I also want to take a few classes (anatomy and physiology, microbiology, Japanese) over 2017-2018 (2 classes a semester) at my local community college to raise my GPA as well as meeting prereqs for certain dental schools. Should I pursue that or would that be looked down upon since I just graduated from a 4-year university?
5. If I do well on the DAT (21+), should I try to apply this year or apply next year?
Thank you very much for reading through this long post! SDN really helped me get out of the mess I was in last year. Any inputs will be appreciated.
In a really bad situation, still have a shot at dental school?
I've done really really well at my 4-year school since then (decided to stay one more quarter) and just received my Bachelor's. My GPA over last 3 quarters (2016-2017) is 3.95 taking 57 quarter units (38.02 semester units). I've done especially well last quarter, took 8 courses (27 quarter units) and received 3 A+s and 5 As. During the same quarter, I received 3 very strong letter of recs (2 science, 1 non-science) that can explain my new strong work ethic and academic turn around as well as my character.
Since I retook 1 D and 2 Fs (and my school accepts up to 4 courses replacement), I just graduated with a 3.8 UC GPA and received cum laude as well.
Because of the poor performing 2015-2016 school year (1.9 GPA, 3 Ws, 1 D, 2 Fs over just 28 quarter units) and subpar performance at 2-year college, my overall GPA is 3.43, science GPA is 3.27, and BCP GPA is 3.16.
After the spring finals, I am currently studying for DAT right now and planning on taking it late July/early August.
Questions:
1. In my background thread, some people advised me to do a post-bacc or master's due to my low GPA, but should I still do a post-bacc/master's after I improved my GPA?
2. How would the admission view my grade trend? I have one year of subpar performance at community college, then one year of disaster performance at university, then one year of excellent performance at university.
3. Because I didn't do much ECs other than research (~300 hrs) 2015-2016, and didn't do much ECs because of the heavy courseload 2016-2017, I am lacking in dental shadowing/volunteering. In the upcoming gap year, I will help my father to start up his own dental office (will work as manager+reception+dental assistant), while shadowing his friends at multiple different dental offices, and volunteering at Red Cross. Would that be enough or should I look for other opportunities?
4. While doing all of the above, I also want to take a few classes (anatomy and physiology, microbiology, Japanese) over 2017-2018 (2 classes a semester) at my local community college to raise my GPA as well as meeting prereqs for certain dental schools. Should I pursue that or would that be looked down upon since I just graduated from a 4-year university?
5. If I do well on the DAT (21+), should I try to apply this year or apply next year?
Thank you very much for reading through this long post! SDN really helped me get out of the mess I was in last year. Any inputs will be appreciated.
