Dental Dental assistant interested in dentistry, but have a low GPA. Do I have a chance?

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Mr.Smile12

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Hi guys :) so there’s many threads out there but maybe some new answers can come from this.

I graduated college with a 2.76 gpa in 2015 and in 2016 I started a dental assisting program and graduated with a 3.8 gpa in 2017 from the dental assisting program . Ever since, I worked at different dental offices and I’ve done general and pediatrics, where I’ve been dental assistant and front desk verifying insurances and everything front desk related. I definitely did not like assisting and maybe that’s due to my experiences with team mates and dentists so I am currently working for a hospital as an insurance verifier. Anyways, almost 5 years later I haven’t done a post bacc program because I work full time and coming form a single parent home it’s up to myself and mom to pay and survive. I am studying to the DAT and am scheduled to take it this year but I feel as if there’s no hope especially because my pre-reqs are a little outdated and low gpa and no post bacc to boost that gpa. Any advice or input?

I'd need more information. I presume that you got your dental assistant certification/degree from a community college. That's going to be a problem for many faculty on admissions committees if you don't redress this by taking classes back at a four-year institution. If you're working fulltime because you have to support your family, it's probably not a good time to try to go on loans as a student (economy is never great but you need to talk with someone who can help with financial management). Basically you're going to need a strong supporter within the dental community (i.e., a dentist) who can encourage you even when times are really bad. The bad thing is that it sounds like you didn't like the dentists you wound up working for, and something happened to the point where you're not even working in a dental clinical environment. There's something missing that you ultimately have to own up to when it comes to applying to dental schools because the community of dentists is pretty small; to have more than one dentist who does not enthusiastically support you can be a real problem.

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