Need An Advice

[aspiring-dentist101]

Hi everyone,

I am in process of applying this cycle. Due to personal circumstances and things that happened in the past, I didn't perform well during my classes early in college years. Obviously I do not want to blame anyone else or any circumstances that led to such bad performance but this really wasn't me and I For the past couple of years, I've been showing upward trend in my academic and prerequisites courses. I finished my bachelors degree with a low gpa. I took a short break from school and really thought about continuing to pursue my dream of becoming a dentist graduate from a dental school in California. After a short period of time I returned to school to finish my dental prerequisites and obtained 3.80. I can't afford to do a masters degree at the moment. I am doing the honors of helping out my fam with financial expenses, so I figured I could improve my chances by doing other things such as having a good personal statement, DAT score, volunteering hours, etc... I really saw significant improvement in my academics such as going back to school and getting higher grade. So If anyone has any helpful feedback, I would like to hear their suggestions or pm me? I would really appreciate it.

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[princeafrica]

Have you submitted your application? Also would you mind sharing your stats like DAT score, shadowing hours, extracurricular, volunteer hours?

 

[DSchoolorBust202X]

If you are in the process of applying now, I would seriously consider holding off and waiting until next cycle to submit. Those with low GPAs (like myself) are encouraged to apply early (June/July) for better chances at receiving interview invites.

Also, if you apply and don't get in this cycle, you will have to designate yourself as a reapplicant and essentially rewrite your entire personal statement shortly after you submitted the first one. Then comes the question of what you have done to improve since last cycle, and if you apply now, you will only have the Spring and Summer semesters to talk about.

Please take all that into consideration and make the best judgement you can for yourself. Only you will know what's best for you.

 

[Blackca3]

You did a post bachelors and got a 3.8? That's a good GPA, you're doing pretty dang good. If you're dead set on attending that one school, why not apply to just there and see what happens. From a recruiting standpoint I think it's far more impressive for someone who didn't do well the first time around to go back and do really well. It shows that they were able to experience failure or setback, do some self reflection, and then find a way to adapt, overcome, and succeed. I'd much rather build a company out of people like that than people who have never failed or experienced a set back. Generally those types of people shutdown when they experience a failure.

 

[Faefly]

Best of luck!

 

[artist2022]

Current UCLA student- you can PM me if you want to w/ your stats

^ open to anyone else too- just know I might not get to you right away due to our crazy courseload atm

 

[aspiring-dentist101]

If you are in the process of applying now, I would seriously consider holding off and waiting until next cycle to submit. Those with low GPAs (like myself) are encouraged to apply early (June/July) for better chances at receiving interview invites.

Also, if you apply and don't get in this cycle, you will have to designate yourself as a reapplicant and essentially rewrite your entire personal statement shortly after you submitted the first one. Then comes the question of what you have done to improve since last cycle, and if you apply now, you will only have the Spring and Summer semesters to talk about.

Please take all that into consideration and make the best judgement you can for yourself. Only you will know what's best for you.

I already applied back in end of June-early July. I am just waiting on my top choice as of now! Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. I just dislike how some schools look so much into gpa and not so much of DAT. I know its obviously a major component to see how a student will perform but when I returned to my undergraduate school to complete some extensions courses (prerequisite courses). I ended up getting 2 grades higher than my friend that has a GPA much higher than mine (MUCH higher lol) took the same class/classes. I was fortunate to get an outstanding grade among couple other students in a large class (the final class average was C+/B-). Im sure most students in that class had better gpa than I did. I just happen to have some unfortunate circumstances happening to me earlier in life that reflected my gpa and some schools may hold it over my head. But can't blame anyone, right?

 

[aspiring-dentist101]

You did a post bachelors and got a 3.8? That's a good GPA, you're doing pretty dang good. If you're dead set on attending that one school, why not apply to just there and see what happens. From a recruiting standpoint I think it's far more impressive for someone who didn't do well the first time around to go back and do really well. It shows that they were able to experience failure or setback, do some self reflection, and then find a way to adapt, overcome, and succeed. I'd much rather build a company out of people like that than people who have never failed or experienced a set back. Generally those types of people shutdown when they experience a failure.

I really appreciate your feedback and it was very inspiring! I couldn't agree with you more to be honest. I mean experiencing that on first hand really built me and made me stronger. Putting the troubles in the past and coming back with a new mindset, studying skills, etc... Im just thankful I had the opportunity to redeem myself regardless of my bad undergrad gpa.

 

[DSchoolorBust202X]

I already applied back in end of June-early July. I am just waiting on my top choice as of now! Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. I just dislike how some schools look so much into gpa and not so much of DAT. I know its obviously a major component to see how a student will perform but when I returned to my undergraduate school to complete some extensions courses (prerequisite courses). I ended up getting 2 grades higher than my friend that has a GPA much higher than mine (MUCH higher lol) took the same class/classes. I was fortunate to get an outstanding grade among couple other students in a large class (the final class average was C+/B-). Im sure most students in that class had better gpa than I did. I don't mean to sound like a sore loser but I just don't think GPA is a good indicator of how someone performs (I guess at least in my case?). I just happen to have some unfortunate circumstances happening to me earlier in life that reflected my gpa and some schools may hold it over my head. But can't blame anyone, right?

I also had a low GPA and returned to retake some classes to do better. I just take solace in the fact that most schools do a holistic review of your application. Yes, GPA is important, but so is the DAT and your extracurricular activities.

In general, they want to know your story, and if part of that is a struggle you faced in undergrad, they want to hear it. At my last interview, they seemed really receptive to my financial struggles in undergrad that forced me to work multiple jobs, so all I can say is own it. If that school doesn't like what you have to say, and you're being honest, then it's their loss.

 

[aspiring-dentist101]

I also had a low GPA and returned to retake some classes to do better. I just take solace in the fact that most schools do a holistic review of your application. Yes, GPA is important, but so is the DAT and your extracurricular activities.

In general, they want to know your story, and if part of that is a struggle you faced in undergrad, they want to hear it. At my last interview, they seemed really receptive to my financial struggles in undergrad that forced me to work multiple jobs, so all I can say is own it. If that school doesn't like what you have to say, and you're being honest, then it's their loss.

I agree! You know, I actually did mention the struggles in my application and plan (have and still will) mention it if it comes up during my interviews. But the fact that schools (especially top tier schools) tend to focus so much on overall gpa, total gpa, etc. Applicants like myself don't even get a chance to represent other parts of the application.

My undergrad gpa honestly doesn't represent me, as of now, in ANY way. Especially for those who are non-traditional students. What good can my C's and W's from 6-7 years ago do? Luckily some schools are transitioning into looking at upward trends, which its much more relevant.

 

[deleted942432]

Best piece of advice is to apply to more private schools, and avoid the top tier schools in your situation.

 

[josephhamilton]

Hi All,
I want to buy a dental hearing protection device so I can use it to protect my hearing but I didn't find the perfect one that can I choose? Could anyone help me to find a best one for me? I have read their post but I cannot believe them. So I need a more suggestion before buying it for me.
Look forward to getting a new suggestion.

 

[Sweettooth326]

Hi everyone,

I am in process of applying this cycle. I am a California resident and dream (absolutely dream) of attending UCLA dental school. Not only it'll give me the opportunity to live close to my parents (in Los Angeles) but I'll be achieving my long-term goal. Due to personal circumstances and things that happened in the past, I didn't perform well during my classes early in college years. Obviously I do not want to blame anyone else or any circumstances that led to such bad performance but this really wasn't me and I For the past couple of years, I've been showing upward trend in my academic and prerequisites courses. I finished my bachelors degree with a low gpa (~3.00). I took a short break from school and really thought about continuing to pursue my dream of becoming a dentist graduate from a dental school in California. After a short period of time I returned to school to finish my dental prerequisites and obtained a postbacc degree (w/ overall gpa ~3.80). I can't afford to do a masters degree at the moment. I am doing the honors of helping out my fam with financial expenses, so I figured I could improve my chances by doing other things such as having a good personal statement, DAT score, volunteering hours, etc... I did improve on my DAT score on sections such as PAT, RC, just to stand out to schools like UCLA. While my undergrad gpa may not be the best for dental schools in Cali, I really saw significant improvement in my academics (such as going back to school and getting higher grade in genetics, biochem, A&P courses than students that had much better gpa than me). I was by no means trying to compete with my fellow classmates but really food for thought on trying to keep up with other pre-dental students/applicants. Ive been told by a lot of people to not seek for help and suggestions here, especially for someone that has lower academic stats than majority of people here. But there really isn't any other place to turn to seek any suggestions from dental students and/or any other student that was in the similar situation as I am. I don't really know anyone that have applied to UCLA because they believe they most likely will not review applications with low GPA. So If anyone has any helpful feedback, I would like to hear their suggestions or pm me? I would really appreciate it.

Hey!

Thanks for sharing! I'm in the same boat as you! UCLA is my dream school, but I struggled early on in college. I took a break, and then with renewed determination, have come back and gotten a 4.0 in all the dental school pre-reqs. My overall GPA is still pretty low (~3.34), but I did pretty well on my DAT (23 AA). I tried to convey my journey with dentistry as best as I could on my application. Realistically speaking, I probably won't get an interview (I'm also OOS), but I haven't heard anything yet so I'm holding on to a sliver of hope haha.

When you say you are in the process of applying this cycle, do you mean the current cycle? Because it is pretty late in the cycle right now. I would apply early for next cycle, do whatever you can to make yourself a better candidate (research, shadow, volunteer, etc.), and share your story on your application. Also, try reaching out to the school and see if you can get involved with any extracurriculars affiliated with the dental school.

Keep your head up and have faith! You got this!

 

[aspiring-dentist101]

I think upward trend with a postbacc degree (informal) should be enough to prove that I am capable of succeeding in dental school...

 

[BullGator1004]

I don't want to pay over $40k to improve my gpa for dental schools because of some past struggles that led to my undergrad performance. I think upward trend with a postbacc degree (informal) should be enough to prove that I am capable of succeeding in dental school...

What degree did you get from doing postbacc work?