I’m a junior at Rutgers. Going to have to be a fifth year because of transfer credit issues. I’m a biochemistry major and I hope that I’ll be able to go to dental school. But I just made this decision. Hopefully I can take the DAT next summer. But the thing is, I have a pretty horrible GPA right now (2.7ish) that I’m hoping summer classes will help bring back up. I was supposed to shadow my dentist starting July, but I don’t think I can anymore because I have to retake bio 2 during summer session 2 at Rutgers just to keep my graduation date on track. I can’t afford to stay an extra year and I really do want to turn everything around from here on out, grades-wise. I could still shadow maybe once a week. Am I just wasting my time trying to go to dental school or is there still hope?
From what I understand, shadowing and community service are important to your application and you will need those, but the two most important things will be your GPA and your DAT score. You probably should put most of your energy into raising your GPA and preparing for the DAT. But at the same time try to at least shadow a dentist when you can. If you aren’t able to raise your GPA in time to apply to dental school there is the option of doing an informal or formal post-bacc to show that you can handle science classes and to raise your grades. There is always hope, but you will have to be willing to work hard and, most likely, spend a little more time getting ready. Good luck!