Dental School Applicant with Low GPA due to Medical Hardship
Applying to dental school this cycle with around a 3.1 cGPA / 3.1 sGPA and a 21 DAT as a Texas resident. My GPA was heavily impacted during sophomore year after I fractured a vertebrae and required spinal surgery, causing me to miss most of a semester. The following semester was spent rehabbing and relearning proper movement mechanics, and across those two semesters I had around a 2.3 GPA, dropping my cumulative GPA significantly.
Outside of that period, I’ve shown a strong upward trend in upper-level biology and chemistry coursework with multiple 3.3–3.4+ semesters, including a 3.75. I also have 115 shadowing hours, 4 years of work experience, and the past 2 years I’ve worked as a sales/shop manager at a tint shop doing hands-on work daily. I’m trying to build a realistic school list and wanted to see what schools you guys think I should target, especially ones that value resilience, upward trends, and nontraditional experiences.