Guys do you really believe that Dental School ADcoms tear apart the individual Transcripts and compare the GPA's based on the classes students have taken. People can have a 4.0 in sciences just taking simple classes. Do you think that just looking at overall GPA without considering the classes taken(somebody might have 3.0 with higher level classes from various disciplines ranging from quantum mechanics to Bio-chemisty) is a good way to gauge students abilities and grant the admissions. Have your say.
A debate about GPA ( Plz participate)
- Thread starter Afz
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Afz said:
from what i have heard, dental schools do not rip your transcripts apart due to lack of "making the grade". there are many stipulations and concerns that are taken into account when applying. the people reviewing you, if you get an interview, should understand if you have a slump during one semester or so. just do the best you can in both pre-reqs and DATs.
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Also, how can you compare the difficulty of two different universities to each other. I had all of the pre-req. science classes done by the time i applied to d-school, and only now am i taking upper division bio classes (im an econ major). This means that d-schools wont even see my upper div. bio classes until I send in my final transcript. So I don't know how much they take into account which classes make up your science gpa. It seems as though they want the prereqs complete and to look at overall gpa and science, as well maybe as class load.
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I don't think that they tear into everybody's transcripts. As someone else pointed out, how can you compare two transcripts from two universities and the level of difficulty of each subsequent course? An element of the application that "levels" the playing field and provides a more objective platform from which applicants and their abilities can be measured is the DAT. Unlike school, every applicant has to take the exam under the same conditions and is tested over the same material as the other individuals. I believe it is because of this that some schools place a premium on DAT scores over gpa's (e.g. UOP) or why a school is willing to forgive a less than stellar gpa if an applicants DAT scores are very good. Maybe if it came down to the wire between two applicants then an adcom might go a bit deeper and rip into a transcript, but I cannot imagine them doing it course by course on a routine basis.
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I'm guessing they take the general difficulty of your classes (science vs. nonscience) into account as well as their percieved difficulty of your university if they know anything about it. then look at your gpa and decide if you deserve an interview. I don't think they go class by class and compare people though.
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podarski said:
Good point, podarski. Plus, difficulty is all relative. It'd be unfair to assume science/technology is more challenging than subjects in the humanities. (In the same way some people assume working in dentistry is easier than working in medicine!)
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Yes I really DO think they tear through a student's transcript, and all others as well that have been submitted. It costs more money to take in an unqualified student and have them fail out. Dental school definitely looks at your course load and credits taken, though much more heavily centered on course load (this is from Dr.Sposetti herself at UF)
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I went to Washington (UW) for my undergrad which is a quarter school. Trying to compare course load is practically impossible because 3 classes/qtr is considered a full time schedule. You only have ten weeks to complete a course which includes 3 exams and a final. That means exam one can be as early as the end of week 2 or Monday week 3.
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First you just need to meet the minimum req gpa for the shool and then they look at where you are getting the degree. i think they do consider quite bit if you graduating from a high ranked in sci college
