A little advice please

[podarski]

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I have just recently decided to go to dental school, unfortunatley my grades aren't exactly where they should be. I have a c- in math 1050(I took it in 97 when I was a junior in highschool) and a C in music 1010 a b- and a couple b's. I took 2 years of from school to serve a service mission for my church. I have probably averaged a 3.3 to a 3.5 since i've been home (2 b- and the rest A's and A-) but haven't really been trying to hard since I had no clue what I was going to be. My gpa as we speak is a 3.3 (though I believe it will be factored down to a 3.0 since they don't accept the grades for the classes I clept out of). The good thing is that I have not started any of my science classes yet, & I still have at least 2 years to raise my grades.
Now you know a little of my background I have a few questions.

1) Does math count as part as your science gpa, I have heard both ways.
2) I am fluent in spanish, and plan on minoring in spanish. Will this help me to get in at all, or just when (if) I am practicing.
3) I am the assistant store manager where I work, I am in charge of the interviewing and hiring process among many things. Would it be more beneficall to have this type of job or try to get a job in a related field.
4)How much do the "recomdended" courses (microbiology, bioethics, anatomy, etc...) help you in the admisions process.

Sorry for all the questions, as you can tell I'm new to this. Thanks abunch for your help.

 

[The Musketeer]

1) Does math count as part as your science gpa, I have heard both ways.

Yes, it will be counted toward your overall and science GPA, but NOT BCP (bio/chem/phy) GPA

2) I am fluent in spanish, and plan on minoring in spanish. Will this help me to get in at all, or just when (if) I am practicing.

I believe this will not effect your admission status in any way, but it might be beneficial when you are practicing

3) I am the assistant store manager where I work, I am in charge of the interviewing and hiring process among many things. Would it be more beneficall to have this type of job or try to get a job in a related field.

Because it is hard to get a job in the dental field with no experience, many applicants will begin by shadowing or volunteer at the dental office and then if you get comfortable enough, and the dentist needs an extra pairs of hands, then he/she may hired you. However, if you are in need of cash, what you can do is keep the manager job, and then find go work in the dental office on your free time. It is good to have some dental experience before you apply so that you have some knowledge of the operations in the dental office. It will also look good on your application, and if the dentist knows you well enough, he/she can even write your and LOR.

4)How much do the "recomdended" courses (microbiology, bioethics, anatomy, etc...) help you in the admisions process.

It will be good to have as much recommended courses possible just as long as you can maintain a good GPA. Taking these upper years courses will enable the ADCOMs to see you have more in depth knowledge the sciences compare to one who takes just basic courses. Also, in dental school you will have Microbio, anatomy, etc, so getting these knowledge in undergrad will certainly help you in dental school.

 

[podarski]

So with that c- in my math class does that pretty much ruin me for my science gpa?

 

[Bashar]

Why not just retake that class? So replace it with the grade you get...

 

[Sprgrover]

Why not just retake that class? So replace it with the grade you get...

...True, retaking the class might help your school gpa, but keep in mind that AADSAS will use both grades to determine your gpa.

 

[The Musketeer]

So with that c- in my math class does that pretty much ruin me for my science gpa?

No, one C- will not kill you. If you are getting Bs and As in the rest of your classes, then the C- will only decrease your GPA by about .15 (depending on how many classes to average out this one C-)

Also because the C- is in math, which is really not one of the 'core courses', it should not effect the application status, so don't worry a lot about it. Just focus on your current courses and get As or Bs and you will do fine!

 

[podarski]

So my chances are still pretty good even though I have a 3.0 right now and that c- in math as long as I get A's and B's for the next 2 years? Thanks alot for your help!

 

[demonicr]

with a 3.0, you'll definately not want to bring that down ANY further than it is... if it does... just graduate fast!! then do a MPH and/or post-bacc's. Good luck!

Precarious, you got rejected from temple with those stats???? thats wierd... 😕

 

[podarski]

precarious_Yups thanks abunch thats the best advice I've had. I was going to take my biology class and physiology but I think i'll drop it and do like you say and see if I need it in the future or not. As far a being a minority I'm not ( I wish I was, my brother in law got offered a full ride scholarship to byu's mba program cause he's half tongan) I'm just a white boy that knows hwo to speak spanish. I haven't read that post yet but I"m going to right now. As far as the 3.0 I got a ways to go and plan on bringing it up .3 to .4 points no hope of me getting out fast.