Academically Struggling, but still wanting that acceptance letter...

[PreDent1201]

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Soo let's just say I really screwed up my last semester in college. I'm currently a sophomore majoring in Bio (I guess a Junior, now), hoping to get into Dental School...and I think I may have to retake 2 courses because of me doing extremely poor in them overall. Not only that, there's one other Chem course I took my freshman year that I merely passed, which I think I should retake as well.

With all of this going on, I fear that I might not get everything done on time and may be part of the graduating class of 2013 instead of 2012...and that really freaks me out. A lot of people I've talked to say that I shouldn't worry too much about graduating on time, but just to concentrate on doing well in my classes. Which I do hope to do.

However, I know Dental Schools expect DAT scores by Junior year and applications the following year...and I honestly don't think I'll get it all done in time, considering I have soo much to catch up on. I don't currently have the best grades either and really need to get that GPA up...so until that happens, I shouldn't even think about applying to Dental School. I just want it really bad, and it'd be great if I could graduate at such a young age (I turned 19 only just a few months ago), but I don't want to mess it up.

My question is to anyone knowledgable about all this; is do I have a reason to be really worried, or should I just relax and just let it all fall into place? At this point, I really don't mind if I have to take an extra year to study for the DATs, etc, as long as I have that acceptance letter in my hand, in the end. If anyone out there has any good advice for me regarding this, it'd greatly be appreciated. Thanks so much! Peace.

 

[Bchance]

If your grades aren't good enough and your GPA isn't high enough then you won't even have to worry about taking the DAT.. So first off I would retake anything that is below a C and make an A in the class... IF your wanting it as bad as you say you do, you will be able to make that A.... Secondly, dental school don't really NEED your DAT score by your junior year... It's just good to get it in at the beginning of the year that you plan on applying for... Please someone let me know if i'm wrong...

 

[lphiewok]

If your grades aren't good enough and your GPA isn't high enough then you won't even have to worry about taking the DAT.. So first off I would retake anything that is below a C and make an A in the class... IF your wanting it as bad as you say you do, you will be able to make that A.... Secondly, dental school don't really NEED your DAT score by your junior year... It's just good to get it in at the beginning of the year that you plan on applying for... Please someone let me know if i'm wrong...

i think you're correct =)

to OP,
I agree with Bchance, that you should really focus on getting your GPA up.
Dental school admission is getting harder and harder and many of applicants nowdays come with masters, etc.
So without the foundation (which would be your GPA), you would need something very extraordinary such as excellent DAT / ECs. And right now, it seems like you don't really have any of them (unless you forgot to mention here but assuming that you're only 19 and a sophomore I am guessing you don't really have much other dentistry experience either).

I would definitely make sure to get GPA to around 3.5+ and once you feel like you have solid background on science, start focusing on DAT.

Remember, DAT is easier for you to raise than your GPA. Concentrate on doing well in school first then worry about DAT. Seeing that you have to retake some courses and barely passing, I think priority should be making good grades and don't even worry about graduating on time because you will not have much to do with low GPA even if you graduate on time

 

[PreDent1201]

i think you're correct =)

to OP,
I agree with Bchance, that you should really focus on getting your GPA up.
Dental school admission is getting harder and harder and many of applicants nowdays come with masters, etc.
So without the foundation (which would be your GPA), you would need something very extraordinary such as excellent DAT / ECs. And right now, it seems like you don't really have any of them (unless you forgot to mention here but assuming that you're only 19 and a sophomore I am guessing you don't really have much other dentistry experience either).

I would definitely make sure to get GPA to around 3.5+ and once you feel like you have solid background on science, start focusing on DAT.

Remember, DAT is easier for you to raise than your GPA. Concentrate on doing well in school first then worry about DAT. Seeing that you have to retake some courses and barely passing, I think priority should be making good grades and don't even worry about graduating on time because you will not have much to do with low GPA even if you graduate on time

Thanks a lot, and yeah, I agree. I'll definitely do my best to bring my GPA up. And actually, I have had a pretty vast exposure to Dentistry. I've worked in a Dentist's office for about a year and a half and volunteered at a free Dental clinic in my town. I'm also planning to do some Stem Cell Research at my university this Summer, since I heard it looks good on one's resume. So yeah, at the very least, I think my outside experience is good, for now. I definitely wanna find more Dentists to shadow in the future, anddd of course bring those grades up. So thanks for the advice, really appreciate it!

 

[stlouisboi2002]

Thanks a lot, and yeah, I agree. I'll definitely do my best to bring my GPA up. And actually, I have had a pretty vast exposure to Dentistry. I've worked in a Dentist's office for about a year and a half and volunteered at a free Dental clinic in my town. I'm also planning to do some Stem Cell Research at my university this Summer, since I heard it looks good on one's resume. So yeah, at the very least, I think my outside experience is good, for now. I definitely wanna find more Dentists to shadow in the future, anddd of course bring those grades up. So thanks for the advice, really appreciate it!

My only advice would be to....SLOW DOWN!!! Take your time man, your not 40 yrs old having a career change! Your still young take your time and get it done, I too was struggling with my GPA and worry about the DAT (which I havent taken yet) and I have a family to feed as well...Just let it come to you, trust me it will...I talked to Dr. Coleman at University of Tennessee and he gave me the best advice(even though he is a hardball lol) He just basically said take your time, dental school isnt going anywhere and will be here the next year; the more you worry about getting in here the longer it will take for you to arrive here....Take that in stride!!! Good luck👍

 

[PreDent1201]

My only advice would be to....SLOW DOWN!!! Take your time man, your not 40 yrs old having a career change! Your still young take your time and get it done, I too was struggling with my GPA and worry about the DAT (which I havent taken yet) and I have a family to feed as well...Just let it come to you, trust me it will...I talked to Dr. Coleman at University of Tennessee and he gave me the best advice(even though he is a hardball lol) He just basically said take your time, dental school isnt going anywhere and will be here the next year; the more you worry about getting in here the longer it will take for you to arrive here....Take that in stride!!! Good luck👍

haha thank you! You're right. That really relieves me. Thing is, I just don't want any time to go to waste, that's all. Time is way too precious. So I think as long as I have it all planned out, I'll be good. I just need to first make sure I get those grades up before anything.