advice needed - extra year of science classes after graduation

[chocchipcookie]

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i'm supposed to graduate in may 2012 and had always planned on taking summer and winter classes during each break to make up for lost time with prereqs. after some consideration, i think this stresses me out far too much and i also think i need to do some serious bcp gpa repair.

after doing some calculations, it will actually be cheaper for me to take a year of classes at a local school by my house than it would be to pay for them separately over the various breaks, so financially it would make sense. i also always planned on taking a year or 2 off before applying anyway, so i don't mind the extra time.

i guess my real question is this: i go to an ivy league school, but would be taking these upper-division and extra science classes at a mediocre state school by my house. is this going to be a huge problem? after talking to some admissions people, they've basically said that my undergrad does matter, but i already pay for school out of pocket and there's no way i can ask my mom to shell out an additional year's worth of tuition/housing/all that jazz. i'm also not really sure what the alternative would be if it's not okay, so i don't know. what can i do to make this situation better if i take them at the school close to my house besides get all As?

 

[chocchipcookie]

bump? i can give a tentative list of classes i'd be taking if that'll help...

 

[Maygyver]

What is the "mediocre state school?" Schools might think you are taking an easy route by not taking them at the current school since they can't be sure that the reason you did it is financial, but it's better than taking them at a community college.

 

[molar3]

Hmmmm I just graduated from Upenn for undergrad and I dont know where you go, but I think its a known fact at my school that our science professors are like out to fail us.....or so thats what the students say. Im sure thats not their ACTUAL intention but most of the class averages in my classes were in the 60's and the professors would tell us this up front on the first day of class. So if you were a bio major youd basically be being screwed very often by ur classes. Alot of my friends and i ended up with lower gpas (ie i have a -2.77 sgpa) and ended up having to do postbaccs, and no none of us are doing them at penn. The dental schools i want to go to, i spoke to them about my situation and they actually suggested where and at what schools i do a post bacc at within my town. So the point is, you need to have the gpa requirement for dental school, its kind of a numbers game.....you need to just get good grades (ie-amazing grades, ie- straight 4.0s) wheerver you go.
gluck

 

[chocchipcookie]

maygyver - either suny stony brook (excellent dental school, i know, but not really good undergrad) or even worse, farmingdale state college, depending on how i can arrange rides as my car was totalled last summer

molar - hmm that's how it is here, too, pretty much. i'll have science classes here as well, but i'm finishing up graduation requirements and since i'm already a junior and just started my bio sequence, i won't really have time for advanced bios except anatomy and physiology, since i need to take my orgos next year as a senior. i MAY be able to squeeze in microbio, but even that's kind of a long shot right now based on the stuff i need to finish up.

 

[hoylematt]

Im sorry but I have to pipe up about this whole "Impossibly hard teachers/schools" excuse. I can say without a doubt that every class I have ever received less than an A in that I know exactly how I got that grade and just how hard I would have had to work to get an A. Some of my professors were so ridiculous in the games they want you to play to 4.0 their class that it becomes your major focus of the semester just to do so.

That being said: I saw it too many times in my fellow classmates that those struggling would begin blaming the teacher, the department, the "Unfair test" or the impossible-to-read textbook on their poor grade. My advice is the moment you start to rationalize why you are the victim and your teacher is failing you, point that finger at yourself and make a list of all the stuff you can do better. Start being accountable now and stop making excuses for your poor performance.

The reason I say this is that the difficulty and credit load of most people's so-called impossible semesters at an Ivy league school pale in comparison to the amount of work you will be doing in Dental school. Getting A's are always possible in my opinion. Its just a matter of how much you are willing to sacrifice to get them.

 

[yappy]

I agree with you to some extent. But lets not kid our selves to dismiss circumstance is to dismiss reality. For example - I have a class where the test are very long and given in a short amount of time. I have spent 25 hrs/wk studing for this one math based class outside school. I can 100% random HW problems and have the abillity to do all problems on the test; yet manage low B's high C's which is FAR above the class average of about 52%. This is because to finish you're given approx 1.5 min per probleml, each consisting of multiple parts. As far as I know no one gets A's on her exams and she doesnt curve. Sometimes things are just not the cards despite our best efforts.

 

[hoylematt]

If nobody got A's, and the class average semester after semester was 50%, wouldn't you think she would have such a massive amount of complaints filed by her students that she would be under review by her department. I'm just saying that seems a little far fetched that not a single person can get an A.

 

[molar3]

hoylematt do you even go to an ivy league school? It doesn't say you do on your predents profile. so you should probably just give advice on what you know, not your assumptions since youve never expirienced it. thanks.

 

[amalgamgrillz]

If nobody got A's, and the class average semester after semester was 50%, wouldn't you think she would have such a massive amount of complaints filed by her students that she would be under review by her department. I'm just saying that seems a little far fetched that not a single person can get an A.

Several of my undergraduate classes had class averages in the 60s - dental pre-requisite courses in particular. I now TA some undergraduate courses at another school, and I can attest to the fact that they get to write their own exams, and the professors are a joke. My kids are getting interviews left, right, and center because they've essentially paid for their undeserved 4.0 GPA. Like it or not, there are easy schools and there are extremely hard schools. So, I'm going to have to semi-disagree with you on your "own up to your own mistakes" comment; the only mistake many of us made was going to a top tier university that was out to "get" us (academically speaking).

 

[chocchipcookie]

so from what i'm reading i should:
- yes take the classes at the easier/cheaper school after graduation
- make sure to do really well in them
- maybe get involved in some ECs or TA a science class?

 

[lululime]

so from what i'm reading i should:
- yes take the classes at the easier/cheaper school after graduation
- make sure to do really well in them
- maybe get involved in some ECs or TA a science class?

Pretty much. Choose easy classes and avoid ridiculous profs. To do this requires lots of research and advice from students that took such and such classes. Watch out--some profs will make wordy/tricky multiple choice exams.

I am a Canadian student and realize that I can only have a real chance at a US school because there is so much emphasis on GPA. You'd think that going to a good school, taking pre-dental courses that can help you in dent school, and having lots of diverse experience can really boost your app but when it comes down to it these extra things are just tie-breakers. Even straight A's in a community college can get you into dental school (esp. in Canada)! Good luck kiddo!