I'm a non-traditional student (just turned 25 this week) finishing up my undergrad this year. Early in college, I was not doing well with my health and ended up medically withdrawing one semester, then taking a bunch of bad grades for a couple semesters when I stopped seeing doctors and could not get medical withdrawals. I should have stayed out of school until I was doing better with my health, but I didn't.
As my health improved, I started doing better in school. My last two semester of my associate's were completed with a 3.0 and then a 3.93.
I then worked at a technology company, got promoted, and stayed for a couple years. I was managing marketing and customer experience. I ultimately decided to go back to school to pursue dentistry. My overall GPA at my current school is a 3.79 and I earned a 4.0 in my most recent semester -- got an A in gen chem & lab.
I'm involved with interdisciplinary research on campus and have built strong relationships with several of my professors.
I'll graduate with a degree in a liberal arts subject this year, and will still need to finish the rest of my sciences. I am currently planning on pursuing a post-bacc program.
I'm worried about my overall & science GPAs across schools. Even if I make 4.0s for the remainder of school, including a post-bacc, I'll be lucky to have a cGPA above a 3.1 and a sGPA above a 3.4.
I really want to pursue dentistry, but I'm wondering if there's any chance at all, even if I keep up the good work.
I want to be realistic here -- will I have any chance compared to students with pristine academic records? Sure, I have had some different experiences, but...do schools care enough about that (and a positive trend in grades) to overlook a really bumpy start in school?
Thanks for any advice on this.
As my health improved, I started doing better in school. My last two semester of my associate's were completed with a 3.0 and then a 3.93.
I then worked at a technology company, got promoted, and stayed for a couple years. I was managing marketing and customer experience. I ultimately decided to go back to school to pursue dentistry. My overall GPA at my current school is a 3.79 and I earned a 4.0 in my most recent semester -- got an A in gen chem & lab.
I'm involved with interdisciplinary research on campus and have built strong relationships with several of my professors.
I'll graduate with a degree in a liberal arts subject this year, and will still need to finish the rest of my sciences. I am currently planning on pursuing a post-bacc program.
I'm worried about my overall & science GPAs across schools. Even if I make 4.0s for the remainder of school, including a post-bacc, I'll be lucky to have a cGPA above a 3.1 and a sGPA above a 3.4.
I really want to pursue dentistry, but I'm wondering if there's any chance at all, even if I keep up the good work.
I want to be realistic here -- will I have any chance compared to students with pristine academic records? Sure, I have had some different experiences, but...do schools care enough about that (and a positive trend in grades) to overlook a really bumpy start in school?
Thanks for any advice on this.
Last edited: