Bad Marks..advice needed..

[predent4]

Well here's my situation:

First year, a "D" in Bio, C in Chem, C- in chem C in O-chem, D in English. This year, a 3.5 ish but a D+ in math. I have since definitely learned how to study more efficiently and effectively and thus expect about a 3.7 in my next two years. Have a summer job lined up this summer as a dental assistant, full time for 4 months. Volunteer once a week during the school year at the hospital.
Soooooo, Dentistry a possibility?

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[Jessi4eve]

I guess you still have to take bio II, right? I say go ahead an retake Ochem I and English for sure. You have almost aced 50% of your prerequisites with four Cs and a D. NO Way for this one. Would you mind me asking what you were doing? I was thinking maybe you could later explain why you got those Cs by how you have changed your study habits, but a "D" in English is ridiculous. Retake!

 

[predent4]

i was just an idiot 1st year? lol. I dunno, poor study habits, lifestyle habits etc. I'm definitely taking re-upping every single one of those pre reqs though. so are you saying 'no way' on getting into dent?

 

[DrReo]

Well here's my situation:

First year, a "D" in Bio, C in Chem, C- in chem C in O-chem, D in English. This year, a 3.5 ish but a D+ in math. I have since definitely learned how to study more efficiently and effectively and thus expect about a 3.7 in my next two years. Have a summer job lined up this summer as a dental assistant, full time for 4 months. Volunteer once a week during the school year at the hospital.
Soooooo, Dentistry a possibility?

The D and at some schools the C- will recall for a retake, otherwise they will not accept them. Get your act together, have a positive time and get 20+ straight across your DAT may solve this problem.

 

[Sublimation]

Well here's my situation:

First year, a "D" in Bio, C in Chem, C- in chem C in O-chem, D in English. This year, a 3.5 ish but a D+ in math. I have since definitely learned how to study more efficiently and effectively and thus expect about a 3.7 in my next two years. Have a summer job lined up this summer as a dental assistant, full time for 4 months. Volunteer once a week during the school year at the hospital.
Soooooo, Dentistry a possibility?

If you do a quick search you can find some stats that doctoothache posted. They will help guide u as to what course of action you should be taking. every case that dental schools examine is unique in its own way. You just have to find a way to stand out. Def retake that D, and work hard on acing everything from now on. Gluck

 

[adizzle87]

You have to retake those C- courses as well as most schools will not accept them. That's a good thing because AADSAS will average your new grade with the old one.

I got a C straight out of high school for a Physics JC class that was 5 semester hrs (since it wouldn't count towards my Uni GPA I didn't really care, but I didn't know what I wanted to do then). Then I got a C- in a Ochem the next year. That made it really hard for me to even calculate my GPA, and when I did it made it even harder for me to see myself applying to any sort of professional school.

But during this summer I went through a life-changing experience that helped me focus on my goals and all the habits that would have to come with it. What did I do? I studied my a#$ off, aimed for an A+ in every class I had. Did I get an A+ in every class, heck no, but had I not had that sort of mentality I wouldn't have gotten the grades I received. So at the end of my 2nd year I didn't even have a 3.0 but now I have more than that.

I learned the hard way that anything lower than a C will drain your grade. But if you aim for excellence (and nothing short of it) you can overcome. Your upward grade trend and GPA will show it and hopefully you can reflect the maturity you got from learning from these mistakes at an interview when you apply two or so years from now.

I only wish you the best, you can do it so long as this is truly what you want and you learn to prioritize to it.

 

[predent4]

thanks guys... at least theres some hope!

 

[predent4]

oh and they really do average your D with the new mark obtained? I didn't know that

 

[theskibumjohnso]

may be you should study and get good grades,

 

[ArmyOrtho1Day]

I'm in a similar situation, F in Bio 2, retook and got a B+, D in Chem 2, retaking next semester, D+ in o chem 1, retook and failed, retaking again next semester. Rest of grades are B's, B+'s, and A's with a C in speech and a C in calc 2.


The grades aren't my point. What I'm asking is, right now I have a 3.1, but I'm wondering, do retakes hurt your chances of getting admitted to dental school even if you replace them with good grades since you had to retake them in the first place, or does the admissions committee only care about what you ended up getting in the class?

 

[beastmode]

There is always hope...I got C's in nearly all of the dental school prereqs.

My school did not allow you to retake a class unless you received a D. In my opinion retaking classes is a cheap alternative anyways (unless you need to b/c of a F,D, or C-) b/c if you have gone through the entire class once already you SHOULD get a better grade..in my opinion this isnt showing much to dental schools other than that you can get high grades after taking twice the amount of time as other students to learn the material.

In my opinon, the best way out of this hole is to take a bunch of upper level courses that coincide with the lower level courses you did bad in. Take as many upper level sciences as you can fit and make sure you take a heavy course load (17 credits+). If you get good grades doing this, most dental schools will overlook your poor start. However, you should be trying to get mostly A's. The poor start needs to followed by a stellar finish, not just an average one.

Then you need to score 20+ on the DAT.

Good luck. I know from experience that it can be done.

 

[Selso2109]

Well here's my situation:

First year, a "D" in Bio, C in Chem, C- in chem C in O-chem, D in English. This year, a 3.5 ish but a D+ in math. I have since definitely learned how to study more efficiently and effectively and thus expect about a 3.7 in my next two years. Have a summer job lined up this summer as a dental assistant, full time for 4 months. Volunteer once a week during the school year at the hospital.
Soooooo, Dentistry a possibility?

With your track record I wouldn't expect anything like that, what you should say is your going to work as hard as you can and try to turn this situation around. You will need a dramatic change to make up for those marks, a serious upward trend and high DAT marks. Anything is possible, but ultimately it is up to you.

 

[lafuturedent82]

Look, as long as you work hard and show that you really CAN excel in your classes, in the end what matters most is that you have improved. Work hard, retake classes, and if in the end you still don't feel like you have a good enough GPA - or if you apply and don't get in, you can always get into a post-bac or masters program that will help you prove yourself and also give you more knowledge and life experience. There is ALWAYS hope, you just can't give up. In the end it will all work out if you want it bad enough!