C- on biol pre-req

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smw123

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Hey everyone! I have received a C- in general biology and a C- in anatomy. Does this mean I have to retake these classes or do you think I still might get into a dental school with those grades on my transcripts?
I'm a female, going on 30 years old and I struggle with biology concepts and actually worked very hard to get those C- grades🙁 I know there is a lot of smart people on here so please don't be annoyed with my question! I just want to know if you guys think it'll really hurt my chances or possibly not (by the grace of God lol). Thanks!
 
Unfortunately many schools if not all require at least a C in your prerequisite classes like general biology, gen chem, organic, and physics, and some others depending on schools. Gen bio was a very hard class when you are first starting off
 
Thanks for the reply Dentsss!
 
Dentss is right. However, call the schools. If you live in TX, the dental application only does letter grades so all +/- grades are converted to letter grades (C- = C, B+ = B, etc).
 
Thanks everyone I appreciate your responses!
 
Is a C- still a C? I don't think getting a couple Cs really affects it that much.. but then again I'm still a pre dent so who knows. I have a couple Cs myself but from what I've heard as long as you're honest (i.e I fell behind and didn't do so well) or you had an actual situation that had caused you to allocate your attention in other areas (I.e I have kids or my mother is blind, I need to help my family, etc) than they'll be ok with that.

My first C was in general chemistry 1, my grades had improved over the years, made a B in GC2, and As in the following organic1/2 and biochem. Just try to improve, from my understanding and what I've heard from multiple professors, college is more about HOW to learn, it's a place where you can really develop study sills before you get into the bigger leagues.

Also, in my opinion, if you keep your grades up, have a good DAT score (even if your numbers aren't the best), if you don't get in the first time but try again, dental committees look very highly upon that. I think it matters more to the school that you legitly feel dentistry is what you want to do (but obviously they want to make sure you're smart enough to get through it as they don't want any flunks or withdrawals out of their program).

Any who hope that helped.
 
smw123 said:
I just want to know if you guys think it'll really hurt my chances or possibly not (by the grace of God lol). Thanks!
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Amen! My transcript has a few Cs. I made a C in Intro to Biology and for now, I'll be a D1 at UKCD in the fall of next year. I didn't take the class again because I wasn't sure if I would be able to do better the next time around. My other grades were decent, but far from a perfect. Please keep in mind that you don't just get in based on your GPA. There's the DAT that you can use to make up for it, and they look at community involvement and extracurriculars. And don't forget your personal statement. I don't really see a lot of talk about that, but I'm sure they wouldn't require us to write one if it had no influence on whether or not we at least get an invite for a supplemental application or an interview at the school.
I can understand where you're coming from. I'll be 30 in a couple of years too. I worked darn hard for my grades, but I'm also balancing a full-time job (I work 12 hours overnight dispatching for a 9-1-1 center) and I am a single parent.
If you have the time and money to spare to retake the class, and you absolutely know that you can do better, then by all means, go ahead. I'm sure that it won't hurt your chances if you were to get a B or an A after re-taking it. : ) Whatever you decide, just remember that God is in control and things always work out the way that they're supposed to.
 
smw123 said:
Hey everyone! I have received a C- in general biology and a C- in anatomy. Does this mean I have to retake these classes or do you think I still might get into a dental school with those grades on my transcripts?
I'm a female, going on 30 years old and I struggle with biology concepts and actually worked very hard to get those C- grades🙁 I know there is a lot of smart people on here so please don't be annoyed with my question! I just want to know if you guys think it'll really hurt my chances or possibly not (by the grace of God lol). Thanks!
Click to expand...

If you like to go at your own pace, I'd recommend Khan Academy videos. He's very thorough, and it should cover most of your general biology topics.

Anatomy is a lot harder. You'll want to do a lot repetition for naming structures. But, remember- it's still biology. The diffusion concept that you learn about in general biology helps explain how action potentials work in neurons, and so on. It may help you to think in a more "see the forest, not just the trees" fashion.

Also, what's your learning style? We all learn differently- and you can find out by going to the Student Services section of most universities. If you learn how to curtail studying to your strengths, you may find that it's a lot more efficient.

Good luck! You can do it. 😀
 
PostDocCain said:
You'll have to retake both classes and get a "C" or higher unless you live in texas and will be applying to schools in that state.
You just have to retake it and move forward.
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You are confusing the TMDSAS calculation with the minimum acceptable grade for required courses. As with others ds, the TX contingent also require a minimum of a C grade for all pre reqs; a C- is not a C.
 
Last edited:
Thanks everyone for your responses! All of your input is appreciated, thanks!
 
doc toothache said:
You are confusing the TMDSAS calculation with the minimum acceptable grade for required courses. As with others ds, the TX contingent also require a minimum of a C grade for all pre reqs; a C- is not a C.
Click to expand...

Old post but I'll jump in again. I was told by TMDSAS and d schools that it's okay. Some schools use a +/- system. My alma mater had a 70-73 as a C-. However, at other schools in TX, a 70-79 is considered a C. TMDSAS converts it to letter grades only for "standardization" purposes.
 
DentalLonghorn2014 said:
Old post but I'll jump in again. I was told by TMDSAS and d schools that it's okay. Some schools use a +/- system. My alma mater had a 70-73 as a C-. However, at other schools in TX, a 70-79 is considered a C. TMDSAS converts it to letter grades only for "standardization" purposes.
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Whether or not it is or it is not OK is a function of how great the applicant in question happens to be. The Tx contingent is known to forgo the DAT requirement;
 
doc toothache said:
Whether or not it is or it is not OK is a function of how great the applicant in question happens to be. The Tx contingent is known to forgo the DAT requirement;
Click to expand...

I'm sorry doc, what do you mean?
 
Whether or not you retake them (I think you have to?), you should figure out your learning style to help you retain info better. My anatomy teacher had our whole class take this little quiz from a book called How We Learn and Why We Don't. It's basically the middle two letters of the Myers-Briggs test but it helped me a lot - i.e., told me I need to know what I'll be learning before I learn it (read chapter outlines first), that I must take notes while reading in order to retain info, and that colors/highlights mean more to me than to most people. I kind of already knew this stuff but sometimes I thought I could skip out on taking notes while reading, haha, so it was good to know I shouldn't chance that anymore. Some people must recite info out loud to retain, or study in a group, and some need to listen to music, etc. Good luck!
 
im pretty sure if you keep improving with upper level courses then you shouldnt have to retake them. I know people who have gotten in that barely passed 1st year chem, but they obviously made up for it either via DAT or upper level courses. Im sure getting an A in an advanced bio class like physiology will make up for a C in a general bio class. Not sure, but my 2 cents
 
joiedevivre86 said:
Whether or not you retake them (I think you have to?), you should figure out your learning style to help you retain info better. My anatomy teacher had our whole class take this little quiz from a book called How We Learn and Why We Don't. It's basically the middle two letters of the Myers-Briggs test but it helped me a lot - i.e., told me I need to know what I'll be learning before I learn it (read chapter outlines first), that I must take notes while reading in order to retain info, and that colors/highlights mean more to me than to most people. I kind of already knew this stuff but sometimes I thought I could skip out on taking notes while reading, haha, so it was good to know I shouldn't chance that anymore. Some people must recite info out loud to retain, or study in a group, and some need to listen to music, etc. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Do you go to the same school as me? Our anatomy prof did the same thing. Utterly useless, IMO
 
retake
 
DentalLonghorn2014 said:
Dentss is right. However, call the schools. If you live in TX, the dental application only does letter grades so all +/- grades are converted to letter grades (C- = C, B+ = B, etc).
Click to expand...
Is that just Texas schools? I recently heard about this elsewhere. Would help my science GPA if its true at a few schools and make me much more hopeful.

Getting an A-, very doable usually for me. An A? lot of luck involved at least thats how i feel.
 
Sparkmandrill said:
Is that just Texas schools? I recently heard about this elsewhere. Would help my science GPA if its true at a few schools and make me much more hopeful.

Getting an A-, very doable usually for me. An A? lot of luck involved at least thats how i feel.
Click to expand...

Yes. Just TX schools. It's great if you get a (-) grade. It sucks if you get a (+) grade.
 
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