Community college and rec letter q's... please help!!!

[marina1285]

Ok, so I had a couple of questions. First and foremost, I attended Community College for the first two years of my undergraduate degree to save money and this is where I took most of my core science classes, but now I'm not so sure that this was a good idea as I think dental school might look down on it. My grades are as follows...
Bio 1: A
Bio 2: A
Gen Chem 1: B+
Gen Chem 2: A
Organic Chem 1: A
Organic Chem 2: A
Calc 1: B
Calc 2: A
English 1: B+
English 2: A
Precalc 1: B
Precalc 2: A

^--- these are the classes I took at community college

And these are ones I took at Rutgers University...

Genetics: B+
Psych 101: A
Physics 1: F <--- I know ... realllly bad but it was my first semester at RU and I'm retaking it this semester and so far so good
General Microbiology: A
Personality psych: A


Also, I have another concern... I've always wanted to practice medicine and my intitial thoughts were med school, however after having done extensive hospital volunteering and MD shadowing, I realized it wasn't for me. However, one of my rec letters that one of my profs wrote for me was for med school, i'm just wondering if D school will look at the wrong way, is there anyway to not have that letter released, I know it's a good letter, but I did express a passion for medicine in the interview as opposed to dentistry, what should I do????? I've never taken MCAT's or applied to med school. I've always had an interest in dentristry but I wasnt absolutely sure, so I talked to a family friend and asked if I could work as his assistant. He trained me and by the time I apply to D school I will have been working there for almost 2 years, I absolutely love it and know for sure that this is the profession I want, without a doubt.

As far as EC activities, I've had to support myself through school..I waitress, bartend, assist and volunteer at St. Peter's hospital. I have no research exp. (no time!) and I also am a part of the pre dent society at RU, although not in a leadership role.

please if anyone can help me with these question it would be sooo helpful, I'm freaking out!!!

 

[OregonDent]

While it is best to take classes at a 4 year institution, I do not think that the community college is going to hurt you that much, as long as you do a few things. First, you need to ace the rest of your Junior year. Also, try to take as many upper level science classes as you can before you apply. This is to show that while your other grades may come from a community college you were able to keep up with the toughest science classes that that Rutgers has to offer. Try to fix that F. If you can, retake the class and have it stricken from your record, do. If that is not your schools policy, petition to have it taken off once you retake the class. Second, and probably most important, you need to do well on the DAT. For most schools this is the common denominator amongst applicants from varying schools. As far as the letter of recommendation, only use that old letter if you know for certain that it does not mention, or allude to the fact that you were once thinking about medical school. The whole medical school things may make a good point in an interview, but you do not want them thinking about it while there deciding whether to give you an interview or not.