Concerned for Grades

[nhaoilay]

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Hi. I am worried about my grades. I really want to get into dental school but general chemistry has been a struggle for me. I received a 2.4, then a 2.1 for chem 142, and 152. Then I decided to take 162 at community college and received 2.9 and microbiology for a 3.1. I am worried for my grades and not sure what I should do. I would have to score a lot of 4.0's to get a 3.6 GPA but realistically that would be extremely hard! I am not sure what to do. Should I retake those science courses? My school averages both of the GPA's out if I retake courses, but I dislike gen chem and do not understandit as much. So that is why i wanted to take it at a community college, but that could be frowned upon also for completing chemistry at CC and getting a 2.9 in it. I want to take microbiology again at my university also since I do not like having a 3.1. My gpa right now is a 3.0 and I am a sophomore this year. What would you do in my shoes? Retake classes? I am freaking out!

 

[barami0113]

All the courses you take (if you repeat, both courses count) will be counted toward GPAs when you file application. Therefore, taking it at community college won't benefit your GPA. And people know that classes at community college are much easier. If I were you, I would just repeat the courses at university.

 

[jigabodo]

I would suggest taking not taking GC in CC as well. In addition to being frowned upon by adcom, given that classes maybe easier in CC may also cause you trouble later on when you take the DAT.

 

[busupshot83]

I would have to score a lot of 4.0's to get a 3.6 GPA but realistically that would be extremely hard!

Yes, it would, but if you apply yourself correctly, you can do it. I bombed my sophmore year of university, and went from a 3.7 GPA to a 2.9 GPA. I had to get straight As for 3 years to bring my overall up to a 3.7 again.

You are not the only one in the struggle: I bombed my DAT recently, and got a 15. I suggest you decide what you want to do, do some planning on how to attain your goal, and then go for it. I can easily just say, "a 15 on the DAT blows, I give up." However, I am going to retake it and raise that score so that it correlates with my high GPA. I find a lot of pre-dents get caught up with a "rush-rush" mentality, where they just want to get in and out of dental school fast so that they can make their cool $212,000 a year. Life doesn't work that way... nothing comes easy.

Since you are only a sophmore, I suggest you lowering your hours taken a semester to 12-13 (the minimum amount to be considered full-time), and focusing on getting high grades. As long as you get a C or better in the prereqs, I wouldn't rush out and retake the courses. If you can manage to get at least a 3.0-3.2 overall/science GPA, and score high on your DAT (20+), you may have a good shot. Also, focus on doing some extracurriculers which make you stand out, like going on a rescue mission to Antarctica, jk 😛.

 

[jdoc04]

Life doesn't work that way... nothing comes easy.

Amen!!!

Through Hard work and persistence one can achieve great things!!

 

[ladente19]

If you were going to retake classes again, try avoiding going to a CC because I dunno about your school but I know at my school they don't transfer the grade, its usually just the credit so it really doesn't help your GPA......