Epic Journey: From Failure To Dentist?

[Joliver]

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Given my situation, what is the best possible route from FAILURE to dental school?

👍 (~Don't tell me to give up or that it isn't possible. When there's a will, there's a way!)​

Hello everyone, I am a 21 year old college student who woke up one day and decided to pursue a career in dentistry. Although many successful students get a "kick start" on this early on in high school, I say it's better late than never! If not dentistry, then a successful someone with a doctorate in the field of science. I am compassionate, enjoy helping people, have volunteer experience at a hospital and I love everything about the Dentistry profession. I owe a lot to my widowed mom who has suffered a lot to make financial sacrifices for everyone in my family. Sounds great, right? Only one major problem...

Unfortunately I didn't hit the ground running. My college experience so far has been filled with indecision, costly mistakes and wasted opportunity. I've spent 2.5 years at a 4-year university, accumlating more C's, D's, F's and W's than acceptable and have nothing left but a pitiful 1.5 GPA, 27 credits, "academic warning" status and a head full of regret.

I assure you, I'm not a complete idiot! Many people see me as bright and talented guy, but I have a tendency to get caught up in emotional drama. Each year it's the same story: I devise an elaborate plan to get where I need to be, but I always sabotage it by losing focus and getting distracted. It turns out my disclipine and study habits need a lot of work. Most importantly, I need serious educational advising to overcome these great obstacles.

The harsh reality now is my academic status. Let's just say I took a "leave of absence" from my 4-year college and decided to pursue an alternate route from Associate to Bachelors to Dental School. My current plan is detailed below:

• Pursue an Associate of Science degree from Excelsior College. (Distance learning) Use their credit bank service to consolidate all my good grades into a single transcript, while erasing the bad grades. Taking CLEP exams (a great idea for getting college credits on a tight budget), taking some of pre-dentistry science prerequisites at a community college, pulling solid A's to prove that I am capable. Get an A.S. degree and finish with a decent GPA.
  
  
• Bring the Associate of Science degree back to a 4-year university and complete a B.S. Biology degree, again maintaining a competitive GPA to prove my worth. And finally, score high on the DAT.

Going from failure to academic prestige... can it be done? What do you all think? All advice and suggestions are much appreciated.

For reference, this thread is encouraging to people who have bad grades:
" To people who freak out over things...my story"
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=783024

 

[lmaozedong1]

Learn to be more disciplined and you'll be fine.

 

[ah1989]

You may want to look more closely at the "credit consolidation" you speak of.. When filling out the app on AADSAS, you have to provide transcripts from ALL universities attended, so I don't think you can ever "erase" the bad grades. This doesn't mean you can't work to maintain good grades from here on out and have a better GPA at a different institution, but dental schools still will see the other grades.

I can't really comment on the best way to tackle the situation, but you might want to look further into what I mentioned above. Best of luck!

 

[peanutb123]

Given my situation, what is the best possible route from FAILURE to dental school?

👍 (~Don't tell me to give up or that it isn't possible. When there's a will, there's a way!)​

Hello everyone, I am a 21 year old college student who woke up one day and decided to pursue a career in dentistry. Although many successful students get a "kick start" on this early on in high school, I say it's better late than never! If not dentistry, then a successful someone with a doctorate in the field of science. I am compassionate, enjoy helping people, have volunteer experience at a hospital and I love everything about the Dentistry profession. I owe a lot to my widowed mom who has suffered a lot to make financial sacrifices for everyone in my family. Sounds great, right? Only one major problem...

Unfortunately I didn't hit the ground running. My college experience so far has been filled with indecision, costly mistakes and wasted opportunity. I've spent 2.5 years at a 4-year university, accumlating more C's, D's, F's and W's than acceptable and have nothing left but a pitiful 1.5 GPA, 27 credits, "academic warning" status and a head full of regret.

I assure you, I'm not a complete idiot! Many people see me as bright and talented guy, but I have a tendency to get caught up in emotional drama. Each year it's the same story: I devise an elaborate plan to get where I need to be, but I always sabotage it by losing focus and getting distracted. It turns out my disclipine and study habits need a lot of work. Most importantly, I need serious educational advising to overcome these great obstacles.

The harsh reality now is my academic status. Let's just say I took a "leave of absence" from my 4-year college and decided to pursue an alternate route from Associate to Bachelors to Dental School. My current plan is detailed below:

• Pursue an Associate of Science degree from Excelsior College. (Distance learning) Use their credit bank service to consolidate all my good grades into a single transcript, while erasing the bad grades. Taking CLEP exams (a great idea for getting college credits on a tight budget), taking some of pre-dentistry science prerequisites at a community college, pulling solid A's to prove that I am capable. Get an A.S. degree and finish with a decent GPA.
• Bring the Associate of Science degree back to a 4-year university and complete a B.S. Biology degree, again maintaining a competitive GPA to prove my worth. And finally, score high on the DAT.

Going from failure to academic prestige... can it be done? What do you all think? All advice and suggestions are much appreciated.

For reference, this thread is encouraging to people who have bad grades:
" To people who freak out over things...my story"
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=783024

You said where there is will there is a way... well are you going to walk a long way and it will take you at least 4-5 years before getting into dental school.

Do not do distance learning or community college. Get a fresh start from your 4 year state school. ITS much better than jumping all around, and almost all state schools have prehealth office and motivated individuals such as yourself pushing each other to the limits in group studies, etc... since you have not received any type of undergrad degree... i am pretty sure you will get a better financial aid.

Your grades are not gonna go anywhere they will follow you. But if you overcome them by getting at least a 3.5 or above each sem. by strategically planning your courses for ex: take 2 hard science classes and 3 easy bs classes so you can have a nice balance.

Its going to be a long road all you have to do is keep the big picture in focus and dont let anyone make you deviate away from it.

Good luck

ps. Failures are the ones who believe they are failures -pb123

 

[flontario]

Just give up😀

 

[newbiewins]

Dont give up! that being said, i have a freind who transfered from a community college to a 4 year university and kinda ****ed up there. not as bad as u but still not good enough for dental school. what hes trying to do now is transfer to another 4 year university and start over, disregarding hes previous grades. so when he applies to dental school he never shows them the transcript from the first 4 year university cuz he would take the classes at the new 4 year university. his situation is similar to yours in that hes having family difficulties and financial problems but then again who doesn't? u seemed focus and know what your doing. if u can get in to another 4 year university and start fresh from there, i would do that. i really dont think u ever have to show your previous transcripts to dental schools but im not a 100% sure. Good luck. hope this helps

 

[Impulse155]

I think the best route for you would be to not take your science pre reqs at community college and take your electives. Get 4.0's in those and then apply to a more known school. Reasoning behind this is most dental schools wont consider credits from a community college so at least you can get your electives out of the way and not be wasting your time and money by taking sciences. After that, get to the more known college, start taking your chems, organic, bio's and pull A's in those. Not much else you can do in my opinion.

 

[beatsdre]

"I've spent 2.5 years at a 4-year university, accumlating more C's, D's, F's and W's than acceptable and have nothing left but a pitiful 1.5 GPA, 27 credits, "academic warning" status and a head full of regret. "

This doesn't add up. 2 1/2 years of college and only 27 credits? At most universities average course load is 16 units. You should have around 80 by now? Unless you have a TON of W's, and or you have 27 credits of PASSED classes.

If you have a 1.5 with around ~80 Units, then you will need to take 120 units of straight A's in order to get a re-raise your gpa to a 3.00 (which is the cutoff for most dental schools- but even if you get a 3.00 it will still be literally impossible due to 3.5 being the matriculant average). In order to raise it to a 3.5, you'll need 324 units of straight A's. Dental schools also average grades, so there are no grade replacements available, and you will have to show your past transcripts. Theres no way around it.

If you have a 1.5 with 27 units, then you'll need a 108 units of straight A's in order to re-raise your gpa to a 3.5. In order to raise it to a bare min. 3.0, you'll need aprox ~40 units which is definately doable. <---if thats the case- then by all means you have a great shot at changing everything!

I'm not trying to be a debbie-downer, but the task ahead of you is monumental especially if you have ~80 units. I'm assuming you may have academic probation due to the 1.5 (which puts you ALREADY at a HUGE disadvantage because you will need to notify dschools), and you will need to ace literally 3+ years of HARD coursework. On top of that schools will wonder what the heck you were doing in your first two years. On top of that you need to ace the DAT.

The plus side is that you can achieve any dream with sheer willpower...but this task seems literally impossible. You gotta question whether you have the money, willpower, and you have to accept the reality that after 100+ units of straight A's, you may not make it. I'm not advocating you give up, but really ask yourself do you want it?. It would be alot easier going into some other health professions that are just as good paying, and have the stability that a dental profession has.

Gl with ure decision.

 

[duckdds]

Dont give up! that being said, i have a freind who transfered from a community college to a 4 year university and kinda ****ed up there. not as bad as u but still not good enough for dental school. what hes trying to do now is transfer to another 4 year university and start over, disregarding hes previous grades. so when he applies to dental school he never shows them the transcript from the first 4 year university cuz he would take the classes at the new 4 year university. his situation is similar to yours in that hes having family difficulties and financial problems but then again who doesn't? u seemed focus and know what your doing. if u can get in to another 4 year university and start fresh from there, i would do that. i really dont think u ever have to show your previous transcripts to dental schools but im not a 100% sure. Good luck. hope this helps

I don't think that is going to work. No one can fool AADSAS. I'm sure they will find out somehow that your friend went to a new university to start "fresh" b/c he screwed up at his previous school. All applicants are required to send in all their transcripts, and I'm sure they have someway to validate all applications. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[beatsdre]

Dont give up! that being said, i have a freind who transfered from a community college to a 4 year university and kinda ****ed up there. not as bad as u but still not good enough for dental school. what hes trying to do now is transfer to another 4 year university and start over, disregarding hes previous grades. so when he applies to dental school he never shows them the transcript from the first 4 year university cuz he would take the classes at the new 4 year university. his situation is similar to yours in that hes having family difficulties and financial problems but then again who doesn't? u seemed focus and know what your doing. if u can get in to another 4 year university and start fresh from there, i would do that. i really dont think u ever have to show your previous transcripts to dental schools but im not a 100% sure. Good luck. hope this helps

Advocating that you hide transcripts is the DUMBEST thing one can do. Your records are out there by name, ss#, etc etc. If you do get in, you will need to pass checks. If they find out- bam you are gone. No questions asked. You just wasted 4+ years of your life.

 

[newbiewins]

Advocating that you hide transcripts is the DUMBEST thing one can do. Your records are out there by name, ss#, etc etc. If you do get in, you will need to pass checks. If they find out- bam you are gone. No questions asked. You just wasted 4+ years of your life.

It just seems possible. has anyone not sent aadsas all thier transcripts and got in to dental school.

 

[beatsdre]

It just seems possible. has anyone not sent aadsas all thier transcripts and got in to dental school.

When you matriculate into dental school, you have to give out your ss# etc for checks. Its impossible, and *****ic to do it. Even if you get away with preliminary checks, if you get caught while in 2-3rd year of dschool- there goes your entire education, and hey congrats! you are also in debt!. You get caught later? Bye DDS.

 

[Double Bonded]

It just seems possible. has anyone not sent aadsas all thier transcripts and got in to dental school.

You'll be blacklisted from every professional school you apply to. They're are people that try to hide past grades and it never works out. Like the previous poster pointed out, you give adcoms a plethora of information about yourself and all of the associated transcripts will be taken (i wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of database that matches personal info w/ past academic history).

 

[K Niner]

You'll be blacklisted from every professional school you apply to. They're are people that try to hide past grades and it never works out. Like the previous poster pointed out, you give adcoms a plethora of information about yourself and all of the associated transcripts will be taken (i wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of database that matches personal info w/ past academic history).

Even if they theoretically weren't able to see your previous coursework. You would have to list on your application what you did for those two years (which would make it quite obvious that you didn't give them all the information they are looking for when there is a two year gap with no grades, etc.) Covering up coursework = stupid, unprofessional, unethical, unlikely to work (near impossible), and unworth the risk.

Also, rereading your post OP, I see you were there for 2.5 years, but only have 27 credits. How can this be? Do you mean you only have 27 credits that you have passed, not 27 credits attempted? Let us know how many credits you have attempted.

 

[yappy]

It's to bad grades didn't expire. Like if it was 5+ years ago not to list it unless you're going to use those credits to fulfull the requirements to apply. Those that always knew they wanted to be a dentist wouldn't like this because it would elevate other applicants; however, it would be a nice realality and very fair considering the way applicants are evaluated - you still would have to earn the good grades and couldnt cherry pick.

OP - if you make it into dental school it will be "epic". Just realize you need to 4.0 15+ credits per term (summers included) for the next 2-3 years, and most likely will do a masters if you have a large amount of attempted credits under your belt already. Dont worry too much over the DAT untill you get a few years of solid grades under your belt and realize dentisty can happen.

 

[triple seven]

Take many upper scinece courses and get A on all of them. and do post bacc or master to boost up ur GPA. Get 23+ on DAT, lots of shadowing and volunteer, I suggest go to 3rd world country and help people out. Write a kick ass personal statement regarding what you felt and learned during the preparation for dental school. When you invited for interview, just be yourself and be honest.
That's it.. seems a lot but if you really want to go dental school, you know what you gotta do. Good luck and hope you can achieve your dream.

 

[dentalWorks]

Given my situation, what is the best possible route from FAILURE to dental school?

👍 (~Don't tell me to give up or that it isn't possible. When there's a will, there's a way!)​

Hello everyone, I am a 21 year old college student who woke up one day and decided to pursue a career in dentistry. Although many successful students get a "kick start" on this early on in high school, I say it's better late than never! If not dentistry, then a successful someone with a doctorate in the field of science. I am compassionate, enjoy helping people, have volunteer experience at a hospital and I love everything about the Dentistry profession. I owe a lot to my widowed mom who has suffered a lot to make financial sacrifices for everyone in my family. Sounds great, right? Only one major problem...

Unfortunately I didn't hit the ground running. My college experience so far has been filled with indecision, costly mistakes and wasted opportunity. I've spent 2.5 years at a 4-year university, accumlating more C's, D's, F's and W's than acceptable and have nothing left but a pitiful 1.5 GPA, 27 credits, "academic warning" status and a head full of regret.

I assure you, I'm not a complete idiot! Many people see me as bright and talented guy, but I have a tendency to get caught up in emotional drama. Each year it's the same story: I devise an elaborate plan to get where I need to be, but I always sabotage it by losing focus and getting distracted. It turns out my disclipine and study habits need a lot of work. Most importantly, I need serious educational advising to overcome these great obstacles.

The harsh reality now is my academic status. Let's just say I took a "leave of absence" from my 4-year college and decided to pursue an alternate route from Associate to Bachelors to Dental School. My current plan is detailed below:

• Pursue an Associate of Science degree from Excelsior College. (Distance learning) Use their credit bank service to consolidate all my good grades into a single transcript, while erasing the bad grades. Taking CLEP exams (a great idea for getting college credits on a tight budget), taking some of pre-dentistry science prerequisites at a community college, pulling solid A's to prove that I am capable. Get an A.S. degree and finish with a decent GPA.
• Bring the Associate of Science degree back to a 4-year university and complete a B.S. Biology degree, again maintaining a competitive GPA to prove my worth. And finally, score high on the DAT.

Going from failure to academic prestige... can it be done? What do you all think? All advice and suggestions are much appreciated.

For reference, this thread is encouraging to people who have bad grades:
" To people who freak out over things...my story"
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=783024

Unfortunately, I don't believe you can "erase" your old GPA, that stuff sticks on you for life.

HOWEVER, there is alot of hope for you. If you TRULY are serious about going after this field, then your gonna need to work hard (duhhh right?)...

You've completed 27 credits in undergrad correct? So for example, if you take another 27 credits, and 4.0 them, then this will bring up your overall GPA from 1.5 to 2.75 (still low but there is alot more room to improve)

If you take ANOTHER 27 credits, and 4.0 them, you will bring up your overall from 2.75 to 3.37

So you see, it is VERY possible for you to salvage your situation. Obviously, I am not suggesting that you basically 4.0 every class from this point forward, but TRY YOUR HARDEST to earn A's.

As far as your future plan goes, Just enroll into a 4-year university from now and start working your way towards a B.S degree. I personally wouldn't waste time with an associates.

Good luck on whatever you decide

 

[dentalWorks]

Dont give up! that being said, i have a freind who transfered from a community college to a 4 year university and kinda ****ed up there. not as bad as u but still not good enough for dental school. what hes trying to do now is transfer to another 4 year university and start over, disregarding hes previous grades. so when he applies to dental school he never shows them the transcript from the first 4 year university cuz he would take the classes at the new 4 year university. his situation is similar to yours in that hes having family difficulties and financial problems but then again who doesn't? u seemed focus and know what your doing. if u can get in to another 4 year university and start fresh from there, i would do that. i really dont think u ever have to show your previous transcripts to dental schools but im not a 100% sure. Good luck. hope this helps

It just seems possible. has anyone not sent aadsas all thier transcripts and got in to dental school.

Well, I think (not 100% sure here) that AADSAS can check to see how many colleges a person has attended via social security number. They won't be able to access your transcrpits (of course not) but Im sure they'll be able to see all the colleges the person has attended in thier lifetime along with the dates.

Once they find out there is a mismatch between what your reporting and whats actually shown, then only God knows what the consequences will be. This is one of these things you can't lie your way out by saying "ohhhh shoot I forgot those 40 credits at BunkerHill Community college"

 

[Seahawk]

Given my situation, what is the best possible route from FAILURE to dental school?

👍 (~Don't tell me to give up or that it isn't possible. When there's a will, there's a way!)​

Hello everyone, I am a 21 year old college student who woke up one day and decided to pursue a career in dentistry. Although many successful students get a "kick start" on this early on in high school, I say it's better late than never! If not dentistry, then a successful someone with a doctorate in the field of science. I am compassionate, enjoy helping people, have volunteer experience at a hospital and I love everything about the Dentistry profession. I owe a lot to my widowed mom who has suffered a lot to make financial sacrifices for everyone in my family. Sounds great, right? Only one major problem...

Unfortunately I didn't hit the ground running. My college experience so far has been filled with indecision, costly mistakes and wasted opportunity. I've spent 2.5 years at a 4-year university, accumlating more C's, D's, F's and W's than acceptable and have nothing left but a pitiful 1.5 GPA, 27 credits, "academic warning" status and a head full of regret.

I assure you, I'm not a complete idiot! Many people see me as bright and talented guy, but I have a tendency to get caught up in emotional drama. Each year it's the same story: I devise an elaborate plan to get where I need to be, but I always sabotage it by losing focus and getting distracted. It turns out my disclipine and study habits need a lot of work. Most importantly, I need serious educational advising to overcome these great obstacles.

The harsh reality now is my academic status. Let's just say I took a "leave of absence" from my 4-year college and decided to pursue an alternate route from Associate to Bachelors to Dental School. My current plan is detailed below:

• Pursue an Associate of Science degree from Excelsior College. (Distance learning) Use their credit bank service to consolidate all my good grades into a single transcript, while erasing the bad grades. Taking CLEP exams (a great idea for getting college credits on a tight budget), taking some of pre-dentistry science prerequisites at a community college, pulling solid A's to prove that I am capable. Get an A.S. degree and finish with a decent GPA.
• Bring the Associate of Science degree back to a 4-year university and complete a B.S. Biology degree, again maintaining a competitive GPA to prove my worth. And finally, score high on the DAT.

Going from failure to academic prestige... can it be done? What do you all think? All advice and suggestions are much appreciated.

For reference, this thread is encouraging to people who have bad grades:
" To people who freak out over things...my story"
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=783024

The problems are highlighted.

 

[UCLAzy]

troll

 

[Seahawk]

troll

Referring to me?

 

[UCLAzy]

Referring to me?

to the OP. just didnt feel like quoting the whole thing

1 post, hasnt come back. story that would rile people up. seems like a troll

 

[Impulse155]

to the OP. just didnt feel like quoting the whole thing

1 post, hasnt come back. story that would rile people up. seems like a troll

Prolly figured that he didnt get the response he wanted, so hell move on to the next forum.

 

[dwallin]

Dude you're fine. My first couple years of college I had a pitiful gpa, somewhere around a 2.6, I took a couple of years off and then made up my mind that I wanted to do this. I came back to school in January of 2009 and am accepted to dent school this year. I've had about a 3.95 tho since I've come back and gone year-round so it's brought my gpa up greatly. Point is, if you're committed and determined, I've got no doubt that you'll become a dentist. Good luck!

 

[jj007]

Quoting from the movie "Dumb and Dumber":
Lloyd: The least you could do is level with me. What are my chances?Mary: Not good.Lloyd: You mean like one out of a hundred?Mary: More like one out of a million.Lloyd: So you're tellin' me there's a chance.

Yes, you still have a chance but it is small and you cannot afford any more mistakes. Reading your post, you have a long way to go in improving your study habit:

Each year it's the same story: I devise an elaborate plan to get where I need to be, but I always sabotage it by losing focus and getting distracted. It turns out my discipline and study habits need a lot of work. Most importantly, I need serious educational advising to overcome these great obstacles.


My advice is to aim for something more doable, like being a dental assistant or hygienist. Even though they are more doable, they are also quite competitive to get in.

 

[bunnytooth]

Anything is doable...one of my friend had 2.5 gpa as an undergrad took all the prerequisite courses in a community college and is in dental school now...one of the general dentists that I shadowed also went to community college ....so it doesn't matter where you go and take the classes..its the level of difficulty and consistency that matters the most. If you are a well rounded applicant and if you have good grades in the future with a great DAT score you'll be absolutely fine.

don't worry abt erasing bad grades...let them show...mention in ur personal statement about the motivation, and the transition from the old u to the new u....u can to apply to schools that have a lower gpa requirement instead of reach schools to increase ur chances..good luck !

As for whether u want to get an associate's first or start off with bachelor's is upto ur financial situation ...