Failed an upper level science class...

[samiam1007]

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Hello. First of all, thanks for reading this long thread and I hope everyone's winter break isn't going as depressing as mine..

It's my first time ever posting on SDN, and I desperately need some advice. Especially from someone who made it to DS and was put in similar situation.

my overall sGPA as of right now should be about 2.6~2.8 considering that

I just finished the 1st semester of my Junior year with
B- in Cellular Neurobio
B- in Orgo I
A in an tutoring internship course
and a very unfortunate "D" in General Microbiology class.

I was not being lazy or slacking off to end up with this grade, although, I do admit that I lacked motivation to pull the best out of me for this class and others because 1. I had to fight off a nasty,severe bacterial infection for 2 weeks (how ironic) and 2. received a rejection to my first-ever proposal.

I've already read bunch of other similar threads prior to writing this one. People were suggesting post-bacc, master's to boost up my GPA, rock the DAT, and etc. I will look forward to that, of course.

But I would like to know where I stand exactly as a pre-dental at this point. Will D (and few Cs) totally kill my chance?

According to the policy in my school, there is no grade forgiveness or averaging out; I will have to suck it up and take D into my overall GPA regardless of repeating the course. (still, I look forward to repeating it next fall). I also have some Cs here and there, including Gen Chem I and II , which I also plan to retake over next summer.

Not trying to sound cliche, but I WILL try my best for the next semester, because I acknowledge that I am closer to the dead-end than achieving my goal as of right now.

Sorry for the long whining thread, but I just don't know where I am standing.. my family is telling me to give up on being a pre-dent and go to the army. But i know that isn't an option for me.

Any harsh, but realistic, criticisms are welcome. But, boy, do I feel pathetic and stranded. Please help!!

 

[Faux]

Situations like this, its best to do the math. Lets say you graduate in 4.5 years instead of 4, that leaves 4 more semesters left. Lets say you do 8 credits of science, per semester. 32 total credits of science courses. Lets assume you get an A in all of them. Do the math and see where your GPA is(do ADEA calculation).

I got an F in gchem, B- in one lab, C+ in another and ended up graduating 5.5 years with a 3.5 sci (ADEA calculations) and 3.5 overall and got a few acceptances. I ended up getting A's in my remaining science courses, graduated with 136 credits and made sure not to overwhelm myself each semester.

You need to sit down with yourself and see if this is really want to do. If you were with a 2.6-2.8 now, your grades were already slipping before this semester. Knowing this, you're proposing to someone and obviously spent a significant time with that person. I'm not saying you should be a hermit, but when your grades are low , you need to make sure priorities are straight.

 

[Sw1417]

wrong thread**

 

[Cello]

If you retake and get an A it doesn't matter if the school doesn't forgive as it will still average out. i.e. C + A = B (for both when averaged)

 

[sisklnw1977]

A 2.8 gpa is well below average. Good luck!

 

[Silent Cool]

Hello. First of all, thanks for reading this long thread and I hope everyone's winter break isn't going as depressing as mine..

It's my first time ever posting on SDN, and I desperately need some advice. Especially from someone who made it to DS and was put in similar situation.

my overall sGPA as of right now should be about 2.6~2.8 considering that

I just finished the 1st semester of my Junior year with
B- in Cellular Neurobio
B- in Orgo I
A in an tutoring internship course
and a very unfortunate "D" in General Microbiology class.

I was not being lazy or slacking off to end up with this grade, although, I do admit that I lacked motivation to pull the best out of me for this class and others because 1. I had to fight off a nasty,severe bacterial infection for 2 weeks (how ironic) and 2. received a rejection to my first-ever proposal.

I've already read bunch of other similar threads prior to writing this one. People were suggesting post-bacc, master's to boost up my GPA, rock the DAT, and etc. I will look forward to that, of course.

But I would like to know where I stand exactly as a pre-dental at this point. Will D (and few Cs) totally kill my chance?

According to the policy in my school, there is no grade forgiveness or averaging out; I will have to suck it up and take D into my overall GPA regardless of repeating the course. (still, I look forward to repeating it next fall). I also have some Cs here and there, including Gen Chem I and II , which I also plan to retake over next summer.

Not trying to sound cliche, but I WILL try my best for the next semester, because I acknowledge that I am closer to the dead-end than achieving my goal as of right now.

Sorry for the long whining thread, but I just don't know where I am standing.. my family is telling me to give up on being a pre-dent and go to the army. But i know that isn't an option for me.

Any harsh, but realistic, criticisms are welcome. But, boy, do I feel pathetic and stranded. Please help!!

Send me a PM.

 

[samiam1007]

My sGPA before the D was 3.2. I know it isn't a high GPA still, but I am hoping that, by retaking the failed class and few classes where I had Cs, acing more classes, and rocking DAT, I could bounce right back to considerable pool.

Let me know if this isn't true and I should totally give up on becoming a dentist.

(On the side note, for ECs, I have 150+ hours of shadowing a locally well-known dentist and dental mission trips to Haiti, which really set my goal as a practitioner of dentistry)

I've never gone to extra help, office hours, or tutoring in my life. Needless to say i did not try hard enough achieve higher grade. But by no means I had been slacking off. I look forward to going to office hours literally every single time and really nail down upcoming classes.

I am ready to fully commit myself into studying hard this coming semester and onward, because i realize that, in actuality, chances are drifting away from me.

 

[BillyJoel]

Seems like you are pretty committed to dentistry judging by the impressive shadowing hours and mission trips. I'd say the only thing that should keep you from pursuing dentistry is if you really feel that it is not what you want to do or if you think that you might be more passionate about another occupation.

That being said, figure out what you are doing wrong with your study habits. The number one thing right now is to improve your grades. Judging from the GPA you posted, it looks like you impacted your schedule with too many difficult courses without figuring out how to do well in classes first.

 

[irishmom]

I got a D in Gen Chem 3. Retook got an A. I also had 3 F's from over 10 years ago when I first went to college (forgot to withdrawl when I was going through a nasty divorce). I was still admitted to tOSU. It is doable, especially if you can show imprvement from here on out. I got all A's and 2 B's my last 2 semesters, they noted this trajectory in my admissions letter. They also noted the fact that I did well on the DAT when I retook it (improved by 3 points overall second time)

 

[Faux]

My sGPA before the D was 3.2. I know it isn't a high GPA still, but I am hoping that, by retaking the failed class and few classes where I had Cs, acing more classes, and rocking DAT, I could bounce right back to considerable pool.

Let me know if this isn't true and I should totally give up on becoming a dentist.

(On the side note, for ECs, I have 150+ hours of shadowing a locally well-known dentist and dental mission trips to Haiti, which really set my goal as a practitioner of dentistry)

I've never gone to extra help, office hours, or tutoring in my life. Needless to say i did not try hard enough achieve higher grade. But by no means I had been slacking off. I look forward to going to office hours literally every single time and really nail down upcoming classes.

I am ready to fully commit myself into studying hard this coming semester and onward, because i realize that, in actuality, chances are drifting away from me.

Like I said, look up the ADEA calculation sheet, calculate your current GPA by their standards and make up some potential scenarios. I was calculating my GPA every semester, it really encouraged me when I saw the numbers on paper.

Good Luck, its an uphill road but you can do it.

 

[samiam1007]

Like I said, look up the ADEA calculation sheet, calculate your current GPA by their standards and make up some potential scenarios. I was calculating my GPA every semester, it really encouraged me when I saw the numbers on paper.

Good Luck, its an uphill road but you can do it.

Thanks for your reply. Calculating GPA every semester to see where I stand would be a great encouragement, indeed. It would show the progress and some sense of achievement.

2 minutes left until the new year. I am setting my resolution clear and firm: Gotta raise that GPA. Happy New Year, everyone. Wish all of you to have a fruitful year. Gonna be a tough year for some people but I bet they can make it all through.

 

[kindascared]

(On the side note, for ECs, I have 150+ hours of shadowing a locally well-known dentist and dental mission trips to Haiti, which really set my goal as a practitioner of dentistry) [/QUOTE']
Hey man, wanna do something like the dental mission trip, how were you able to do that? was it through your college or what?

Thanks for the response.

 

[Proxybrush15]

From what I learned, all unfavorable grades come to light in the interview

 

[sskater]

If the bad grades come up during your interview (and you'll get some!), that's your chance to shine and explain how you changed your academic mindset, study habits, and things you've learned in the process. Good luck!