Feeling Down about Dental Preq's

Started by Talisa3636
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Talisa3636

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Im in a major dilemma! Im entering my sophomore year of college with a major in psychology and predental track. I have completed Biology and the first part of Chemistry 101 and now I am talking Chemistry 102 during summer school. During my first session of Chem (took it in may/june) I recieved a C borderline D (have to talk to my messed up professor) and now I have just started my 102 and im struggling although I have a B currently, it may go down and I dont want it too. Plus I scored C's in my introductory Biology classes.

What is the issue? My issue is whether I should continue my route, my dream of becoming a dentist or do a psychology track which comes easy and fun for me. I love healthcare but I dont want my GPA to head south especially as the courses get harder (org. chem and physics are death to me). Dental schools will see how bad I did in the intro courses and it may effect my admission regardless of my reasearch experience and extracurriculars. It makes me sad because I try sooo hard and study but what once came easy to me in high school is no not the case. What is your opinion? I would love the help!
 
Talisa3636 said:
Im in a major dilemma! Im entering my sophomore year of college with a major in psychology and predental track. I have completed Biology and the first part of Chemistry 101 and now I am talking Chemistry 102 during summer school. During my first session of Chem (took it in may/june) I recieved a C borderline D (have to talk to my messed up professor) and now I have just started my 102 and im struggling although I have a B currently, it may go down and I dont want it too. Plus I scored C's in my introductory Biology classes.

What is the issue? My issue is whether I should continue my route, my dream of becoming a dentist or do a psychology track which comes easy and fun for me. I love healthcare but I dont want my GPA to head south especially as the courses get harder (org. chem and physics are death to me). Dental schools will see how bad I did in the intro courses and it may effect my admission regardless of my reasearch experience and extracurriculars. It makes me sad because I try sooo hard and study but what once came easy to me in high school is no not the case. What is your opinion? I would love the help!
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Try not to get discouraged. Maybe re-evaluate how you are studying. Go talk to your professors and ask them for tips on how to study the material. If dentistry is what you want to do, then stick with it! Good luck!
 
Talisa,

Just want you to know that there are quite a few people who start out just like you. They pick themselves up and push even harder, and they are successful at the end. Progress is what schools are looking for and you "must" show that to them. For more advice on SDN, you should check out Dr. Dai Pham's Dentistry Mentoring Thread http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=405372
Post your concerns there and he will get back to you soon. Best of luck!:luck:


Talisa3636 said:
Im in a major dilemma! Im entering my sophomore year of college with a major in psychology and predental track. I have completed Biology and the first part of Chemistry 101 and now I am talking Chemistry 102 during summer school. During my first session of Chem (took it in may/june) I recieved a C borderline D (have to talk to my messed up professor) and now I have just started my 102 and im struggling although I have a B currently, it may go down and I dont want it too. Plus I scored C's in my introductory Biology classes.

What is the issue? My issue is whether I should continue my route, my dream of becoming a dentist or do a psychology track which comes easy and fun for me. I love healthcare but I dont want my GPA to head south especially as the courses get harder (org. chem and physics are death to me). Dental schools will see how bad I did in the intro courses and it may effect my admission regardless of my reasearch experience and extracurriculars. It makes me sad because I try sooo hard and study but what once came easy to me in high school is no not the case. What is your opinion? I would love the help!
Click to expand...
 
I would like to thank you two soooo much! Along with your input and others im really going to focus on trying to do extra well and not get down. Prayer and new study methods will help me out greatly. Thank you!!
 
Talisa3636 said:
I would like to thank you two soooo much! Along with your input and others im really going to focus on trying to do extra well and not get down. Prayer and new study methods will help me out greatly. Thank you!!
Click to expand...


I am leaving on a 5500 mile round trip drive in a few minutes, but just had to respond for this one. Yes, struggling on the early ones can be discouraging, but if you can settle down and turn your grades around for the rest of your classes, the adcoms will see where you struggled, adapted and overcame the struggles. As long as you begin to turn things around, you will be fine. Adcoms like to see that people can persevere through hardtimes and do well.

Good luck.
 
I truly appreciate the time you took to reply before going on your trip! (Have a safe trip btw). I think i was/am stressing due to the fact that I love to do well and when i dont I put myself down. Although I have a horrible chem teacher who cant teach very well, mebby learning how to teach myself will help in the long run in other classes. Im glad that admissions commitees look at all aspects of a candiate so i could show improvement!!
 
The early classes are usually the weed outs. Do as well as you can and know that you are doing your best. Avoid the professors that are difficult for no good reason. Before you register for classes check the professor's rating on www.ratemyprofessor.com
 
Hey man don't stress it at all. If you really want to be a dentist you can do it. There are days that are really hard, but you know what I do? I have found that I can remember what originally motivated me to be a dentist, why I want to do it and then I get my butt in gear.

Take all the time you can to study and get good grades, they don't have to be perfect, just do your best.
 
Look you messed up. You are human and we mess up. The good news is you realize you messed up. Now is time to get back on track…

The first thing I would do is drop that chemistry class. The W on the transcript isn't going to hurt you come application time, but anything less than a B will wreck your overall and science GPAs long term. It takes a lot of classes to bring up your GPA once it crashes… trust me, I know… I have just spent several years post-bac trying to improve my poor GPA. Doing so got me an interview with San Antonio this August.

Second, consider not taking your science classes during flex terms that only last a few weeks or during summer school. I tried the chemistry in the summer idea myself and had to drop because you just don't have time to read everything and absorb the material. I think you see that now. Also, teachers tend to skip a lot of stuff in these shorter terms… the last thing you need when you get ready to study for your DAT is that you have too learn something new because you only got a cliff note version of it the first time you took the class.

Next, I would retake all the prereq sciences that you did poorly in, during the next full semester. That means taking chem 101 and biology 101 again. Sorry, but the good news is taking them again will help you learn it and getting A's will improve your GPAs.

Last, I would really sit down and look at why you want to become a dentist. Have you researched it? Have you followed a dentist? Is it your passion? Are you prepared to extend your undergrad if needed?

If all roads lead to dentistry for you, then I would suggest you change majors. It will be easier down the road if you have a degree that prepares you for the courses you will take in d-school. Just taking the basic prereqs rarely gets someone into d-school these days. The schools like to see that you have taken advance science courses like anatomy, biochem, microbio, genetics, histology and etc…

If you decide on continuing your psychology degree, look at Behavioral Studies as a major focus if your school offers it. I have a major in Human Behavior (Behavioral Studies) and it is more applicable than just psyc. Also, a lot more fun. You'll need a masters to do anything in psyc or behavior… so look at it. I think North Texas has a great masters in Behavioral Studies.

No matter what you choose, I wish you the best!
 
I thought you can only retake courses that you don't pass, as in getting a C- or lower? So if I received a C+ in biochem can I retake that? I've tried to but my college won't let me....hmm.

A C- won't even hurt you...everyone is trying to scare you. A C- in a 4 unit class isn't even that bad compared to the overall units you take. Let's assume you're in semester system (if you're in quarter system there's that much more of an opportunity to raise your GPA) and you have 4 C-'s. I'm assuming since you're taking introductory classes you have plenty of classes you still need to take. Upper division classes not only are smaller in size usually but the professors aren't trying to weed you out. Sure 4 C-'s might look bad but everyone on these forums agrees an upward trend looks good AND you can still fix your gpa assuming you haven't gotten C-'s in all your classes. If you've dug yourself in a deeper hole then maybe you should consider a post bac but I don't see why you should worry about that now. worry about what you want in your future...would this be your passion...find motivation within yourself and that's what will be your driving force to work harder in the following years. I have no doubt you will become a dentist if you truly want it! good luck with your studies 🙂
 
Retaking courses (Biology) sound slike a good idea however my school only would let me do that unless i fail a class like the previous member said. Thankfully, im doing the Chemistry classes at my local university and having the credit transfered to my college which is Howard. My C in the course makes me feel that I wouldnt be prepared for Organic but I have an excellent organic professor and a good tool called Organic Chemistry as a second language so I have more faith in myself. Im ready to work and get to my goal!
 
A lot of Universities are limiting coursework because they have so many students. Take the classes at a community college. Your school might transfer these as electives or might not, but either way when ADASAS calculates your GPA they will include the class because every credit course, good or bad, is included in your overall GPA. So even if the University doesn't take the class in transfer, you get the review for the DAT and you also get the credit later when you apply to d-school.

Also, I thought o-chem and general chem were two different animals. My math skills are pretty poor and I hated general chemistry... I loved o-chem because I am a visual person, an art degree, and could easily "see" the o-chem bond angles and reactions. Just FYI.
 
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