Freshman at university

[aliaya255]

I did running start and I’m at my first year in college taking some prerequisites for dental school. My first quarter (autumn 2019): (5 credits) Chemistry (intro 2nd series): 2.4 (5 credits) Math 124: W (2 credits) First year interest group: CR (no numerical grade) I withdrew from Calculus (not required for my major) Overall gpa: 2.4

Winter 2020- current quarter (no official grades yet) (5 credits) chem (last intro class of gen chem) (5 credits) biology (intro series) (5 credits) English

So last quarter, I had a family health problem which lead me withdraw from math (it wasn’t needed for major which is microbiology). This quarter, I’m working hard but I’m failing the first intro biology class. There’s over 700 students and the grading is really awful, I’ve been working hard and my advisor suggests me to S/NS the class as I already used my annual drop last quarter. So then I’ll have to retake Biology next quarter. S/NS is a way to save my GPA. I’m feeling really scared and really want to go to dental school. I know they look at improvements and it’s only my first year. I just don’t know if I should S/NS the class as I don’t want to earn below a 2.0. Being a dentist is my childhood dream and I really want to not lose hope. My microbiology advisor said it's okay to S/NS and then retake the course after.

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[giannis]

You need to quickly figure out what's not working for you or else you're going to up having to do a masters.
If you're going to fail, drop the class.

You need to reevaluate your priorities. Are you putting in the time to study? Don't just say being a dentist is your childhood dream. Words mean nothing. Show it through actions. Put in the time and effort.
I will tell you now that the undergrad work you are doing now is not even comparable to what you'll get in dental school. If you cannot pass a few easy courses, you will certainly fail out of dental school.

 

[sobertiger]

Good thing is that it's early and you have plenty of time to repair your GPA.

1. First for damage control, do whatever it takes to protect your GPA. Withdrawals, drops, S/NS are all fair game.

2. I could be wrong, but it sounds like you are at a big state school. Their pre-health prereq courses are designed to weed people out because there's limited space in the high demand science majors. As a result, even people who did well in high school have a hard time doing well. Dental schools don't care which school you went to as long as you have a solid GPA.. This is why I recommend smaller private schools or even obscure public schools for pre-med/pre-dental students.

3. You need to figure out how to excel at the school you're in. If you can't, you may consider transferring to a smaller, less competitive school.

Don't continue with what isn't working. Whether it's you or your school, you need to make the necessary changes ASAP. If you continue without making changes, your GPA will tank and you will end up doing post-bac or SMP which will cost you a lot of time and money after graduation.

 

[Jaa_]

Everyone has ups and downs. I was a mediocre student in the beginning of college. My wakeup call was a 2.8 one semester. After that I never fell under a 3.8 (taking way harder classes too). How is this possible? You simply have to stop putting the blame on things like professors and "awful grading" and start putting it onto yourself. This is your life dream and you need to take it seriously. Family emergencies suck and definitely bring you down but at the end of the day your goal is still the same and you have to keep pushing through.

While there are a few geniuses out there, the majority of 4.0 students are normal people with a strong work ethic. If you want to be one just start thinking of yourself as one and start living like one. Hang out less with friends that don't care about grades and surround yourself with high achievers. Think about your habits and what you can do differently and start taking some action. As mentioned above, dental school is hell and you will fail if you don't have good study habits/ time management. These weed out classes are designed to weed out people that can't hang, don't let it be you!!! Luckily as a freshman you have very few credits under your belt and if you work hard you will be able to fix this.

Good luck!