Hello fellow SDN forumers! This is the first time I'm seeking help from this forum, hopefully everyone can help me out!
A little background about myself... Came to United States when I was 12 in 2010 (after finishing elementary school aka 6th grade). After finishing middle school in a competitive school district, I moved to a less competitive school district because of my father's work. In the two years I spent in high school, I found passion in math and science and were able to take 7 APs in sophomore year (including chem, bio, physics C, calc) and were able to get pretty good results (4 5s, 1 4, and 2 3s). With good grades and all the weighted points, I was ranked first among 1000 others (pretty large school). Because I am out of classes to take, I was advised to go to junior college by taking California High School Proficiency Exam.
Between the sophomore year of high school and my year at junior college, I went to Boston University summer session to take general chemistry series and calculus series and took some online classes at junior college (~18 semester units total just in summer).
In the year at junior college, my grades start to slip because of the tremendous course load I force onto myself (24 semester units per semester) and because I didn't take any break from school for a LONG time, and also because this is only my first year at college. I took ochem series, physics series, bio series, calculus III, linear algebra, and all the required GE classes in just a year.
BCP GPA: ~3.1
sGPA: ~3.3
oGPA: ~3.5
I still got accepted to UC San Diego in biochemistry and cell biology major. Right now I am taking 2 classes (genetics and metabolic biochemistry) in UCSD summer academy designed for transfers students. With the AP credits, I'm already considered a "senior" by UCSD, and I only need to take ~13 more classes to get a bachelors in biochemistry (which means only ~4 classes per quarter (16 units) which is considered light because of the crazy unit load I did before).
Because of the crazy unit load I did in the previous year, I didn't do ANY ECs... no volunteering, no shadowing, nothing. I applied to volunteer at UCSD hospital so I can probably start by the end of the month, and I consider to apply for research in UCSD as well, and hopefully join a dental student clinic.
Because of the lighter load, and because I start to get the hang of college courses (got 2 As last month), I'm determined to get As for the rest of my time at university, which can bring my oGPA to around 3.7~3.8, BCP GPA to around 3.5, and sGPA to around 3.6~3.7.
I'm a pretty good test taker, so I don't really have to worry about DAT. Without any studying, I took a practice exam and get ~17-18 for the sciences and almost perfect score on math (I'm really good at math) which results in ~22 AA). With some studying and reviewing for sciences I think I can get ~24 AA.
My plan right now is to graduate in 2016, and do something in the glide year. Applying for dental school in the summer 2016.
Tl;dr: I'm current 17 years old in the last year of university, with subpar GPA currently, with no ECs whatsoever right now.
Now the questions...
Should I reconsider graduating next year? (ex: double major or minor and take one more year to graduate or do a masters program first before dental school)
What should I do in the glide year? (ex: go to work? or post-bacc? or do some research? or get a masters degree?)
What kind of ECs should I pursue consider the lack of time I have?
What would dental school think when they see me applying? Would they forgive me for my low GPA because of the insane course load I took every semester? Would they forgive me if I start to show an upper trend in grades from now on?
I don't really care about prestige of dental school, I just want to get into one because I'm interested in interacting with patients. What is my chance at dental school considering my age and my stats?
I know my situation is pretty abnormal/nontraditional that's why I really need help since I can't really find similar cases online...
Thank you for your time reading this and hopefully can provide some insights into my situation!
edit: Just to clarify, all my dental school prerequisites are retaken even though I pass the AP Exams.
A little background about myself... Came to United States when I was 12 in 2010 (after finishing elementary school aka 6th grade). After finishing middle school in a competitive school district, I moved to a less competitive school district because of my father's work. In the two years I spent in high school, I found passion in math and science and were able to take 7 APs in sophomore year (including chem, bio, physics C, calc) and were able to get pretty good results (4 5s, 1 4, and 2 3s). With good grades and all the weighted points, I was ranked first among 1000 others (pretty large school). Because I am out of classes to take, I was advised to go to junior college by taking California High School Proficiency Exam.
Between the sophomore year of high school and my year at junior college, I went to Boston University summer session to take general chemistry series and calculus series and took some online classes at junior college (~18 semester units total just in summer).
In the year at junior college, my grades start to slip because of the tremendous course load I force onto myself (24 semester units per semester) and because I didn't take any break from school for a LONG time, and also because this is only my first year at college. I took ochem series, physics series, bio series, calculus III, linear algebra, and all the required GE classes in just a year.
BCP GPA: ~3.1
sGPA: ~3.3
oGPA: ~3.5
I still got accepted to UC San Diego in biochemistry and cell biology major. Right now I am taking 2 classes (genetics and metabolic biochemistry) in UCSD summer academy designed for transfers students. With the AP credits, I'm already considered a "senior" by UCSD, and I only need to take ~13 more classes to get a bachelors in biochemistry (which means only ~4 classes per quarter (16 units) which is considered light because of the crazy unit load I did before).
Because of the crazy unit load I did in the previous year, I didn't do ANY ECs... no volunteering, no shadowing, nothing. I applied to volunteer at UCSD hospital so I can probably start by the end of the month, and I consider to apply for research in UCSD as well, and hopefully join a dental student clinic.
Because of the lighter load, and because I start to get the hang of college courses (got 2 As last month), I'm determined to get As for the rest of my time at university, which can bring my oGPA to around 3.7~3.8, BCP GPA to around 3.5, and sGPA to around 3.6~3.7.
I'm a pretty good test taker, so I don't really have to worry about DAT. Without any studying, I took a practice exam and get ~17-18 for the sciences and almost perfect score on math (I'm really good at math) which results in ~22 AA). With some studying and reviewing for sciences I think I can get ~24 AA.
My plan right now is to graduate in 2016, and do something in the glide year. Applying for dental school in the summer 2016.
Tl;dr: I'm current 17 years old in the last year of university, with subpar GPA currently, with no ECs whatsoever right now.
Now the questions...
Should I reconsider graduating next year? (ex: double major or minor and take one more year to graduate or do a masters program first before dental school)
What should I do in the glide year? (ex: go to work? or post-bacc? or do some research? or get a masters degree?)
What kind of ECs should I pursue consider the lack of time I have?
What would dental school think when they see me applying? Would they forgive me for my low GPA because of the insane course load I took every semester? Would they forgive me if I start to show an upper trend in grades from now on?
I don't really care about prestige of dental school, I just want to get into one because I'm interested in interacting with patients. What is my chance at dental school considering my age and my stats?
I know my situation is pretty abnormal/nontraditional that's why I really need help since I can't really find similar cases online...
Thank you for your time reading this and hopefully can provide some insights into my situation!
edit: Just to clarify, all my dental school prerequisites are retaken even though I pass the AP Exams.
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