GPA Questions

[ChrisM07]

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Hello all,

I am sorry if these posts get repetitive, but I don't really know who/where else to ask but here since everyone here seems pretty nice and patient with these questions. Any who...

I feel that I am in a sticky situation grade wise and kinda wanted everyone's input. I am a sophomore now at Temple and will be applying to dental schools in the next two years or so. Recap (I am leaving out my core classes):

Freshman Year:
-Got a C- in Gen Chem I and a D+ in Pre-Calc
-Repeated Gen Chem 1 and Pre-Calc with a B+ and B- respectively
-Ended up with a cumulative GPA of 2.87

Summer Session
-Got a C+ in Gen Chem II lecture and Lab
-Ended up with a 2.78 GPA

Sophomore Semester 1 (this past fall semester)
-Got a C+ in Organic I, Biology II and Organic Lab I
-Got an F in Calc (guess I'm not a math guy 🙄)
-Will obviously need to repeat Calc
-Cum GPA now is a 2.34 🙂cry🙂

The pre health adviser at my school told me to get a plan B. However, I know for sure this is what I want to do and I really cant see myself doing anything else. Another adviser told me not to worry, but with these grades, how can I not. I feel that if I keep on not worrying it will get too late and I will be in a deep hole. I mostly wanted to vent because I really tried hard this semester and it didn't work out again. When do I hit the panic button?

Thanks for listening, and again, I'm sorry if this is 'just another one of these posts'.

Chris

 

[Jaba]

Hi! I think the most of us have had a struggle here and there with out marks at some point in our university degree.. You just have to keep on pushing to better yourself. I started off like you, with a 2.0 GPA in my first year, but every year I stepped it up, and for the last 1.5 years now the GPA has been ~ 3.8 to 3.9. Although the overall gpa is not good, I think upward trends in marks are important. That being said, you just have to belive in yourself.... if you think you are trying your hardest already, push yourself even further. Figure out what you are doing wrong, and keep trying.... I just had a setback with my DAT scores, but I will keep trying.... if you want something, who the hell can tell you what you can or cannot achieve. That is your personal call- if you think you can't, you are probably right. Determination is the factor here.

Don't give up......

Hello all,

I am sorry if these posts get repetitive, but I don't really know who/where else to ask but here since everyone here seems pretty nice and patient with these questions. Any who...

I feel that I am in a sticky situation grade wise and kinda wanted everyone's input. I am a sophomore now at Temple and will be applying to dental schools in the next two years or so. Recap (I am leaving out my core classes):

Freshman Year:
-Got a C- in Gen Chem I and a D+ in Pre-Calc
-Repeated Gen Chem 1 and Pre-Calc with a B+ and B- respectively
-Ended up with a cumulative GPA of 2.87

Summer Session
-Got a C+ in Gen Chem II lecture and Lab
-Ended up with a 2.78 GPA

Sophomore Semester 1 (this past fall semester)
-Got a C+ in Organic I, Biology II and Organic Lab I
-Got an F in Calc (guess I'm not a math guy 🙄)
-Will obviously need to repeat Calc
-Cum GPA now is a 2.34 🙂cry🙂

The pre health adviser at my school told me to get a plan B. However, I know for sure this is what I want to do and I really cant see myself doing anything else. Another adviser told me not to worry, but with these grades, how can I not. I feel that if I keep on not worrying it will get too late and I will be in a deep hole. I mostly wanted to vent because I really tried hard this semester and it didn't work out again. When do I hit the panic button?

Thanks for listening, and again, I'm sorry if this is 'just another one of these posts'.

Chris

 

[USU24]

Realistically, can you get a 4.0 for the next two-three years of your college career? If so, yeah, keep on the dental school track. If not, yeah, maybe finding a plan B is a good idea. It costs a lot of money to apply to dental school.

 

[SugarNaCl]

Chris,
Realistically, the average dental school enrollee nationwide has a GPA of between 3.5 and 3.6. You REALLY need to focus to bring those grades up. You aren't dead yet, but if you keep getting sub 3.0 GPAs and expect to get in right after undergrad, your chances are scant. You may get a few interviews with a 3.2 and excellent DAT scores, but with the competition now unless you are a minority (black or hispanic) or have something very exceptional a school knows about... you will be in trouble if you don't straighten up IMMEDIATELY. Even then, you still may be able to become a dentist but it may take you a LONG time after undergrad in post bacc programs to bring up poor stats. Work hard and Good luck. This is your time to shine.

 

[Jaba]

Chris,
Realistically, the average dental school enrollee nationwide has a GPA of between 3.5 and 3.6. You REALLY need to focus to bring those grades up. You aren't dead yet, but if you keep getting sub 3.0 GPAs and expect to get in right after undergrad, your chances are scant. You may get a few interviews with a 3.2 and excellent DAT scores, but with the competition now unless you are a minority (black or hispanic) or have something very exceptional a school knows about... you will be in trouble if you don't straighten up IMMEDIATELY. Even then, you still may be able to become a dentist but it may take you a LONG time after undergrad in post bacc programs to bring up poor stats. Work hard and Good luck. This is your time to shine.

yup... maybe post-bacc or masters might be needed

 

[ChrisM07]

Yeah I am not ruling out a Post-Bac or Masters, and honestly, if that's what it takes I will do it. Sure it would be nice to get in right after undergrad but if it isn't all that possible I wouldn't be opposed to either. The F in math will be replaced with a better grade next semester (thats how Temple does it) so I'm sure my GPA will go up a little plus the classes I am taking in the Spring as well. If I had gotten straight C+'s (which is not what I wanted to start with, but hey), my GPA should have stayed around the same I think.

 

[sublimegd]

Take a breather semester, easy easy course load. At the same time, shadow a dentist and use the extra time to figure out whats up with your grades. Are you not studying enough? Bad study skills? Maybe get a tutor, and make sure you really know the material inside and out. Then take classes that have calc/chem/whatever u did bad in as a prereq, rock them, rock the dat, and you should be fine. Theres no reason to just give up.

Is the average GPA really a 3.5-3.6 ? Thats wild. Schools like Temple and BU have more human-like GPAs, and probably more human-like students.

 

[ChrisM07]

Is the average GPA really a 3.5-3.6 ? Thats wild. Schools like Temple and BU have more human-like GPAs, and probably more human-like students.

Hahaha.

Yeah I also thought about the breather semester thing but I wouldn't want to not see the material for a semester because I don't want to forget any of it for the following. I even had a tutor for math, but once I did poor on the 2 midterms, my teacher basically said that even a miracle on the final couldn't bring me to a C (minimum to pass) so I pretty much blew off the final (I went and took it of course). My reasoning was to take 12 credits of science and math classes and leave the summer time for the easy cores. Guess that didn't work out all that well.

 

[SugarNaCl]

Is the average GPA really a 3.5-3.6 ? Thats wild. Schools like Temple and BU have more human-like GPAs, and probably more human-like students.

In 2006, 3.52 was the ave GPA. There seems to be more applicants every year, so it is an assumption that it may have been higher in 2007. Anyway, you are right, there are plenty of schools with lower stats than that. I think with the exception of Meharry and Howard (historically minority institutions) the lowest GPA ave for 2006 for another school was around 3.3. I think NYU, BU, Temple and MAYBE Loma Linda were around or just under that number. I think too that Temple seems like a good pick from what people are saying. They have a kick (_!_) clinical program.

 

[ChrisM07]

You know, from reading these posts on here lately with everyone getting accepted I've read a lot of positive feedback (aside from the rejection posts) about people who were in the same position as me or worse and making it eventually. I think this is what actually lets me see that there is hope regardless of your academic standing at the moment (well, most of the time anyways). There cant be words to describe how great they must feel once it happens after years of working and struggling.

 

[SanOnofre2002]

The F in math will be replaced with a better grade next semester (thats how Temple does it) so I'm sure my GPA will go up a little plus the classes I am taking in the Spring as well.

I regret making you feel worse but I think it's important you know all the facts. Retaking a course (and scoring better) will improve your overall GPA, but it won't erase that F as far as d-school is concerned. Every grade you get, regardless of repeated courses, will be averaged in to determine your final GPA.
Aside from that, if your grades are hurting that bad for multiple semesters, you must be doing something very wrong. Bad study habits, time mismanagement, lack of focus, something in how you approach studying isn't working. Most likely it's that your not spending enough time reading and studying. Just a guess, but that's usually the case.

 

[ChrisM07]

Oh no, I don't feel worse. I am fully aware that the grades aren't erased. But the new one is taken over the old which raises the GPA some (depending on the improvement). I spent a lot of time trying to figure my grades out as well. This is the most I have studied for my education and I really felt great about my finals but when I got them back, I only did mediocre (minus the math of course). I felt I learned more than I have before and I actually fully enjoyed the course information for once (biology and chemistry). I just don't know where it went wrong. My parents and I have spent countless hours debating this same topic before 🙄

 

[fireblast713]

You know, from reading these posts on here lately with everyone getting accepted I've read a lot of positive feedback (aside from the rejection posts) about people who were in the same position as me or worse and making it eventually.

To be completely honest, I've never seen a story where someone was admitted with less than a 2.5. So to be realistic if Dentistry is really your dream, you need to sit down and spend some quality time w/ your books and like rock a 4.0 for the next few years. A good DAT score would help also. It's still a possibility but you're really going to have to work for it. Remember, it's easy to say that ____ is my dream, but an adcom is going to sit down and look at your grades, and be like "if this is your dream why didn't you try harder?" You might not be naturally inclined towards the sciences, but with hard work you will get better grades (go to office hours, keep up with the reading, find a tutor, get a study buddy, ask the TA for extra help, do all the problems and not just the assigned ones, study the material after every lecture, etc).

Also if you re-take a class that raises your GPA with your college... however AADSAS factors in both grades, it doesn't just take the "replacement grade" so those poor grades you've earned will still kinda hurt you, retaking doesn't make them disappear in AADSAS, so try not to get anymore.

 

[ChrisM07]

Oh yeah I know I am not expecting to get in with the GPA I have now. My concern was whether or not it is even possible to pull it up to a respectable level and if it would hurt my application. But everyones advise has been just great, thanks a lot 🙂

 

[tinman831]

I'd say you're still fairly early along your college career having finished only 3 semesters. There's still time for you to pull your GPA at least to above a 3.0 provided you work your butt off. At the end of your junior year when you're starting to apply to dental schools, reevaulate what your chances are with the GPA you have then.

 

[NewMexDent]

I was sitting with a 2.9 science gpa a couple of years ago and decided to postpone applying to dental school 1 year to bring it up - and to improve other areas of my application. It was the best decision I had ever made. Not only did I get a lot of extracurricular experience, solidifying my desire to pursue dentistry, but I raised my gpa. You'd be suprised how much a few semesters of A's in science classes can improve your GPA - I applied with a 3.17 science GPA, did well on the DAT and I've been accepted to 4 schools.

I think what's really important is the trend (the trend is your friend). You obviously had some struggles the first part of your collegiate career, but if you show vast improvement from this point on you should be alright, even with a sub-par GPA.