Low GPA during early years.....

[Lemieux]

I am very concerned that my application will not be very competitive due to one very bad year. My GPA during my first year was 1.68! All the required courses that I need to apply to dental school were done during my first year. My second year GPA was around 3.2, third year was 3.6, and this year should be around around 3.3. Upper year classes beyond first year consisted mostly of biology, genetics, physiology, anatomy, and some chem credits. That means, physics, calculus, and my english marks from my first year will still stand as I havent taken upper year classes to replace them.

My DAT was 24 Academic/21 PAT.

Thank You

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Nendo21]

I am very concerned that my application will not be very competitive due to one very bad year. My GPA during my first year was 1.68! All the required courses that I need to apply to dental school were done during my first year. My second year GPA was around 3.2, third year was 3.6, and this year should be around around 3.3. Upper year classes beyond first year consisted mostly of biology, genetics, physiology, anatomy, and some chem credits. That means, physics, calculus, and my english marks from my first year will still stand as I havent taken upper year classes to replace them.

My DAT was 24 Academic/21 PAT.

Thank You

did you get any C-'s your freshman year? if you did you need to retake those, other than that you look pretty alright to me your dat is great to get you in on its own, and they will probably cut you some slack sinse its freshman year when you messed up and you showed a improvement. what will your cummulative gpa and your science gpa be??

 

[bouncy_ball]

I am very concerned that my application will not be very competitive due to one very bad year. My GPA during my first year was 1.68! All the required courses that I need to apply to dental school were done during my first year. My second year GPA was around 3.2, third year was 3.6, and this year should be around around 3.3. Upper year classes beyond first year consisted mostly of biology, genetics, physiology, anatomy, and some chem credits. That means, physics, calculus, and my english marks from my first year will still stand as I havent taken upper year classes to replace them.

My DAT was 24 Academic/21 PAT.

Thank You

i agree w/ nendo, definitely figure out where you stand by calculating your sci and bcp gpa's. i too had a poor gpa first year, albeit not that low. when i interviewed at buffalo, they said they tend to forgive weak entrances into college. i think that's the attitude that a lot of d-schools take. great job bringing up your gpa, btw!

you have gorgeous dat scores, so i definitely think you'll be competitive at schools which weigh dat's more heavily (like uop). get an early start on those apps too!

good luck!

 

[gatorchc27]

How do schools feel about a dip in your 2nd year? I lost focus and then my grandmother passed away during my 2nd year and GPA dipped to a 3.1-3.3 (C's in Orgo 1 & 2, C+ in Bio 2). Minus those two semesters it's been a 3.7 for the others. Overall I have a 3.5 and around a 3.2 Science. Will my poorer performance in my 2nd year mess up the trend of improvement they like to see?

 

[helix]

I have a question too.
I have a "D" in genetics and a "D" in Quantitative Analysis
Should I retake them??
I haven't taken DAT yet - will take it in May (I guess) for 2006 cycle.

 

[smile87]

I am very concerned that my application will not be very competitive due to one very bad year. My GPA during my first year was 1.68! All the required courses that I need to apply to dental school were done during my first year.
My DAT was 24 Academic/21 PAT.

Hey! I too had an incredibly terrible first year. I believe my first semester I got a 1.8 and my second semester a 2.1. I did go to an ivy league school for undergrad but still that is no excuse - just terrible terrible grades - including a D+ in both bio and bio lab and a D in General Chemistry!! Because of those first year grades, I ended up graduating with only a 2.7! I went back to school as a post-baccalaureate student for a year, retaking both general biology and general chemistry, and taking orgo and physics earning all A's and A+'s at a state school. I didn't even do as well as you did on the DAT (I got a TS score of 22 including a 29 in orgo, an AA score of 22, and a pat score of 15 due to my being idiotic and forgetting an entire section during the exam until the very end ). I applied late in the cycle (Dec) and still I was invited to interview at nine different schools. It sounds like despite a rough start, you really picked things up and ended up doing extremely well. I wouldn't stress about it too much, but if you're concerned perhaps you could call up a dental school and ask for their advice or if you have the opportunity retake the classes during the summer at a local state college. I think dental schools understand that college can be a difficult transition for many students and your continued improvement after that initial year as well as your performing so well on the DAT exam I think looks great and definitely makes you a competitive applicant (in my opinion). Best of luck!

 

[Pikeyman]

Wanna hear an honest opinion?

You are screwed!

 

[helix]

Hey thanks smile87, even though it might not be for me, I think I'll take that as an advice and do those courses again.

 

[smile87]

Hey thanks smile87, even though it might not be for me, I think I'll take that as an advice and do those courses again.

Helix - No problem!! Retake those courses, kick butt, and rock the DAT!
Don't let those two little bad grades get you down - no one is flawless all the time

 

[HeineKeg]

I am very concerned that my application will not be very competitive due to one very bad year. My GPA during my first year was 1.68! All the required courses that I need to apply to dental school were done during my first year. My second year GPA was around 3.2, third year was 3.6, and this year should be around around 3.3. Upper year classes beyond first year consisted mostly of biology, genetics, physiology, anatomy, and some chem credits. That means, physics, calculus, and my english marks from my first year will still stand as I havent taken upper year classes to replace them.

My DAT was 24 Academic/21 PAT.

Thank You

Lemieux..try not to sweat the first yr. I had some academic setbacks my first yr (joined a frat, away from the parents, fake id....GPA about 2.5) but once I figured out that I did not want to be a professional basketcase for the rest of my life, I made sure that my grades improved...a lot. Im not saying that I got all A's my last three yrs...but I did very well in each my upper division science courses. I think that if you can show the adcoms that you were able to improve your GPA exponentially...they will see that you were just a late bloomer like myself! Bottom line...study for the good grades now and in the future.