Mediocre pre-dental student

[FireandIce128]

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Hello all! I'm new here! I've been reading these threads for awhile and everyone seems to be really helpful towards each other here.
I want to start off by saying I just finished my freshman year of college. I attend a pharamcy & health science school in Boston.
However, I did not do well at all my freshman year of college. My first semester GPA was a 3.08. I had one C in Chemistry. Second semester was worse. I fell to a 2.72. Had a C in Chemistry II again and fell to a C+ in Biology II. Now my overall cumulative GPA is a 2.89.
Yes I know it is disappointing. I'm disappointed myself, especially in regards to the fact that I fell below a 3.0.
Also, I attend occasional Pre-Med Society meetings at my school (I'm a premed major) and that is basically the only extracurricular activity I'm involved in. My school may seem far from being active in clubs, but I wanna try my best to get more involved next semester.
Not only are my grades behind, but I'm yet to shadow a dentist or have any volunteer experience. I was gonna save it all for this summer because I was so caught up in studying and homework during school. (It also takes me an hour to commute). So far, my aunt was able to hook me up with a job with her at a medical device company, and I'll be working there for about two months. (Long hours Mon-Fri). Then, around late summer, that's when I want to start shadowing and volunteering.

Once again, I know my grades are not all impressive. It does disappoint me because I remember telling myself not to slip in college, and I did. Idk why, I guess I wasn't organized or didn't push myself as hard as I wanted to. Sometimes at home, I just feel like I can't focus. (Seriously it's like I have ADHD or something lol) I also feel ashamed because back in high school, I was a straight A student (with some Bs sometimes) and my family would always tell me how proud they are. Now, I try to keep these horrid grades from them and not only do I feel that I'm letting myself down, but I feel I'm letting my family down too.

I've always wanted to become a dentist. I was inspired because my mom is a dental assistant and I would spend lots of time at the clinic. I always like seeing my teeth clean and I remember my first smile after getting my braces off. I would say to myself that I would be giving people good smiles in the future lol.

Anways... sorry about that silly story of myself lol.

I know that for sophomore year, I'm willing to GO HARD. I hope I'm not just saying this. I'm willing to sacrifice hours of sleep and free time so I can do intense studying in school and get involved in school activities. I really need a GPA boost.

Do you any of you guys have any tips for me? I'm planning to retake Chemistry during my sophomore or junior year. (I don't want to do it in the summer because it's really expensive). Should I also retake Bio II also? Also, how early did you guys start studying/prepping for the DATs and what type of extracurriculars (or any other interesting stuff) did you guys participated in?

Any advice would help me! I just feel hopeless and I could use some help from you guys! Sorry for the long message lol. Don't bash me I'm a newbie here! 🙂

 

[NMC2010]

You've already answered your own question: you need to be disciplined. My experience was pretty much verbatim what yours was. 2.94 GPA average freshman year, but with some discipline I had >3.5 when I applied for DS. You can do the same.

Do not retake chemistry or any other courses unless you get a C- or lower. They still see the old grade and it is factored into your GPA regardless of whether or not you do better. Start studying for the DAT 6-8 weeks in advance. Give yourself ~200 hours to study; there are plenty of great breakdowns on SDN to help you out with materials. For EC's, do whatever you enjoy. Try to fit in some community service groups/activities as well.

Also, I'd suggest shadowing some dentists outside of the office your mom works at. Shadow some other types of medical doctors as well and find out what seems most interesting. Best of luck!

 

[Illfavor]

Welcome to SDN!

I don't particularly know about retakes (I'm not sure I'd do them), so maybe someone else can chime in.

If you want to be a great student, learn how to study. Learn how you learn. That's the entire point of higher education. Take responsibility. There are lots of resources out there. Cornell has some really good stuff. Study early and often. Have a semester plan. Know when all major assignments are due. Plan ahead. Can't study at home without losing it? Then don't study at home.

You have plenty of time, but stop making excuses. Just get it done.

 

[tendram]

The main thing I would focus on is improving your GPA and getting more involved in extracurricular activities. Shadowing hours and volunteer experience are important but as long as you get some during breaks and here and there during the semesters you should be good to go once application time comes around. Seeing as you are just going into your sophomore year shadowing hours and volunteer hours can add up pretty quickly and as long as you aren't slacking about it you should have plenty built up in the next few years. As for the DAT, I would suggest shooting for the December of your junior year (or possibly a bit earlier) to take it that way if you take it and end up needing to retake you wont be scrambling for time. Deciding when to take the DAT is a bit of a personal decision though because you need to take it when you feel comfortable. As long as you take it with plenty of time to retake if need be you should be fine. Try to find something to motivate you in school as well. I didn't do too well my first few semesters in college until I decided that if I was going to go to professional school (at the time I was pre-Pharm) I was going to need to do a little bit more than just pass my classes. Even if you aren't set completely on being a dentist just yet try to find motivation in that at some point all your hard work will pay off and you will have the opportunity to do something you love, regardless of what you choose to do.

 

[Dentalguy8621]

Hello all! I'm new here! I've been reading these threads for awhile and everyone seems to be really helpful towards each other here.
I want to start off by saying I just finished my freshman year of college. I attend a pharamcy & health science school in Boston.
However, I did not do well at all my freshman year of college. My first semester GPA was a 3.08. I had one C in Chemistry. Second semester was worse. I fell to a 2.72. Had a C in Chemistry II again and fell to a C+ in Biology II. Now my overall cumulative GPA is a 2.89.
Yes I know it is disappointing. I'm disappointed myself, especially in regards to the fact that I fell below a 3.0.
Also, I attend occasional Pre-Med Society meetings at my school (I'm a premed major) and that is basically the only extracurricular activity I'm involved in. My school may seem far from being active in clubs, but I wanna try my best to get more involved next semester.
Not only are my grades behind, but I'm yet to shadow a dentist or have any volunteer experience. I was gonna save it all for this summer because I was so caught up in studying and homework during school. (It also takes me an hour to commute). So far, my aunt was able to hook me up with a job with her at a medical device company, and I'll be working there for about two months. (Long hours Mon-Fri). Then, around late summer, that's when I want to start shadowing and volunteering.

Once again, I know my grades are not all impressive. It does disappoint me because I remember telling myself not to slip in college, and I did. Idk why, I guess I wasn't organized or didn't push myself as hard as I wanted to. Sometimes at home, I just feel like I can't focus. (Seriously it's like I have ADHD or something lol) I also feel ashamed because back in high school, I was a straight A student (with some Bs sometimes) and my family would always tell me how proud they are. Now, I try to keep these horrid grades from them and not only do I feel that I'm letting myself down, but I feel I'm letting my family down too.

I've always wanted to become a dentist. I was inspired because my mom is a dental assistant and I would spend lots of time at the clinic. I always like seeing my teeth clean and I remember my first smile after getting my braces off. I would say to myself that I would be giving people good smiles in the future lol.

Anways... sorry about that silly story of myself lol.

I know that for sophomore year, I'm willing to GO HARD. I hope I'm not just saying this. I'm willing to sacrifice hours of sleep and free time so I can do intense studying in school and get involved in school activities. I really need a GPA boost.

Do you any of you guys have any tips for me? I'm planning to retake Chemistry during my sophomore or junior year. (I don't want to do it in the summer because it's really expensive). Should I also retake Bio II also? Also, how early did you guys start studying/prepping for the DATs and what type of extracurriculars (or any other interesting stuff) did you guys participated in?

Any advice would help me! I just feel hopeless and I could use some help from you guys! Sorry for the long message lol. Don't bash me I'm a newbie here! 🙂

Similar to what everyone has told you. Find your groove. When I was a freshman/sophomore I used to study a lot on campus in the library with other students and then by myself at times. I worked out almost everyday that I could whether it was running, weights, cross fit, bootcamp or stuff like that. Eat healthy and try to get a good balanced meal. At my school there was a tutoring service off campus that literally everyone used and it helped a ton. I'm even using materials from it to refresh for the DAT since it's been so long. Also, try to study for things in advance. I 'could' pull all nighters or cram 2 days before the exam but it really stressed my body out and I felt it was very inefficient. Keep on top of the material and mainly try your best. If you know you tried your best then there is nothing else you can really do.

You still have plenty of time to work on your GPA and start DAT as soon as those sciences are over. For extracurriculars, try and get involved in something you like. I decided to do something that involved my hispanic culture because that's what I wanted to do. I honestly could not stand being around a bunch of pre-med/pre-dent students as they were very narcissistic and annoying. Those groups were a bunch of individuals talking crap and doing things to check a box on their application. Just like I said in the beginning, find your groove and try your best. Best of luck.

 

[FireandIce128]

Thanks guys! You guys actually really helped me a lot. I feel motivated and have been given good advice!

You've already answered your own question: you need to be disciplined. My experience was pretty much verbatim what yours was. 2.94 GPA average freshman year, but with some discipline I had >3.5 when I applied for DS. You can do the same.

Do not retake chemistry or any other courses unless you get a C- or lower. They still see the old grade and it is factored into your GPA regardless of whether or not you do better. Start studying for the DAT 6-8 weeks in advance. Give yourself ~200 hours to study; there are plenty of great breakdowns on SDN to help you out with materials. For EC's, do whatever you enjoy. Try to fit in some community service groups/activities as well.

Also, I'd suggest shadowing some dentists outside of the office your mom works at. Shadow some other types of medical doctors as well and find out what seems most interesting. Best of luck!

So you guys think that as long as I don't get a C-, then there is no need to retake these classes? Even for a chance of a slightly better GPA? I know Chemistry and Biology are important because these classes are pre-reqs.

 

[djtiesto14]

First thing they look at is your GPA, followed by DAT. Get your grades up. Period. The rest of the things you can squeeze in over 4-5 years you have left.

 

[djd0516]

I would personally retake any prerequisite course (gen chem, orgo, gen bio, physics) that I got less than a B in. The fact is that dental admissions is becoming extremely competitive and a C just isn't acceptable. Many pre-req science courses are even curved so that a 50-60% is equal to a C and most adcoms know this. If you decide not to retake these courses, then I would certainly take a lot of upper level science courses in your junior and senior year. The problem is that if you can't do well in the intro courses, then you probably won't do well in the upper level courses. The good news is that you're still in your first year and have plenty of time to improve your study habits and GPA. My best advice is to really crack down and start your extracurriculars now, get nothing less than a 3.5, and start shadowing. You seem genuinely interested in becoming a dentist and like you are willing to really work towards your goal. Having a GPA less than 3.0 is the easiest way to get rejected from dental school. Start the process of improving your grades and study habits now and you will probably be fine. Good luck.

 

[doc toothache]

You could have ECs that would rival Mother Teresa's, but without the stats, even she would likely have had a difficult time getting accepted to DS.