Most important decision of my life please help !!!

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arash2012

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Hey I posted this in the pre-dental forum but could not get a specific solution in regards to what to do so thought I would post this here and see if you guys can help me out based on experience and recommendation it would really mean a lot if you take some of your time and read this thanks a lot in advance

But I am studying Kinesiology at York university and I did horrible in my first 2 years of undergrad in regards to my GPA. I just wanted to get a degree never thought of anything else after. But now I realised Dentistry is what I want to do.

Now I need to know what I should do regards to my C's and D's in my transcript in my first 2 years my academic adviser said I had some options such as:

-RETAKE THE COURSES WITH A GRADES

-OR PETITION ALL MY C's and D'S in my 2 years and if my petition goes through successfully they will completely get rid of the marks from my transcript as if I have never taken them and I must take them again but the downside to that is it will still show in my transcript that I have been enrolled in the University from the year I started my Undergrad so it'll be shown as 6 years if I to retake all the courses.

-Or if the petition is unsuccessful i should just concentrate on my last 2 years of undergrad with to get a high GPA and do a masters in a science field and high mark in DAT + job shadowing hours

Both ways I am kinda behind on credits so I might finish my undergrad in 5 years because I never failed any courses but I have dropped 1 or 2 in the last 2 years so I don't know if finishing your undergrad in 5 years would look bad. I am not applying to dental schools in Canada because it's really hard due to high number of applicants and only few dental schools I am willing to apply to the US dental schools or Australian schools since its now accredited in Canada.


PLEASE GIVE ME AN ADVISE OR OPINION ON WHAT TO DO I AM STRESSED OUT HERE AND DO NOT HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT I SHOULD DO FROM HERE !!!!!!!

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You have to fix your GPA. It unfortunately is the criterion weighted most heavily typically. Without knowing your GPA is kind of hard to say which may be the better move. If you can get your first two years expunged and get high marks that would probably be the optimal solution. If your GPA is borderline 3.0, than it would probably be better to retake anything C- and below and just focus the rest of your time on high level science classes / post-bacc type of stuff since a years worth of credits would have a pretty substantial impact on your GPA assuming you score well.
 
so your saying I should petition my C,D grades from my first 2 years and retake the courses again and then concentrate on taking advanced sciences courses plus a master's degree that would mean an additional 2 years of undergrad to make up for my poor grades and an additional 1 year for masters would dental schools be okay with someone finishing their undergrad in 6 +masters 1 years compared to other students finishing in 4 years. ?

I mean I am willing to put in the extra years as long as it wouldn't affect my application to dental schools.

And if I petition my first 2 years grades it'll still show that I have been at the University for 6 years wouldn't Dental schools notice that and question that ?
Or I can just retake the courses again without petitioning them and it'll show both grades their ?
 
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I am saying it depends on your GPA and how many credits you have. Expunging and retaking pre-reqs is better if your super low GPA with lots of credits because adding more classes (A's hopefully) would not have a huge impact if you had a billion credits already. On the other hand, if you're light on credits and close a 3.0, you could retake your C- pre-reqs and also take high level science classes (not necessarily M.S. level but upper division) which would be better if you don't have too many credits and each A can make a big difference.
 
I'm not sure how AADSAS views petitioning grades. Regardless, they would want you to report your original grades. In the case case of taking classes over again, when AADSAS factors in repeat classes to calculate your GPA they count the original grade and the repeat grade. While you have to retake any pre-reqs below a C, beyond that, it seems more productive just to move on to higher level sciences and work hard for the rest of your degree (A's). This demonstrates to ADCOMS that, although you had a rocky start, you have figured what you want to do and that you are capable of handling a heavy science course load. Kill the DAT and round out your app with good dental experience and extracurricular activities (i.e. research, volunteer, leadership, etc.) and maybe even a master's. If you are committed, you can make it. Check out the under 3.0 club for some inspiration.

P.S. I hope this isn't really the most important decision of your life. There's way more to life than school and a job. Good luck ;)
 
The AADSAS part would be critical. If they view it like they view retakes, then there is no point to expunging your record. You minus well move on and find better ways to improve your application. However, if they aren't shown on your transcript at all, I doubt AADSAS would be able to verify that even if you did list it. It's a very unique situation.
 
Hey Arash- No need to freak out just yet... You still have plenty of time to prepare for dental school. If I was you I would get serious and try to ace upper level science courses. It is not going to be easy but you can do it if you really want to. The Admissions committee wants to see that you have improved in your junior and senior years. Also do bunch of extracurricular activities to demonstrate leadership skills and also get some experience in the field of dentistry. If you show descend grades in upper level science courses and get good scores on the DAT along with experience in dental field you won't have any problem getting accepted. Good luck!
 
thank a lot for the comment so do you think I should just continue on taking other science courses in my last 2 years and bring up my GPA. I think I will be able to get straight A's in the rest of my courses but my first 2 years is still going to bring down my cumulative GPA and my science GPA. What should I do in regards to that isn't dental schools going to see that even though I had major improvement in my senior years my overall GPA's are low?? i mean doesn't dental schools look at your cGPA +sGPA+extra curricular+DAT do they really consider looking at your last 2 years and see how you did there if your overall GPA is low ??
 
thank a lot for the comment so do you think I should just continue on taking other science courses in my last 2 years and bring up my GPA. I think I will be able to get straight A's in the rest of my courses but my first 2 years is still going to bring down my cumulative GPA and my science GPA. What should I do in regards to that isn't dental schools going to see that even though I had major improvement in my senior years my overall GPA's are low?? i mean doesn't dental schools look at your cGPA +sGPA+extra curricular+DAT do they really consider looking at your last 2 years and see how you did there if your overall GPA is low ??

If I was you I would not worry too much about my overall GPA now. All the Admission's committee care about is whether you can handle the workload at dental school. You can demonstrate that by taking challenging upper level science courses in your last 2 years. Since you did poorly in your basic science courses it will require a lot more work to ace those courses just because you missed the basics. But I think its doable. The committee will notice your improvement and along with good DAT scores and a good personal statement you have a great chance to get in. Good luck!
 
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