my personal predicament

[Dent2BTV]

here is another one of those 'help me with my situation' posts. my story is this - basically i went to school for about two years right out of high school and majorly jacked around. too much partying and joining a fraternity were two huge mistakes. anyways, i barely escaped with a 2.8gpa.
That was about 4 years ago...
now, i'm married, 24 years old and looking to head back to school.... and with all seriousness. I'm deathly afraid of my past endeavors coming to haunt me and keeping me out of dental school.
during those two years in college, i took bio I and II, chem I and II, and physics I. I made I think 4 C's and 1 B in those classes... horrible mainly because I know if I'd studied at ALL i could have made A's.
So here is my main question... with my GPA being so low, and having C's in some of the major core requirements, ...should I focus on just making all A's from here on out and taking my chances with dental school?? OR... should I go back and take those classes (or at least some of them) over again to show I can make A's (not to mention it probably would help my overall and science gpa).
Since its been a while since I was in school, I really want to prove to a dental school that there was a complete change in my life concerning maturity, effort, dedication and motivation! I've read on some of the posts that they DO notice upward trends and when someone has turned a few leaf.
So, any opinions would be awesome. Thanks so much!

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[doc3232]

Retake all those C's. And make sure you read up on all the schools that you plan on applying to so you don't miss anything.
And most importantly, do great on the DAT to compensate.
Get some shadowing done. etc etc

good luck

 

[carpedentumUM]

My situation is/was pretty much EXACTLY the same as yours. The only difference being I left undergrad with a 2.5. What I did, however is enroll in a post-bac program at a four-year university near where I live. Luckily, it is just a satellite campus of the U where I received my bachelors. I've been working full time, shadowing three dentists, continuing my volunteer work, and taking all science classes as a second bachelors degree student. Its been about 1.5-2 years since I left my "out of college type" job and started the classes. I was able to get mostly A's and a couple of B's in the classes, which are all prerequisites. So my post bac gpa is high, but it has only managed to raise my overall gpa slightly (pretty much to a 2.9). I applied last cycle (only to a few schools to "get my name out there") and got rejected from every one, which was to be expected. I studied hard for the DAT, did well and submitted my application relatively early this cycle and I am pretty confident I will land at least one or two interviews. I know a lot of schools assure that they review every application to the fullest extent, but some don't and really just look at scores. It happens and there is nothing you can do about it, but just have confidence that MOST schools take the time to evaluate your personal statement and look at upward trends and can see that you are a completely new person when it comes to maturity, drive, and focus. Then when you get an interview, you just have to make a stellar impression. SO for someone who was in the same situation as you, just keep in mind that there is hope and if you know 100% that dentistry is something you want to pursue, then don't stop trying, because you will get it if you want it bad enough and are willing to work at the uphill battle you have in front of you. Good luck.