My struggle with changes schools and GPAS

[TheDoctor'sTARDIS]

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Hello everyone, I've been reading on SDN for a long time, and I figured it was about time to get an account and join. My problem is that I was previously a Bio major (now a psych major) at a private university. Financials got stressful at home and I took on a full time job, causing my GPA to take a significant tumble. I transferred out, now at a CC close to home, hoping to transfer for the Fall of 2014. I want to attend dental school more than anything and I want to make that happen more than anything. After transferring out, I have kept a GPA above 3.8 but my questions are as follows:

1. Will dental admissions criticize this low Freshman Year GPA, if I can make it up from now on?
2. I did not pass one of my necessary chem courses, and so I will need to retake it, would it make sense to retake courses that I passed, but would like a better grade?
3. If there is any other advice concerning initially low GPAs and Dental schools, please let me know!
Thank you all!

 

[supergenius310]

Well...what exactly do you mean by the 3.8 GPA? Is that just for one semester or your overall GPA?

 

[FeralisExtremum]

1. They won't necessarily criticize it but they may ask about it. Generally speaking a low freshman year GPA can be mitigated by an upward trend in the following years.

2. The effect on your GPA would be the same as if you took an entirely new course. Unless it's a course important to admission (one of the bio/chem/physics basics or an important upper level bio) I probably wouldn't retake if you passed, just move on to more challenging courses that demonstrate your ability.

3. My advice would be to understand that dental school is far more challenging than undergrad in terms of difficulty. If you want to succeed there, you need to be able to show you can handle undergrad with relative ease. Focus on improving your study habits.

As a side note, how many semesters did you spend at the private university and what was your GPA there vs. how many semesters have you been at the CC for and what is your GPA at the CC? You probably want to transfer sooner rather than later, especially if you're taking pre-reqs.