Need Some Advice

[unsure student]

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Hey everybody, I am getting ready to start my pre-dental science req's and had a couple of questions I was hoping could be answered. Here goes:

1- Will dental schools care that I take some of my requirements in a winter session and 2 summer sessions? My remaining req's are Chem 2, Orgo 1 and 2, Physics 1 and 2, and I would want to take some bio courses too.

2- When applying to dental school, I am sure there is an agency, which much like law schools, acts as the information clearing house for dental schools. For law schools, its called the LSDAS in short. One of their critical functions is to summarize your academic college record. I wanted to know if for dental schools, all courses that are taken during college are factored into ones g.p.a. The reason for this is that I took an english class, which although I passed and got credit, my school didnt give me credit for it. Its weird and a long story but does anybody know if dental schools would count this grade?

3- Assuming and this is a huge assumption that all goes well, I should end up with an overall g.p.a of 3.45 - 3.5 depending if dental schools do not factor in that english grade I was talking about in No 2. above. My BCPM g.p.a would be a 3.64. Without the C I got in pre-calculus, it would be a 3.77. Also, if I would score and this a huge if, a 20/20 on the DAT's and get some work experience with dentists, how much of a shot, if any, would I have at NYU, Columbia, or any other dental schools.

4- Finally, I have 5 withdrawals on my transcript. Currently, I am petitioning my school to get three of them off my record, which unfortunately happen to be in science courses. I am almost pretty sure these three will be deleted from my transcript G-d willing. The reason I had to withdraw from these courses is that my grandfather died that semester and my dad had to fly overseas to be with his family. As a result, I had to tailor my schedule to running the family business. I took those courses over and got one A, a "B," and a "D," which I plan on retaking and doing much better in. Will these hinder me in the admissions process?


With some of these blemishes that I have, and my would be stats assuimg I put the hard work and effort, would I be considered a competitive applicant? What is a competitive g.p.a for dental schools? I truly apologize for this long rambling and would greatly appreciate any advice and suggestions to help me out. Thanks in advance

 

[anya14]

You probably already thought about which schools you would consider applying to. Go to their websites, most of them explain the application process in detail (process step by step, pre-requisites, what they are looking for, stats and more) Your GPA is fine. I would not worry. Just do well on your DAT.

Best of luck!

 

[denty]

As for the question on taking courses in the summer, I was told my one admissions director that when they look at the grades from your science courses they take into account when and with what you took them. For example if someone got an A in ochem, and it took it as only class over the summer they, a person who got a B in ochem during the semester with other science classes would be considered (kinda) more competitive. The director told me that they are looking for how you can handle a large science load, because in dental school you dont have the opportunity to take classes at differnt times. However, every case is different and with your past regarding family responsibilities it might be looked at differently. Like someone else said, call the schools up and just be frank with them and your situation.
good luck

 

[unsure student]

As for the question on taking courses in the summer, I was told my one admissions director that when they look at the grades from your science courses they take into account when and with what you took them. For example if someone got an A in ochem, and it took it as only class over the summer they, a person who got a B in ochem during the semester with other science classes would be considered (kinda) more competitive. The director told me that they are looking for how you can handle a large science load, because in dental school you dont have the opportunity to take classes at differnt times. However, every case is different and with your past regarding family responsibilities it might be looked at differently. Like someone else said, call the schools up and just be frank with them and your situation.
good luck

Thanks for the reply. The thing is, I have already graduated from college and would like to complete my pre-req's as soon as practicable. I dont think I would fit the description of an applicant shying away from a touch course load because I am not a college student anymore. Also, one more question, is it true that even though I am done with college, dental schools will staill compute my college g.p.a including my post college science pre-req's into one total g.p.a?