NEED URGENT ADVICE - Academic Dishonesty and Applying to Dental

[doggiedogepower]

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I'm sorry if anyone who sees this already viewed it and responded on reddit. I just wanted to post it on here in case anyone might have some more insight:

Hi everyone. I'm reaching out for genuine help and advice, so if you have the time to read this or ask followup questions please do so:

My sophomore year of college, I was in a bit of a dark place in my life. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, I was struggling in my courses, and in retrospect, I should've taken that semester off. One thing led to another and I made the stupid choice of looking at my phone during an organic chemistry exam and was caught for cheating. It's one mistake I made that I've always felt terrible about.

I ended up getting a C- in the course because I had to take a 0 for that exam. I was put on academic probation for a semester but I wasn't suspended. My transcript doesn't show anything about academic dishonesty but I believe there are some very internal files about it. I was returned to good standing after receiving a 4.0 in my first junior year semester.

Here are my stats for each semester:

Freshman year: 3.4 and 3.0
Sophomore year: 3.6 and 2.75 (from the 0 on orgo test)
Junior year: 4.0 + 3.93 (overloaded this latter semester) + Dean's List

This senior year, I'm confident I can get a 4.0 in both semesters which would bring my gpa and sgpa to a 3.6 by the time I graduate.

This past summer, I scored a 25AA on the DAT with a 24 in the Ochem section. I studied especially hard for organic chemistry considering the C- in my second semester of Ochem.

I have no idea what to do moving forward and whether or not I'll have a chance at getting into dental school as I've looked more into things. I feel like I'm a completely different person than I was two years ago, but I'm becoming pessimistic that I'll just be seen as the person who cheated. I'm looking for real advice, but part of me is also looking for hope. Ever since I started looking more into what I wanted to do career wise, I've always been set on trying to get into dental school once my sophomore year ended. It's all I want to do.

Additional Q's: How should I approach dental school applications and the committee letter application? Should I be completely up front about what happened? I felt that what happened was integral to my growth as a person, but I worry how academic dishonesty may be so stigmatized that I don't have a shot.

If you have any advice or thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

First, what advice have you received from your prehealth advising team/committee about this incident?

Second, in dental school admissions, C-minus grades do NOT satisfy requirements. Have you retaken the class? Keep in mind, your C-minus counts for AADSAS GPA calculations even if your university practices grade replacement for its GPA. You must plan to retake the course as a condition of your matriculation.

You must work with your academic advising or student conduct office to adequately describe your IA and any punishment you received. You'll have to ask schools for advice on what you should do when it comes to applying. The more time between your infraction and your application (most experts here suggest 3 years minimum), the more likely programs will buy your argument that you are much more mature than you were. We don't know the rest of your application for clinical experience and community service, but more time to do both during a gap year is reasonable for any dental school applicant.

 

[doggiedogepower]

Hey, thanks for your reply.

On your first note: Yes, I understand that a C- won't satisfy the requirements for most schools. I'm hoping to take it next semester again if my school allows it.

On your second note: Thank you for the advice, I'll definitely be working with the conduct office so I can describe the AI accurately.

Here are my questions:
1. Let's say that I can't retake ochem next semester and have to take it over the summer. Would you suggest that I wait to send in applications until after I've completed and received a grade for a 2nd semester ochem summer course?
2. You mentioned reaching out to schools for advice when it comes to my AI case. What exactly does this look like? Should I just email them and ask how they think I should approach applying to their school given my case?
3. I only started to really commit to dental after my sophomore year of college. I plan to apply the summer after I graduate this spring, which means I'll be taking a gap year. I have about 100 shadowing with an oral surgeon, 50ish hours working as a dental assistant/sterile tech at an oral surgery office, and 100+ hours volunteering through campus mentoring groups. I know I definitely need to up my shadowing hours with a general dentist in addition to my clinical hours, so I'll be trying to get some of that done over winter break. Considering all of this, would you suggest that I take a couple of months during the summer to get more community service-related volunteering hours, clinical experience, and general dentist shadowing hours *before* sending in my applications to dental schools?

I hope to hear back from you soon.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Hey, thanks for your reply.

On your first note: Yes, I understand that a C- won't satisfy the requirements for most schools. I'm hoping to take it next semester again if my school allows it.

On your second note: Thank you for the advice, I'll definitely be working with the conduct office so I can describe the AI accurately.

Here are my questions:
1. Let's say that I can't retake ochem next semester and have to take it over the summer. Would you suggest that I wait to send in applications until after I've completed and received a grade for a 2nd semester ochem summer course?
2. You mentioned reaching out to schools for advice when it comes to my AI case. What exactly does this look like? Should I just email them and ask how they think I should approach applying to their school given my case?
3. I only started to really commit to dental after my sophomore year of college. I plan to apply the summer after I graduate this spring, which means I'll be taking a gap year. I have about 100 shadowing with an oral surgeon, 50ish hours working as a dental assistant/sterile tech at an oral surgery office, and 100+ hours volunteering through campus mentoring groups. I know I definitely need to up my shadowing hours with a general dentist in addition to my clinical hours, so I'll be trying to get some of that done over winter break. Considering all of this, would you suggest that I take a couple of months during the summer to get more community service-related volunteering hours, clinical experience, and general dentist shadowing hours *before* sending in my applications to dental schools?

I hope to hear back from you soon.

You should ask your academic affairs dean. I recall one other poster say they couldn't retake the course they got a C-minus in (before graduating with their degree) because they passed more advanced courses.

I would go to recruitment events and see if admissions staff could chat about your profile before applying. Some schools allow you to schedule brief advising sessions, but those can fill up quickly.