not-so-good first semester??

[wvupredent]

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I was just wondering how much a rough first semester will hurt chances at admission? I was going through a very rough time (my parents separated and we moved after I left for school) and my study time and focus was definitely affected, to say the least. I ended with a C in Biology (horrible, i know... 😱 ), a B- in Honors Chemistry, and an A in Calculus. After that semester, I knew I wasn't in any condition to fully devote myself to my classes, so I took two semesters off from science to avoid completely crashing my sGPA. I am beginning my pre-reqs and electives again this spring, and I am planning to complete a Biochemistry degree within the remaining two years of undergrad I have.
I know the C and B- are not a good place to start for my BCP and science GPAs, but I am a good student usually, and I will most likely keep 3.4-3.6 from here out. My cumulative GPA is around 3.4 right now.
Do you think an admission committee will be understanding of this, or will they question my abilities to handle the workload under stressful conditions and look at this negatively? I hope they understand that this is not an everyday stress....especially to hit as soon as you leave from home the first time.
What do you think??

 

[johntara04]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. My second semester in college, I lost my head for awhile and got a 1.8 gpa. After that I had a 2 year break from school, came back and got my act together. I interviewed at 2 schools before december (2 of the 3 I wanted to go to, the third rejected me after I sent in my secondary fee!), and got into both, cancelled all my other interviews, waitlists, etc. So make sure you do good now, and you should be okay.

 

[socalpredent]

I still think you're in excellent shape, especially being that those grades came fairly early in your college career, and from what I've heard many adcoms look favorably on upward grade trends. During my first quarter in college I got a C, D, F and Pass for a solid 1.0 gpa, but did well for the rest of my time in college and have received interviews from 5 schools thus far. You definitely have a valid reason for your B- and C (which aren't even all that bad to begin with), and honestly if I were an adcom I would actually respect the fact that you took time off since it shows that you have priorities outside of just getting grades. Keep working hard and good luck!

 

[wvupredent]

Thanks for the responses! I understand my grades aren't completely horrible, but I was still a little concerned.

It was a very, very difficult time, and like I said....I needed a break because I knew I wouldn't excel in my classes. And to be honest, I even went through a period of reconsidering dentistry altogether. I hope they don't take that as I'm not committed to dentistry, but I think it was actually good for me to step back and take some courses in other areas to see what I really want. I had some previous college credit which kept my GPA around 3.4, but my GPA for last year came out at 3.24, which I guess isn't as bad as I think sometimes.

So, after a difficult time (and some grades to accompany it) and experience in other subjects, I am coming back to the pre-dentistry curriculum more confident in my decision to pursue this career than before. I just hope the adcoms will look at this way, too.

Haha...as Lifetime movie-ish as it seems, it's almost one of those "i'm not going to let these hardships affect what i came to college to do with the rest of my life" mindsets....

Thanks again for the encouraging responses. 🙂