Question for Yah-E

[cochino]

For Yah-E or anybody who knows!
I am going to be taking some graduate level courses this fall at my local university. The whole point of doing it is to obtain a graduate level GPA and make up for some slacking I did a few years ago in my early undergrad years. My questions are: How many credits should I take this fall in grad school? What classes should I focus on? My university offers things like Anantomy of the Head and Neck, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Immunology, Public Health classes, etc..... My last question is, should I apply at the end of this summer and tell the schools that they can expect to recieve my Grad GPA at the end of the semester or should I wait until December to even start the process? I guess the schools will realize that I will be taking grad classes in the fall because you have to mention it on AADSAS, but I was just wondering if I will still have a chance by December, and if one semester of Grad work is sufficient. Please let me know what you think on the matter. Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks!

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[grettlin2]

I think it totally depends on your current GPA and DAT. Many schools will evaluate your case based on what you have and few will pend your case until you complete what you mention in the application. If your status is pretty good, I think you will hear good news by Dec. 1.

 

[Yah-E]

Cochino:

Grettlin has a great point, your current undergraduate cumulative GPA can have a great influence on admissions committees and how much graduate credits you'll need to be considered a competitive applicant.

Examples:

You have a 3.0 cumulative undergrad GPA, you'll probably need less graduate work to convince admissions committees that you're competent than a 2.4 cumulative undergrad GPA applicant.

Let's use my application as another example. My AADSAS undergrad cumulative GPA was an amazing 2.43 (who wouldn't want me as their dental student right?! ) and fortunately for me, I only had around 18 graduate credits where I convinced dental schools that I'm able to do well in dental school.

I was very lucky for two reasons. One, I was in a very effective Post-Bac progarm that was in Quarters (10 weeks) system verse a Semester (16 weeks) system. I was able to submit two quarters of graduate grades to dental schools by December instead of just one semester grades in the traditional semester curriculum.

Secondly, when dental schools received my AADSAS application, they were very familiar with my name and me as an applicant due to my constant email contacts/questions prior to my applicaiton submission.

Your questions:
How many credits should I take this fall in grad school?

A: since you're in a semester curriculum, I would load up as much as possible that you can handle and fit. At least 3 courses (12 credits). The heavier the course load (given you did well), the more effectiveness and convincing.

What classes should I focus on?

A: basic science courses! Anything with "-ology" at the end will do. Dental schools seen to have their favorites including Biochem, Microbio, and Physiology. No Intro to French, literature writing, or business classes. Basic and medical science courses will do the trick.

should I apply at the end of this summer and tell the schools that they can expect to recieve my Grad GPA at the end of the semester or should I wait until December to even start the process?

A: this will depend on you. When I applied, I didn't want to apply until I had all the tools to convince admissions committees. Remember, since we're starting with a low cumulative undergrad GPA, it would be nice to have that graduate cumulative GPA to show for on the AADSAS application. I strongly believe that if I would have applied without any graduate level GPA on my AADSAS application, I would not have received any interviews due to my low undergrad GPA.

Applying early with low undergrad GPA, advantage = not that much, disadvantage = put in that "non-competitive" pile or "wait until they get more grades in" pile!

Applying once you have a semester of graduate grades with low undergrad GPA, advantage = you'll have a separate graduate GPA to show for (given that you did well), disadvantage = classes are starting to fill up already and that you won't have as much selection.

Bottom line, since you're starting with a lower cumulative undergrad GPA, you're at a disadvantage already. Is it impossible to get into a dental school if you apply for the next entering class, the answer is "NO", but you'll have to be efficient and effective in anything you do (application, communication with dental school, grades, and your DAT). You have little room for failure and proscratination.

You'll have to make some sacrafices and compromises in your social life and demonstrate why dental school should believe you now and not your current transcripts.

It's definitely possilbe to submit AADSAS application in December with low cumulative undergrad GPA and be accepted to more than one U.S. dental schools for the next entering class (Fall of 2004 or Class of 2008) in March. I did it, so can you.

Now there are a number of others on this SDN thing that had a different experience with the low undergrad GPA thing, but with the same positive outcome of being accepted.

Rhea and Smile_doc are both great references as well. They're both starting next fall as year-ones. Another thing I haven't mention much is the DAT. If you get 20s, then that will further demonstrate to dental schools that you mean business. Good luck.

 

[3rdMolarRoller]

Just to give another experience from NOVA - Here are my stats...I held out this long not posting them but I think it will help others get a better view of the situation.

Age: 24

Major Biology: Upper Level Science GPA 3.3

MBA: 3.7 (graduate in 5 days )

DAT: 17/20 ( I know...not the 20's across but I took it 2 years after my last science class and stupid me didn't study for it...registered then took it)

NOVA Status: Alternate