Question regarding progression

[undecided0105]

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There seem to be a great deal of people on this board with a vast array of knowledge on the admissions process, ie. what adcoms like to see/dont want to hear, and how they perceive situations and such.
My question has to do with the progression of your GPA. Say one has a 3.7 cGPA and a 3.6 sciGPA, but the one blemish had to do with a 2.6 (or 2.8, not positive) first semester freshman year followed by all 3.9's and 4.0's. In this first semester most of the classes were intro science and math courses which in essence, kills the cumulative science GPA more than the cum. GPA, .... would you be given a mulligan on the first semester? I realize this isnt the most dire of threads, just wanted some info on how this would be perceived

 

[armorshell]

You do realize you have a 3.7 cGPA right?


Really, you did notice that right?

 

[undecided0105]

ahh yes, i am not trying to be a jerk or anything, but there is a distinct difference when applying with a 3.9 as opposed to a 3.7

 

[armorshell]

ahh yes, i am not trying to be a jerk or anything, but there is a distinct difference when applying with a 3.9 as opposed to a 3.7

Like what? Sorry, I don't mean to be super-rude, but to me at least it seems like you would have to actively try to not get accepted with a 3.7

 

[undecided0105]

nahh dont worry your not being rude.... but without, "special" EC's or hundreds of hours of Dental experience, its hard to establish yourself against the compitition. I guess im saying a high 3.9 infers near flawlessness while a 3.7 can be attained with close to as many B+'s as A's

 

[armorshell]

nahh dont worry your not being rude.... but without, "special" EC's or hundreds of hours of Dental experience, its hard to establish yourself against the compitition. I guess im saying a high 3.9 infers near flawlessness while a 3.7 can be attained with close to as many B+'s as A's

Right, but you should still be fine with a 3.7...

Now people like me on the other hand should be the ones worrying about grade trends! I have a 3.7 for all my upper level credits, but my overall is only a 3.0!

 

[undecided0105]

ahh you see, thats a true upward trend and with a 3.7 in upperlevels, you obviously understand the bulky material. Apologies if it came off differently, but i wasnt wondering if i would get in somewhere, but moreover how the one semester would be taken.

By the way, nice to see ppl are on this late

 

[armorshell]

ahh you see, thats a true upward trend and with a 3.7 in upperlevels, you obviously understand the bulky material. Apologies if it came off differently, but i wasnt wondering if i would get in somewhere, but moreover how the one semester would be taken.

By the way, nice to see ppl are on this late

Up studying for the DAT of course 🙂

I wouldn't worry too much about a bad semester right at the beginning of school. A lot of people have those, and you've clearly shown that all you needed was to adjust.

I'd be suprised if they even ask you about it...

 

[phremius]

ahh yes, i am not trying to be a jerk or anything, but there is a distinct difference when applying with a 3.9 as opposed to a 3.7

no there is not.

 

[undecided0105]

ouch the DAT.... if you dont mind me asking, what materials are you using to study? Ive got this bulky ass barrons book, doesnt do a great job with bio or PAT

 

[ryan85]

My college path was kinda the same. My grades weren't so good freshman year, but since then I haven't had anything lower than an A-. I would definitely imagine that they would like to see that kind of upward progress that my grades show.
I do have one question however. I went to a quarter system school. When I put my grades into AADSAS, the coursework for each quarter doesn't look like the order in which I took them.
For example, it lists the different sections in this order:
Fall 2003, Winter 2004, Fall 2004, Spring 2004, Winter 2005, Fall 2005, Spring 2005, Winter 2006, Summer 2005.

As opposed to:
Fall 2003, Winter 2004, Spring 2004, Fall 2004, Winter 2005, Spring 2005, Summer 2005, Fall 2005, Winter 2006.

I am concerned because, my spring 2004 quarter was bad but my fall 2004 was excellent as I had a 3.9 taking 22 units. Will the schools know the actual sequence of the quarters, or will they go by what AADSAS shows them?

 

[armorshell]

ouch the DAT.... if you dont mind me asking, what materials are you using to study? Ive got this bulky ass barrons book, doesnt do a great job with bio or PAT

The Barron's book is worthless, the answer keys for the practice tests aren't even right. I'm using: Kaplan, Campbell's, Schaum's Bio, Schaum's solved problems for Ochem and Gchem, DAT achiever, Topscore Pro and Kaplan's Subject tests!

 

[armorshell]

no there is not.

Maybe if you're applying to Harvard

 

[undecided0105]

I am concerned because, my spring 2004 quarter was bad but my fall 2004 was excellent as I had a 3.9 taking 22 units. Will the schools know the actual sequence of the quarters, or will they go by what AADSAS shows them?[/QUOTE]

Nice to see someone in the same situation... im not positive on how the aadsas works yet, but id have to imagine schools know the actaul sequence of the quarter system.... there are just too many ppl applying on the same system

 

[ryan85]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone else in a quarter system school have their quarters listed like mine? Or is this just a unique case?

 

[undecided0105]

Maybe if you're applying to Harvard

haha, you nailed that one.

Wow you are really gunning for the DAT ...... with all those books how much time a night do u spend on the material?

 

[armorshell]

haha, you nailed that one.

Wow you are really gunning for the DAT ...... with all those books how much time a night do u spend on the material?

Realistically I get in about 4 hours per day, 2 before work, 2 after and some during my lunch hour.

As far as studying for a big test like this and working full time, I do not recommend it, and yeah, I figured with the low GPA I should probably kill the DAT.

 

[undecided0105]

4 hours a day is solid, i just cant get that kind of structure in my life when im off the college campus.... good luck

 

[Hardbody]

There seem to be a great deal of people on this board with a vast array of knowledge on the admissions process, ie. what adcoms like to see/dont want to hear, and how they perceive situations and such.
My question has to do with the progression of your GPA. Say one has a 3.7 cGPA and a 3.6 sciGPA, but the one blemish had to do with a 2.6 (or 2.8, not positive) first semester freshman year followed by all 3.9's and 4.0's. In this first semester most of the classes were intro science and math courses which in essence, kills the cumulative science GPA more than the cum. GPA, .... would you be given a mulligan on the first semester? I realize this isnt the most dire of threads, just wanted some info on how this would be perceived

Wanna trade GPA's?

 

[armorshell]

4 hours a day is solid, i just cant get that kind of structure in my life when im off the college campus.... good luck

Note that those 4 hours of studying occur over 8 hour periods, the other 4 I spend surfing the web and posting on forums 😳

 

[undecided0105]

Note that those 4 hours of studying occur over 8 hour periods, the other 4 I spend surfing the web and posting on forums 😳

More than most... that real impressive actaully. I got time, still 2 weeks before i get my lisence back, hence no job, and a lot of Law & Order

 

[armorshell]

More than most... that real impressive actaully. I got time, still 2 weeks before i get my lisence back, hence no job, and a lot of Law & Order

But CSI is sooo much better 😉

 

[jorUW]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone else in a quarter system school have their quarters listed like mine? Or is this just a unique case?

YES, dont worry about it though. It did it last year as well. A bunch of schools require you to send them an official transcript before the interview.