Should I take microbiology before or after dental school application submissions?

[rss67]

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Hello everybody, unfortunately microbiology with the professors at my college are infamous for being gpa destroyers. I am not a terrible student by any means (3.7 gpa) but also not the greatest with hard classes like this. For certain dental schools microbiology is required, but I have the option of either taking it this semester and risking my gpa before admissions (planned to be submitted right after spring semester as I’m a junior in college) or taking an easier semester (most likely an A grade in all classes) and leaving microbiology until the Acedemic year after.

Basically I could inflate my gpa with easier classes this semester, or finish my prereqs now and risk a B/C grade in microbio. Does it matter to admissions? Also my DAT score is unknown as I just took it recently.

 

[macsak]

Hello everybody, unfortunately microbiology with the professors at my college are infamous for being gpa destroyers. I am not a terrible student by any means (3.7 gpa) but also not the greatest with hard classes like this. For certain dental schools microbiology is required, but I have the option of either taking it this semester and risking my gpa before admissions (planned to be submitted right after spring semester as I’m a junior in college) or taking an easier semester (most likely an A grade in all classes) and leaving microbiology until the Acedemic year after.

Basically I could inflate my gpa with easier classes this semester, or finish my prereqs now and risk a B/C grade in microbio. Does it matter to admissions? Also my DAT score is unknown as I just took it recently.

preserve your gpa...

 

[deleted1192955]

Do you think that you could swing a B+? Because that probably wouldn't tank your GPA.

Some other ideas are:
-TA office hours and study groups
-Regular office hours
-Supplemental resources (ask if anything is recommended)
-Work on your study skills/time management so that you can fit enough studying time in.

Do you honestly think that you'll never be able to get a good grade in this class, even with adequate studying time? Or is it just intimidating? Some things to think about it. Hope that this helps.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

For certain dental schools microbiology is required, but I have the option of either taking it this semester and risking my gpa before admissions (planned to be submitted right after spring semester as I’m a junior in college) or taking an easier semester (most likely an A grade in all classes) and leaving microbiology until the Acedemic year after.

What does your prehealth advisor suggest? How about the admissions professionals at the schools where you want to go?

I agree, you need to preserve your GPA. I agree the description suggests that the professors seem to be your concern, not the material or the necessity of having it before you are enrolled into dental school. There is also the added possibility that avoiding hard classes will look bad in adcom deliberations, but I don't know what other classes you would be taking to round out your transcript.

You are deciding without knowing whether microbiology exposure (and I don't mean vaccination) positively correlates with success in passing D1 at a program (which will be highly specific to each program). I don't know if anyone in admissions or on an adcom will tell you, but I suspect those schools that require it have studied the question. And if it's required, you should take it for a grade and as soon as you can.

If you already have a high GPA (3.6+), it's your choice to save this killer course to your senior year when your peers are taking more "glide" classes. As long as you don't fail before matriculating, it should be okay. But there is no guarantee you would get an offer if you saved yourself in microbiology until your last semester where failing it could damage your start to dental school.

Don't forget that the majority of applicants have finished their bachelor's degree courses, so they have their microbio grades in hand. You won't, which makes it easier for some schools to place you in a lower-priority group for offers (all other things being equal with other applicants with similar metrics/experiences holding degrees).