Someone look at my transcript please :(

[euphaire]

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Hello everyone,

I'm very stressed out about the fact that there are some Ds and Cs on my transcript. I know most adcoms look at your transcript in detail (they need to make sure you took all the prereqs, for instance). I'm from an engineering background and due to co-op and other things my transcript is pretty long so bear with me. I didn't do so well in 2nd and 3rd year because they were hard and I didn't set my priorities right. But I learned my lesson and did spectacularly in my senior year.
However, those Ds and Cs won't go away no matter how many times I hit my head on the wall/punch myself in the face. ADEA hasn't processed my transcripts yet so I don't know what my final GPA will be (probably something crappy). I'm just so...I can't sleep and I want some honest opinions on my coursework (in this picture below) because I know this is the page adcoms look at and I want to hear from YOU what do you think if you were an adcom.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/darkclover/mycoursework-2.png
Thank you so much for your time.

Edit: I split the vertically long picture into two pieces so that it can be uploaded bigger!
fragment 1. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/darkclover/cw1.png
fragment 2. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/darkclover/cw2.png

 

[tayloreve]

It's too small to read, at least on my computer anyway..can you upload another one?

 

[euphaire]

hey, photobucket resized my picture the first time and I changed the options and reuploaded (can't go bigger than that or I have to pay). can you please try again? it's readable on my computer. thank you~

 

[Accent]

Maybe it's just me, but I can't see the text at all. The pic is too small. Edit: I'm a slow poster lol. I still can't read it though.

You can explain why you got those. For schools with secondary application, they allow you to explain your struggle in grades in detail.

I'm in a similar situation as you. Let's hope for the best!

 

[euphaire]

Thanks for your kind comment. I split the picture into two pieces so that each piece can be uploaded bigger on photobucket. This should work...if not let me know it's not like I can fall asleep these days anyways =)

 

[Accent]

Oh, scratch that, your grades are waaay better than mine lol. Your grades are excellent, imo. Plus, most of the classes you took were honors. The classes you got Ds and Cs in were mostly engineering, so I don't think it would affect you that much. I would just recommend you re-taking that physics 2 class. Most of the dental schools take prereqs that are passed with a C or higher. Not even a C- will do (I have to retake a couple of classes because of this).

Others would know better than me, but I'd say your grades are good.

 

[euphaire]

Hey accent,

Yes I'm sooo worried about that physics 2 and pretty pissed off too! Back then many years ago our prof got sick a week before lectures began and our school appointed some temp that was so poorly qualified to teach that half of the class failed. Anyway I didn't set my eyes on dental schools at the time so I didn't care but now I care a lot!
The thing is, I already fulfilled my Physics requirement in my first year at University of Toronto (as you can see). The other physics 1 and 2 I have to take were very engineering-oriented, and did NOT have lab at all, I'm wondering if they count as 'sciences' at all..........maybe I should call in and check?
I really, really don't want to retake that single course 🙁 Not to mention I can't (all the engineering courses are fixed into the curriculum and other faculty ppl can't take them - including me: who is now a recent grad + I didn't fail it so I'm not allowed to take it....ARRGH)

 

[jeffity]

Oh, scratch that, your grades are waaay better than mine lol. Your grades are excellent, imo. Plus, most of the classes you took were honors. The classes you got Ds and Cs in were mostly engineering, so I don't think it would affect you that much. I would just recommend you re-taking that physics 2 class. Most of the dental schools take prereqs that are passed with a C or higher. Not even a C- will do (I have to retake a couple of classes because of this).

Others would know better than me, but I'd say your grades are good.

Maybe he's okay on PHY. Did 2 semesters of PHY for life science and got A+ on each. Those sound like they would fulfill the PHY requirement over the other 2 physics listed.

This doesn't look bad at all. Lots of A and A+ in your sciences.

 

[Accent]

Good point, jeffity. I was thinking in quarter terms.

Yeah, you should call the schools because I'm not sure about lab requirement part.

 

[euphaire]

Thank you guys. But I don't have any 3rd year and above Bio/Chem courses. Also, I had to put everything from my transcript on there, even things that look bad but don't matter (like all those WTRPTs -work term reports that I got 65 on). So overall one would see a lot of Cs. That's why I am deeply concerned and am not optimistic about my aadsas transcript.
After GPA calculation I might have a 3.4 - which is alright, but not competitive.

 

[AllahIsGreater]

Ill imagine myself as an adcom....

Wow lots of A+ in the SCIENCES.....

A few D's and C's in math classes (NO ONE CARES)

If your DAT is good your good, God Willing dude. Your grades are great. Sure they will ask you about those D's and C's but who cares about those classes. make sure you just be TRUTHFUL and have lots of shadowing. Good Luck man

 

[euphaire]

Thanks all! You have no idea how much your replies encouraged me (maybe I can sleep 8 hours tonight). I wasn't happy with my transcript, and my friends who looked at it could have been biased. Hearing from you guys gave me the hope I desperately needed 🙂

 

[hamburger90]

weird... an 85 is an A? that doesn't happen too much in the states. You have done excellent but those grades will be translated by adcoms. A+ are indeed rare in universities and are probably 100 if you want to traduce it to digit evaluation. 85 is a dry B and there is big difference

 

[nlbaker7]

holy shiiiiiiiiii a 73 is a B? TAKE ME TO YOUR SCHOOL

 

[euphaire]

I'm a Canadian. At University of Toronto, the 85 indeed translates to an A on my transcript. At the University of Waterloo, we only get percentages not letter grades, so I was told to convert my grades using the OUAC (for Canadian universities) sheet. Not the AADSAS definition because anything 7x = C, 8x = B and 9x = A that's just not how it works in Canada.So 85 is a B in US schools?

 

[Bis-GMA111]

dude this is fine. i know someone who failed 2 classes and still managed to get into 2 dental schools.

btw props on statics. i know that class is pretty difficult at my school. a 35/100 was a c+ on the final one semester

 

[KittySquared]

A few Cs and Ds won't change the fact that you have MULTIPLE MULTIPLE MULTIPLE A+ and As on your transcript. Don't worry too much. I think you'll be fine. Do try to relax. What's the worst that could happen? The apocalypse? C'mon now. You're FINE.

 

[BobLoblawDDS]

You did your first year at U of T? You did really well, particularly in CHM139 and Physics. Nice job! Physics is not an easy course to do well in due to the nature of the way they grade the tests and exams.

Though I have to ask, why did you indicate "Honors" next to each course? That distinction does not exist at U of T, and I'm unaware of it existing anywhere besides in American schools. Simply because it contributed to an "Hons. B.Sc." doesn't count either since your degree could have easily changed. I have some other friends from U of T applying this year and we all put "Not Applicable" for everything. These are the same classes everyone takes, and there's no indication on your transcript of anything otherwise. I'd be wary of putting such statuses for courses that don't exist.

 

[euphaire]

Hmm, good point. I'm not familiar with this at all so I might have been wrong about it. I'll double check.
Thank you for the praise. I'm sure you did better! You probably noticed that I only took 4 courses in my first year at UT. I chickened out on taking 5 courses.
How's your app coming along? Did you e-submit yet?

You did your first year at U of T? You did really well, particularly in CHM139 and Physics. Nice job! Physics is not an easy course to do well in due to the nature of the way they grade the tests and exams.

Though I have to ask, why did you indicate "Honors" next to each course? That distinction does not exist at U of T, and I'm unaware of it existing anywhere besides in American schools. Simply because it contributed to an "Hons. B.Sc." doesn't count either since your degree could have easily changed. I have some other friends from U of T applying this year and we all put "Not Applicable" for everything. These are the same classes everyone takes, and there's no indication on your transcript of anything otherwise. I'd be wary of putting such statuses for courses that don't exist.

Edit: I'm an international student (Canadian) who's submitting her app in (maybe) late August. Probably not gonna make it..........

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

Hey Cherry,

Looks like you got most of the information correct. Here are a few mistakes that you made:

1. As someone pointed out, put "Not applicable" instead of "Honours" for your classes.
2. I used the OMSAS calculation scale, got my GPA verified, and they didn't have any problems with it. But, there are some marks that you entered down wrong. Recheck them. They will call you if you enter the wrong information down, make you recheck them, and put you back in line to get your GPA verified, which may delay your application by at least a week (might even delay up to a month as the queue gets longer).

Here is the link to the OMSAS Scale that I used:
http://www.ouac.on.ca/docs/omsas/c_omsas_b.pdf

Here are just some mistakes that I glanced through and saw that you made huge mistakes. Your spring 2007 semester is a mess. They will definitely catch this. Use table 3 and 7 on the OMSAS scale because you are from Waterloo.

Spring 2007

Mark, Your grade, Correct grade
86, A+, A
65, C+, C
85, A, A
55, D+, D
84, A, A-
65, C+, C

So from using that chart, you only got 1/6 marks entered correctly...
So yeah, follow the chart correctly and you'll be fine.

3. Make sure you know what is considered Science and non-science, and if it's science, then indicate which science it is. For example, all math classes are considered Science, so are all physics classes. If you follow this guide, you should know how to classify your classes:

http://www.adea.org/dental_education_pathways/aadsas/Applicants/GeneralInstructions/Documents/ADEA%20AADSAS%20Course%20Subjects.pdf

Also, the past is the past, no need to dwell on past marks. It's rare for someone to be extremely consistent over 4 years, and the American system is more forgiving compared to the Canadian system. I did a rough calculation on excel and looks like your GPA is around 3.58 cGPA

Good luck! and don't be shy if you have any more questions.

 

[BobLoblawDDS]

I used the OMSAS calculation scale, got my GPA verified, and they didn't have any problems with it.

I'm sorry, but why does she have to use the OMSAS scale? She's meant to input grades exactly as they appear on her transcript. U of T issues letter grades along with percentages, so the letter grades are simply converted to the AADSAS scale. Not sure about Waterloo, but if her transcript doesn't issue letter grades then she uses the standard scale below:

100-90 = A = 4
89-80 = B = 3
79-70 = C = 2

etc.

You can find all of this here, Cherry:
http://www.adea.org/dental_education_pathways/aadsas/Applicants/GeneralInstructions/Documents/2011%20GPA%20Calculations.pdf

The system is exactly why you have people complaining about their school not issuing A+'s since they get a 4.0 instead of a 4.33 for that course, and why Canadian applicants are helped by the system because usually anything 90-100 is automatically a 4.33 (given that it's an A+ at that school).

At no point does OMSAS enter this, and at no point should it. We're applying to American schools, not Ontario ones.

[Edit] I think I do still see some probable mistakes though. There's no way an 86 is an A+; no way Waterloo's that easy!

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

The best solution is to call the AADSAS to determine the right course of action.

But from my understanding...

For schools like UT where there are letter grades that go with the percentage, then enter both numerical grade and letter grade.

For schools like Waterloo, this was the only fair comparison I found. You would expect an organization like the adcoms of Ontario med schools would know a thing or two on how to standardize grades.

For the schools that don't give out A+s, they also don't give out A-s. That's why when they calculate your GPA, they calculate one without the +/- and a GPA with the +/- Now schools would have something to compare applicants with.

EDIT: Again, I might be completely wrong in this, so make sure to call AADSAS.

AADSAS representative >>> Random poster on an internet forum.

 

[euphaire]

Albert and Albino,

Thanks for pointing that out! I had many courses and got my mind mixed up. I corrected these mistakes - Albino, I didn't have just 1/6 entered correctly! More like 1/6 entered incorrectly..
Have you two heard anything from anyone yet?

Oh yeah, now my GPA would be EVEN lower than I originally thought. *heartbreak*