UMD hopeful success story

[hopelesspredds]

I messed up pretty badly my first attempt in undergrad as a bio/pre-med major. I had taken 12 credits (orginally 15 but I dropped a class). Out of high school I had a 1200/1600 SAT and 3.2 GPA (did not study very hard ever).

My grades for that semester resulted in my GPA being at a measly 0.45 the only grades i recieved were from my bio and chem labs which were B and C respectively. The other 10 credits are F (was unable to complete my finals bc of financial debt to school)

However, 5 years following that tragic experience, I have managed to get back in school. I have not fallen below 3.7 GPA any semester since but am wondering if my mistakes from the past have made any dreams i had of going to dental school, impossible.

I have a 22 DAT and without regarding my grades from 5 yrs ago i have a 3.69 GPA (3.8sGPA) I also have 400 hours of showing experience, tons of community service and have completed 2 semesters of research under a prof.

Do i have a shot at dental school or should I look into another career. I am a Maryland resident so id like to apply to UMD, but also am looking into Howard, Meharry and NYU at the moment but am open to apply anywhere I could be accepted.

DO I STAND ANY CHANCE???

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[hopelesspredds]

I messed up pretty badly my first attempt in undergrad as a bio/pre-med major. I had taken 12 credits (orginally 15 but I dropped a class). Out of high school I had a 1200/1600 SAT and 3.2 GPA (did not study very hard ever).

My grades for that semester resulted in my GPA being at a measly 0.45 the only grades i recieved were from my bio and chem labs which were B and C respectively. The other 10 credits are F (was unable to complete my finals bc of financial debt to school)

However, 5 years following that tragic experience, I have managed to get back in school. I have not fallen below 3.7 GPA any semester since but am wondering if my mistakes from the past have made any dreams i had of going to dental school, impossible.

I have a 22 DAT and without regarding my grades from 5 yrs ago i have a 3.69 GPA (3.8sGPA) I also have 400 hours of showing experience, tons of community service and have completed 2 semesters of research under a prof.

Do i have a shot at dental school or should I look into another career. I am a Maryland resident so id like to apply to UMD, but also am looking into Howard, Meharry and NYU at the moment but am open to apply anywhere I could be accepted.

DO I STAND ANY CHANCE???

I CANNOT retake the classes I failed during my first attempt bc it is an OOS private school and i live in Maryland

 

[Likkriue]

Apply early and I think you have a good shot. You are a shoe in if you are Black and applying to meharry and Howard with that Dat.

 

[hopelesspredds]

Apply early and I think you have a good shot. You are a shoe in if you are Black and applying to meharry and Howard with that Dat.

i am black.
Am i only competitive at the HBCUs?
I am from Baltimore and UMD is my preference but I'd go anywhere lol

 

[dr.d00m]

I messed up pretty badly my first attempt in undergrad as a bio/pre-med major. I had taken 12 credits (orginally 15 but I dropped a class). Out of high school I had a 1200/1600 SAT and 3.2 GPA (did not study very hard ever).

My grades for that semester resulted in my GPA being at a measly 0.45 the only grades i recieved were from my bio and chem labs which were B and C respectively. The other 10 credits are F (was unable to complete my finals bc of financial debt to school)

However, 5 years following that tragic experience, I have managed to get back in school. I have not fallen below 3.7 GPA any semester since but am wondering if my mistakes from the past have made any dreams i had of going to dental school, impossible.

I have a 22 DAT and without regarding my grades from 5 yrs ago i have a 3.69 GPA (3.8sGPA) I also have 400 hours of showing experience, tons of community service and have completed 2 semesters of research under a prof.

Do i have a shot at dental school or should I look into another career. I am a Maryland resident so id like to apply to UMD, but also am looking into Howard, Meharry and NYU at the moment but am open to apply anywhere I could be accepted.

DO I STAND ANY CHANCE???

Firstly, high school gpa and SAT scores aren't factored in for the dental admissions process, so I don't think that really matters too much.

Are any of the classes you failed a prerequisite course for dental school? If so, you HAVE to retake it one way or another and get at least a 'C' before you matriculate into dental school.

But regarding your chances at Maryland, as long as you explain everything in your application and say how after that experience you worked hard to improve, I think you have a pretty good shot. Your stats aren't the worst, and people with less have gotten in.

Like the person above said, apply as early as possible. Make sure you're ready to submit your application when AADSAS opens in June for the 2018 cycle. And yes, you are a shoo-in for those HBCUs if you are interested in applying to them.

 

[WheatLom]

Since you took a long break from schooling, I feel like some schools have a credit forgiving period. For example, if you don't enroll anywhere for X years they are willing to drop all your credits and give you a clean start. Only some schools do that.

But that break in schooling definitely helped change your mindset and your PS should show that. You got a chance easily.

 

[hopelesspredds]

Firstly, high school gpa and SAT scores aren't factored in for the dental admissions process, so I don't think that really matters too much.

Are any of the classes you failed a prerequisite course for dental school? If so, you HAVE to retake it one way or another and get at least a 'C' before you matriculate into dental school.

But regarding your chances at Maryland, as long as you explain everything in your application and say how after that experience you worked hard to improve, I think you have a pretty good shot. Your stats aren't the worst, and people with less have gotten in.

Like the person above said, apply as early as possible. Make sure you're ready to submit your application when AADSAS opens in June for the 2018 cycle. And yes, you are a shoo-in for those HBCUs if you are interested in applying to them.

The only prereqs i took 5 yrs ago were bio and chem.
Also ive taken calc 1 calc 2 and the calc based physics series and have received As in all of them. Im not sure if most predents do that but im trying to show i can handle rigor

will UMD be a little lenient since I am a maryland resident? i attend their dental day every year lol Honestly, i wouldnt mind going to an HBCU since i am from an underserved community, however UMD is obviously an amazing school and would be cheaper.

Seriously I barely have anything other than A's. No C's. How can i make my app more competitive for a "top school"?

 

[hopelesspredds]

Since you took a long break from schooling, I feel like some schools have a credit forgiving period. For example, if you don't enroll anywhere for X years they are willing to drop all your credits and give you a clean start. Only some schools do that.

But that break in schooling definitely helped change your mindset and your PS should show that. You got a chance easily.

Thank you! How can i find out if schools have any sort of forgiveness?

 

[WheatLom]

Thank you! How can i find out if schools have any sort of forgiveness?

I think you would have to check with the registrar. There may be something on their webpage.

 

[dr.d00m]

The only prereqs i took 5 yrs ago were bio and chem.
Also ive taken calc 1 calc 2 and the calc based physics series and have received As in all of them. Im not sure if most predents do that but im trying to show i can handle rigor

will UMD be a little lenient since I am a maryland resident? i attend their dental day every year lol Honestly, i wouldnt mind going to an HBCU since i am from an underserved community, however UMD is obviously an amazing school and would be cheaper.

Seriously I barely have anything other than A's. No C's. How can i make my app more competitive for a "top school"?

Thank you! How can i find out if schools have any sort of forgiveness?

To my knowledge, only Texas has a program like that but it's only for credits taken 10 or more years ago...you'll also need to move there and become a resident for it to apply for you (http://www.collegeforalltexans.com/index.cfm?objectid=6D10C9BD-DD24-153F-90B91DA6C20D1C97).

And even if those old credits get wiped out, you'll still need to retake those old classes just to have it say on your transcript that you passed them.

 

[hopelesspredds]

To my knowledge, only Texas has a program like that but it's only for credits taken 10 or more years ago...you'll also need to move there and become a resident for it to apply for you (http://www.collegeforalltexans.com/index.cfm?objectid=6D10C9BD-DD24-153F-90B91DA6C20D1C97).

And even if those old credits get wiped out, you'll still need to retake those old classes just to have it say on your transcript that you passed them.

I retook every class on that transcript but at a different university

 

[dr.d00m]

I retook every class on that transcript but at a different university

You're solid then..go ahead and apply this year, I'm sure you'll hear back from at least a couple schools