What are my chances?????????

[DaktarSaheb]

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Hi all,
Sorry for long post in advance. Here is little background on me.
I moved to US 4 yeasr ago and first year at community college I took ESL classes and I sucked on them and my GPA first year was 2.4. In my Second and third year of college(in real 1st and 2nd not counting ESL year) and my GPA is 3.8 (all at community college,). I have all my pre-requisites done at community college.
I transferred to university as Chemical Engineering major and first semester I had following grades in my classes A+ ,C+, D+, D(many personal reasons than academic ability). That D is in Biochemistry. This second semster I started as an engineer and changed my major to chemistry becasue I couldn't handle the technical part and decided it was not for me. This semester my grades I think will be A (so far A+ in biochemistry after 67 % of evaluation), B(200 level anatomy), B+(animal physiology) and W(missed no course shown deadline by 1 day and dropped because was engineering class and was really hard and didn't take any exams before dropping).
I took my DAT last week and Got: 22/23/17 AA/TS/PAT, with 18 in RC(second language but trying my best) everything else above 20.
All my LOR's are from Community College professors but I think are very good.
ExtraCurriculars: Volunteer In Emergency Room and Orthopedics for Two semesters(40Hr's each), Memeber of various clubs at school, Participated in Teaching Scholar Program and taught 7 Lectures of chemistry at High School in 11th grade (total one semester commitment), Volunteered at Homless shelter for about 35 hrs. Shadowing Dentist for 12 hrs so far and counting(4hrs week and will do it untill the august). Interpreter of my Mother Tongue(language) in my county for Driving Examinations.
Here is my Question: do i have chance for 2005 since my first semester at university is Bad and This semester I have one W? Will take classes in summer so my GPA can be boost at University. I don't care where I go to School as long as I go somewhere. My state of residence is Michigan. Grades of my senior year will not be in AADSAS so no way to change my GPA after Summer. Or you guys think should wait till 2006 cycle so will have my senior year grades in so I can demonstrte that I can handle upper level classes. I don't know but I really had rough junior year(many family problems-now over ) and thinking that I haven't done my best at university and might hurt my chances of getting in???
What you guys think?? Please post your suggestions on how to improve my application and make a better candidate for this upcoming cycle?? Thank you all in advance fo replying.

 

[Thaxil]

I personally think you have an o.k. shot at being accepted into dental school for the 2005 cycle.

You need to explain the problems in the first semester at University. The W was not a good mark as well being so close to application time. So your academics are not as good as others, but that is what the DAT is for. You did excellent on it. I think this will counter balance you lack luster GPA.

I had a worst situation then you and I received acceptance and multiple interviews.

Your volunteer experiences are killer.

Besides your GPA situation, the major problem is that you will not obtain you B.S. before admission. I think the stats are 90% obtain their B.S. before enrolled.

Anyways, if you have the money to try, it is worth the shot. Or your could wait one year and do well in school and have a better position to apply. It maybe worth the time to wait in-order to attend a school that you real desire.

Basically, write a good personal statement starting now. Get some LOR from upper division professors and cast a wide net in the schools you apply to. You may not get accepted into your number one choice, but there could be a school out their that willing accept you.

Sorry if I sound to negative, I am just a pessimist

 

[NewNameForGoogleBot]

moderate to poor

show a year of solid grades (Ds and Ws will not cut it) and get a diploma to increase your chances

 

[dr_benj]

You really need to have at least a year of all A's and B's at a 4 year college/university to prove to the admissions committees that you have what it takes to deal with the rigors of dental school. I think right now you have less than a 10% chance of getting in. One year of solid work and I would say 75% chance. Good luck, study hard.

P.S. - make sure you check with each individual school. Some will not let you take all of your prereqs at a community college.

 

[aphistis]

Originally posted by jaap
moderate to poor

show a year of solid grades (Ds and Ws will not cut it) and get a diploma to increase your chances

Concur. Good luck.

 

[hxx437]

Originally posted by dr_benj

P.S. - make sure you check with each individual school. Some will not let you take all of your prereqs at a community college.

Hi, dr_benj,

Could you clarify the prereqs at community college issue, I'm going to take all myprerequires are taken at community college.
How many are they? Could you give a list, thanks.

 

[dr_benj]

The prereqs vary from school to school, however, most require:

1 year physics w/lab
1 year o-chem w/lab
1 year g-chem w/lab
1 year biology w/lab

Additionally, many schools require other prereqs such as biochemistry, anatomy, microbiology, physiology, english, math, etc. Best bet would be to check out the websites of all dental schools you plan on applying to. Also check to see whether or not they have a policy on how many of the prereqs can be taken at a community college. Some schools won't allow it, some don't care. Let me know if you have anymore questions.

 

[Yah-E]

You'll need minimally 90 undergraduate credits to apply to US dental schools and only X-amount of them can be from community colleges.

How many credits do you have (how many from CC and how many from the University)

What is your cumulative GPA (with and without your CC grades)

You did wonderful on the DAT, you're done with that at least. Cumulative GPA and course grades are still very important in the application process and factors. You'll need to take more upper division science courses to increase your chances. If you're applying for the Entering Class of 2005 (2005-2006 academic year, graduating Class of 2009), then you're fine. Take the following courses if possible:

Microbiology
Histology
Human Anatomy
Physiology
Pathology
Neuroanatomy
Genetics
Cell Biology
Pharmacology

You'll need to demonstrate, at least, two heavy credit loaded semesters of solid grades (minimum Bs). Good luck.

😎

 

[grettlin2]

Hi, I think you are in a good shape for a certain schools. ESL courses count your GPA, but all schools do not recognize them. It was the part you might want to explain during your interview (if they ask) or in your personal statement.

For school work, try to find a bit easier courses to pull your GPA up. Like Yah-E said, try to do stright As or at least Bs in a semester to demostrate your ability. The schools like to see you can do well in undergraduate work. Start from taking a "major" course (Histology, Anatomy - you are taking, Physiology, and any higher level course) with other easier courses.

Be sure to apply as early as you can and try to get the committee's recommendations. Ask the dentist you are shadowing to write a letter for you.

You show your dedication and you contribute to the community. It makes your whole file look well. Remember to emphasize this part as well.

Keep reading this forum to see which school would favor your statement. As I know, U of P is the school that will forgive your GPA and look for high DAT. Try East coast schools as well. Remember, all are excellent schools (I actually went there for interviews). They just give students the chance to make their dream come true.

PM me if you have any question.

 

[ItsGavinC]

Good solid DAT scores--nice job on that.

 

[DaktarSaheb]

Hi Yah-E Yes I am thinking about applying to graduating class of 2009. my GPA of CC is 3.8, GPA of University will be 2.7 after this semester if I get expected grades and total GPA will be 3.47. I am definitely going to try this year with very few schools(don't have any cash right now)

Thanks all for replying, I studied like this is my only chance to get to dental school for DAT.

Hey grettlin, I am thinking about applying to only 5-6 schools for the shot that I have chance of getting into and I am looking for the ones that are accepting community collge students. I have total of 60 credits from CC, and will have 28 from university at the end of this semester, and have 8 credits of Language from placement test. I will be taking 9 cedits this summer so I will do my best and see if I can get my university GPA above 3.0. The schools I was looking was CWRU, Arizona, UDM, Michigan, Nova, Temple and pittsburg. I know that Michigan, UDM and Temple takes students from Community College(i know people who go there). Don't know about others. If you have any suggestions about which schools to apply let me know. I can't go to new york or boston or in that area because me and my parents live together and they don't speak english at all and will be very hard for them in those area. I have familes in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania(philly, pittsburgh), florida, maryland and arizona. I am only considering these states right now so my parents can have some social life.

Thaxil- I will be able to get BS in my last year and will have to take 9 in the summer 18 and 17 credits in my last year so will have my BS in MAY 2005 and I am going for it.

Hey Jaap - I will do that in my senior year with hard work (will reduce my job hrs ) and do everything that I did during my time at Community College(worked my ass of for those grades). But my Q is that Schools won't see it because those grades won't be in my application.

Here is my Q guys?? Do people send the Grades of their senior fall semester grades in January to the dental schools where application is still in review or schools don't look at them?? I will do everying to get high grades in my summer and senior year. Thanks all for replying.

 

[grettlin2]

Hi, as I know and from my own experience, Arizona looks for students with "excellent numbers". I mean in GPA and DAT. Your DAT score is good, but the GPA might be a little bit low as their standard. During my interview there, Dean emphasized the lowest GPA in my group was 3.5. I assumed he emphasized on GPA. Please correct me if I am wrong, Gavin.
For Temple and Nova, they are excellent schools. You will have a good shot after raising the GPA.
For Pittsburg, an excellent school, too. I feel they care their students a lot.

You might want to add NYU, U of Pacific, Boston to your list. I do not mean the schools are not good, but I mean they tend to give students from diverse backgrounds a chance to try.

During my application process, many people help me and give me suggestions. Without them, I might not take steps correctly. So, if you have any question, list them in the forum. Your "partners" for Class of 2009 and before will try to answer your questions.😀

 

[MetaMorphica!]

I agree with the above statements. Slim to none are your chances right now. Take a year of advanced science courses at the 4 yr college and try to ace all of them. Then I would say your chances would increase to around 80 percent

 

[NewNameForGoogleBot]

Originally posted by DaktarSaheb
Hey Jaap - I will do that in my senior year with hard work (will reduce my job hrs ) and do everything that I did during my time at Community College(worked my ass of for those grades). But my Q is that Schools won't see it because those grades won't be in my application.

Let me clarify - you should apply after your senior year and those grades are all on your transcript. This year I think you have a very slim chance, but next year could be better if you get those good grades. And it looks like you can score well on the DAT. Good luck