Will my community college credits hurt my chances?

[malikhind]

Hi, my first year of college I went to a community college because I was not sure what I wanted to do as a career and I did not want to waste money at a university. I have 37 credit hours, 3.92 oGPA and 4.0 sGPA from the community college. The only pre-reqs I took were university physics 1/2 and the rest will be completed at a university. I'm currently a sophomore and after this semester I should have 31 credit hours with a oGPA of 3.57 and sGPA of 3.52 at my university. I messed up my first semester at university because I didn't take it as seriously as I should have because I was conditioned by my first year at community college. I got straight B's in gChem 1 and Biology (organismal) and a elective. However, this semester I should be getting a 4.0 in all my science classes. If I do as well as I hope on the DAT, could this effect my negatively if I am applying to top dental schools (i.e. Columbia, Harvard, NYU etc...)? By the time I apply I should have around a 3.8 cumulative GPA and I aim for at least a 23 on the DAT.

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[R1092]

Hi, my first year of college I went to a community college because I was not sure what I wanted to do as a career and I did not want to waste money at a university. I have 37 credit hours, 3.92 oGPA and 4.0 sGPA from the community college. The only pre-reqs I took were university physics 1/2 and the rest will be completed at a university. I'm currently a sophomore and after this semester I should have 31 credit hours with a oGPA of 3.57 and sGPA of 3.52 at my university. I messed up my first semester at university because I didn't take it as seriously as I should have because I was conditioned by my first year at community college. I got straight B's in gChem 1 and Biology (organismal) and a elective. However, this semester I should be getting a 4.0 in all my science classes. If I do as well as I hope on the DAT, could this effect my negatively if I am applying to top dental schools (i.e. Columbia, Harvard, NYU etc...)? By the time I apply I should have around a 3.8 cumulative GPA and I aim for at least a 23 on the DAT.

it wont hurt your chances at all. I went to a community college first too and I still got into 7 dental schools.

 

[deleted735879]

You will be fine. Just doube check the schools you apply to, because from what I have hear, some don't cc credits or any prereqs from them etc.

 

[8_man]

If you can pull off a 23 DAT, you'll be more than fine haha

 

[Legacy382]

It shouldn't hurt your chances in the long run, but if the schools you really want to go only accept a certain number of CC credits you should do the research on the amount, and/or call that school and ask.

 

[Stanelz]

A question I asked recently. Although the consensus seems to be that it really does not matter too much, here are the schools that have specifically stated on their website/adea guide that they do not prefer them. But from the forums I have noticed these schools make exceptions.


PSA about community college courses

 

[Hatak]

Why do people care about going to a top dental school?

 

[malikhind]

You will be fine. Just doube check the schools you apply to, because from what I have hear, some don't cc credits or any prereqs from them etc.

I've been checking out schools and most that don't accept pre-reqs say that if a higher level course is taken in that subject, it will count. I.e. if I took gen chem 1 at a cc then gen chem 2 at a university, they would accept the gen chem 1 credits. But I will double check before I apply.

Why do people care about going to a top dental school?

From what I've heard, it's not as big of a deal for people who just want to run a general practice, but going to a top dental school is very beneficial if you want to do surgery or specialize.

 

[acesofseven]

Why do people care about going to a top dental school?

Pride? Cost? Opportunity? I dunno?

 

[surfline]

Pride? Cost? Opportunity? I dunno?

This... my top pick is UPenn because of their giant price tag, who could resist?

 

[acesofseven]

This... my top pick is UPenn because of their giant price tag, who could resist?

Hey man, just get the Dean's Scholarship then and it'll be normal priced.

 

[Faefly]

Hey man, just get the Dean's Scholarship then and it'll be normal priced.

Out of curiosity, how can someone get the Dean's Scholarship.

 

[Polkadotfan]

Did a lot of CC classes. Not an issue for me!

 

[acesofseven]

Out of curiosity, how can someone get the Dean's Scholarship.

From what I heard, having a 3.7 and above automatically gets you it. I think there may be a DAT requirement too but I don't remember.