Failed courses/Years

[ramyel]

Good afternoon everybody,

 

Like many students, life throws really savage curve balls that not everyone can dodge. If for example when applying to UWO for dental school, I am under the impression the best 2 years are taken into consideration for the calculation. Now what if you have a year or two with really bad grades but everything completely flipped to the 85-90% range and greater. If you take two years full course load, will those previous years have a severely negative impact on your application? 

 

Petitioning to drop courses off your transcript in my university is harder than the hardest degree they offer. They don't really budge much unless you have a super nice letter from someone of influence. 

 

To be honest I have worked incredibly hard to achieve great results and succeed after those two horrible years of my life. I plant on completing the next two years with a 90%+ average and a full course load. But how will i be judged because of the other years? I know the two best years are the ones that count as well as DAT and so on. 

Does anyone have any advice for petitioning? does anyone know someone who was in the same boat and know what they did? If anyone is familiar with the process and details i would be really appreciative of any kind hearted responses. 

 

Please let me know if all i have to worry about is accomplishing two full course load years with spectacular grades and my past is just my past.

 

Thank you so much in advance.

[Winnipeg9416]

If you're applying to UWO, they will only count your best 2 years in terms of % - anything else will be left alone! Put the past behind you and work hard these next 2 years, you're at no disadvantage! Cheers

[hopefuldentist22]

I had a question about this - what if you did bad in some of your pre reqs from first and second year, but did much better in your overall GPA in your last two years? Is there a chance to get in with that situation? 

[DentalFoodie]

Depends on the requirements... UWO is putting a minimum grade requirement for prerequisites (ie biochem) so you might not be able to apply if it doesn't meet cutoffs. 

[Waves]

Retake prerequisites below 75 during the summer, and ace the next two years. The past doesn't matter. 

[dentalisc]

Hey guys,

I am about to register for my second year classes and I have a question:

Organic is offered as a second year course at my university but I am wondering if I could take it in my last year (4 year), so that way it does not affect my GPA in my second and third year (assuming I will get 80's..85's)
if I take organic in my 4th year, does it still count as a fulfilled prerequisite even though it will not be take into my GPA calculation?
Thanks

[mollypercocet]

I think this would depend on the school. I've only really looked at Dalhousie. There you can take a pre-req course the year you're applying. IMO Organic chemistry is not that hard. Just don't memorize reactions try to understand what's happening and do a lot of practice and you'll do well :). 

[mollypercocet]

On 7/2/2017 at 3:43 PM, dentalisc said:

Hey guys,

I am about to register for my second year classes and I have a question:

Organic is offered as a second year course at my university but I am wondering if I could take it in my last year (4 year), so that way it does not affect my GPA in my second and third year (assuming I will get 80's..85's)
if I take organic in my 4th year, does it still count as a fulfilled prerequisite even though it will not be take into my GPA calculation?
Thanks

I think this would depend on the school. I've only really looked at Dalhousie. There you can take a pre-req course the year you're applying. IMO Organic chemistry is not that hard. Just don't memorize reactions try to understand what's happening and do a lot of practice and you'll do well :). 

[premedschool]

On 7/2/2017 at 11:43 AM, dentalisc said:

Hey guys,

I am about to register for my second year classes and I have a question:

Organic is offered as a second year course at my university but I am wondering if I could take it in my last year (4 year), so that way it does not affect my GPA in my second and third year (assuming I will get 80's..85's)
if I take organic in my 4th year, does it still count as a fulfilled prerequisite even though it will not be take into my GPA calculation?
Thanks

I don't think that's a great idea. Organic Chem is a pre-req course for more advanced chemistry courses for 3/4th year chemistry. If you postpone taking Organic Chem, you may not be eligible to take a course that has a pre-req of organic chem. Just take it in your second year!

[hopefuldentist22]

On 7/3/2017 at 3:47 PM, premedschool said:

I don't think that's a great idea. Organic Chem is a pre-req course for more advanced chemistry courses for 3/4th year chemistry. If you postpone taking Organic Chem, you may not be eligible to take a course that has a pre-req of organic chem. Just take it in your second year!

Similar to what premedschool said - at my university you have to take orgo before you can take biochem, and a few universities are like that too. Biochem is a prereq for a lot of Dental schools so I would recommend you taking orgo in second year (believe me, you want to get it out of the way)!