Question

I am currently a second semester junior and am looking to go into the dentistry field. I did not do very well my sophomore year of college, but pulled my act together and got a 4.0 gpa this last semester. My cumulative gpa is 3.39 with a science gpa of 3.26. both will go up at the end of this semester, as I am most likely going to get a 4.0 once again. I am also taking summer courses to boost it even higher. I am planning on taking the DAT this may, and have prepared well for it. so my first question is, do it stand a chance of getting into dental school ?

My second issue is my physiology course, I have to drop it because it conflicts with my work schedule to the point where my manager is forcing me to quit and i need the job to pay for college. How bad will it look to dental schools to withdraw from a physiology course? I plan on taking it this time next semester. I have dropped one course in the past, my freshman year, a biology course, but retook it and did well in it. I dont want it to negatively effect my chances of getting into dental school and I am really, truly worried this will crush all my aspirations.
Any information/guidance  would be truly appreciated. Thank you all.

Answer 1

If you have a good DAT score, then you have good chances.  Apply early and to many schools.  I think you have a really good shot!

One "W" will not matter, but several will.  You might have to explain away 3 or more "W"s (which would hurt your chances)

Answer 2

As far as your GPA-- many admission people from various schools have said that it reflects very positively upon the applicant if they can see a clear point in time where you improved academically. (i.e. if you used to get a 3.3 every semester and all of a sudden after a certain point you get all 3.8s and higher, it looks very good). From admissions people I have talked to, they make it sound  like this scenario is even better than if you just got a 3.5s along the whole way, (but that's just the impression that I got.)