Grades to get into Dental Schools

[skjelstrom]

Warning: This is a slightly long-winded question.

So I'm not sure how to look at my grades in relation to how dental schools will look at my grades. I had a not-so-good GPA at my previous college for 2 years (especially BCP/science GPA), but ever since I transferred I've been kicking myself into gear and cranking out some good grades. (for 1 year that is)

My previous school was kind-of a joke state college in PA. It felt like extended high school and I never took it seriously. I transferred to University of Colorado Denver, which I consider a much higher quality and more respected school. I calculated out my separated GPA's according to AADSAS Course Subjects and ADEA GPA calculation:

PA school:
BCP - 2.51
sGPA - 3.11
oGPA - 3.34

UCD:
BCP - 3.91
sGPA - 3.91
oGPA - 3.94


If I combine everything I get:
BCP - 3.09
sGPA - 3.34
oGPA - 3.53

Not the most stellar grades. If I keep cranking out the high grades at UCD and do well on the DAT do you think schools will slightly disregard my grades at the first school? Or is it literally all just a numbers game and they won't even compare it?

I'm especially hoping the Dental School associated with my school will take the splits seriously and give me a better shot (University of Colorado Denver School of Dental Medicine). What do you think?

Also I should note, I have to attend 5 years of undergrad total because I took forever to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and some of my credits didn't transfer. Will 5 years matter to dental schools?

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[MedDevil]

If I keep cranking out the high grades at UCD and do well on the DAT do you think schools will slightly disregard my grades at the first school? Or is it literally all just a numbers game and they won't even compare it?
They won't disregard them, but they will appreciate your upward trend.


I'm especially hoping the Dental School associated with my school will take the splits seriously and give me a better shot (University of Colorado Denver School of Dental Medicine). What do you think?
Don't know much about UC Denver, it might be worth meeting with some students/faculty there and asking them about your situation.


Also I should note, I have to attend 5 years of undergrad total because I took forever to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and some of my credits didn't transfer. Will 5 years matter to dental schools?]

5 years vs. 4 years doesn't matter.

 

[ModifiedBass]

If you're going to bash your PA school saying it was a joke, I would bash you more on doing poorly in it to be honest with you, that's just logic... but besides that poor explanation, you should be fine if you continue to do well at your current school.

 

[skjelstrom]

If you're going to bash your PA school saying it was a joke, I would bash you more on doing poorly in it to be honest with you, that's just logic

No, I completely agree. Maybe I shouldn't say that it wasn't a good school, but rather it wasn't a good school for me. I also wasn't taking college seriously at that point and was really struggling to figure out why I was there and what I wanted to do. That being said I still did awful regardless.

My main concern is whether schools will take the turnaround into consideration if the two school's combined GPA isn't quite as high as they would like.

 

[Mufasha]

My main concern is whether schools will take the turnaround into consideration if the two school's combined GPA isn't quite as high as they would like.

Given it's such a big turnaround, I'd assume adcoms would take it into consideration. That is, however, if they don't initially screen out your application due to the sub-par combined GPAs. The bottom-line is that your application might be automatically overlooked by some adcoms while others might take a closer look and appreciate your improvement. Because you don't have control over this, just concentrate on improving what you're currently working with, particularly your BCP.

 

[skjelstrom]

That is, however, if they don't initially screen out your application due to the sub-par combined GPAs

That is my exact fear.