[Higher Ranked Schools] Course Rigor vs. GPA

[mascue]

I heard that a higher GPA is much better than a rigorous courseload that accompanies a lower GPA. I have a pretty good GPA, but I can't say that I'm being worked to my maximum, because I am taking 2 science courses and 2 easy courses that literally takes less than 2 hours a week to do (outside of class time). Should I just keep this trend and keep my high GPA, or should I risk it and take more rigorous courses if I want to get into somewhere like Columbia dental or UCLA dental?

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[FeralisExtremum]

Dental schools aren't ranked. I'm assuming you mean schools that have higher GPA/DAT admissions averages, but why in particular do you want to go to those schools?

 

[FeralisExtremum]

For me personally I wanted that vigorous course load for a couple of reasons. 1. It'll help you transition better to a dental school curriculum which will be far more rigorous than undergrad. 2. It'll give you another talking point in your interview about how you improved your time management and could handle a busy load... I also wanted to show myself what I could manage and still succeed with. I'm more of a go getter and have high goals so I guess that's just more so my personality

When I look at students who are taking an easy course load, don't have a job, drink on weekdays and maintain a 4.0, I just don't see how that will catch the eye of admissions. I'd much rather interview and accept the applicant who took 18+ credits, worked a job, volunteered, shadowed, was in a club and could actually communicate like a human. I saw too many genius students who were just about smarter then the professors but also had their face in books on Friday and Saturday nights and had no form of social interaction.

If I were in your shoes, I would either take more courses and challenge yourself or at least do more in your off time to add to your resume/self enjoyment. High GPAs and Dat scores will catch their eyes but what they see as they dive into your application is what will convince them that they need to grant you that interview.

ALSO a lot of programs have a list of courses that they highly recommend to applicants so maybe check those out!

Sounds nice on paper. In reality, it's not very realistic for admissions committees to scrutinize transcripts that rigorously given the volume of applicants.

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Perhaps.. Although I do think they further then GPA and Dat scores or else these programs would have higher averages. don't you think?

They definitely look at other stuff, otherwise a lot of schools would just solely interview applicants with very high GPAs and DAT scores - but from experience we know that there is a good variety in terms of academic performance in students that are interviewed. I just think that the distinguishing factors tend to be non-academic (sports? research? music? other general life achievements?).

 

[HKSZYU]

Agree with @FeralisExtremum. You should take the most challenging course load that you're able to whilst still maintaining a high (3.6-3.7+) GPA. Taking upper level science courses can help indicate intellectual curiosity in science, but you are gaining no admission points by taking a bunch of upper level science courses that you are doing poorly in. Moreover, if your course load is so rigorous that it's preventing you from doing other things like shadowing, extracurriculars, etc., that also will lead your app to be unbalanced.

Take the course-load that allows you to get a high GPA, high DAT score, and leaves you enough time to be an interesting, well-balanced person.

 

[Likkriue]

For me personally I wanted that vigorous course load for a couple of reasons. 1. It'll help you transition better to a dental school curriculum which will be far more rigorous than undergrad. 2. It'll give you another talking point in your interview about how you improved your time management and could handle a busy load... I also wanted to show myself what I could manage and still succeed with. I'm more of a go getter and have high goals so I guess that's just more so my personality

When I look at students who are taking an easy course load, don't have a job, drink on weekdays and maintain a 4.0, I just don't see how that will catch the eye of admissions. I'd much rather interview and accept the applicant who took 18+ credits, worked a job, volunteered, shadowed, was in a club and could actually communicate like a human. I saw too many genius students who were just about smarter then the professors but also had their face in books on Friday and Saturday nights and had no form of social interaction.

If I were in your shoes, I would either take more courses and challenge yourself or at least do more in your off time to add to your resume/self enjoyment. High GPAs and Dat scores will catch their eyes but what they see as they dive into your application is what will convince them that they need to grant you that interview.

ALSO a lot of programs have a list of courses that they highly recommend to applicants so maybe check those out!

TLDR- how to burn out before dental school starts.

 

[axiumgod]

Just take all the pre-reqs, stay around 15 credits a semester, and throw in a couple extra upper level science classes here and there and you’ll be fine. The admissions committees aren’t going to reject you because you didn’t take 18 credits of science per semester lol. Grades are more important than schedule rigor, as long as you take all the pre-reqs

 

[Gustavo dos Santos]

I had a semester where I took only 1 prerequisite, studied for the DAT, and skied every other day. Hasn’t been an issue so far.

They look at your course load but I doubt they’ll take the time to scrutinize every semester for every student to determine who had the more demanding schedule. just keep your GPA high and do we’ll on the DAT.

 

[2thDoc11]

TLDR- how to burn out before dental school starts.

Aragorn wouldn’t take the easy road ‍♂️

 

[mascue]

Dental schools aren't ranked. I'm assuming you mean schools that have higher GPA/DAT admissions averages, but why in particular do you want to go to those schools?

I'm not entirely sure what I want to do just yet, but if I wanted to specialize I heard these options are better because (especially columbia) has P/F. I know UCLA has H/P/F which is different but I just want to set myself up for safety.

 

[ESPN907]

I'm not entirely sure what I want to do just yet, but if I wanted to specialize I heard these options are better because (especially columbia) has P/F. I know UCLA has H/P/F which is different but I just want to set myself up for safety.

I’d say the C average is a safe buffer...you’ll graduate, otherwise if you’re highly motivated to specialize you’ll be able to do it anywhere