Transfer to University of Texas at Austin

Archive State Forums
1

I am currently in my second semester at a community college. I am a full-time student taking 13 hours each semester.

My first semester I didn’t do so well… My GPA was a 2.9. There was a class where the professor gave everyone a C so that didn’t really help my GPA. This semester, I’m aiming for all A’s but my BIOL class is killing me.

My goal is to do 2 years at this community college and transfer to University of Texas at Austin for 2 years. If I get a 3.5 at the end of my 2 years of my community college, would I be able to transfer to UT? After my 2 years at UT, I plan on going to Baylor A&M College of Dentistry for 4 years to become a Dentist. Did I screw myself by doing bad my first semester?

I am the first to go to college in my family so all of this is new to me. In high school I had a 4.6 GPA but I thought it would be better to do 2 years at a community college, cost wise.

2

You should have went to UT straight out of high school. It’s gonna very difficult to transfer now from a community college. A 2.9 is going to make a difficult situation even more difficult. What was your test scores on the SAT/ACT.

Reggie

3

I didn’t do so well on either of them. I believe my ACT I scored a 21 and my SAT I scored a 1350.

4

I would just say from here tap into every resource your school has for first generation college students. Go to tutoring, attend SI sessions for subjects that have that available. You are going to need A’s from here on out. If you can’t get your GPA to say 3.7+ you need to get realistic, because it’s not going to happen on the path you are on.

5

It honestly doesn’t look like dental school is going to be a sure thing for you at this point, but there are a lot of other related careers, like dental assistant or medical allied health fields, for which you are still well on track if your Plan A doesn’t end up working out. Keep plugging away, get those grades up a bit, and keep your options open. You sound like a very determined person for whom good things will happen if you keep hanging in there!

6

So I ended my freshmen year with a 3.15. I don’t plan on going to UT any more but instead, UH- Clearlake. Though, I’m wondering if Dental school is still a possibility? I’m on summer break right now and I’m reading through my Bio textbooks (which I should’ve done before) and studying different things online over the courses I’ll be taking in the fall. I plan on making a 4.0 my sophomore year so I can at least raise my GPA to a 3.6. Then, I plan on transferring to the University of Houston-Clearlake and maintaining a 3.7+ (I would say 4.0 but I’ve heard University courses are harder than Community College courses).

I have a few questions though,

  1. Do dental schools average your GPA with all your years or do they use what your GPA is at the end of your senior year?
  2. Will dental schools hold you back because of a bad start? (My freshmen year)
  3. Should I change my major? I know dental schools don't require a specific major so I was thinking of majoring in web design when I transfer since I basically would have to start all over if I change my major now. I want to have something to fall back on in case dental school doesn't work out.
  4. Do extracurricular activities over shadow volunteer work? I do a lot of volunteer work but not many extracurricular activities. Only extracurricular activity I've done this year was join Psychology Club.
  5. Should I do an internship at a dental office?
  6. Last question, is Pre-med the same as Pre-dent?

Any help with my questions and such is greatly appreciated, thank you!

7

Relax, all is not lost because of your freshmen year. Just make sure you get that GPA up to 3.7+ as you stated you wanted. It is a bit harder at a university, but not impossible. You will probably have one semester of adjustment.

8

I would also highly recommend that you forego, at least for the moment, extra curriculars etc. in order to focus on getting that GPA up high. In addition, start to watch videos & really dig in to the field that you are interested (dental). Your abysmal ACT & SAT scores won’t matter for graduate work. The fact you are above a 3.00+ is a help. But aim for all A’s from here on out, especially in whatever medical and science related courses you take. You have three more years to pick that way up. Load up on academic accolades & always seek help at the first sign of academic trouble.