Hello,
I’m a life science student going to 4th year in September and I’m debating whether I should graduate in April of 2013. I wish to go to Dentistry school, preferably at UofT, but my CGPA is only 3.0, the minimum requirement for dentistry. I went to guidance to ask for advice, but they told me to give up on dentistry altogether; however, I am not willing to give up without a fight, my gpa was terrible in first year which is why my gpa is so low, but through hard work there has been a dramatic increase in my grades each year that follows. Financially, I’m in a tight spot, so I’m not sure if I should take a 5th year and continue to try or to listen to my guidance councilor to switch fields. Switching fields is another problem because I have no idea what I could do with a BSc diploma. Please give me some advice on what I should do, to graduate or not, and if not what options are left for me? =(
– Very old and worried 4th year.
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Dearest Old and Worried,
My apologies for such a delayed answer, but there’s really no need to be so frantic. 🙂
Firstly, there is no graduation in April 2013, so if you do choose to deem this your fourth and final year of undergrad, starting today, October 1, 2012, you can declare your intention to graduate on ROSI for June 2013 since I highly doubt a fifth year will be necessary, much less a change in fields.
Now there’s no need for you to give up your dream. Your 3.0 CGPA is the equivalent to a mid-B, which, according to the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Dentistry, is the minimum final year average needed. Right now, you’re in a fairly good place and will at least be considered. The only thing you can do right now is make sure you stay on top of your game this year so that your grades will be enough to beat out the competition.
But to avoid any crushing of dreams, keep your options open. Don’t apply solely to U of T. That’s probably the best way to get your heart torn to pieces, really. The Faculty of Dentistry even provides you with links to other possible universities to do your post-grad work at. For example, you can go over to Western and study and/or party hard or you can go over to McGill and practice your French while practicing your periodontology. Or maybe you can go to UBC or University of Alberta or University of Manitoba. My point is that the best way to go anywhere in life, whether that be for dinner or for dentistry, is to keep your options open. Naturally, these different universities will obviously come with different requirements, so you may have a harder time getting in (which I doubt because U of T is, well, U of T), or you may find your CGPA is ideal.
You have plenty of options and plenty of time to raise your CGPA if you feel your 3.0 isn’t enough, so don’t worry so much. But if this response isn’t enough to placate you, here’s a lovely cat gif.
also a very old but not as worried fourth year,
aska