i have a question! all the knowledgeable californians respond please.

[eweddie]

so i took a year break after high school and now i'm just working.
but starting in january i'm going to start school at a community college and i wanna pursue a career in dentistry later on.
i'm going to transfer to a 4 year university and i was wondering which schools i should transfer to if i wanted to go to a dental school.
i would prefer to stay in california and i was wondering if it'd be possible to get accepted to dental school after graduating from state universities such as san francisco state or cal poly.
any ideas?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[bcdds09]

I'm not a Cali resident, but you can be accepted into dental school from any undergraduate university. Just maintain a high GPA and score well on the DAT. Hopefully that helps.

 

[drpsuedonym]

It doesn't matter if you go to a state school, you can still get into dental school, just maintain a high GPA. A couple of the dental schools don't accept prereqs done at a community college, so if you think you might want to go to one of those schools, be aware that you'll run into problems. As far as I know though, most schools do not have a problem with it. (But don't take my word for it since I'm not 100% sure.)

 

[doc toothache]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=527335

 

[Valleyfornia]

Make sure you finish Community College in 2 years or less. Then try and transfer out to a U.C, or SFSU. If you want to go to UOP, then get your bachelors at UOP. Either way, maintain a high GPA.

 

[DiNoZeRo2o9]

^^ definitely get your bachelor's at UOP if you want to go there. You CAN get accepted by going to any school if you maintain a high GPA, but if you go to a UC you have a better chance. I would say for every 10 students that get accepted into a dental school that went to a state school or UC in California, 8 of them were from a UC and 2 were from a State school. This is from predents/friends/intervewees I met etc and in no ways is a solid number but I do suspect its close to the actual numbers.

(disclaimer: this does not include Cal Poly SLO and the other high end states)

 

[stillhere858]

I agree that UC > state school. So try to get into a UC bc they are more established and respected in the science community. Don't forget though, not only is a high GPA good, but you have to validate it with a DAT score. GPA doesn't make you golden, you have to have a decent DAT too. GL

 

[PDizzle]

My advice is first, figure out what UC you wanna go to. (not State...aim high!) Then find out what local CC's the UC takes the most transfers from. Next, go to that CC and pown that classes,gett'n a 3.8 or higher (not too difficult in a CC). Transfer to the UC. You are all set.

For example, what I did was decide on UC Berkeley. So I found out Diablo Valley CC was their main school the picked up junior xfers from. I moved next to both schools....the rest is history.


Good luck.

 

[Enso]

I agree that UC > state school. So try to get into a UC bc they are more established and respected in the science community. Don't forget though, not only is a high GPA good, but you have to validate it with a DAT score. GPA doesn't make you golden, you have to have a decent DAT too. GL

I have a question about this... I already have a Bachelors in Marketing and need to finish some pre-reqs... I'm at a CC right now but if I enroll at a UC school as a "non-degree seeking student" and then finish my sciences there would that have the same effect when applying to Cali dental schools?