Just out of the military.. Now what?

Wuts up guys, just want to say this a very informative site. I've been lurking around this site for a few months, but finally decided to make an account.
Introducing myself, I'm 23 yrs old, and just spent 4 years with the Marines.
I plan on using the new G.I. Bill to take care of my undergrad studies than hopefully make it to a dental school.
I'm basically starting from ground zero with minimal college under my belt.
I elected bio/chem as my major, and after speaking with the transitional counselor on campus, he basically ligned out alot of science courses for me the next two years.
But other people are telling me to take just my core classes at a CC, than start science at a university. Keep in mind, I haven't done math/science in about 5-6 years.

Any assistance/opinions will be much appreciated. Thanks.
James

JSHONG21 said:

Wuts up guys, just want to say this a very informative site. I've been lurking around this site for a few months, but finally decided to make an account.
Introducing myself, I'm 23 yrs old, and just spent 4 years with the Marines.
I plan on using the new G.I. Bill to take care of my undergrad studies than hopefully make it to a dental school.
I'm basically starting from ground zero with minimal college under my belt.
I elected bio/chem as my major, and after speaking with the transitional counselor on campus, he basically ligned out alot of science courses for me the next two years.
But other people are telling me to take just my core classes at a CC, than start science at a university. Keep in mind, I haven't done math/science in about 5-6 years.

Any assistance/opinions will be much appreciated. Thanks.
James

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hey james!
semper fi! i went then same road as you, as a 0311 at camp pen. when i got out i went to miramar college (city, and grossmont) for 2 years and then transferred to san diego state and majored in cellular/ molecular bio. san diego state as a SICK pre-dental org that will get you where you need to be. you can go to the meetings on mondays at 5, that'll get you started down the right path. sit down w/ a counselor at a community college and have them map out what it will take to get to SDSU. they have a deal where if you maintain an OK gpa then then garuntee acceptance. when you get to SDSU you will have status as a junior and will only need like 2 years (3 tops) till you graduate. after 1 year at SDSU you will be ready to apply. hit me up if you have any questions along the way and i'll be able to help you out for sure.

-semper fi

Cpl Jason Keckley
Fox 2/5 Blackhearts
98-02

JSHONG21 said:

Wuts up guys, just want to say this a very informative site. I've been lurking around this site for a few months, but finally decided to make an account.
Introducing myself, I'm 23 yrs old, and just spent 4 years with the Marines.
I plan on using the new G.I. Bill to take care of my undergrad studies than hopefully make it to a dental school.
I'm basically starting from ground zero with minimal college under my belt.
I elected bio/chem as my major, and after speaking with the transitional counselor on campus, he basically ligned out alot of science courses for me the next two years.
But other people are telling me to take just my core classes at a CC, than start science at a university. Keep in mind, I haven't done math/science in about 5-6 years.

Any assistance/opinions will be much appreciated. Thanks.
James

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At your community college, you should only take the basic intro Biology and Chemistry courses. (like 100 or 101, what ever the non majors take). that way you can brush up on the scientific lingo and get a nice foundation. Then take the Biology and chemistry major courses at a 4-year university. I would also suggest you take the basic math courses from the CC so that you can take stats and physics from a university. Basically, the classes required for dental school should be taken at a 4-year, avoid taking them at a CC if you can. You can get by with one or two but anymore than that you'll be shooting yourself in the foot. But in your case, I think it would be best to start off with a light load and basic courses to get you into the rhythm and pace required to study and do well (get 'A's not 'B's!!!) freak, it seems like a lot of people don't get that and find themselves asking if they can get in with a 3.0 gpa....! and a lot of times they don't.

.

Waitlisted2009 said:

oh thats why you got in with your stats

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Jason is one of the most compasionate, helpful students on here. . .

Waitlisted2009 said:

oh thats why you got in with your stats

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if you want the whole story, you can read my very first post on what it takes to get into dental school. i've never hid my stats from anyone, and i've never judged anyone by their stats. we're more than what grade we got in OChem, and exam scores are not IQ tests. (ironically IQ test don't really represent total intellegence either as it leaves out any artistic or musical scoring componant and are socially biased).

DrReo said:

Jason is one of the most compasionate, helpful students on here. . .

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doc reo is straight class! haha and funny as shiz.

Like Oracle, uh...I mean Jason(now that he's out of the closet...and no, that's not a gay innuendo! 😀), I did the same thing you did. I got out of the military and went to school. I, however, took ALL my prereqs at a CC which would have been really bad at SOME schools. It turns out that my #1 pick doesn't care. My advice is that you research the schools you plan to apply to and see how they feel about prereqs at a CC and then plan accordingly. You're just starting out so you got plenty of time.

Again, like someone else mentioned, while in your CC, get A's!!! not B's, not B+'s, not A-'s...straight frig'n A's! Once you transfer to the 4 year U of your choice, it will be harder to get them A's, so get them while the get'n is good!

Good luck, remember, GPA, GPA, GPA! That's your, "job" for right now. Go ahead and do the usual dental club stuff and volunteer/shadow, but do not do anything that will jeopardize your GPA.

PDizzle said:

Like Oracle, uh...I mean Jason(now that he's out of the closet...and no, that's not a gay innuendo! 😀), I did the same thing you did. I got out of the military and went to school. I, however, took ALL my prereqs at a CC which would have been really bad at SOME schools. It turns out that my #1 pick doesn't care. My advice is that you research the schools you plan to apply to and see how they feel about prereqs at a CC and then plan accordingly. You're just starting out so you got plenty of time.

Again, like someone else mentioned, while in your CC, get A's!!! not B's, not B+'s, not A-'s...straight frig'n A's! Once you transfer to the 4 year U of your choice, it will be harder to get them A's, so get them while the get'n is good!

Good luck, remember, GPA, GPA, GPA! That's your, "job" for right now. Go ahead and do the usual dental club stuff and volunteer/shadow, but do not do anything that will jeopardize your GPA.

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hahaha my wife loved the gay innuendo. haha anyways +1 on the GPA. that will really put you in a more comfy position later in the game. i did a bunch at CC but you almost have to in order to transfer, and you can get all your physics, general bio (2 classes), General chem (2 classes), english, spanish, blah blahs out of the way. especially at $24 a unit! you can sit back, live small, and focus while raking in that GI bill dough which can pay your rent! haha but seriously, do your best... i had to work all 5 years of undergrad and you're used to it so it seems like you should, but work only the minimum amount to free up time to get school stuff done.

.

Waitlisted2009 said:

Anyone who went to the Midwestern interview knows the dean loves Military. We had to watch that stupid waste of a time presentation on his son and how he loves the Navy.

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That video was awesome! Dr. Polk was also an Airforce dentist.

Waitlisted2009 said:

Anyone who went to the Midwestern interview knows the dean loves Military. We had to watch that stupid waste of a time presentation on his son and how he loves the Navy.

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Sounds like someone is just grumpy cuz they wern't accepted.

Hey James,
I thought I would just tell you that I am very thankful for the time you spent serving this great country and all the people in it. Congrats on being home again and good luck figuring out your future.

.

Waitlisted2009 said:

Yeah I am pissed as hell I was not accepted when they accept low stat people because they are associated with the military.

I read what you wrote before you changed it by the way. What was the "point" of it

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Generally when you meet people, you like to know a little bit about them. When I was interviewing at other schools, deans did not even stop by to greet us or anything. I was impressed after my interview at MWU with how much time the dean took out of the day to objectively tell us about the school, answer our questions and then finish by giving some background on himself which included family and hobbies. If you think the military is stupid that's your own deal, I don't care. But to label the 3 minute video clip of the aircraft take off as a waste of time rather than an opportunity to learn about the dean and where he comes from is kind of sad. Thus I felt you missed the point.

Sorry you didn't get in. It's easy to understand grades and scores from an application but sometimes it's difficult to determine the character of an applicant by the application. Things other than grades are obviously taken into consideration during the selection process, the interview, service, EC's for example. If you take it personal, you're just going to beat yourself up or get grumpy. I applied to 15 schools and ended up only getting into 1. Some laughed at me and gave me the finger, some gave me an interview, and one accepted me. Whatever.

As far as the school accepting people with "low stats because they were in the military", I'm not so sure that's true, I haven't heard any statements from faculty here that say they are biased toward military. Afterall, military service is a great service and should at least carry some weight, shouldn't it? In my class there are 5 out of 111 students that served in the US mlitary, I'd bet that's similar to all the schools.

I know it's frutrating to get rejected, espcially when you feel you are more deserving than some others who got accepted. I got screwed over by some schools when I applied as well. Things aren't always fair. Good luck with the rest of the year, hope you get in somewhere if you haven't already.