Good prep classes for d-school during senior year of undergrad

dds2013 · Oct 18, 2008

Hello everyone,

Very soon I will need to register for my spring semester. This will be my final semester of undergrad, and I have a couple of electives I can take. I was wondering if you can help me decide which 2 classes from the following list of courses will be most beneficial to me for when I enter dental school.

1) Chemistry-based Biochemistry (I already Bio-based biochemistry last year)
2) Pathogenic Microbiology (I am currently taking General Microbiology)
3) Virology
4) Immunology

I would highly appreciate it if you can give me reasons why you think one class would be more beneficial than the other. However, if you are feeling really lazy, a simple reply with 2 numbers that represent the above classes (ex, 4 which would mean immunology) would also be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

kevin512 · Oct 18, 2008

If anything, look at the curriculum of the school you are going too. You might find that #4 is useless while embryology is very valuable! Have you taken anatomy? Anatomy is a b!@%$#.

Streetwolf · Oct 18, 2008

dds2013 said:
Hello everyone,

Very soon I will need to register for my spring semester. This will be my final semester of undergrad, and I have a couple of electives I can take. I was wondering if you can help me decide which 2 classes from the following list of courses will be most beneficial to me for when I enter dental school.

1) Chemistry-based Biochemistry (I already Bio-based biochemistry last year)
2) Pathogenic Microbiology (I am currently taking General Microbiology)
3) Virology
4) Immunology

I would highly appreciate it if you can give me reasons why you think one class would be more beneficial than the other. However, if you are feeling really lazy, a simple reply with 2 numbers that represent the above classes (ex, 4 which would mean immunology) would also be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

If you took "bio based biochem" I think that would be good enough and also better than chem based biochem could be. In d-school (at least at SB) you aren't really interested in the detailed mechanisms for each step, just the general pathway. So I would probably not go with that class.

Definitely do pathogenic microbiology. We do both pathology and microbiology so that sounds like it will be a good course.

Virology vs immunology... each of them was part of one of our classes (micro and patho respectively). Virology wasn't as bad as immunology, at least to me, so I would probably go for immuno. However you should do whatever interests you more at this point. All the undergrad courses I took only covered the tip of the iceberg compared to what we did in d-school.

supraman · Oct 19, 2008

If you took a tough load through out the years, then relax a bit. Take an interesting but not too difficult elective, something I don't know. Something not to hard on yourself if you did good all your years and have big course loads, if not, then take histology if your school offers that

visbimmer79 · Oct 19, 2008

dds2013 said:
Hello everyone,

Very soon I will need to register for my spring semester. This will be my final semester of undergrad, and I have a couple of electives I can take. I was wondering if you can help me decide which 2 classes from the following list of courses will be most beneficial to me for when I enter dental school.

1) Chemistry-based Biochemistry (I already Bio-based biochemistry last year)
2) Pathogenic Microbiology (I am currently taking General Microbiology)
3) Virology
4) Immunology

I would highly appreciate it if you can give me reasons why you think one class would be more beneficial than the other. However, if you are feeling really lazy, a simple reply with 2 numbers that represent the above classes (ex, 4 which would mean immunology) would also be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

If u take 1) & 2), you are likely to acheive higher grade, cuz u just already took relevant courses. Plus, u will deepen ur knowledge on those subjects.

If u take 3) & 4), it may be challenging. However, u may not feel bored, cuz they are new stuffs. Btw, I didn't take 3) & 4), but I've heard 4) is difficult, if u study in depth. U may widen ur knowledge by taking 3) & 4).

As far as dental study is concerned, I "think" all are good. But, in ur case, I would take 2) & 4). Taking 2 & 3 may be redundant. Also, pathogenic microbiology must be quite different from general microbio. What u will learn during D-school will be pathogenic microbiology. And, I would take biochem in clinical aspect instead of chem based biochem, if ur school has another biochem.

2)&4) > 2)&3) > Other comb not recommended. :laugh:

If u want huge learning and change!

1) & 2) If u really want to raise ur grade, and want some learning.

3) & 4) U want some challenge and new things? Go for it.

gryffindor · Oct 19, 2008

I'm not sure why this got moved to the predent forum. How would pre-dents know which classes might help you in dental school?

I'd recommend going with the micro class for sure, and then deciding between Immuno vs. Virology. My opinion is to go with the Immunology because I think it's harder to understand that than the basic level of virology we had to know for dental school. I wouldn't do the chemistry biochem, that will be way overkill for dental school biochem.

And I second the reccomendation to go with a histology course if your school has one. As far as taking the "fun" and "lighter" courses, well anything you experience in a semester in college will be extremely light compared to the ocean of information that will be thrown at you when you get to dental school.

I remember more from most of the medical classes I took in dental school probably because I recall and encounter the information on an infrequent basis in my career. I hardly remember anything from the classes I took in college, bio or not. I had to clear out my memory and make room for all the info that had to be crammed in for dental school.

dds2013 · Oct 19, 2008

gryffindor said:
I'm not sure why this got moved to the predent forum. How would pre-dents know which classes might help you in dental school?

Dude, i was saying the same thing this morning? 😡 Not that i do not want the help of pre-dents, i just wanted to get the input of the students already in dental school!!!! I really do not know why they would switch it.

Also, how can you tell me looking at a thread that it was moved? I know you can find out by looking in the "Dental" forum, but how can you tell just by opening the thread in the "Pre-dental" forum?

Also, thanks for everyones input and advice, i really appreciate it.

gryffindor · Oct 20, 2008

There is a link in the dental forum indicating it has been moved which is how I found it. Maybe you can ask one of the moderators to move it back.

Sophlu · Oct 20, 2008

Some dental school students told me that Immunology is a good class to take to prepare you for dental school.

PDizzle · Oct 20, 2008

Out of your list, #2 for sure! Micro and the diseases they cause?? Hell yeah!

If you want to add another that's not on your list, I'd nail down anatomy, especially head and neck ..(no surprise there).

The subjects you have to know in D-school are:

Anatomy
Anatomy
Pysio
Microbio
Pathology
Biochem

And no,..typing anatomy twice was not a mistake! :laugh:

will9631 · Oct 20, 2008

this is your last chance to take some classes you actually like. You're going to have to learn it their way when you get in, and from what I've seen in my class (freshman at temple), the people who had the most "prep classes" in undergrad aren't necessarily the ones making the high grades. Actually, we have a guy with a masters in biochem who's struggling right now in dental biochemistry, whereas there are plenty of students who've never had biochem that have solid A's. Its more about the how good your study habits are than how many courses you've had in it before. I'm sure they can help, but its not a huge difference, if only due to the differences between instructors and exam styles. Basically, if you want to be at the top of the class, you just need to be ready to work harder than the guy next to you.

I'm not saying just skip the basic prereqs of course, but I don't recommend taking extra sciences just to get ready. If you think it might help your application to have some of those intense classes on your slate for the spring then go ahead, but if I were you (and I was last year), I'd take a sculpture class instead. It might (depending on the class and teacher) be more of a help to you. There are some students in pre-clinic lab that probably should have taken a sculpture class or two in undergrad, judging from the quality of their crown wax-ups.

my two cents anyway,

good luck!

somethinpositiv · Oct 21, 2008

Dental students at every school I interviewed or visited said to take Anatomy in undergrad..

I also heard to take Histology and Biochemistry in undergrad from a few students as well.

polarmolar · Oct 21, 2008

Anatomy and biochem are strongly recommended.

rkamsterdam · Oct 21, 2008

kevin512 said:
If anything, look at the curriculum of the school you are going too. You might find that #4 is useless while embryology is very valuable! Have you taken anatomy? Anatomy is a b!@%$#.

yes, take anatomy!!! loads of anatomy. neuroanatomy is good. learn your bony skull!

DrDDSman · Oct 21, 2008

physiology and basketweaving

visbimmer79 · Oct 21, 2008

will9631 said:
this is your last chance to take some classes you actually like. You're going to have to learn it their way when you get in, and from what I've seen in my class (freshman at temple), the people who had the most "prep classes" in undergrad aren't necessarily the ones making the high grades. Actually, we have a guy with a masters in biochem who's struggling right now in dental biochemistry, whereas there are plenty of students who've never had biochem that have solid A's. Its more about the how good your study habits are than how many courses you've had in it before. I'm sure they can help, but its not a huge difference, if only due to the differences between instructors and exam styles. Basically, if you want to be at the top of the class, you just need to be ready to work harder than the guy next to you.

I'm not saying just skip the basic prereqs of course, but I don't recommend taking extra sciences just to get ready. If you think it might help your application to have some of those intense classes on your slate for the spring then go ahead, but if I were you (and I was last year), I'd take a sculpture class instead. It might (depending on the class and teacher) be more of a help to you. There are some students in pre-clinic lab that probably should have taken a sculpture class or two in undergrad, judging from the quality of their crown wax-ups.

my two cents anyway,

good luck!

Anatomy & sculpture will help dental school performance.

It really makes sense!

On the other hand, emphasizing on maintaining good habit of studying does also make sense.

Then, I want to ask if u can rate the correlation between 1)anatomy & 2)scuplture and dental school performance in the following scale.

Dental school performance (D-school anatomy, pre-clinic, or any other things that may be correlated!)

1 Oh, it was not prerequisites? Then, why are u taking the courses? Are u crazy? Just take a rest and have extra time for your other needs until u come to D-school.

2 You don't have to take those courses beforehand. As long as u have good study habit and u will maintain ur habit during professional studies, u are fine. Just forget about it!

3 Yes, u just took additional courses to deepen ur knowledge. Of course, those courses that will be learned at D-school may somehow become easier to you. Good job, and I appreciate ur extra effort!

4 OH~ God! Those courses really help me now. I don't know how my current performance might be, if I didn't take those courses.

5 Why didn't u take the courses? U are in trouble! I can see u are struggling with ANAT during the first yr at D-school. Do u still have chance to take those courses? Hey~ immediately register for those courses. RIGHT NOW! Hurry up! Serious!

visbimmer79 · Oct 22, 2008

Plz share ur experience for me!!

Good prep classes for d-school during senior year of undergrad

dds2013

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kevin512

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Streetwolf

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supraman

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visbimmer79

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gryffindor

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dds2013

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gryffindor

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Sophlu

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PDizzle

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will9631

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somethinpositiv

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polarmolar

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rkamsterdam

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DrDDSman

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visbimmer79

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visbimmer79

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