A Q: to non-traditional dental students (completing d-school prereqs at CC?)

[Longcatislong]

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Hi,

I've posted these questions in the "pre-dental" section, but thought I could use the advise of those who have successfully completed the dental school application process and are currently where I'd like to be 🙂

I'm a recent graduate of UC Berkley with a B.A in sociology (realized late in my undergraduate studies that I wanted to a career as a dentist and therefor didn't take any science prereqs in college). Next semester, I'll take classes at community college to brush up on my math skills to prepare me for the chemistry and physics, as it's been a while since I've taken calculus or any advanced math (well, not since high school, so four years now). As for completing the core of my science pre-reqs, I feel a little confused. Perhaps someone here, a successful dental school applicant, has been in my shoes?

Everyone on the Pre-Dental board seems to agree that taking all my science prereqs at CC will be a bad idea. Dental schools, according to them, wont take these classes as seriously and don't consider them as rigorous--especially if there are other alternatives available to non-traditional students, such as post-bac programs. I'm favoring doing the CC route primarily because it is much more cost effective. I wont have to take out loans and I can live at home and save money on rent while being in school full time. But, if taking CC classes will diminish my chances of dental school admission, I'd rather do a formal post-bac program.

What are your thoughts? Does anyone here know anyone currently in dental school who is "non-traditional", like me? Did anyone complete their science pre-requisites at junior college, or do a post-bac program after getting their bachelor's degree?

Thanks so much for your insight 🙂

 

[crimsonite2099]

How did you do at UC Berkley in sociology? If you have really good grades as an undergraduate (>3.7), I wouldn't worry too much about taking courses at a CC-- just make sure you don't get anything less than an A. Also, I would make sure you destroy the DAT science section. So in short, I wouldn't worry too much about it if everything else on your app looks good and you plan on studying your ass off for the DAT. However, if I were you and had a lower GPA (<3.5), I wouldn't take my chances at a CC. It also depend on which dental school you are looking to get into.

 

[New2Philly]

I don't know. I would call up some dental schools and ask them. You are going to get a wide variety of answers here that don't mean anything, because they are not admissions.

The next cheapest option is to pick up classes at a CSU, which might be better, because the health professions counselor can help you with the application.

 

[txlonghorn]

Crimsonite,

Were you a non-trad student? I just wanted to know if Harvard likes non-trads.

Op,

I am non-trad and took classes based on my schedule. I only took physics 1 at a cc and took the rest of my classes at a local university. If you attend a university, you will have the opportunity to do stuff like research. Also, make sure to ace your classes and the DAT. Some schools also like seeing some upper div classes in addition to just the basic sciences, so again a university would be better.

 

[MarkND]

Hi,

I've posted these questions in the "pre-dental" section, but thought I could use the advise of those who have successfully completed the dental school application process and are currently where I'd like to be 🙂

I'm a recent graduate of UC Berkley with a B.A in sociology (realized late in my undergraduate studies that I wanted to a career as a dentist and therefor didn't take any science prereqs in college). Next semester, I'll take classes at community college to brush up on my math skills to prepare me for the chemistry and physics, as it's been a while since I've taken calculus or any advanced math (well, not since high school, so four years now). As for completing the core of my science pre-reqs, I feel a little confused. Perhaps someone here, a successful dental school applicant, has been in my shoes?

Everyone on the Pre-Dental board seems to agree that taking all my science prereqs at CC will be a bad idea. Dental schools, according to them, wont take these classes as seriously and don't consider them as rigorous--especially if there are other alternatives available to non-traditional students, such as post-bac programs. I'm favoring doing the CC route primarily because it is much more cost effective. I wont have to take out loans and I can live at home and save money on rent while being in school full time. But, if taking CC classes will diminish my chances of dental school admission, I'd rather do a formal post-bac program.

What are your thoughts? Does anyone here know anyone currently in dental school who is "non-traditional", like me? Did anyone complete their science pre-requisites at junior college, or do a post-bac program after getting their bachelor's degree?

Thanks so much for your insight 🙂

Simply forward this question to a few admission officers. They'll happily reply to your question. I'm also a non-trad student. I did most of mine at a university but about 1/4 of it in a CC close by... You can get their contact information from AADSAS website.

 

[crimsonite2099]

You are just going to get the same answer if you call the admission's office-- that they would prefer you take the pre-reqs at a non-cc. I think the bottom line is that no dental school is going to out-right reject you because you took your pre-reqs at a CC, however, it will put you at a disadvantage compared to someone exactly like you who took their pre-reqs at a non-cc (obviously). You are going to have to do some risk-assessment-- if everything on your app looks good and you are at low risk of getting rejected, I say save money and take your classes at a CC. If you are at high risk of getting rejected, I wouldn't take the chances of taking pre-reqs at your CC.

Actually, now that I think about it while writing this, I think Columbia, UPenn, and Harvard does out-right reject you if you do take pre-reqs at CC-- so you should call to make sure (although I think those are the only schools).

So in summary,
-Fact: taking pre-reqs at CC will put you at a disadvantage comparatively.
-Assess your risk of being accepted versus being rejected (taking into account which school you want to go to and contact the school regarding if you are automatically disqualified, which most schools do not).
-make decision based on the risk you put yourself in by taking classes at a CC relative to the rest of your application (GPA, Extra-Curricular, anticipated DAT score) versus the value of staying at home and saving money.


And to answer a previous post, I am a traditional student. However, my feeling is that Harvard puts a lot of emphasis on finding very well-rounded students that are community leaders, thus there are plenty of non-science majors in my class.

 

[txlonghorn]

Are any of your classmates non-trads?

 

[Longcatislong]

Thanks for all your replies!

My overall GPA from Berkeley was 3.40, actually. So, nothing to write home about. I suppose because of this, a more rigorous & structured post-bac would suite me better?

 

[LittleTomato]

On this thread there is information about how each school feels about prereqs at community colleges: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=527335, but you should always just call the admissions office just to double check.

best wishes!

 

[yappy]

If you do your prereqs at a CC...

1) do well
2) be prepaired to do upper levels at a university to show the high CC gpa is relfection of your abilities.

 

[NovocainStain]

Don't worry about what the kids here are saying about CC courses putting you at a disadvantage- I didn't find that to be the case at all. I'm a non-traditional student in my 2nd year of D-school. I applied to 9 schools, was offered 7 interviews, went to 3 of them and got into those 3 schools.

Most dental schools accept community college credits. I recommend getting the ADA book that lists all of the schools' statistics-- they include whether or not the school accepts CC credits. It really varies from school to school. Neither of the Boston schools do, but Harvard does... take what you want from that. I found that the small class sizes at CC allowed for more personal attention. Also, most 4-year profs are there to do research and teaching is a very distant 2nd priority, whereas most CC profs seemed genuinely interested in teaching and making sure their students were learning. I was fairly disappointed when I transferred to the 4-year where I completed my undergrad and it's a pretty well-respected school. I had a wonderful experience at CC and didn't find the education lacking or lesser on any level. I agree that you need to be certain that you excel in classes at CC, as well as at your 4-year, to prove that you have the ability to succeed academically because dental school can be challenging due to the heavy course loads.

 

[Longcatislong]

So, here's what I think I will do:

1) Next semester take some "remedial" classes at my local junior college. These include pre-calc, intro chem and intro physics, as I haven't taken ANY math or science classes since doing AP physics and AP bio sr. year of high school. This was 4 years ago...

2) I will apply to some local post-bac programs. There are two California State Universities near my home that offer these programs, relatively inexpensively.

 

[New2Philly]

So, here's what I think I will do:

1) Next semester take some "remedial" classes at my local junior college. These include pre-calc, intro chem and intro physics, as I haven't taken ANY math or science classes since doing AP physics and AP bio sr. year of high school. This was 4 years ago...

2) I will apply to some local post-bac programs. There are two California State Universities near my home that offer these programs, relatively inexpensively.

I think CSU gives you the best bang for your buck when it comes to post-bacc. I went to CSULB, and I really enjoyed my experience. Good luck