Advice for summer before starting UG?

[BcWildcat]

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I am a senior in high school and I will be attending the PEPP program for first half of summer through the University of Kentucky. The program is for aspiring Dentists (me) or physicians. I was curious about what I should do with the second half?!(shadow,etc.)

 

[JPodel]

Have you been accepted to the college you want to go to? If so, if I were you, I'd relax, go on a vacation or spend time with friends/family. You have a lot of time to shadow/volunteer and do other "pre-med" activites but you won't have enough time to relax/vacation/hangout.

 

[sgv]

You should have fun. I would have said do research but it's unlikely anyone is going to take you into their lab without any science coursework under your belt. Gigs like these only work if you know people. Do chill activities like a little bit of shadowing or having fun.

 

[BcWildcat]

Have you been accepted to the college you want to go to? If so, if I were you, I'd relax, go on a vacation or spend time with friends/family. You have a lot of time to shadow/volunteer and do other "pre-med" activites but you won't have enough time to relax/vacation/hangout.

Yeah I have been accepted. Ill take your advice and have some fun!

 

[PapaGuava]

Enjoy your summer and possibly learn more about your school by looking into certain clubs, orientations etc.

 

[Doctor Dream]

Definitely agree with what the other people are saying, enjoy it. You'll be plenty busy once classes start up, you don't want to be burnt out before classes even start

 

[jturkel]

if you want to have any shot of derm at all, i'd start doing research and getting publications in dermatology right away or else it might be too late

 

[childofthesacredheart]

If you feel determined - and you **really** want to study over the summer before starting college, here is my advice.

Go to Barnes and Noble (or Amazon) and buy these books:

(1) AP Chemistry by **BARRONS** Review
(2) AP Physics B by Princeton Review
(3) AP Calculus AB/BC by Princeton Review
(4) AP Biology by Barrons Review

If you study these books over the summer break - you are SAVING yourself from so much pain in college. When going through these books - skim over the reading, and focus on the PRACTICE PROBLEMS in each book. The only way to learn science is by solving problems.

Remember that the MCAT has Physics, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Biology on it - by studying those books that I recommended, you are preparing yourself for both your classes in college and the MCAT or DAT (the DAT does NOT have physics on it).

Remember - that medical schools / dental schools require you to finish a specific number of classes - by studying those AP Science classes, you are basically preparing for your college classes- that is why I recommended those books. Remember that when you walk into your chemistry class as a freshman - you are competing against other students who have already taken AP Chemistry - and AP chemistry is EXTREMELY difficult compared to college chemistry - which is MUCH easier.

The books that I recommended might seems overwhelming - because they are so long, but the easiest way to go through those books is just by solving the problems inside - by solving problems, you are learning chemistry, physics, calculus, and biology.

Learning the sciences in college is not done through reading the textbooks that college professors recommend (those textbooks are as thick as an encyclopedia - it is very hard to read through a chemistry book in college) but the only way to learn the basic sciences is by solving problems. Solve as many problems as you can.

Invest in those AP books - and they will save you so much trouble and pain in college. The depth and detail of those AP science classes are much more complex and harder than the science on the MCAT or DAT. So if you study those AP science books - you are preparing yourself for both the MCAT/DAT and your college classes.

 

[jturkel]

If you feel determined - and you **really** want to study over the summer before starting college, here is my advice.

Go to Barnes and Noble (or Amazon) and buy these books:

(1) AP Chemistry by **BARRONS** Review
(2) AP Physics B by Princeton Review
(3) AP Calculus AB/BC by Princeton Review
(4) AP Biology by Barrons Review

If you study these books over the summer break - you are SAVING yourself from so much pain in college. When going through these books - skim over the reading, and focus on the PRACTICE PROBLEMS in each book. The only way to learn science is by solving problems.

Remember that the MCAT has Physics, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Biology on it - by studying those books that I recommended, you are preparing yourself for both your classes in college and the MCAT or DAT (the DAT does NOT have physics on it).

Remember - that medical schools / dental schools require you to finish a specific number of classes - by studying those AP Science classes, you are basically preparing for your college classes- that is why I recommended those books. Remember that when you walk into your chemistry class as a freshman - you are competing against other students who have already taken AP Chemistry - and AP chemistry is EXTREMELY difficult compared to college chemistry - which is MUCH easier.

The books that I recommended might seems overwhelming - because they are so long, but the easiest way to go through those books is just by solving the problems inside - by solving problems, you are learning chemistry, physics, calculus, and biology.

Learning the sciences in college is not done through reading the textbooks that college professors recommend (those textbooks are as thick as an encyclopedia - it is very hard to read through a chemistry book in college) but the only way to learn the basic sciences is by solving problems. Solve as many problems as you can.

Invest in those AP books - and they will save you so much trouble and pain in college. The depth and detail of those AP science classes are much more complex and harder than the science on the MCAT or DAT. So if you study those AP science books - you are preparing yourself for both the MCAT/DAT and your college classes.

i was just joking about the derm post. anyone that actually does this the summer before college has issues.

OP......do whatever you enjoy doing. vacation. see friends. see family. do no studying. you have plenty of time for that down the road. studying for the MCAT before you start college is an absolutely awful idea

 

[Doctor Dream]

If you feel determined - and you **really** want to study over the summer before starting college, here is my advice.

Go to Barnes and Noble (or Amazon) and buy these books:

(1) AP Chemistry by **BARRONS** Review
(2) AP Physics B by Princeton Review
(3) AP Calculus AB/BC by Princeton Review
(4) AP Biology by Barrons Review

If you study these books over the summer break - you are SAVING yourself from so much pain in college. When going through these books - skim over the reading, and focus on the PRACTICE PROBLEMS in each book. The only way to learn science is by solving problems.

Remember that the MCAT has Physics, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Biology on it - by studying those books that I recommended, you are preparing yourself for both your classes in college and the MCAT or DAT (the DAT does NOT have physics on it).

Remember - that medical schools / dental schools require you to finish a specific number of classes - by studying those AP Science classes, you are basically preparing for your college classes- that is why I recommended those books. Remember that when you walk into your chemistry class as a freshman - you are competing against other students who have already taken AP Chemistry - and AP chemistry is EXTREMELY difficult compared to college chemistry - which is MUCH easier.

The books that I recommended might seems overwhelming - because they are so long, but the easiest way to go through those books is just by solving the problems inside - by solving problems, you are learning chemistry, physics, calculus, and biology.

Learning the sciences in college is not done through reading the textbooks that college professors recommend (those textbooks are as thick as an encyclopedia - it is very hard to read through a chemistry book in college) but the only way to learn the basic sciences is by solving problems. Solve as many problems as you can.

Invest in those AP books - and they will save you so much trouble and pain in college. The depth and detail of those AP science classes are much more complex and harder than the science on the MCAT or DAT. So if you study those AP science books - you are preparing yourself for both the MCAT/DAT and your college classes.

OP, if you're proactive and motivated enough to go out and buy these AP books, you'll get an A in the class regardless if you study before school or not. If you've had any biology or chem in highschool, your freshman bio and chem courses will be a relative breeze for you.

I would HIGHLY suggest NOT spending money on an AP book , no offense to the person who suggested it. You're going to look at for a little while before school, and that's it. You'd be throwing your money down the toilet. You're going to be in enough debt with college. It doesn't make any sense to me personally to go out and spend extra money on books that aren't going to help you much down the road. Just chill man, have fun with your highschool friends before your all off and away for college. I guarantee you you'll be wishing you'd just hung out with friends instead of studying for an easy freshman level class.

You can go out and get MCAT/DAT study books later on in your career. Starting to study now is too much. You should look at starting to study for them a year before hand, max. Just understand your courses, tutor in them so you get review throughout your undergrad if you want, and you'll be golden.

You may end up changing your career path somewhere down the road (happens to almost everyone). Then you'll be stuck books you paid good money for that aren't of any use to you.

Take a load off OP, you're in a good position already 👍

 

[childofthesacredheart]

I also think that if you don't want to study those AP books, you should think about finding a good GENERAL (not specialist) dentist and shadow him/her. Form a **strong** relationship with that dentist because remember that dentist might write your letter of recommendation for dental school. In the few months of summer - you will be surprised about how many hours of shadowing you can gain.

 

[BcWildcat]

Thanks to all of you for your advice!

 

[childofthesacredheart]

Oh and one more thing- remember that when you are shadowing a general dentist - you have to learn a whole new set of vocabulary words. Going to shadow a dentist is like trying to learn a whole new vocabulary (etchant, phosphoric acid, RC prep, sodium hypochlorite, football bur, carbide bur, curing light, composite, amalgum)

The reason why you need to learn these vocabulary words is because on the day of your interview for dental school, the interviewer will ask you questions about your shadowing experience - and if you are able to intelligently express yourself and use these basic vocabulary terms - it shows that you know what you are talking about.

And when you are shadowing - make sure that you don't talk too much- especially when the patient is around. When the patient is around - just listen and watch how the dentist treats the patient - and if you do want to ask a quesiton - make surethat you find the right time to ask - maybe when the patient has left and when the dentist is not too busy.

Remember to build a strong relationship with the general dentist- he/she will be writing your letter of recommendation into dental school.

 

[lalalaaaaaa]

I am a senior in high school and I will be attending the PEPP program for first half of summer through the University of Kentucky. The program is for aspiring Dentists (me) or physicians. I was curious about what I should do with the second half?!(shadow,etc.)

Have fun!