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Advice Needed: Non-traditional not taking a full course load.
- Thread starter Dr.Penny
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I am a little confused at your post. You wrote you graduated magna cum laude but you also wrote you only completed a year of school?
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Sorry for the confusion. I am a non-traditional student. I graduated with a different degree and worked 2 years in a professional career and then I decided to go back to school to complete my pre-requisites to be a dentist.
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If you only completed one year of prereqs, why are you surprised at the outcome? Moreover, you received advise from the ds(s) in question, but you seem to believe that advise from pre dents is going to trump them.
I am also a non-traditional student and did not take full course loads while doing the prereqs because I was also working full time. I wouldn't worry about it too much especially since there is not much you can do. I think my life experiences have outweighed my course load but who knows. I applied to 8 schools and have interviewed at 5 with a few acceptances. Take my sample size of one for what it's worth.
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doc toothache, I never said I was surprised I did not get accepted. I am simply looking for advice on what to do considering I am done with my courses pretty much. I am looking to see if anyone else was in my situation and see how they overcame the obstacle...
tbiv21 thanks for your story. It is nice to hear that your life experiences were viewed as more important. May I ask which schools you interviewed at?
tbiv21 thanks for your story. It is nice to hear that your life experiences were viewed as more important. May I ask which schools you interviewed at?
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Got it. What prereqs have you completed? Even with magna cum laude, your degree is not related to science and thus schools will now want to see multiple semesters of academics with a strenous science courseload.
Dental schools want to see that you can handle the rigors of their program which is practically all science courses for the didactic years.
Your full courseload and two jobs years ago is rigorous and is admirable but it does not tell the admissions committee how you would fare against a few dozen credits worth of science.
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Thanks tbiv21!
That makes sense. I have taken bio I & II, gen.chem I & II, O.Chem I&II, Physics I. So I thought I would add more courses:
Summer: biochem and micro
Fall: Anatomy and Physics II
I could add another semester after that and take molec cell, genetics, and...some other course. I guess that wouldn't help me get in the 2016 cycle. Financially it makes me nervous but if I don't get in 2016 then its probably my best shot?
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yep, 4.0. Thanks for the encouragement!
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You also mentioned a low DAT. If it is below 20, consider retaking. If it is below 19, retaking is a must.
You can definitely get interviews with your situation as long as you do well in the science classes. We are pretty similar situation wise. I graduated with a degree in business management and took the minimum pre reqs I needed for dental school including the exact ones you mentioned. I'm actually enrolled in cell and mol and genetics right now even though I've been accepted. Decided to take them incase I needed to reapply.
Good luck applying and use the business degree to your advantage if you receive interviews. My interviewers found it unique which led to easy conversations.
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Thanks so much for sharing your story! It is good to hear that non-traditionals have a chance. I think I need to sell my previous career better than I did before. If you dont mind me asking...where did you apply and get accepted to?
You absolutely have a chance. I'm from TX so I applied to the three schools here, then lecom, west Virginia, and western. Interviewed at San Antonio and lecom. I'll be attending San Antonio.
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I'm also a non traditional student. I was told by the admissions person I spoke with that I shouldn't worry much about carrying a full course load as a non traditional since we are usually older and probably have a lot of other things going on..aka life haha.
Having said that, I resigned from my job and started prerequisites last semester. First science classes in 6 years so I started with Bio and Bio lab and Chem and Chem lab. 4.0 that semester. This semester I'm taking 6 classes. It's obviously harder this semester, and unfortunately I am stuck with some pretty tough teachers. After this semester though, I'll probably only take 2-3 classes a semester while working on shadow and volunteer hours. I'll be applying next year. Hopefully everything works out as planned. Good luck to you!
Having said that, I resigned from my job and started prerequisites last semester. First science classes in 6 years so I started with Bio and Bio lab and Chem and Chem lab. 4.0 that semester. This semester I'm taking 6 classes. It's obviously harder this semester, and unfortunately I am stuck with some pretty tough teachers. After this semester though, I'll probably only take 2-3 classes a semester while working on shadow and volunteer hours. I'll be applying next year. Hopefully everything works out as planned. Good luck to you!
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I'm a non-trad too. An adcom member told me last year that my work experience, non-science MA, and having kids said quite a bit about my ability to handle stress. He couldn't quantify it, but said a lower GPA and DAT score would impress him more from me than a 4.0 and high DAT score would from a traditional student.
This year, I have been 3/4 time with my pre-requisites and it wasn't an issue. My adviser told me not to apply this cycle, but I ignored her. Applied to and was accepted at two schools.
Of course, not all schools are the same, and some probably don't care much about what else you have going on in your life. But did you make your story clear in your personal statement? I knew that it was very important to tell a clear story explaining my career change and that I was pouring myself into the work to get into and succeed in dental school.
This year, I have been 3/4 time with my pre-requisites and it wasn't an issue. My adviser told me not to apply this cycle, but I ignored her. Applied to and was accepted at two schools.
Of course, not all schools are the same, and some probably don't care much about what else you have going on in your life. But did you make your story clear in your personal statement? I knew that it was very important to tell a clear story explaining my career change and that I was pouring myself into the work to get into and succeed in dental school.
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Another non-trad here. I think it's a real asset, and I was told so in two of my interviews. I also didn't take a full course load for my post bacc program (threw in observation hours though, was lucky enough not to work). Previously, I worked a crazy job for 3 years (80-100 hours, 7 days a week) and wrote about it in my personal statement (one particularly harrowing experience that I learned from). Your life experience matters, especially to some schools.
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