Am I in good shape?

[cleary21191]

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Hi everyone!

So this is my first official post as I just made my account, but I really wanted to ask for advice based on my current resume and academic record.

I am currently a second semester sophomore at Stonehill College (a small liberal arts college outside of Boston) as a Biology major. I am 100% positive that I want to pursue a career in dentistry and I am completely dedicated to doing whatever it takes (ethically of course) to get myself accepted into dental school.

First off, I currently have 3.299 (or a 3.3 for short) with a science GPA of 3.111 (roughly, as I am not sure what really goes into the scGPA). A couple of things that stick out to me on my transcript are the C in Calculus II (As opposed to a B+ in Calculus I) and a C+ in Organic II (As opposed to a B in Organic I). Everything else is at least a B or higher. Currently I am taking General Chemistry II, Genetics, Behavioral Stats, and Evolution, which should all boost my scGPA. I really only have 3 more semesters worth of courses to help boost my GPA as I plan to apply the summer before my final year and could really use any advice on ways to strengthen my academic profile.

As for my resume, I find it a little more impressive than my academic standings (which thankfully I time to change). I currently have completed well over 50 hours of observation as a sophomore. I had an unofficial internship last semester where I shadowed a general dentist once a week (4 hours) for 11 weeks. That's a total of 44 hours already. I also was a participant of a BU "Dental Crash Course" program called Project White Coat where I also did some observing (15 hours total) and also took A&P and Biochemistry courses at the dental school. We also did many other dental related events and volunteered as well. I have done other job shadows, but nothing for long lengths of time, so I feel like they are really not helpful to put on my resume. I would love to do more shadowing as I find it really fun, but unfortunately I lack a car; my last internship I had to walk 45 minutes to get there!

In the future I plan on going abroad for a semester in Australia (they awesome science programs!) and would really like to set up an internship at a University's dental clinic abroad. If not, I am also considering an official internship at one of the local dental schools in the Boston area. I also have a strong desire to go on a service trip with either my school to a Nicaragua dental clinic or through Healthcare Volunteer. I really want to do this as I think it would extremely cool and have heard that it's possible to get a more "hands on" perspective on service trips. I literally love watching dentistry.

As you might be able to tell, I really want this. I have structured a lot around my interest in dentistry and while it may seem like I'm doing this to solely beef up my resume, I mainly have put this much effort into these experiences because I find dentistry very interesting and would love to pursue a profession as fun as dentistry. I thank you guys (and gals) for any advice you may have as I am really nervous about the whole process and any advice that helps me understand what I have to do is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

James

 

[7 Iron]

Hey, you are in decent shape so far. Make sure you score A's in the remaining science courses so you can bring up your sGPA. People have gotten in with 3.1 sGPA, but it's more challenging. If you can bring it up to 3.5 (not sure if that is possible given the time you have remaining... I didn't check), that is best.

Make sure you kill the DAT as well.

Shadowing wise, it's good that you already have 50 hours. I would consider shadowing a couple specialists as well for different perspectives on dentistry. This could include endo, pediatrics, oral surgery, ortho, perio, etc.

One other thing--find a way to stand out by getting involved in something that is not related to dentistry. Examples... being involved with politics on campus, or working with Habitat for Humanity, or playing an intramural sport, etc. Good luck.

 

[cleary21191]

Thanks for the reply!

As for other extracurriculars, I do two intramural sports, I am a student ambassador for the school, and I also tutor; I just posted my dental related experiences.

I have set a goal of 22-24 range on the DAT. I really want to be in the 90 percentile overall. I realize the commitment that this is gonna take, but I know it has to be done.

Thanks again!

Any particular courses that I should take Junior year?

 

[John Durian]

Dude, you're in great shape. As the other poster said, just get those A's rolling in to boost that GPA and you'll be in dschool in no time. And with all that experience... I'm sure your personal statement is gonna be a good read 😉

 

[Impulse155]

Like everyone else said, you seem fine. Only question I have is why are you taking gen chem after o chem? Are you retaking it?

 

[Spit]

One thing you might want to take note of is that many schools do not weigh international dental experiences as heavily as domestic dental experiences. A big part of this is because things are done much differently here than they would be done abroad, both procedurally (due to availability/cost of resources) and administratively, so you do not get a "realistic" view of dentistry in the US. Research where the Boston schools do externships, and see if there isn't an externship site near you that you can volunteer at.

 

[cleary21191]

Thanks for all of the replies!

Like everyone else said, you seem fine. Only question I have is why are you taking gen chem after o chem? Are you retaking it?

Stonehill is unique in that Gen Chem I serves as a intro to O Chem I and then O Chem follows O Chem II. Finally, you take Gen Chem II at the end of it... It doesn't make sense but it's mainly because O Chem I is all about the structure of molecules, NMR, IR, GC, and SN1 versus SN2 (in a nut shell) which relates to alot of what was learned in Gen Chem I (at least the beginning). O Chem II is a nightmare a Stonehill since you literally learn every SINGLE rxn in one semester, where most schools break it down among two semesters with the structural analysis inbetween.