Am I on the right track?

[Azr90]

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Ok I am a freshman at Umass Boston and my first semester's grades were finalized. I obviously am interested in becoming a dentist. Here are my grades:

General Biology I: B+
Chemistry I: A-
Chemistry Lab: A
English 101: A
Science Topics Seminar: A
Precalculus: B-
Overall GPA: 3.553

For my EC's I joined two clubs (PSA/Pre-Med Society). I do not work. I did not volenteer/shadow.

Now my question is, compared to the 'average pre-dent' student that get accepted to dental schools, am I on the right track? Should my (science)/overallGPA be higher? Should I be working/shadowing? Where do I stand?

I apologize in advance if this sounds petty/paranoid.

 

[MTD52]

Your GPA is pretty solid and I would say it's about what the average is (maybe higher) for a bunch of dental schools. Keep working to make it as high as possible. Every little bit helps. Are you on the right track? Yes, since you're working on EC's too. But you should definitely start shadowing - the more the better I think. Apparently working doesn't matter much, and if it will hurt your grades, you might be better off this way. I'm sure dental schools don't care so much about a non-dental related position anyway, or at least not that I know of.

 

[sketo43]

Yeah, you're on the right track - nice job on your first semester! Now make sure you keep up the good grades for the rest of college. Try to stay above 3.5, but if you can get it to 3.7 or so, that would be awesome. See this chart for the average GPA at each school - you're in great shape, but if you can raise your GPA just a little bit, you'll be above average at most schools:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=602109

Shadowing is necessary, but I don't think you need more than 50 total hours between now and the time you apply. Tufts requires 30 and UConn requires 50 - there are only a couple schools that require more. I did about 80. IMO, there's no rush to start shadowing.

I recommend doing community service. It doesn't have to be a big time commitment each week, but if you do it over a few years, it shows that you are compassionate. Depending on what you do, it can also show leadership. I'm thinking something along the lines of volunteering at a soup kitchen or in a big brother/big sister organization. Tufts and Harvard are involved in the Bridge Over Troubled Water program in Boston - that may be a good organization to get involved with.

Also, pick up a hobby that involves manual dexterity (building model airplanes, jewelery making, etc.). You don't need to do this hobby all the time, but at least once in a while.

One other thing to think about: some dental schools want to see research experience, but most don't care. If research is something you're interested in, I think that a senior thesis would be enough, but you could also try working in a lab for a summer job.

Again, high GPA and high DAT scores are the 2 most important things. But it's good to be well-rounded. Doing a few substantial ECs is better than having a laundry list of meaningless ones. I went to a different UMass, and I like to see other UMass students succeed. Good luck!

 

[ejendz24]

If you follow sketo's advice to the 'T,' you should be molded into the perfect dental applicant! 🙂

All kidding aside, great info.

 

[sfrice80]

You're fine, keep it up and stay consistent throughout your undergrad when it comes to gpa and EC's. Consistency is the name of the game or at least an upward trend.