Any advice?

[drpduck]

Hi, I'm a freshman in college, hoping to make it one day to dental school. I was hoping that all of you who have applied/going to dental school have any advice about what helps out a lot(I.E. classes, GPA, dental experience) and what you wish you had done differently if you could go back and do it(basically trying to get some wisdom). Thanks a lot!

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[dmd1272]

make sure you keep a decent gpa on your science core classes, my littl. bro is a pre-med type and my advice to him is to get an mcat book or in your case dat book and when you get your semester classes that relate the the core sciences highlight what the dat test, so when your prof. goes over it in class, you make sure you pay extra attention on those lectures, so when its time to start studying for dat, you know exactly where you marked on your text books and its easier to review, see my other comments for preparation its pretty extensive. hope this helps,
dmd1272 good luck

 

[LucidDreamer]

Get to know a dentist well and start sucking up to him for a future letter of rec. Dont screw up on your grades. Get involved in some sort of research.

 

[quantumhead]

Wow, what a question. First, I am assuming that you are at the same school that you will graduate from. Get with your counselor for your major and let them know what your plans are and ask for a list of required classes for you general education and your bachelors degree. Now with that and a current schedule of courses set yourself up a four year plan, detailing which courses you will take each semester. Be sure to watch out for required courses and make sure you have those scheduled also. Use this as a guide and adjust it as more information becomes available. This will prevent you from wasting time on courses that you do not need and also ensure you are not caught without a required course when you go to take a class or graduate.

Now, look at what classes Dental schools require for admittance. Make sure that you have them in your plan. Also try and get O'Chem and Biochem in your third year so that that summer you can NAIL the DAT.

RESEARCH. It doesn?t have to be related to Dentistry at all. The important skill is problem solving and critical thinking skills. Publish if possible, it looks great!

Get to know professors, your pre-health committee members, join Alpha Delta Epsilon (AED) a pre-health club which has allot of resources on applying and preparing. Get to know Dentists in your area and shadow them. Most are good about letting you assist after a while and I have a couple of friends that worked themselves into part time Dental Assistant positions ($$$$).

Keep on this board! This is a great resource for knowledge/questions/contacts etc.

Last, and at the risk of sounding like Nancy Regan, say no to drugs. A drug violation is a hard thing for Dental/Medical schools to overlook. There is already a problem with Dr's abusing meds. Also, you could exclude yourself from federal funding.

That is all I can think of right now. It is neat to see a freshman thinking this far ahead! When did you decide on Dentistry and what influenced you? Are you straight out of HS or a "non-traditional" student? Just curious.

 

[drpduck]

I'm straight out of high school. First of all many factors lead to my decision of dentistry. Like many others I went "pre-med" with no knowledge of what being an MD is all about. So I did a lot of research about medical school, talked to MD's and read SDN. Then I came upon the dental forum, which led to something "clicking" in my head. First of all, my family dentist is a very good friend of my family. I have known him for many years and have seen what he is like while at work(as my dentist) and at home. He is a very caring, compassionate man, but he also has a great family life. I realized, why should I work for a hospital all my life and slave away soooo many years of my life to be a MD(residency...etc..), when I can be happier working for myself, having more years to myself and still having time for a family? I know it is very far away, I have many things to overcome...but I'm working on my GPA.....3.75overall/3.0 science...(lol, after 1 semster). I know being a good dentist is all about good skills and knowledge, but it is also being happy with your career and therefore happy to treat people. So far, my dentist was ecstatic to hear about my possible interest in dentistry, he offered to write me letters, let me work with him, practice with him for a while after dental school and ultimately set up my own practice(WOW!! I told him to hold on, I'm still a freshman, I have to make it into dental school first, lol)...So what I've seen, I can't wait to make it, but I got these soooo many years ahead first......uhhhhhh. But hopefully it will be worth it.

 

[dmd1272]

awesome it seems you're on the right track!! congrats...and enjoy college as well, you'll learn a lot, keep a healthy balance though

 

[pakgirl]

You seem to be on the right track. Just keep your science gpa as high as you can. It is just as important if not more than your overall gpa. This will make you a more competetive candidate. Good Luck!