back with a few questions

[chocchipcookie]

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it's been a while; i decided not to depress myself with coming on here lol

but so now i have a few questions, first with some background. last semester, i took on far more than i should have and was dealing with a buttload of personal problems: my very close friend from home died, my father was giving me more trouble than i could ever explain, and i was sick for basically half the semester on and off (i have a virus for which there is no cure, and when i'm over-stressed it pops up with body sores/blisters, fevers, nausea, etc) so i did... horribly. when it comes time to apply, i will be limited to very few schools, in NYC or around there, so i've come up with a list of 4 . my boyfriend/future fiance (we've established we'll be getting married, but we're too broke to actually get a ring and stuff..) is going right into a big banking firm and will need to be in the city. i also need to stay near my family for various reasons.

i desperately need to get my bcpm up, and at this point, probably my cumulative gpa as well.

question time:
1. i'm planning on taking summer class, probably 2 classes per session for a total of 4 classes. at my school, there are no "intro" bio classes per se, so i was going to take bio I and bio II, anatomy and physiology II (i'm taking I now), and a BS human biology class this summer. the school i'm taking it at is super easy compared to my school, so i'm anticipating good grades. does this sound like a good plan? i will need to take a semester of sciences after i graduate to finish up legitimate requirements, like cell bio, genetics, and biochem.
2. should i swap one of the summer classes for one of the harder classes i just mentioned?
3. because i need to get my bcpm up, should i just focus on taking "easy" bcp classes? things like physics of music, brain architecture, etc? i could definitely ace those and get those added in there. i would have "hard" ones also (cell bio, microbio, biochem, loads of neuroscience, genetics, etc).
4. if i'm a minority, do i need to show my involvement in the minority community to be recognized as such? and second, do/can dental schools check my minority status? my name sounds like my ethnic minority father's side, but my racial minority side comes from my mom and you wouldn't be able to tell from my application (name, that is). i can only assume that this will help, and i need all the help i can get.
5. how long should i leave myself to study for the dat? as i mentioned, i need to take a semester after graduation to finish requirements, so i will have from january until application time basically free (unless, knock on wood, i STILL need to boost my gpa).

thanks in advance! i know that's a lot to read. i appreciate the help.

 

[Kahr]

it's been a while; i decided not to depress myself with coming on here lol

but so now i have a few questions, first with some background. last semester, i took on far more than i should have and was dealing with a buttload of personal problems: my very close friend from home died, my father was giving me more trouble than i could ever explain, and i was sick for basically half the semester on and off (i have a virus for which there is no cure, and when i'm over-stressed it pops up with body sores/blisters, fevers, nausea, etc) so i did... horribly. when it comes time to apply, i will be limited to very few schools, in NYC or around there, so i've come up with a list of 4 . my boyfriend/future fiance (we've established we'll be getting married, but we're too broke to actually get a ring and stuff..) is going right into a big banking firm and will need to be in the city. i also need to stay near my family for various reasons.

i desperately need to get my bcpm up, and at this point, probably my cumulative gpa as well.

question time:
1. i'm planning on taking summer class, probably 2 classes per session for a total of 4 classes. at my school, there are no "intro" bio classes per se, so i was going to take bio I and bio II, anatomy and physiology II (i'm taking I now), and a BS human biology class this summer. the school i'm taking it at is super easy compared to my school, so i'm anticipating good grades. does this sound like a good plan? i will need to take a semester of sciences after i graduate to finish up legitimate requirements, like cell bio, genetics, and biochem.
Only you can gauge what you can handle well, but it sounds doable if you can dedicate the time necessary to handle that much on an accelerated summer schedule. I've personally never taken more than 6 credits in a summer session; but then it also depends on the length of your summer sessions.
2. should i swap one of the summer classes for one of the harder classes i just mentioned?
If Bio I and II are the same general bio classes required for admission to dental school, then I would definitely not swap either of them, they are critical classes, and usually pre-reqs for the "harder" bio classes. A&P is good, and keeping them in sequence is good too, since you're already taking part I now.
3. because i need to get my bcpm up, should i just focus on taking "easy" bcp classes? things like physics of music, brain architecture, etc? i could definitely ace those and get those added in there. i would have "hard" ones also (cell bio, microbio, biochem, loads of neuroscience, genetics, etc).
What is your sGPA? Personally, I think you should take classes what will benefit you both on paper and when you go to dental school. I'd take a class like microbio before something like the physics of music. You need to be able to do well in "hard" sciences too, not just the easy ones. Heck, taking certain "hard" classes earlier could also help with the DAT possibly (thinking random biology section).
4. if i'm a minority, do i need to show my involvement in the minority community to be recognized as such? and second, do/can dental schools check my minority status? my name sounds like my ethnic minority father's side, but my racial minority side comes from my mom and you wouldn't be able to tell from my application (name, that is). i can only assume that this will help, and i need all the help i can get.
It's hard for me to be sure, but I think this is more than one question. Being a minority does not somehow magically imply you are involved in a minority community in any helpful way, so if you want them to see your involvement in your community, you have to actually be involved and describe that involvement. I'm not sure how ethnic status works when you apply, my only advice would be to read somethingpositiv's very detailed and useful thread here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=635046
5. how long should i leave myself to study for the dat? as i mentioned, i need to take a semester after graduation to finish requirements, so i will have from january until application time basically free (unless, knock on wood, i STILL need to boost my gpa).
I would suggest you take the DAT by March if possible, this way you can retake in June and not compromise application timing at all. Though as long as you get it done before June, then technically you're on the right track; and getting a good score the first time is likely better than being mediocre simply because you rushed and had to retake with a better score, so if you aren't ready by March, don't sweat it.
thanks in advance! i know that's a lot to read. i appreciate the help.

All the best with your plans, put in the hard work and you will achieve what you desire.

 

[chocchipcookie]

thanks for the reply! my school is weird.. we have 4 "core" bio classes of which i will have finished two by the end of this semester (taking 2 counts as our intro bio sequence), plus the lab. so if i were to take the bio I and II over summer, i would count it into the "easy" classes, as i'm sure some of the material will have been covered. for my 2 core classes, i took cellular and developmental bio and i'm currently in comparative physiology. i will definitely have hard classes done, too, but for the sake of fixing my bcp i wanted to know if it's good to mix in a bunch of easy ones.

 

[chocchipcookie]

bump.. i know it's long. maybe i'll separate into different threads to get some answers??

 

[camshaft]

I think Kahr's advice is pretty good. Making a thread for each question would just be clutter in my opinion though.