Career change help.....

Hey. I can answer the pre-req issue for you for the TX schools. I did a career change too. I switched from business (worked for six years) to dentistry and took 1 class per semester for two years until I reached a few classes that also required the accompanying lab at the same time (i.e. organic chemistry). I took the DAT and received interviews without ever having taken more than two classes in one semester, though my application showed that the final year before dental school, I was going to take a full load. I received acceptances to all three TX schools last year, passed on them to move to Nebraska with my wife, then received two more acceptances this year to Nebraska and Creighton while I stay at home with my daughter (i.e. without showing any more classroom time).

A key point here might be that I received all A's and did really well on the DAT. Another key consideration is that over the two years I applied, competition seemed to get tighter as this year I saw some wicked high DATs and GPAs. I would also talk to the programs and see what they say about this as they are the ones making the final decisions.

 

I know that schools look at how heavy your science load is to get an idea if you can hack it in dental school. For that reason they might frown upon one class per semester, not to mention it's going to take you forever. Schools also like students to go past just the required bio, chem, and physics, and take other science classes as well. Am I saying it can't be done? No! What I recomend is contact the pre-dental advisor at your local university at set up a meeting and go from there.

 

I have taken organic chem and bio prereqs one course at a time due to full time job and got an offer from Creighton. I would recommend trying to take your prereqs at a 4 yr college or university though. Some schools don't care about the comm college prereqs, but others may not like that. In either case, a 4 yr college would look better. Good luck!

 

They like you to take your pre-reqs at a four year university because you will be competing against other pre-professional students. If you score A's at a comunity college who cares? Ya you were at the top of the curve but you had no competition. I took a science class at a community college before heading to a four year and it was a joke in comparision.