Charting My Courses- Please advise (I have a fancy spreadsheet)

[KingChase]

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Hello everyone, I've been stalking awhile, just joined the site.

A little about me:
I'm about to go into college as a freshman with a sophomore standing because of AP credit.
I'm planning out my course load and own my own practice.
My long term goal is to become an orthodontist with a business major.
To accomplish that my goals for my undergraduate course load are to
1. Graduate from BYU
2. Earn my major in General Business Management
3. Fulfill all the pre-dental requirements and DAT Prep classes

The Ultimate Spreadsheet of the next 6 years of my life.

Attached in EXCEL, I found out you can't put links as a newbie 🙂

Specific Questions
I have an empty slot in my freshmen Fall semester because I need 16 credits
-Recommendations for a course to fit in there

I plan on taking the DAT after my sophomore year and/or junior year.
-Would the courses I'm taking be sufficient?

My sophomore year is very heavy science wise because I saw many suggest taking the DAT after sophomore year.
-Would the course load be hard to heavy to reasonably manage? Should I spread out the science classes and only take the DAT at the end of my junior year?

I looked at most dental school pre-prerequisites and made my course selections based on what I saw.
-Are there any additional courses I should take in order to
do better in dental school
do better on the DAT
be eligible to apply to dental school

Disclaimers
I plan on serving an LDS or Mormon 2 year mission after the Fall semester of my freshman year.
Because of this 2 year gap I'm hesitant on placing DAT Prep classes or Science classes in my schedule before that.
I don't have a specific dental school yet. I'm in California so I've looked at UCLA and UCSF the most.
I received a 35 on my ACT so I guess I'm smart or that I test well. -This is to help judge course load. However Time management is a weakness of mine that I am working on.



General Advice is appreciated and feel free to ask any questions on anything.

Spoiler: TO-DO's/Advice Given

1. Add Genetics and Physiology to DAT PREP-soph year, switch out for business classes
2. Retake AP credit Courses/Check to be sure dental school accepts AP Credit for various courses.
3. Look into Zoology
4. Move Physics to Post-DAT

 

[deleted678432]

Your courses look good to be taking the DAT after your sophomore year, but I'd suggest a genetics/physiology class before. I'm a HUGE advocate for taking the DAT after your soph. year, because I did it and don't think I would've scored as high if I was taking it right now in the midst of getting ready to apply. I taken both chemistries, gen bio I, 2 courses of physiology, eukaryotic cell biology, and genetics, and felt like I had seen 95% of the material previously. Physiology and genetics were tested heavily on my DAT. One other thing is that I'd recommend retaking any pre-dental requirements because I don't think (for the majority) that dental schools care about AP scores. Plus you can retake it and get a good grade and pad your GPA. Overall, keep a high GPA and don't forget to have fun in college.. you're only there for 4 years!

And a side note: I know you were just telling us for background knowledge to gauge you as a student, but I'd keep a tight lid on your ACT score and how many credits you have. Kids at my HS that got 34's have failed out of their majors, and my best friend who got a 24 is first in his class at one of the country's top business schools, so don't ride that score out. Nobody in college really cares and it comes off as tryhard-y. That's all kids talked about in my freshman year classes, (I'm technically a junior and a half because I have 1,320.4 AP credits and a 39 on my ACT and a 4000 on my SAT) and it seemed like it was a contest to see who could one-up eachother, and everybody else couldnt wait for them to stop talking. Even if now they're not weird, I still know them as "ACT guy" or "AP girl". If you're not like that then good! Just giving you a heads up. Congratulations on doing well in HS, and I'm sure you'll do well in college! Best of luck brother

 

[KingChase]

Your courses look good to be taking the DAT after your sophomore year, but I'd suggest a genetics/physiology class before. I'm a HUGE advocate for taking the DAT after your soph. year, because I did it and don't think I would've scored as high if I was taking it right now in the midst of getting ready to apply. I taken both chemistries, gen bio I, 2 courses of physiology, eukaryotic cell biology, and genetics, and felt like I had seen 95% of the material previously. Physiology and genetics were tested heavily on my DAT. One other thing is that I'd recommend retaking any pre-dental requirements because I don't think (for the majority) that dental schools care about AP scores. Plus you can retake it and get a good grade and pad your GPA. Overall, keep a high GPA and don't forget to have fun in college.. you're only there for 4 years!

And a side note: I know you were just telling us for background knowledge to gauge you as a student, but I'd keep a tight lid on your ACT score and how many credits you have. Kids at my HS that got 34's have failed out of their majors, and my best friend who got a 24 is first in his class at one of the country's top business schools, so don't ride that score out. Nobody in college really cares and it comes off as tryhard-y. That's all kids talked about in my freshman year classes, (I'm technically a junior and a half because I have 1,320.4 AP credits and a 39 on my ACT and a 4000 on my SAT) and it seemed like it was a contest to see who could one-up eachother, and everybody else couldnt wait for them to stop talking. Even if now they're not weird, I still know them as "ACT guy" or "AP girl". If you're not like that then good! Just giving you a heads up. Congratulations on doing well in HS, and I'm sure you'll do well in college! Best of luck brother

Thanks for the advice! I'll see how I can add those course to my sophomore year. The only thing I'm worried about is that I'd basically be taking all the college classes that prep for the DAT in one year because I don't want to take them before my mission and I'd prob forget some of it. I assume these science classes are prob some of the rougher classes to get a competitive GPA in. I'm a bit worried of not being capable to handle 14-16 credits 2 semesters in a row of science only. Should I worry about this or just go for it and give my best? Also thanks for the AP credit comment I hadn't thought of that, I'll look into that.
Yeah I know what your saying, if you peak in life with your ACT score you don't get very far. I don't think I ever had a big head about it, but luckily I was humbled by not getting into my dream school, BYU (Which is why I'm going to UVU for 24 credits) because I messed around in high school. Thanks for the life advice as well, I'd image that trying to get friends with an ACT score doesn't get you too far. 🙂 I'll be sure to let my efforts speak louder then a paper score.

 

[predent2151]

I second the previous post. Your ACT scores mean less than nothing, if anything it’ll make your ego big and then when you somewhat study for that first bio test and get a 70 you’ll have to second guess life. Not that that’s you lol. I majored in business while doing the science classes and ended up graduating with a 4.0. Here’s the best advice. Study early! When it’s time for you to actually begin studying for the DAT you’ll learn that prep classes are NOT the way to go. But don’t worry about that quite yet. Also if you want an extra bio class to take I would recommend zoology because it’ll go into some of the biology section that you probably won’t get from gen bio. The DAT is really not a hard test it just covers a ton. Remember your GPA and DAT score are the most important components about your application. They take priority over ANY extracurricular. Study hard, have fun, and good luck on your journey.

 

[schmoob]

I'm a bit worried of not being capable to handle 14-16 credits 2 semesters in a row of science only.

Get used to it, that's a breeze compared to dental school. But if I were you I would put physics on the backburner.
Also, ACT/SAT mean nothing. Just like once you get accepted to dental school, no one talks about the DAT.
Don't overthink it, man. Do your best and you'll get in.

 

[Star-Lord]

Your plan looks solid overall, but I will tell you that it will be difficult to finish all of school in 4 years given that you want to do a business major and also take the pre-requisetes to dental school. If you want to you can do it, but you'll have to take 16+ credits each and every semester, with some most likely at 18. Not to mention you'll also want to be involved in things like clubs, leadership responsibilities, volunteering, research and maybe even working if your parents aren't paying for everything.

 

[capt34500]

I just wanted to say that your spreadsheet looks aesthetically pleasing. I hope you don't mind me using it as a template to chart out my own courses 🙂
Also, I would recommend that you go over your academic plan with a counselor/pre-medical advisor if BYU has one.

 

[KingChase]

I just wanted to say that your spreadsheet looks aesthetically pleasing. I hope you don't mind me using it as a template to chart out my own courses 🙂
Also, I would recommend that you go over your academic plan with a counselor/pre-medical advisor if BYU has one.

Go for it man, glad I could help! Thanks for the advice!

 

[247_sandwich]

I wouldn't stress so much right now! Given your track record, I'm sure you'll be able to handle the academic load. I think the concern may be more logistic.

1) Wait and see where your BCP GPA stands. This will largely determine where you stand in regards to your science GPA, and might help make the decision of "when to take the DAT" easier for you. Seems like you're a dedicated student so I'm sure you'll be fine.

http://www.adea.org/uploadedFiles/G..._ADEA_AADSAS/ADEAAADSASCourseSubjects2018.pdf

2) Also, the recency period for most schools is 3 years for a DAT score. I'm assuming you'd apply to dental school after during the LDS service obligation, so that time crunch might also be a factor.

 

[DentTreadOnMe]

Listen here young whipper snapper lol:

I had/have the same plan as you and it has worked wonders for me:

Completed my mission

Majoring in Health Care Management (look into it rather than general management) (didn’t go to BYU only because a local university offered me a full ride)

Took/taking all science pre-reqs with heavy course load (never fewer than 17 hours)

Along with business core, here’s what I took so far in terms of sciences:

F1: Gen Bio
F2: Zoology
S1: Gen chem 1
S2: Gen chem 2
J1: O chem 1, Microbiology
J2: o chem 2, Biochemistry
DAT
S1: Physics 1, A&P 1 (upcoming)
S2: Physics 2, A&P 2 (upcoming)

Get a good review of bio topics you don’t take classes on before taking DAT. As you can see, I took DAT without taking A&P but studied it in my 2 month review. 24 BIO score with 24 AA. It CAN be done.

Currently sitting on 3 interview invites.

My advisor thought I was crazy doing this route and wanted me to major in BIO, but the business major is going to give you a leg up starting practices.

Plus you’re like MIT level smart with that 35 ACT score so you’ll be A Ok.

Don’t let them get you down Broseph Smith. Go forth and let sharing the gospel be your top priority and the Lord will bless you in ways you can’t imagine.