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- Dental Student
I am a freshman Microbiology major going into my second semester. My first semester I took gen chem, gen bio, calc 1, philosophy, chem lab, bio lab, and chem and bio learning communities; I got a 4.0, but it will probably be one of my easier semesters in college. For my spring semester I am scheduled to take gen chem 2, gen bio 2, spanish 2, english, sociology, chem lab, bio lab, chem learning community. My sophomore fall looks like organic 1, organic lab 1, organic learning community, genetics, anatomy, gen geography, and physical education. Sophomore spring looks like organic 2, organic 2 lab, organic learning community, physiology, cell bio, cultural geography, and an easy online class. Junior fall looks like microbiology, junior english, stats, physics 1, and psychology. Junior spring looks like physics 2, principles of evolution, biological chemistry, anthropology,and two out of four between nutrition, economics, an art class, or an easy music class. Senior year is basically just finishing up requirements for my major. Senior fall would be virology, immunology, immunology lab, molecular genetics, humanities class, and an easy online class. Senior spring looks like parasitology, Senior class requirement (developmental bio or animal conservation), humanities class, easy online class, biological chemistry lab (I didn't want to take this before I applied because my gpa would be lower), and genetics lab (again, didn't want to have a low gpa when applying).
I plan on taking the DAT at the end of the summer after my sophomore year, then apply to dental school at the beginning of the summer after my junior year. Basically, first, I want to have taken good classes before the end of my sophomore year to prepare me well for the dat. Then, I want to have the highest gpa possible when I apply, while still having a very impressive course load. My goal is to have above a 3.9 gpa when I apply. To keep my gpa high I moved genetics lab and biochem lab to senior year, and held off some off most of my 4000 level classes til my senior year. To keep my course load impressive I made my major microbiology instead of just pre-dentistry, I'll have all of the pre-requisites for dental school completed when I apply, and I am taking courses that dental admissions like to see (philosophy, psychology, sociology, and anthropology).
Some questions I have:
1) Am I risking a lot by waiting to take genetics lab and biological chem lab til my senior year to have a higher gpa when I apply (the labs are each 2 credit hours)? It will only be a year between when I take the class of biochem and the lab, and I'll take the genetics lab one semester after I take molecular genetics (2 years after I took the actual general genetics class). Also, I'm pretty dead-set on dentistry so I don't care all that much about my performance in school my senior year. However, I think when the time comes I will still won't to shoot for a 3.9 cumulative gpa for all four years. I'll probably end up wanting a high gpa my senior year because it would be a great accomplishment to have summa cum laude, and the high gpa will increase my chances to get a scholarship at dental school.
2) Is it necessary to take junior english and biochem (4000 level class) my junior year instead of my senior year? I am taking them my junior year because I want all the dental school pre-requisites done by the time I apply, to make a more impressive course load. But, is it really that much more impressive to have all pre-requisites done when I apply as opposed to all but two classes done?
3) Mostly all of the other "filler" classes (like geography and philosophy) are all 1000 level class. Do I need to try to take more 2000 level filler classes or is what I have just fine?
4) Do I need to add an art class? Or is it worth risking the arbitrary A- or B+?
Thank you for all of those with suggestions.
I plan on taking the DAT at the end of the summer after my sophomore year, then apply to dental school at the beginning of the summer after my junior year. Basically, first, I want to have taken good classes before the end of my sophomore year to prepare me well for the dat. Then, I want to have the highest gpa possible when I apply, while still having a very impressive course load. My goal is to have above a 3.9 gpa when I apply. To keep my gpa high I moved genetics lab and biochem lab to senior year, and held off some off most of my 4000 level classes til my senior year. To keep my course load impressive I made my major microbiology instead of just pre-dentistry, I'll have all of the pre-requisites for dental school completed when I apply, and I am taking courses that dental admissions like to see (philosophy, psychology, sociology, and anthropology).
Some questions I have:
1) Am I risking a lot by waiting to take genetics lab and biological chem lab til my senior year to have a higher gpa when I apply (the labs are each 2 credit hours)? It will only be a year between when I take the class of biochem and the lab, and I'll take the genetics lab one semester after I take molecular genetics (2 years after I took the actual general genetics class). Also, I'm pretty dead-set on dentistry so I don't care all that much about my performance in school my senior year. However, I think when the time comes I will still won't to shoot for a 3.9 cumulative gpa for all four years. I'll probably end up wanting a high gpa my senior year because it would be a great accomplishment to have summa cum laude, and the high gpa will increase my chances to get a scholarship at dental school.
2) Is it necessary to take junior english and biochem (4000 level class) my junior year instead of my senior year? I am taking them my junior year because I want all the dental school pre-requisites done by the time I apply, to make a more impressive course load. But, is it really that much more impressive to have all pre-requisites done when I apply as opposed to all but two classes done?
3) Mostly all of the other "filler" classes (like geography and philosophy) are all 1000 level class. Do I need to try to take more 2000 level filler classes or is what I have just fine?
4) Do I need to add an art class? Or is it worth risking the arbitrary A- or B+?
Thank you for all of those with suggestions.
