Computer Science??

[po4life]

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hey guys, awesome place you got here! Was wondering if there are any people like me out there, and if you guys think I have a chance at getting into dental school...

I was a computer science and statistics double major at SUNY at Stony Brook for the last 4 years... did really well in undergrad, even attended and did research work for phD level courses... but then I came out in the real world and found out that comp sci is definitely not what I want to do for the rest of my life (eyes going blind, climbing corporate ladder, no people interactions, programming programming programming! gah!).

I thought about medical, but my dad is a doctor at Columbia and his lifestyle is horrible. On-call, beepers ringing all day, driving back and forth from hospitals. The only information I have about the dental field was from discussions I've had with 3 dentists that I know. The independent lifestyle and interpersonal relationships are why I chose dentistry.

A family friend hurt her back when I was a freshman, and I've been spending almost all my summers and free weekends helping her out with her hardware store. So I really have no prior dental experience, and no time to spend a year gaining it (need to work to feed/shelter myself too). Registered to take my first DAT at end of September.
Overall GPA: 3.60
Science GPA: 3.60
Extracurricular Activities/Work: Lady's hardware store making keys, installing locks, breaking locks, selling hardware... Member of Kendo club, team 3rd place nationals 2003.

Think I have a chance??? Thanks in advance guys!

ps. sorry for the super long post!

 

[ShawnOne]

Hello my fellow former programmer...errr...I actually prefer "software developer".

Do you already have all your pre-reqs completed? If not, you typically need 1 yr Chem, 1 yr O-Chem, 1 yr Bio, 1 yr Physics. Also, make sure you have at least 3 letters of recommendation from your sciences instructors and try to get one from a dentist. Oh, and write a good personal statement.

If you already have the above, then you are in excellent shape. Your undergrad GPA is strong and you mentioned you are already scheduled for the DAT. With some good numbers you sould have NO problem getting accepted somewhere.

Good luck!

S1

 

[po4life]

Awesome thanks! I asked two of my comp sci professors and 2 science professors for my recommendations. I'll try to get one from a dentist too, but that might be a little difficult at this point...
Just finishing up orgo II, taking my final at the end of next week 🙁

Thanks for the advice!

 

[sdnmember]

Awesome thanks! I asked two of my comp sci professors and 2 science professors for my recommendations. I'll try to get one from a dentist too, but that might be a little difficult at this point...
Just finishing up orgo II, taking my final at the end of next week 🙁

Thanks for the advice!

WOW! I'm doing the same thing you are! I'm taking orgo ii at stony brook and i'm also a cse major. I hope cse doesn't 'ruin' my life as this major stinks for employmetn as well as being extremely hard. I would easily have a 3.8+ gpa if i were say psychology or businesss major here. I really, really regret majoring in cse.
Are you taking orgo at stony brook too? Steve Samuel is killer isn't he? Just curious, but which professors did you ask for recommendations? I'm kind of hesitant to ask for recommendations because i'm 1 of 400+ (javits 100)in nearly all the science prereq classes even if i did well. Are you done with your prereqs? With your gpa, u should have a very high chance of getting into dental school including stony brook if u do well on the DAT.

 

[badaboom]

my respect to the coders
i took a full year of computer science in my last year undergrad, one that's taken by all other cs majors.
and i must admit that i spent days and nights writing codes and wondering why i even took that class... oh, i remember now, i was *just curious*.

yar, CS is a tough major. After that year of CS, all the bio and chem classes that i've had all seem like joke.

3.6 GPA is wow impressive for a CS major! i bet a lot of people don't realize that.

 

[po4life]

Yea~! Taking orgo II now! OH MY GOD this prof is tough! Got an A- for Orgo I, but dont even know if I can pull off a B for Orgo II ! Just had the second midterm today right? I literally got a 0 on the synthesis part...

Anyway, I asked my CSE research advisor, my AMS research advisor, my microbio professor and my BIO professor for my recommendations. Chances are, the science recommendations are going to suck... Like you said, we're one in 400+ students here... so I'm hoping my research advisors will make up for it...

Are you applying for entering class of 2005? I really hope I'm not too late! (AADSAS still waiting to be submitted... no time to write my essay thanks to orgogogogogogo 😡 )

 

[DDSSlave]

yar, CS is a tough major. After that year of CS, all the bio and chem classes that i've had all seem like joke.

3.6 GPA is wow impressive for a CS major! i bet a lot of people don't realize that.

I'll wholeheartedly second that...