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Hi all,
I would like to know if I'll be in a significant disadvantage in dental school because of the following issue. I realize that many of you take essay-type questions for granted and even prefer them over multiple choice questions, but this is quite an issue for me, so please take the time to consider my situation:
I find that I'm terrible at writing essays on tests. My grammer, spelling, and structure is just horrible. By essay questions, I mean questions that require me to write a short essay of my opinion about something and justify/elaborate it -- especially if the amount of time a lotted is limited. For example, the writing component on the MCAT.
My undergraduate degree was in engineering -- so lots of number crunching and mathematical manipulation. The only writing I was expected to do in engineering school was, e.g..: after two pages of calculations, "Since the poles are on the left side of the imaginary axis, the system will therefore be stable". I've taken recently taken life sciences courses and done well, mostly As (two A-s), ( e.g. orgo, bio, microbio, anatomy, embryology, immunology, biochem, viro, physio, genetics, etc.) as well, but due to the sheer size of these classes (200 to 700 people!), my university has used strictly multiple choice questions (easier to mark) for ALL the evaluations in these courses. The only exception was in orgo, which is drawing structures and mechanisms, and biochem, where for only the final exam, we were asked to writing the biosynthesis pathways for amino acids, but that was pure regurgitation of chemical structures and names (so not exactly an essay either) from lecture notes. Yes, I have taken humanities/social sciences courses, but the ones I took were geared towards engineering students trying to fullfill elective requirements and tests were marked by engineering graduate students (so very systematically and objectively-minded graders) who only look for key words, not strong arguements.
So my question is, given my lack of decent experience and weakness in dealing with long-answer, subjective questions, where the grading may be affected by the clarity and flow of the language, am I going to be losing out in dental school?
Many thanks for all those who comment or provide an answer. And sorry in advance if is posting is poorly written.
I would like to know if I'll be in a significant disadvantage in dental school because of the following issue. I realize that many of you take essay-type questions for granted and even prefer them over multiple choice questions, but this is quite an issue for me, so please take the time to consider my situation:
I find that I'm terrible at writing essays on tests. My grammer, spelling, and structure is just horrible. By essay questions, I mean questions that require me to write a short essay of my opinion about something and justify/elaborate it -- especially if the amount of time a lotted is limited. For example, the writing component on the MCAT.
My undergraduate degree was in engineering -- so lots of number crunching and mathematical manipulation. The only writing I was expected to do in engineering school was, e.g..: after two pages of calculations, "Since the poles are on the left side of the imaginary axis, the system will therefore be stable". I've taken recently taken life sciences courses and done well, mostly As (two A-s), ( e.g. orgo, bio, microbio, anatomy, embryology, immunology, biochem, viro, physio, genetics, etc.) as well, but due to the sheer size of these classes (200 to 700 people!), my university has used strictly multiple choice questions (easier to mark) for ALL the evaluations in these courses. The only exception was in orgo, which is drawing structures and mechanisms, and biochem, where for only the final exam, we were asked to writing the biosynthesis pathways for amino acids, but that was pure regurgitation of chemical structures and names (so not exactly an essay either) from lecture notes. Yes, I have taken humanities/social sciences courses, but the ones I took were geared towards engineering students trying to fullfill elective requirements and tests were marked by engineering graduate students (so very systematically and objectively-minded graders) who only look for key words, not strong arguements.
So my question is, given my lack of decent experience and weakness in dealing with long-answer, subjective questions, where the grading may be affected by the clarity and flow of the language, am I going to be losing out in dental school?
Many thanks for all those who comment or provide an answer. And sorry in advance if is posting is poorly written.
