Considering Dental.. Couple of questions

[BTR1208]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Okay so here is where I am at.. Kind of torn between Podiatry and Dental.

I am currently taking classes at a CC. I am on my own financially, haven't had parent's support since I was about 17. There business went under. All on me now. It's okay though I feel it has made me a better person.

Anyway, I will just be getting all my prereqs, no degree. And the DAT or MCAT obviously.

I will however take my organic chem at a BIG 10 school, IU. My CC doesn't offer it. I am having to save every penny just to pay for that class next Fall.

Right now I have a 3.85 cGPA 4.0 sGPA. Plan on getting it up to at least a 3.9 cGPA. I know I need a high GPA since a majority of my classes are being taken at a CC. I will also study very hard for the DAT and do the best I can, isn't that all we can do?

I am just very worried that me having to take my classes at a CC is going to kill me. It is not like I am doing it because it is easier. I still study very hard. I have no choice. there is no way I could pay for full tuition at a big university. I struggle paying for everything at CC as is.

I did see the thread about CC credits at some schools which gives me hope. I noticed a few on there do accept CC credit with no limit.
-AZ
-Mid
-Western
-Conn
-Flor
-Geo
-U Ill
-Louis
-Tenn
-Wash

Could someone inform me which schools are Mid, Western and Louis?

Anyway, so if I can get all of my prerequisites and scored well on the DAT do I have a shot at one of these schools?

Thanks a lot!

B

 

[Bobby Fischer]

Okay so here is where I am at.. Kind of torn between Podiatry and Dental.

I am currently taking classes at a CC. I am on my own financially, haven't had parent's support since I was about 17. There business went under. All on me now. It's okay though I feel it has made me a better person.

Anyway, I will just be getting all my prereqs, no degree. And the DAT or MCAT obviously.

I will however take my organic chem at a BIG 10 school, IU. My CC doesn't offer it. I am having to save every penny just to pay for that class next Fall.

Right now I have a 3.85 cGPA 4.0 sGPA. Plan on getting it up to at least a 3.9 cGPA. I know I need a high GPA since a majority of my classes are being taken at a CC. I will also study very hard for the DAT and do the best I can, isn't that all we can do?

I am just very worried that me having to take my classes at a CC is going to kill me. It is not like I am doing it because it is easier. I still study very hard. I have no choice. there is no way I could pay for full tuition at a big university. I struggle paying for everything at CC as is.

I did see the thread about CC credits at some schools which gives me hope. I noticed a few on there do accept CC credit with no limit.
-AZ
-Mid
-Western
-Conn
-Flor
-Geo
-U Ill
-Louis
-Tenn
-Wash

Could someone inform me which schools are Mid, Western and Louis?

Anyway, so if I can get all of my prerequisites and scored well on the DAT do I have a shot at one of these schools?

Thanks a lot!

B

here are my two cents:

CC credits are well known for being looked at with suspicion.

taking as many hard core sciences at a hard core university will help. If you do well, of course. The more the better. It may be a blessing in disguise that you are being forced to take OChem at university: if you do well, adcoms will surely use that as evidence in favor of your candidacy.

I had my predental adviser tell me straight to my face that if I took CC coursework my application was as good as garbage in a lot of dental school's eyes.

If you take your Ochem at a university and do well, even extremely well, and then kill the DAT (20+), then apply to 8-10 schools who say they accept CC credit, have top notch LORs (get to know your Ochem professor and get one from him/her!), shadowing, volunteer and maybe even some research, I don't know why you wouldn't get in with the GPA from a CC you have.

Buy the ADEA Official Guide to D Schools for 35 bones or whatever it is nowadays. It'll tell you everything about every specific school you want to know. If you can't afford it, look in a university library I know mine has a copy of the latest.

 

[hl4jn]

.

 

[dentalWorks]

some schools will flat out reject your CC credits (okay fine, don't apply to those).

Overall, I don't think its that much of a big concern especially if a good DAT performance (19+) is combined.

 

[TOMS90]

here are my two cents:

CC credits are well known for being looked at with suspicion.

taking as many hard core sciences at a hard core university will help. If you do well, of course. The more the better. It may be a blessing in disguise that you are being forced to take OChem at university: if you do well, adcoms will surely use that as evidence in favor of your candidacy.

I had my predental adviser tell me straight to my face that if I took CC coursework my application was as good as garbage in a lot of dental school's eyes.

If you take your Ochem at a university and do well, even extremely well, and then kill the DAT (20+), then apply to 8-10 schools who say they accept CC credit, have top notch LORs (get to know your Ochem professor and get one from him/her!), shadowing, volunteer and maybe even some research, I don't know why you wouldn't get in with the GPA from a CC you have.

Buy the ADEA Official Guide to D Schools for 35 bones or whatever it is nowadays. It'll tell you everything about every specific school you want to know. If you can't afford it, look in a university library I know mine has a copy of the latest.

Your advisor is obviously a garbage man who has no idea about the admission process. You can count the number of schools that don't accept CC credits with your fingers YET those schools still occasionally accept them.

 

[nondescriptive]

Your advisor is obviously a garbage man who has no idea about the admission process. You can count the number of schools that don't accept CC credits with your fingers YET those schools still occasionally accept them.

Agreed. Your counselor is trying to get you to take classes at his university so they can get your money. I got into dental school with all my pre-reqs taken at a CC.

People need to stop disrespecting the CC; university courses are so watered down these day that I think its not that big of a difference. I had to take my Bio-chem at a university and it was comparable to O-chem at my CC in terms of difficulty. Or maybe I found both to be rather easy. Either way, CC is good for poor students such as myself. If I can't afford all my classes at a university, what can I do?

 

[Bobby Fischer]

Your advisor is obviously a garbage man who has no idea about the admission process. You can count the number of schools that don't accept CC credits with your fingers YET those schools still occasionally accept them.

definitely not a garbage man.

Agreed. Your counselor is trying to get you to take classes at his university so they can get your money. I got into dental school with all my pre-reqs taken at a CC.

People need to stop disrespecting the CC; university courses are so watered down these day that I think its not that big of a difference. I had to take my Bio-chem at a university and it was comparable to O-chem at my CC in terms of difficulty. Or maybe I found both to be rather easy. Either way, CC is good for poor students such as myself. If I can't afford all my classes at a university, what can I do?

I'm not going to hold my breath trusting anybody in administration to NOT twist things in their favor (pack their schools with as many warm tuition paying bodies as possible).

The trustworthiness of the education system these days as far as their separation from a monetary interest is totally broken, I agree. There may very well be some vested interest on the part of many in the employ of the universities to stretch the truth.

In the particular instance of my adviser, however, I can state without exception that, due to his position within the university (professor emeritus) as well as 15 year experience as a pre-dental adviser (including one of his own kids getting into d school) successfully shepherding hundreds of students (maybe thousands actually?) through the process, he is no fraudster.

Don't take your opinions about the value of CC credits versus university credits out on me. I am just trying to communicate my experiences with the admissions process. I may be wrong.

I agree with the sentiment that CC credits aren't necessarily inferior in terms of knowledge gained. Absolutely.👍 But the adcoms are a different animal.

 

[nondescriptive]

definitely not a garbage man.



I'm not going to hold my breath trusting anybody in administration to NOT twist things in their favor (pack their schools with as many warm tuition paying bodies as possible).

The trustworthiness of the education system these days as far as their separation from a monetary interest is totally broken, I agree. There may very well be some vested interest on the part of many in the employ of the universities to stretch the truth.

In the particular instance of my adviser, however, I can state without exception that, due to his position within the university (professor emeritus) as well as 15 year experience as a pre-dental adviser (including one of his own kids getting into d school) successfully shepherding hundreds of students (maybe thousands actually?) through the process, he is no fraudster.

Don't take your opinions about the value of CC credits versus university credits out on me. I am just trying to communicate my experiences with the admissions process. I may be wrong.

I agree with the sentiment that CC credits aren't necessarily inferior in terms of knowledge gained. Absolutely.👍 But the adcoms are a different animal.

I respect your opinion. But the dean of admissions from my dental school told me plainly, "its a numbers game in the end." And I got accepted with my grades from a CC. If patients don't care where you went to dental school, why should dental schools care where you got your education as long as your DAT backs up what you've learned. Schools vary, that's why the DAT is the great equalizer.

I spoke with half dozen adcom that I applied to; they all said the same thing, "we do not look down on students who take classes at CC. Sometimes that's what they can afford."

 

[Bobby Fischer]

I respect your opinion. But the dean of admissions from my dental school told me plainly, "its a numbers game in the end." And I got accepted with my grades from a CC. If patients don't care where you went to dental school, why should dental schools care where you got your education as long as your DAT backs up what you've learned. Schools vary, that's why the DAT is the great equalizer.

I spoke with half dozen adcom that I applied to; they all said the same thing, "we do not look down on students who take classes at CC. Sometimes that's what they can afford."

threads are great because, like this one, one person's experience might be outweighed by others'.

Personally, I don't look down on anyone who takes classes at CCs. I'd rather of saved money myself, but there was pressure from my adviser so I stayed in the university system. Bottom line I got in. I wouldn't risk not getting in by doing it over but thats the only way I would be able to know if it would have made a difference in my case.

 

[nondescriptive]

threads are great because, like this one, one person's experience might be outweighed by others'.

Personally, I don't look down on anyone who takes classes at CCs. I'd rather of saved money myself, but there was pressure from my adviser so I stayed in the university system. Bottom line I got in. I wouldn't risk not getting in by doing it over but thats the only way I would be able to know if it would have made a difference in my case.

Congratulations! Where are you going?

 

[Bobby Fischer]

Congratulations! Where are you going?

not going to post on the internet, sorry. Too many potential troublemakers lurking + reducing privacy negates the purposes of this forum IMO. Not Puerto Rico and somewhere in N. America

 

[TOMS90]

I think there are some truth to CC being easy. My friend is a perfect example of that. He only got 19aa/ts

 

[nondescriptive]

I think there are some truth to CC being easy. My friend is a perfect example of that. He only got 19aa/ts

I've seen people with 3.9 GPA from a university get an 19 on the DAT. Does that make the university easy? Not necessarily. Just because you went to a university don't expect 20+ on the DAT. The mean is still ~17. If your friend went to a CC and got a 19, he's above the mean for all test takers and average for all matriculates. Not too shabby.

 

[nondescriptive]

And nothing on the DAT was difficult compared to anything I took at a CC. Its just the breathe of knowledge, not the depth. "An ocean of info, but only an inch deep", someone once wrote.

 

[BTR1208]

Awesome information guys!

Could someone point me to the "Louis" school on the CC spreadsheet? Is it a school in St Louis. I am really interested in that area.

 

[PointEstimate]

Awesome information guys!

Could someone point me to the "Louis" school on the CC spreadsheet? Is it a school in St Louis. I am really interested in that area.

Louisville
http://louisville.edu/dental/

Not familiar with Missouri and where cities are located within the state, but there's two dental schools:
MOSDOH (a brand new school) http://www.atsu.edu/mosdoh/index.html
UMKC http://dentistry.umkc.edu/