Couple of Q's

[12345a]

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Hey guys, I'm a pre dent right now and I was wondering if i could waste a little bit of your time with some easy questions
btw, I'm a sophomore right now and I'll be applying to dschool in 3 years

here we go:

1) What can I do right now that will help me when I go to dental school?

2) What are the biggest mistakes that pre dental students do in undergrad that they regret when they go to dental school?

3) Where are all these research opportunities for undergrad students who want to intern over the summer? (I'm in nor cal btw)

4) My folks are planning to pay for my undergrad but not dental school, any tips on smart ways to pay for school? what are some common financial mistakes people make when paying for school?

5) How do I set myself up for a fulfilling and hopefully wealthy career right now?

6) What do you regret doing/ not doing when you were a pre dent? (academically and in general)

7) What are some common mistakes pre dental students make and only realize they made them after going to dental school?

8) Out of curiosity, how often are students accepted into dental programs without a bachelors?

9) What was the most beneficial thing you did that helped you in dental school? (again..academically and in general)

10) Is there a way that I can develop these "magic hands" before I go to dental school?

thanks...

 

[mamelons]

1) What can I do right now that will help me when I go to dental school?
Make good grades, get involved in extracurriculars, shadow

2) What are the biggest mistakes that pre dental students do in undergrad that they regret when they go to dental school? I don't know... maybe not learning how to study or manage time, pulling all-nighters... not that you can't do that for some classes in dental school, but it is definitely much harder to... I would recommend taking a heavy courseload as long as you can do well (18 hours) with a good number of science courses to at least give you some idea of what to expect... nothing quite prepares you for dental school... my hardest semester was 18 hours all science in undergrad, and I got to dental school and was taking 27 hours the first semester.

3) Where are all these research opportunities for undergrad students who want to intern over the summer? (I'm in nor cal btw) You just have to seek them out... at my undergrad school they had independent studies for course credit, where you could choose a mentor and do research with them for a semester or longer, some people applied for research positions in some of the professors labs at our school, and then there are some summer research programs that my school offered as well that you could apply for and you would get a stipend of some sort

4) My folks are planning to pay for my undergrad but not dental school, any tips on smart ways to pay for school? what are some common financial mistakes people make when paying for school? Loans... I think a mistake that people make is that they treat loan money like lottery money... you have to pay the money back, so take out only what you need... if you end up taking out too much, then return some of the money

5) How do I set myself up for a fulfilling and hopefully wealthy career right now? Do well in school so you can get into dental school

6) What do you regret doing/ not doing when you were a pre dent? (academically and in general) Nothing really... I was a biology major, took tons of upper division electives, did my fair share of shadowing, went on a mission trip, etc

7) What are some common mistakes pre dental students make and only realize they made them after going to dental school? I don't have any personal experience with this

8) Out of curiosity, how often are students accepted into dental programs without a bachelors? Not very often... at my dental school their is a joint early admissions program with some undergrad schools in Texas (3+4 program) where you do 3 years of undergrad and your 1st year of dental school counts for your last year of undergrad, and then you are awarded your bachelor's after you complete DS1... I have known maybe a hand full of people who got in without a bachelor's but they scored 21+ on the DAT and had a 4.0 or pretty darn close to it

9) What was the most beneficial thing you did that helped you in dental school? (again..academically and in general) I am currently in dental school, and the most beneficial thing for me so far is being able to manage my time... I think that is one of my strengths... I was a two sport college athlete and so I had to manage my time well, and that carried over into dental school

10) Is there a way that I can develop these "magic hands" before I go to dental school? if you are really concerned about it, take an art class of some sort... sculpting, jewelry-making... learn how to play a musical instrument, try to get some assisting experience if possible, or work at a dental lab if possible

thanks...[/QUOTE]

 

[12345a]

bump

 

[AkaDr]

collect practice questions for the DAT, i guess from your pre-req classes so when you are ready, to study for the DAT , you have all the resources..

 

[War Eagle]

I'm just curious. Why are you waiting 3 years to apply? The ideal scenario would be to apply the summer after your junior year.

 

[12345a]

better late than never I guess....

I'm just curious. Why are you waiting 3 years to apply? The ideal scenario would be to apply the summer after your junior year.

I'm waiting 3 years to apply (after transferring from cc) so that I can get the highest GPA by taking a light unit load each semester. In effect I only have to take 1 dental school pre req, 1 upper division psychology requirement, and a couple of electives each semester.

of course I understand I won't have this type of luxury in dental school...

is that strategy frowned upon by adcoms?

 

[The Anhedonia]

actually, yes, your plan is frowned upon by Adcoms. here's why: light course-work semesters do not demonstrate any sort of ability to perform well (academically) under pressure.

consider that you'll be taking almost 30 credits a semester as a dental student. and all of these courses will no doubt be difficult - no art class or lower level psych in DS. if you can't hack 15 credits per semester of science classes, well, you know where i'm going with this 🙂

that's not to say you should kill yourself with courses, but the Adcom's are indeed going to ask you about it.

 

[12345a]

understood