Courses you wish you took as undergrad

[bigbutrealdreams]

Hello dear future dentists,

I am a mere undergraduate struggling to make my schedule for the next few semesters.
Are there any classes you wish you took as an undergrad that could have been helpful to you now in d.s.?

Thanks <3

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[capsaicinguy]

I never took microbio, that would have opened up a lot more doors for applications. Seeing as I've been out of school a while I didn't want to have to go back and take it. A lot of schools require that now on top of the standard chemi/bio/physics load.

 

[THS]

Accounting, business law, finance.

Every biology and chemistry class you take in college will only prepare you for the first year of dental school. Nothing in undergrad comes close to dental-specific classes. I took every relevant bio and chem class and while I enjoyed them, those classes only allowed me to study a little less during D1. I wish I would have looked further into the future and taken classes relevant to business ownership.

 

[charlestweed]

You should only take classes that you think you can easily get As in. The more classes you take, the higher chance of getting Bs and Cs, which will hurt your overall GPA. Remember, you are competing against other very smart college kids. During my undegrad years, I only took classes that were required for getting a BS degree in Biology. Because I had some music backgrounds, I took a couple of music classes to help boost my GPA.

Now looking back, I wish I should have done like what a few of my dental school classmates did. They saved one undergrad year by only taking the prerequisite classes for dental school and they got good enough GPA to get accepted to dental school without a BS degree. I got a BS degree and I don't even know where I put it right now.

 

[8th]

Histology, Microbiology, Neuroanatomy / Neuroscience. A&P 1 &2.

 

[dentist_dude]

I never took microbio, that would have opened up a lot more doors for applications. Seeing as I've been out of school a while I didn't want to have to go back and take it. A lot of schools require that now on top of the standard chemi/bio/physics load.

Do you have to take it before you apply! I thought you could always take them after you apply! I thought that they give you a conditional acceptance upon finishing up those classes

 

[dentalgirl7893]

Do you have to take it before you apply! I thought you could always take them after you apply! I thought that they give you a conditional acceptance upon finishing up those classes

No you don't. OP was just saying they didn't want to go back to school and take it.

As far as classes I would take, something where you work with your hands like ceramics and DEFINITELY anatomy.

 

[niv3k]

I know at my school they only required one semester of biochemistry, I took biochem 1 and 2. Glad I did that because it was a breeze when I got in, finished with a 96% in the class. Taking physiology now, that helped a lot in undergrad too as a good chunk of it is just a review. You'll be busy with a lot of classes so it's helpful to have seen the information before so you can focus on things you haven't seen or subjects that are harder, which is gross anatomy atm for me :|. I took anatomy 1 and 2 in undergrad but it was far different and in much less detail than what we are having to deal with now.

I agree with someone from the above about the business/finance/account classes if you can afford it. As predents to dental students, we were/are mainly worried about either getting into dental school or finishing. When you're out and working though I've heard over and over that it's a whole different game there. They don't really teach you much of that.

Pharmacology at our school is also one of the harder classes d2 year, maybe that would be beneficial to you. Histology, I took it undergrad but honestly I don't think it made a difference either way (for me at least).

Good luck.

 

[coolslugs]

Beer and wine making. Think of the topics you can relate to your classmates, faculty and patients.

 

[Pedodel]

There is nothing you can take in under grad that will help me that much in dental school. Take the Pre req's and do well. After That,,,, nothing will help much.

Most of the stuff you go into into will be so much beyond what you will study in undergrad ( except the first 2 weeks) and will be geared more towards the dental boards than general medical knowledge.

So no, nothing " will help". that much unless unless you have a post grad degree in microbiology or pharmacology ( as a few of my classmates had). Only then it only helped a little for one or two classes out of a hundred.
You'll be fine though. If you do good in undergrad and work hard,,( and get good grades in undergrad ) you will do just fine in D school.
Good luck in everything!

 

[UW2019]

I really wished that I had taken Anatomy & Physiology and also Histology would have been a HUGE help. I am very thankful that I did take immunology and lots of micro. TBH, the only chemistry class that has been even somewhat helpful so far was Biochem. Look to see if your school has a dental waxing class or is willing to start one. My school had one but it wasn't listed in the course catalog. You kinda had to hear about it from other predents. You would basically get like a lab credit for taking it. Ask around and talk to the faculty about that option.