Curious about committing to a pre-dental path?

[LookingforHope]

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Hi,

I want to know from you members what the application process is like. Here's my backstory: I was interested in becoming a doctor at one point of my undergrad studies, so I took the general science classes. Nothing really shook my boots until I got into O-Chem where I made the drastic decision to withdraw and accept the letter grade W. What threw me off the pre-med path was the pressure to do everything at one time and to get it right. There was also that lack of student-professor interaction in clarifying concepts that seemed vague. Relieving myself from this pressure cooker did make my life simpler, but I still can't resist entertaining the thought of someday ending up in the medical field. Now that I'm in my senior year as a History major, I'm confused as I once was like in my freshman year over what to do post-graduation. All of my history friends have law school on their minds so they're taking time off from school to focus on the LSATs. Some of them have impressive C.V.'s that includes internship experience clerking at city firms and mentoring inner city kids.

I haven't completely decided yet to commit myself to law. Lately, I've been thinking about going to the pre-dental path. I could enroll in a post-bac program, get all the prereq courses out of the way and then commit myself to this application process. I've visited a few sites detailing the admission statistics to see what these schools were looking for. In a way it was shocking to me that they could reject a pile of qualified people, this could easily be me in that pile. I want to know before I commit myself to this path what obstacles am I going to face? Is it common for someone qualified to be rejected by 5 or more schools? What kind of community service and/or extracurricular activities are they looking for?

I've already taken General Biology, Chemistry and Physics and those science courses average out as a 3.0. My math courses (Calculus I, II, III, Linear Algebra) averages out to 3.8.

 

[bing12]

it may be common for qualified applicants to get rejected to over 15 schools ( and not get in at all). Of all of applicants that apply, 40% get in ( so 60% of all applicants dont get in to any school)- ADA site. For Medical schools: its 44% ( not saying medical school is easier to get into, just trying to give you something to compare to). I have attachments at the bottom for more information.

it seems you gave up medicine because you didn't think you would gain admissions into med school. Dental school admissions has changed DRASTICALLY in the past 10 years. In 2002: 58% of all that applied to dental school got in. In 2009: 40% of all that applied got in.

Try shadowing a Dentist, see if you enjoy it.

 

[AwesomeTeeth]

Hi,
Now that I'm in my senior year as a History major, I'm confused as I once was like in my freshman year over what to do post-graduation. All of my history friends have law school on their minds so they're taking time off from school to focus on the LSATs. Some of them have impressive C.V.'s that includes internship experience clerking at city firms and mentoring inner city kids.

Doesn't matter if they have impressive CVs and LSAT scores. Law school is a massive waste of time/money and unless you have connections, you're most likely going to be disappointed with your career path. Look up "don't go to law school" on google and youtube to see what I mean. Some people with law degrees are working at coffee shops. Tell all your friends to run away from law school as fast as they can and do the same. It's not worth it.

Hi,
Lately, I've been thinking about going to the pre-dental path. I could enroll in a post-bac program, get all the prereq courses out of the way and then commit myself to this application process.

Great choice. If you commit yourself to this, then you'll get through it in the end to dental school. Promise.

I want to know before I commit myself to this path what obstacles am I going to face?

Tons of blood, sweat, and tears. Alot of nervous waiting. Most likely a couple rejection letter/emails. But you'll pull through. Take the prereq classes, take a bunch of upper level biology classes, raise your GPA, shadow a dentist, do some research/volunteer, destroy the DAT test, pray a little every night, and you should get in.

Is it common for someone qualified to be rejected by 5 or more schools?.

If you have low stats, then most likely be rejected by 5 but you might get lucky somewhere. Even if you have pretty good stats, you can be rejected to a handful of schools for who knows what reason. Sometimes it just feels like luck of the draw. Most people with just average stats apply to 10-15 to be safe. If you make yourself the best candidate possible, you'll get in somewhere.

"Qualified" is a very vague term. Someone's who is qualified in your eyes might be unqualified in another. There's very few clear cut yes or no answers.

I've already taken General Biology, Chemistry and Physics and those science courses average out as a 3.0. My math courses (Calculus I, II, III, Linear Algebra) averages out to 3.8.

Well your biology, chemistry and physics GPA is definitely going to need a boost. Take a bunch of upper level biology classes and ace them. If you have any C's in bio, physics, chem, retake and ace them. Take the rest of your pre-reqs if you haven't yet and do well. Math is nice but dental schools don't really care about it too much. Alot of biology like anatomy, histology, immunology, etc. is going to be your ticket to dental school.

 

[MuskieMan33]

I know you said you took Ochem and withdrew from the course. If your reconsidering taking the course, more power to you! If not you may want to shadow some dentists to get a better feel for it and see if it's something you want to pursue. I know that the schools I am looking at have Ochem as a requirement for attending. Ive thumbed through a lot of schools in the ADEA book, and I know most, if not all schools require Ochem. It may be something to look into. I think there is a few Canadian schools that don't require it (noticed this during one of my bathroom reads).

EDIT: I also believe that math courses count towards sgpa, but I wouldn't rely solely on them to balance your gpa. Hope the input is helping!