Dental School Career Change - When to Start

[noah123100]

Hi all,

I am a 22 year old working as a financial analyst but have discovered that finance just isn't for me. I am really interested in pursuing a career in dentistry and wanted to get some advice on how to do so. I graduated with a 3.56 from a state university but have not taken any of my pre-reqs yet. I have the option of starting in Spring of 2018 and Summer of 2018 with hopes of taking the DAT and submitting a dental school application early summer of 2019. With the Spring 2018 route I believe I will get more exposure before having to take the DAT but will be a little rushed in resigning from my current job. With the Summer 2018 route I would plan on shadowing and volunteering (from around febuary till may) which I believe will give me a better sense of the constructs of dentistry and help solidify my decision. My worry with this route is that I will not have enough pre reqs to apply and knowledge from pre reqs to take the DAT successfully, thus resulting my application being delayed until June 2020 (really do not want this). Additionally, I have heard that summer classes with labs are extremely difficult as a large amount of content is packed into a short time. What would you guys suggest I do? Thanks in advance!

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[Life of Pablo]

Finishing the prerequisites in 3 semesters is pushing it to say the least. I’m honestly not even sure if that’s possible? You’d have to take 2 semesters of general bio, 2 semester of general chemistry, 2 semesters of organic, 2 semesters of physics, and, depending on the schools you apply to, you may need to take other classes (biochemistry, microbiology, english or anatomy/physiology for example). If I were you, I’d focus on applying the summer of 2020. It would give you enough time to take classes, shadow, and study for the DAT (since I’m assuming you haven’t taken a science course in 4+ years). I understand the desire to not want to waste any time, but I think it’s better, in this case, to delay a year and make sure you have the strongest application possible. Good luck!!

Edit: although, technically, you don’t have to have completed all the prerequisites before applying, I would HIGHLY recommend you do so so that you do as well on the DAT as possible.

 

[amariesa]

I disagree with the above poster. Apply the summer of 2019. Your prereqs dont have to be done until you start dental class so that automatically is 2 years. Take bio via online courses (make sure theres a lab component), split the other 6 courses to semesters of 3 and 3 and youre golden. Honestly, you could even apply next year if youre super gungho (though I wouldnt recommend this). But technically, you could take some courses spring+summer 2018, while shadowing and studying for the dats and indicate you will finish the rest of the prereqs in the application year.
Applying summer 2020 = start classes 2021 = 3 years to get 1 year of prereqs down? Unnecessary.

 

[oceanicvibe]

Why is everyone in such a rush? Take your time and be thorough. If that means 2 or even 3 years of pre-reqs then so be it. I'm sure you're not 55 trying to make a career change. If you finish everything at 30...that's still super young. Take your time with the pre-reqs, study thoroughly for the DAT, get as much exposure to the field as possible, and make it happen

 

[wjc]

Good advice above. In my experience of returning to school in order to apply to dental school one of my regrets was not combining work with school for a little longer. I chose to get a second degree in addition to dental prerequisites so that I would have options if I didn't get in right away (which is how it has worked out). I took some online intro classes at the local community college that had Saturday labs while working but then ended up in school full time for about 8 semesters, including summers. The state college that I went to had a molecular biosciences program that had night classes such as physiology and biochem among others. If I had planned better I could have gone back to work while taking these.

If you look at any community college classes, check with your prospective dental schools. Some don't accept them. In general don't take any of the advanced classes there and make sure labs are in the classroom.

I think summer semester difficulty depends on your preferences. I took Ochem II lecture and Ochem II lab over the summer. It was intense, but really no more work than doing two or three science classes at once during a regular semester. I kind of liked it because I prefer to focus on one thing at a time. You'll find that it is hard to overload on summer classes because each class will meet so often that you can only sign up for a few.

Also, don't worry too much about how soon you can apply. Get it right, don't rush too much as mentioned above. At 22 you have so much time! I'm 42, I'm running on fumes but I'm still hoping for an acceptance tomorrow!

 

[careerchanger09]

Hi all,

I am a 22 year old working as a financial analyst but have discovered that finance just isn't for me. I am really interested in pursuing a career in dentistry and wanted to get some advice on how to do so. I graduated with a 3.56 from a state university but have not taken any of my pre-reqs yet. I have the option of starting in Spring of 2018 and Summer of 2018 with hopes of taking the DAT and submitting a dental school application early summer of 2019. With the Spring 2018 route I believe I will get more exposure before having to take the DAT but will be a little rushed in resigning from my current job. With the Summer 2018 route I would plan on shadowing and volunteering (from around febuary till may) which I believe will give me a better sense of the constructs of dentistry and help solidify my decision. My worry with this route is that I will not have enough pre reqs to apply and knowledge from pre reqs to take the DAT successfully, thus resulting my application being delayed until June 2020 (really do not want this). Additionally, I have heard that summer classes with labs are extremely difficult as a large amount of content is packed into a short time. What would you guys suggest I do? Thanks in advance!

Another career changer here and I think the timeline you outlined is doable. If anything will be a good test for yourself if you are ready for the rigor of dental school. I also wanted to pass along an email I sent to someone else who was in a similar boat as you.

Here are my thoughts:
1) Be strategic about what classes you take next year and chose those that best align with the DAT. Next fall and spring, I would prioritize the classes that will actually show up on the DAT. There is no physics or psychology on the DAT, so take those in the Fall of 2019. Here are the classes that I think are your top priorities: 1) one semester of organic chemistry, 2) one semester of inorganic chemistry, 3) Intro Bio, 4) Physiology, 5) Genetics, 6) Cell/Molecular Bio. I think this will cover most of the material that you have on the DAT. This will also help you space out your classes more (taking some in fall of 2019) so that you can get the highest grades possible. If you have to do all 10 pre-reqs in one year that it is gonna rough! I would also recommend periodically doing DAT practice questions related to the content you learn in those classes.

Supplement your classes with Chad's videos then you should be good. Chad's videos are gold! That's pretty much exclusively what I did to study for organic chemistry and gen chem since I took those as an undergrad 10+ years ago. I also did a ton of practice questions from DAT Destroyer.

At some point you may also want to take a practice reading comprehension and math test to see how you do on those portions so that you can gauge your studying for them. I imagine that if you work in finance the math (basic algebra, geometry, and trig) should be pretty easy but take some practice tests to target your studying. I realized after doing some practice tests for these that studying for the science test was my top priority.

2) Use your time studying to gauge your commitment to dentistry. When I started this year, I was still making up my mind about dentistry and I wanted to use this time to test my commitment to dental school. Studying for the DAT and taking pre-dent classes will be a lot like studying for the dental boards and taking didactic classes during my first 2 years of dental school. I told myself that if I didn’t feel motivated or the coursework felt too challenging, then that probably was an indicator that dental school wasn’t for me. Fortunately, the process was very affirming of my choice but I always wanted to keep an open mind. It is a lot cheaper and easier to realize that now than when I’ve already taken out loans and am in the middle of dental school.

3) As you approach your shadowing hours, the advice I was given from dental admission officers were to do 5 general dentists and 5 specialists so that you get a range of experiences. You will also get to see different types of office and compare and contrast dental styles. Come up with a set of questions that you ask each dentist (Why dentistry? Why this specialty? What do you love? What is challenging? etc) so that you can compare and contrast different dentists. After each observation take 15 minutes to jot down all of your observations and reflections.

4) Down the line when you start to write your personal statement, connect your experiences working in finance to the "business" side of dentistry. Owning and operating a private practice is running a business. This is an aspect that most dentists don't have a lot of experience with and is challenging for them. Definitely, weave in your experiences in finance to explain how that will help you with the business side of dentistry as well as talk about how dentistry provides what was missing for you from your other careers.


Feel free to PM with any particular questions.

 

[judysmoothie]

I was in the same boat, I am still an engineer now applying for dental school. (cross my fingers for tomorrow the doom day!) I can tell you from my own experience, DONT DELAY IT, do it ASAP, my biggest regret is not to quit my job and concentrate on dentistry 100%, it took me 3 years to finish pre-requisite while having a full time job, while doing shadowing and volunteer, I didn't care about the work load, but i really regret how long this took me. just make sure you do your shadowing and volunteer first so you know for sure this is what you want to do for the rest of your life.

 

[noah123100]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies. I guess at this point my question would be whether starting in the summer of 18 will allow me apply (have a strong application) in the summer of 19. If so then would starting in the spring of 18 be better (a little rushed).

If I were to start in summer of 18 I would imagine my schedule to look something like this:


Summer 18: Chem 1, Bio 1 (hopefully 2 summer labs won't be too crammed)
Fall 18: Chem 2, Bio 2, Calc 1
Spring 19: Ochem 1, Anatomy, Physics 1 or Microbio
Summer 19: Apply for Dental school

Please let me know what you guys think. Thanks again!

 

[amariesa]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies. I guess at this point my question would be whether starting in the summer of 18 will allow me apply (have a strong application) in the summer of 19. If so then would starting in the spring of 18 be better (a little rushed).

If I were to start in summer of 18 I would imagine my schedule to look something like this:


Summer 18: Chem 1, Bio 1 (hopefully 2 summer labs won't be too crammed)
Fall 18: Chem 2, Bio 2, Calc 1
Spring 19: Ochem 1, Anatomy, Physics 1 or Microbio
Summer 19: Apply for Dental school

Please let me know what you guys think. Thanks again!

I say take anat or microbio Fall 19.

 

[Life of Pablo]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies. I guess at this point my question would be whether starting in the summer of 18 will allow me apply (have a strong application) in the summer of 19. If so then would starting in the spring of 18 be better (a little rushed).

If I were to start in summer of 18 I would imagine my schedule to look something like this:


Summer 18: Chem 1, Bio 1 (hopefully 2 summer labs won't be too crammed)
Fall 18: Chem 2, Bio 2, Calc 1
Spring 19: Ochem 1, Anatomy, Physics 1 or Microbio
Summer 19: Apply for Dental school

Please let me know what you guys think. Thanks again!

What about organic 2? Some people take the DAT without organic 2, but it will make it harder when studying for the DAT.

I still believe it’s best to take the extra year. One extra year in the long run isn’t going to matter much.

 

[careerchanger09]

What about organic 2? Some people take the DAT without organic 2, but it will make it harder when studying for the DAT.

I still believe it’s best to take the extra year. One extra year in the long run isn’t going to matter much.

Is there really that much organic 2 on the DAT? I think taking Orgo 1 and supplementing with Chad's videos should be more than sufficient. I took Orgo 1 & 2 more than 10 years ago so I could be totally off base on this.

OP: you will have to take Orgo 2 eventually anyway so definitely wouldn't hurt to take it before the DAT. I was in the middle of taking physiology when I took the DAT and remember kicking myself when I learned content for one of the DAT bio questions.

As far as the debate of applying next cycle or the cycle after, there is a 3rd option.

Option 3: Aim to apply Summer '19 and then reassess over winter break (Dec 2018). If you are doing really well in your classes and you score well on a practice DAT, then you can continue with the timeline. If you aren't going to be a competitive applicant then you can always take an extra year. A lot can change over the next 12 months.

 

[DiscoverWeakly]

I'm in a very similar boat, having graduated with an Econ degree and working in purchasing for the past 5 years . Like you, I'm currently planning on applying during the Summer of 2019 cycle, while having taken the DAT approx. Feb 2019. From everything I've read and having talked with other's who have taken the DAT, I wanted to insure that I had taken as many courses as possible prior toward actually taking the DAT. My question would be, if you were to start in the summer, how would you plan on studying for the courses you hadn't taken that you will be tested on? My presumptive schedule looks like the following:

Fall 2017: Gen Chem 1, Bio 1
Spring 2018: Gen Chem 2, Bio 2, Physiology & Anatomy 1
Summer 2018: O Chem 1, Physiology & Anatomy 2
Fall 2018: O Chem 2, Physics 1, Micro Bio
Study for DAT after the Fall semester with the plan to take it in late Jan/early Feb
Spring 2019: Physics 2, Psychology, Biochem
Apply June 1 2019

I'm also open to suggestions if people think a certain class would be better preparation for the DAT?