Dental School Help

[Dubes40]

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Hey, im 21 years old and im just finishing up my 3rd year at a JC where i will be transfering to a 4 year Univ. where im going to be majoring in Kinesiology. I like that subjetc, its very interesting to me, but i have no idea what I want to be from that.

My mom is a dental hygentist, and has been one for a long time now. After being aorund her and in and out of her office, it has really interested me, and I seriously want to go to dental school and become a dentist.

I know its a lot of work, alot of long hours of studying and a substantual decrease in social life, but im will to risk that because in the end it would be all worth it.

I like working with people, i like making them happy and I love to help others in need and make then happy. All through my life, i never new exactly what I wanted to be, I had ideas, but wasnt for sure about them. But after thinking about becoming a dentist, I seriously cant see myself doing anything else but this.

The slight problem is that im not the most qualified person. Ive completed about 70 units here at my JC and i have about a 2.6-2.7 gpa. But im a very motivated person and I know what it takes to complete tasks and the highest efficiency.

Like i said, im planning on getting my BS in kinesiology and then applying to dental school. And while im at the Univ getting my BS, i plan on taking pre req classes for dental school, like the higher level chem and bio. At my JC i have completed 2 bios and 1 chem, so hopefully that helps. i also completed trig and stats, along with 2 high level english classes.

One of my question is, is my situation kind of weird impossible to make it to dental school? like has there been people in my situation make it and complete dental school? thanks

 

[PChemGrad]

Check out the pre-dental forms there are a bunch of people just like you.
I went to a JC in California for 3 years, then wen to one of the UC's, majored in Chem, then my grades still wernt the best, so I am finishing up my masters and am going to d-school in the fall.
So I would say your best bet is to do your best at the UC, and you just might have to do a masters program to show you can handle the work. Also if you try applying without the masters, you will most likely have to apply after you have graduated, since you will only have 1 year of upper division classes at a UC, and unfortinuatly that wont show your potential, so you will have to wait even longer to apply.

 

[danhook]

Lets be honest here- you have a long road ahead of you. That being said it is definately possible to attain your goal. There are a few people in our class who have made it in with about a 3.0 and a little higher- But these people have worked hard and done well on the DAT. I believe to pull yourself out of this you are going to have to make the social life cuts you were talking about a little earlier than just dental school. I also think you will have to get a Masters to show you can make this. If you work hard, do well in the additional prereqs, get a decent score on the DAT, and show additional effort- you can make it in. Dental schools are looking at a person overall- they understand that sometimes a person takes a while to decide what they want to do... One of the women in our class was an assistant for 15 years before she decided to come back to school, take all prereqs, DAT and is currently studying with us. My point is that it has been done, can be done, and if you work at it hard enough- will be done.

 

[Dubes40]

thanks for the help guys.
Another question, next fall im not going to be attending a UC, im going to be going to a CSU. Now since i will get say a masters at the CSU, will dental schools even bother looking at a student from a CSU? or will they just laugh and look the other way?

 

[PChemGrad]

thanks for the help guys.
Another question, next fall im not going to be attending a UC, im going to be going to a CSU. Now since i will get say a masters at the CSU, will dental schools even bother looking at a student from a CSU? or will they just laugh and look the other way?

They will consider it just as much as any other school. I loved the UC's but CSU's are also good. Since you will most likely have a masters it wont really matter where you earned it from. If you do well (B.S., M.A., DAT, Shadowing) you will have a chance.

 

[djeffreyt]

You may want to take it one step at a time...You need to get a Bachelors before you get that masters. You have no idea where you will go for that masters, who is to say you don't graduate with a BA or BS from a CSU and then apply to a masters program at a UC? It may also be the case that you take 2-3 years finishing your degree at a CSU and get straight A's, boosting your GPA, showing you can handle science courses, and then apply straight into dental school and get in...you can't plan everything without wiggle room.

ANyway, just so you know, CSU and UCs aren't necessarily weighted the same...you need to do a little better at a CSU to generally be looked upon as being equivalent to a UC student, but it's not like we don't get into dental school. I go to a CSU right now, we had 10 people apply to dental schools this year. 6 of us got multiple interviews and heard from schools on Dec. 1st about multiple acceptances. Another one of us decided to retake her DATs, but now she has an interview at her top choice school. Another two of us have or will soon have a couple interviews each, though they haven't gotten accepted yet, and the last guy is kinda a person we just know is applying but no one knows him...so we do get into dental school.

As a comparison, the local UC down the freeway has had a lot of acceptances too, but has about the same % of acceptances and rejections/silence as our school right now.

 

[Dubes40]

You may want to take it one step at a time...You need to get a Bachelors before you get that masters. You have no idea where you will go for that masters, who is to say you don't graduate with a BA or BS from a CSU and then apply to a masters program at a UC? It may also be the case that you take 2-3 years finishing your degree at a CSU and get straight A's, boosting your GPA, showing you can handle science courses, and then apply straight into dental school and get in...you can't plan everything without wiggle room.

ANyway, just so you know, CSU and UCs aren't necessarily weighted the same...you need to do a little better at a CSU to generally be looked upon as being equivalent to a UC student, but it's not like we don't get into dental school. I go to a CSU right now, we had 10 people apply to dental schools this year. 6 of us got multiple interviews and heard from schools on Dec. 1st about multiple acceptances. Another one of us decided to retake her DATs, but now she has an interview at her top choice school. Another two of us have or will soon have a couple interviews each, though they haven't gotten accepted yet, and the last guy is kinda a person we just know is applying but no one knows him...so we do get into dental school.

As a comparison, the local UC down the freeway has had a lot of acceptances too, but has about the same % of acceptances and rejections/silence as our school right now.

thanks. Hey u go to or plan on going to Pacific? cause on your sig it says Pacific class of 2010. I was just wondering cause i live across the street from UOP.