Dont know what to do?/

[tuannguyen]

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HI!! I'm Tuan, Im currently a junior in high school with a GPA about 3.8 and i wanted to be a orthodontist , but i don't know where to start. Can somebody give me any advice where should i start? i did a lot of research about which college i should apply to ,but still i have no idea what I'm doing,,...... Can somebody give me any advice?
thanks

 

[mss255]

Look for a combined BS/DMD or BS/DDS program and apply to it.

 

[Regmata]

You and 95% of the rest of the predents out there want to be an orthodontist...can I ask why you want to be an orthodontist?

 

[SoCalDent]

HI!! I'm Tuan, Im currently a junior in high school with a GPA about 3.8 and i wanted to be a orthodontist , but i don't know where to start. Can somebody give me any advice where should i start? i did a lot of research about which college i should apply to ,but still i have no idea what I'm doing,,...... Can somebody give me any advice?
thanks

Just relax and enjoy high school. All you can really do is continue to study hard and do so in college as well.

 

[NismoDDS]

You and 95% of the rest of the predents out there want to be an orthodontist...can I ask why you want to be an orthodontist?

haha because hes only a junior in high school. who knows by the time hes done with college he might develop in an interest in something completely out of the dental field.. and if he doesnt then congrats to him.👍

 

[bodiddely]

Study hard for the SAT or ACT, get a decent amount of dental shadowing and volunteer experience, and apply to some accelerated BS/DDS programs. Pacific has the quickest (2 years of prereqs and 3 years of D school) but I think there are several 3 + 4 programs out there as well. I think for Pacific 2+3 you need an ACT of 32ish. They also have 3 + 3 and 4 + 3 programs with progressively lower (by a marginal amount) requirements.

If I could go back to HS this is what I would do.

Edit: Forgot to mention, make sure you would be happy as a general dentist before making this decision. It is really, really hard to get into an ortho residency after D-school, and if you can't see yourself working as a general dentist then you shouldn't waste the time, money, blood, sweat and tears required to become a dentist if your only interest is orthodontics.

 

[blankguy]

1. Go to a college where you will be the happiest. What will get you into dental school are your grades in college not where you went to college.
2. Do well in the prereqs. Introductory Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Physics.
3. Take more courses beyond the basic prereqs such as Biochem, Anatomy, Physiology, etc...
4. Check dental schools that you are interested and make sure you take all the courses that the schools require.
5. Shadow/volunteer and make sure you are happy being at the very least a general dentist.
6. Major in whatever interests you. A lot of Dental students tend to major in Biology, Biochem,etc.. The dental schools do not require a specific major.
7. Have fun!(This correlates with doing well in school)

 

[MnBr63]

I don't know what you can do now. You should have already applied for an ortho residency before the end of your sophomore year in highschool.

No... really my advice would be to take it one step at a time. Go to a good college (sometimes a good GPA at a great school is better than a great GPA at an average school.) Get really involved while you are in school. Shadow in several areas to make sure that the field is right for you.