Drawbacks of graduating early?

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Doctorman45342

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Ok, so I have this novel idea that I want to graduate in 3 years. I am currently taking 19 credits, which is a little above average, and I plan on ramping it up to 20+ next semester. I also plan on taking 10+credits each summer(orgo+labs this summer, not sure about next).

So, ideally, if I managed to apply to dental school after sophomore year and graduate after junior year, what would the problem with that be? So many people I on these forums are opposed to it and I do not really see why. Also, would graduating a year early negatively impact my chances of getting into a dental school (even if I have all of the prereqs met including community service and shadowing hours?)
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They are probably are worried about the money that will be a loss to the economy.
 
I was the same way, "I take 7 classes a day in high school, the same thing in college will be no problem!". That worked great for the first year, then I got into honors biology and organic chemistry, which for these classes I was putting in easily 30 hours a week (class, labs, 2 hour and a half SI sessions each, then the countless hours of studying), you'll realize taking 15-17 hours is hard enough. Even with about 15 hours of biology courses, you have little to no social life (if you're trying for 4.0s). it's extremely easy to get burned out, I would have already if I took summer courses, I needed the long summer and winter breaks.
 
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SM555 said:
I was the same way, "I take 7 classes a day in high school, the same thing in college will be no problem!". That worked great for the first year, then I got into honors biology and organic chemistry, which for these classes I was putting in easily 30 hours a week (class, labs, 2 hour and a half SI sessions each, then the countless hours of studying), you'll realize taking 15-17 hours is hard enough. Even with about 15 hours of biology courses, you have little to no social life (if you're trying for 4.0s). it's extremely easy to get burned out, I would have already if I took summer courses, I needed the long summer and winter breaks.
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I know what you are saying. I really have not had that much experiences with science courses. I have yet to take a biology course in college but I think I have a pretty good idea of what it will be like (many hours of reading/memorization.) I am currently taking 9 science credits (calc, chem+lab) and will be taking 10 credits of orgo in the summer. Maybe taking these classes in the summer will give me a better taste of what it is like to have a science heavy coursload before I decide to take 20+ credits of sciences.
 
Bias disclaimer: I graduated in 3 years and I'm starting dental school in the fall.

However, your application will probably stronger if you apply your junior year having had more classes, extracurricular etc. I considered applying sophomore year but I only had the required classes and took my DAT in August.

I don't think the time of graduation will be as much as an impact in dental school admission as the quality. I realized at the end.. Hmm what's the rush? I still graduated early cause I didn't wanna have more loans for undergrad and now I'm using my senior year as a gap year.

At the end, it's your decision but ask yourself if your application will be as strong as you one year later (and as many other applicants)
 
I graduated in three years as a Biology/Spanish major. I took 12 credits in high school, and 9 in the summers, none science. Every program is different, but for me I've had to take Gen Bio and Gen Chem together, Orgo together with a Genetics and Biochemistry, and two Upper level Bio courses per semester with Physics. It's manageable, but I haven't had much of a social life, and it depends on you as an individual as to how successful you can be managing a high course loud.
I worried dental schools would view me negatively, but it was quite the opposite. One of my interviewers couldn't believe what I'd accomplished in only three years.
 
Take 4 years, slow down a bit and do well. And try and enjoy yourself. Undergrad will be one of the best times of your life
 
the only problem is you wont have 1 more year of undergrad... kick back, relax, grab a few beers, and enjoy paradise that is undergrad
 
ILLchief said:
the only problem is you wont have 1 more year of undergrad... kick back, relax, grab a few beers, and enjoy paradise that is undergrad
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Couldn't agree more.
 
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Meat Gyver said:
Couldn't agree more.

Not to mention, it's probably one of the last times where it's socially acceptable to drink Keystone Light/Burnett's flavored vodka.
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Or wake up at 7am on a Saturday to day drink... well wait, doing that for st pattys day in chicago. guess some things never change.
 
If your school isn't pushing you into porn to pay off loans, like some degenerate institutions, I don't think there is any advantage. You can stay and get a second degree in something cool, and completely different from the field of dentistry. It should look good on an application. Plus, knowledge is good.
 
techyguy said:
If your school isn't pushing you into porn to pay off loans, like some degenerate institutions, I don't think there is any advantage. You can stay and get a second degree in something cool, and completely different from the field of dentistry. It should look good on an application. Plus, knowledge is good.
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Yes, but going to dental school early and thus graduating a year early would be great too! Then I can start earning money and learn about whatever I want in my free time.
 
ILLchief said:
Or wake up at 7am on a Saturday to day drink... well wait, doing that for st pattys day in chicago. guess some things never change.
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Hahaha we're limited to just Saturday now (I guess this is what it feels like to grow up?)

Past 4 years...Thursday night - Sunday morning. We were spoiled.
 
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Tariqd said:
Yes, but going to dental school early and thus graduating a year early would be great too! Then I can start earning money and learn about whatever I want in my free time.
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Yeah, that doesn't sound like an advantage to me. Even if you don't spend your entire college career locked in the library, that's not the way I would choose to go about things.
 
techyguy said:
Yeah, that doesn't sound like an advantage to me. Even if you don't spend your entire college career locked in the library, that's not the way I would choose to go about things.
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Definitely. Enjoy yourself while you're young, you have the rest of your life to practice dentistry. Savor undergrad.
 
The only question is, when will you find the time and 'energy' to prepare for the DAT
 
Graduating in 3 years had no negative impact on my application process, and was never brought up by adcoms. Just make sure that you know that you can successfully take enough upper-level courses before applying, and that you are certain that you will be ready to move onto something much more difficult and serious. I am still second-guessing my decision to do things in 3 years, and I know that I will certainly miss undergrad.
 
I'm pretty sure most people who try to graduate early are those who come in with 15 to 30+ credit hours from AP or IB classes. When you say 19 credit hours, OP, at my University, you would've had a heart attack. I don't know where 19 is just a little above avg. - I think the avg. at my school might've been 13.5. If you're not just treading water, and you're enjoying your time and maintaining a 3.5+ GPA with those hours, then by all means take the course load and decide later if you want to get out early.
 
If you can stay focused, study hard, and get good grades with a tougher courseload in order to graduate in 3 years, I say do it. Undergrad is grossly overrated. The best years of your life will come when you are graduated from D-school, because you will have the ultimate freedom.
 
Graduated in 3.5 years. Could have done it in 3, but didn't realize until it was a bit too late. Oh well. Plus, I really didn't want to take super-full semesters.

However, I came in with 30 credit hours. Not all of those counted for stuff I needed, but a few of them did.

Had I not come in with so many credits, there's no way I would have tried to graduate early. If anything, I wish I had had the foresight to apply to schools after my sophomore year. However, I really didn't even know I wanted to be a dentist until the beginning of my sophomore year, so the timeline was more crunched. I took my DAT after my sophomore year in August and didn't realize how well I would do. At that point, though, I'd have been applying pretty late... and I really still needed another year to improve my ECs. If I were you, though, I'd look into applying early.
 
Tariqd said:
Ok, so I have this novel idea that I want to graduate in 3 years. I am currently taking 19 credits, which is a little above average, and I plan on ramping it up to 20+ next semester. I also plan on taking 10+credits each summer(orgo+labs this summer, not sure about next).

So, ideally, if I managed to apply to dental school after sophomore year and graduate after junior year, what would the problem with that be? So many people I on these forums are opposed to it and I do not really see why. Also, would graduating a year early negatively impact my chances of getting into a dental school (even if I have all of the prereqs met including community service and shadowing hours?)
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As long as you can keep your grades up, go for it!
 
I graduated early.. and not recommending this tactic...you never know whats gonna happen in the future. Financial difficulties, family problem, work, burning out. Having 15 hrs will give you some space in you life but anything over 18 will kill you. I had one semester taking 24. That turned out well. I got 3.7 but lost all my friends

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18472 said:
I graduated early.. and not recommending this tactic...you never know whats gonna happen in the future. Financial difficulties, family problem, work, burning out. Having 15 hrs will give you some space in you life but anything over 18 will kill you. I had one semester taking 24. That turned out well. I got 3.7 but lost all my friends

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
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Its okay man, don't worry. Friends come and go. Your record stays with you forever.
 
No offense but if I would just look for my personal success, I would never be in medical field. I wanna go there with my people
 
I mean, there are other careers that have higher salary

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Architecture lawyer engineer. And im not saying Im focusimg more on relationships than study. If OP take little less hour, you can have social life. Im saying OP dont have to give up that social life. And dont get me wrong. Relationship is one of the important aspects of business.

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Just cherish your undergrad years. From my point of view, they will always be a great time in you life where you will always look back on. I don't care if you're not a "partier" they'll still be care-free years that you'll never be able to get back after you enter dental school, so be a college student while you can and make the most out of it.
 
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