Exercise Science

[dentlifeee]

Hello! I'm a freshman this year and am torn between majoring in Biology or Exercise science. Exercise science meets a good majority of prerequisites, except microbiology and genetics. Is it better to avoid calculus, Spanish, and upper level biology courses that go into great detail since they wouldnt be on the DAT? I heard that exercise science would be more applicable to Dental school courses but I have no clue since everyone is saying something different. Thanks for the input!

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[Ollivander]

I'm a finance major with a chemistry minor in addition to taking most of the biology prereqs. I'd say it doesn't really matter and you should do whatever benefits your GPA the most. But then again I am a firm believe in GPA and DAT scores. If I could do it over I would have never even ventured into a biology major to begin with. Too many W's and C's on my end.

 

[midman19]

Exercise science is a great major. I know tons of ESS majors (myself included) who got in and many different schools across the us. It is a much more enjoyable degree than biology too!

 

[doc toothache]

You either have an exercise science curriculum on steroids or are grossly overestimating the science requirements for the program and the depth of the material covered. Relying only on the proposed course in exercise science may leave you ill prepared for ds basic science courses and for the DAT.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2014-prerequisites.1068956/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2014-majors-and-ds-admission-trend-2005-2013.1065182/

 

[BYU4you]

Biology classes count toward science gpa exercise science classes dont

 

[midman19]

Biology classes count toward science gpa exercise science classes dont

This can be a good and a bad thing

 

[Sissi Romy]

Hello! I'm a freshman this year and am torn between majoring in Biology or Exercise science. Exercise science meets a good majority of prerequisites, except microbiology and genetics. Is it better to avoid calculus, Spanish, and upper level biology courses that go into great detail since they wouldnt be on the DAT? I heard that exercise science would be more applicable to Dental school courses but I have no clue since everyone is saying something different. Thanks for the input!

it's a delicate balance, in my opinion. If you can avoid the hard science classes in undergrad, get a great GPA fulfilling all your prereqs for Dental school and a great DAT score, kudos to you. Except that after you get into Dental school, you might have a harder time with all the hard, heavy science they throw at you, than someone who has had challenging upper biology courses because they have a firmer science foundation.

 

[midman19]

You either have an exercise science curriculum on steroids or are grossly overestimating the science requirements for the program and the depth of the material covered. Relying only on the proposed course in exercise science may leave you ill prepared for ds basic science courses and for the DAT.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2014-prerequisites.1068956/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2014-majors-and-ds-admission-trend-2005-2013.1065182/

My exercise science degree included probably 90% of the prerequisites required by dental schools. It really is a great degree for dental or medical students...

 

[tortelliniboy]

This is anecdotal but I also faced a similar dilemma in undergrad. My exercise science major fulfilled all the pre-requisites and adequately prepared me for the mcat. Ironically the only classes I got B's in were the exercise science classes as they were more akin to the cv and pulm modules of medical school

 

[gatsby121]

Im an EXSC major and dont regret it! i enjoyed the classes and did fine on the DAT

 

[dentlifeee]

Thanks for the input everyone, very helpful!

 

[balsalsa]

I was an exercise science and psychology major, did both because of great interest in the topics. Unfortunately I knew I did not have the passion to want to move forward and go to PT school or anything of the sort, but I found that I learned a lot in undergrad and would redo it. Now I'm pursuing a Masters in cell and molecular bio, and have learned a great deal yet again. Just do what you like, and do well.

 

[Streax1]

Biology classes count toward science gpa exercise science classes dont

Question......I've heard this many times, but then I just saw that "exercise science" is listed as an other science course here:
http://www.adea.org/dental_educatio...ons/Documents/ADEA_AADSAS_Course_Subjects.pdf

What exactly is this referring to if exercise science courses don't count towards science gpa?

 

[Typical Average Student]

Question......I've heard this many times, but then I just saw that "exercise science" is listed as an other science course here:
http://www.adea.org/dental_educatio...ons/Documents/ADEA_AADSAS_Course_Subjects.pdf

What exactly is this referring to if exercise science courses don't count towards science gpa?

I'm a kinesiology major applying this cycle. Most kinesiology classes counts as an "other science." BYU4you is slightly incorrect when he says it doesn't count as a science. Exercise science won't count as a your BCP GPA. Most kinesiology classes hit the sciences/physiology pretty hard but others can be straight up sociology and don't hit the sciences at all so they're considered as nonscience but not BCP.

For example, I took a kinesiology class called Social and Behavioral Aspects of Sport which is considered a nonscience. Another kin class I took was Cardiovascular Physiology and Biomechanics which hit the sciences harder than any biology class I've taken in the past but it's deemed as an "other science"

 

[gsquared]

Not sure how it will factor into your prereq requirements, but I know that I learned twice as much from a directed study in human physiology/anatomy than what I did in a general survey of vertebrate morphology.

 

[BYU4you]

Question......I've heard this many times, but then I just saw that "exercise science" is listed as an other science course here:
http://www.adea.org/dental_educatio...ons/Documents/ADEA_AADSAS_Course_Subjects.pdf

What exactly is this referring to if exercise science courses don't count towards science gpa?

I meant they don't count towards your BCP classes which is held more important than science.