Extracirriculars in High School?!?

[AspiringDMD]

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Hi Everyone,

I am currently a rising sophmore in high school right now, and I wanted to ask all of you college students a question, which is why I am posting this in the Pre-Dental forums, not hSDN (because then only high school students would answer).

Anyways, does it really matter whether or not your extracirricular interests in hs point towards dentistry? I am/will be taking very strong sciences and mathematics in my high school career, but i was wondering if I could get accepted into college by my high school record, and then at that college do predental classes and go to dental school?

Your hs ECs are just for getting into college, right? And it doesn't matter whether or not you get into college with ECs in dentistry or ECs in something else, right? Just have ECs in dentistry in college, right?

Sorry, I know it was long..


Thanks,

AspiringDMD

 

[sfrice80]

Trust me, unless you enter and win the Intel-Westinghouse Competition, High School doesn't matter. In fact, I personally think that if you place High School EC's on your dental application, you are scratching for substance because you had a serious lack of it in college.

 

[crmdental]

I am putting a hobby/ activity from high school on my application. I learned how to play tennis in high school, I became captain of my tennis team and was awarded "Most Inspirational Player" three years in a row. I'm putting it on my app because those awards mean soo much more to me than Dean's list, which they see when they get my transcripts. And that award speaks to the kind of person I am.

I don't know if you are pre-dent or pre-med because you sn but dental schools also look for things requiring manuel dexterity. If you can find a hobby that you are good at such as knitting, sewing, building boats in bottle, building mini-replica cars, robots or airplanes and do those things for years, it will stand out on your application.

I think you should also look into some college/dent programs. I know UoP has an undergrad in Stockton, CA and there is a program there for pre-dents to go to their dental school. I'm glad you've started early. Start shadowing some dentists, visit some schools, meet as many people in the profession as you can. When my best friend turned 18 she got her dental assisting certificate and started working, not only did she make great money the first few years of college, but she got into the field and developed her manuel dexterity. Check into assisting maybe you can do it in high school? I'm applying to dental school right now and I wish I did one of the GMT or ISL Med dental trips last year but my parents forbade me to go. Once in college, do well in Gen Chem, O Chem, and Bio classes. Take the DAT no later than a month and a half after O.Chem. Look into classes some of the dental schools offer, UoP has a PreDent Sim Course every year, UCLA has some kind of wax class.

I wish you the best of luck. Best piece of advice anyone can give you is start early.

 

[coolslugs]

Hi Everyone,

I am currently a rising sophmore in high school right now, and I wanted to ask all of you college students a question, which is why I am posting this in the Pre-Dental forums, not hSDN (because then only high school students would answer).

Anyways, does it really matter whether or not your extracirricular interests in hs point towards dentistry? I am/will be taking very strong sciences and mathematics in my high school career, but i was wondering if I could get accepted into college by my high school record, and then at that college do predental classes and go to dental school?

Your hs ECs are just for getting into college, right? And it doesn't matter whether or not you get into college with ECs in dentistry or ECs in something else, right? Just have ECs in dentistry in college, right?

Sorry, I know it was long..


Thanks,

AspiringDMD

I would suggest two things.
1) Do what you love to do for EC, especially something that you can continue to do in college. Dental schools like to see passion, consistency, and leadership.
2) If you can, do a dental assisting or dental technology program if it's offered by your HS or a local JC. This will give you a head start in dental experience and much more meaningful volunteering/work experience later on.

 

[slm266]

Dude, just enjoy highschool, do well, and get into a higher caliber university if you are this determined to get into dental school. If you enjoy the activity/hobby so much in highschool, I'm sure you can continue to do it in college. If it doesn't exit at your college, organize it.

TMDSAS specifically states that everything listed on the application must be after highschool graduation. Shows that they generally dont care what you did 7 years before entering dental school.