Finance to Dental

[SnowyAmoeba]

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Hello all,

I recently found this site and thought it would be a good resource to aid in my preliminary research on making this transition.

I am 24 years old with a degree in finance from a top tier program. When I started my under-grad, I was on the pre-med path. I knew that this is what I wanted to do. Unfortunately, I had mono, an insane girlfriend, and frankly, I was not mature enough my freshman year to really grasp the concept of life post-grad and consequently fell behind in my studies. I received a C+ in Chem and a C and D in the two biology courses. By the time I understood the gravity of the situation, I came to the realization that my hopes for dental school were quickly disintegrating. I decided that I could use my strong math skills to go into a different major such as Finance. Having no pre-reqs fulfilled for the major going into my Junior year, I was able to graduate on-time with an overall gpa of 3.23 and a finance gpa of 3.54. I took a job with a big 4 accounting firm out of college where I excelled. It is now two years later, and I am still constatly questioning myself as to why I did not follow through with pre-med. Even though I am doing well at my job, it doesn't really interest me. I would much rather do what I initially sought out to do - medicine. This is where I know I will be happy. My father is a doctor and he is trying to convince me to stay in finance/accounting and not go into medicine. He thinks I am crazy to leave a job at a top firm in this environment and not go to grad school given the fact that I am well positioned for an Ivy league (I took the GMATs and scored in the top 5%). I told him I don't really care if I have a "great" job or that I am postured to get into a top school. It means absolutely nothing to me if I am not going to be happy.

So at the end of the day, I am stuck in this dilemna. If I were to go back to school, that would entail quiting my job, enrolling in a post-bac program to complete my pre reqs (in addition to retaking the chem and bios), and hoping for the chance to be admitted to dental school. This would be the biggest gamble of my life, and I would be essentially bankrupting myself for a very long time should I fail - not to mention burning my bridges in the business world in the event I would need to go back. However, this where my heart is and I know that in the end I will go through with it one way or another. My questions are:

1. Where do I go from here?

2. If I get accepted to a post-bac program and excel in my studies (3.6+) and ace the DAT, do I still have a decent shot at being accepted to a school?

3. Would my past overshadow my application?

4. Do I even have a shot at getting into a post-bac program?

5. Is there any correlation between a GMAT and DAT score?


Any help you guys can provide would be much appreciated.


P.S. I wasn't trying to sound obnoxious about the GMAT score or my job, I am just trying to give a complete discription of my situation and since I am not sure what might be applicable to the admissions board as a non-trad student, I didn't want to omit from entry.

 

[Optimalsauce]

Hello all,

I recently found this site and thought it would be a good resource to aid in my preliminary research on making this transition.

I am 24 years old with a degree in finance from a top tier program. When I started my under-grad, I was on the pre-med path. I knew that this is what I wanted to do. Unfortunately, I had mono, an insane girlfriend, and frankly, I was not mature enough my freshman year to really grasp the concept of life post-grad and consequently fell behind in my studies. I received a C+ in Chem and a C and D in the two biology courses. By the time I understood the gravity of the situation, I came to the realization that my hopes for dental school were quickly disintegrating. I decided that I could use my strong math skills to go into a different major such as Finance. Having no pre-reqs fulfilled for the major going into my Junior year, I was able to graduate on-time with an overall gpa of 3.23 and a finance gpa of 3.54. I took a job with a big 4 accounting firm out of college where I excelled. It is now two years later, and I am still constatly questioning myself as to why I did not follow through with pre-med. Even though I am doing well at my job, it doesn't really interest me. I would much rather do what I initially sought out to do - medicine. This is where I know I will be happy. My father is a doctor and he is trying to convince me to stay in finance/accounting and not go into medicine. He thinks I am crazy to leave a job at a top firm in this environment and not go to grad school given the fact that I am well positioned for an Ivy league (I took the GMATs and scored in the top 5%). I told him I don't really care if I have a "great" job or that I am postured to get into a top school. It means absolutely nothing to me if I am not going to be happy.

So at the end of the day, I am stuck in this dilemna. If I were to go back to school, that would entail quiting my job, enrolling in a post-bac program to complete my pre reqs (in addition to retaking the chem and bios), and hoping for the chance to be admitted to dental school. This would be the biggest gamble of my life, and I would be essentially bankrupting myself for a very long time should I fail - not to mention burning my bridges in the business world in the event I would need to go back. However, this where my heart is and I know that in the end I will go through with it one way or another. My questions are:

1. Where do I go from here?

2. If I get accepted to a post-bac program and excel in my studies (3.6+) and ace the DAT, do I still have a decent shot at being accepted to a school?

3. Would my past overshadow my application?

4. Do I even have a shot at getting into a post-bac program?

5. Is there any correlation between a GMAT and DAT score?


Any help you guys can provide would be much appreciated.


P.S. I wasn't trying to sound obnoxious about the GMAT score or my job, I am just trying to give a complete discription of my situation and since I am not sure what might be applicable to the admissions board as a non-trad student, I didn't want to omit from entry.

1)I am also a former finance/business major going back to school. IMHO, Top 5% on the GMAT is not necessarily well positioned for Ivy and neither is a job at a top 4 accounting firm. There are thousands of you. You might be an average applicant with a 720 GMAT to top MBA programs especially one with accounting experience. That being said, don't feel bad if you want to switch. But by the same token you can always apply to MBA schools concurrently with your pre-dent studies for a backup plan in case you can't handle pre-dent courses as well as you thought you could. I scored even a higher percentile for the MCAT and am not well positioned for Ivy league med schools going to a top undergraduate college, I am merely average, if that.

You could always take night classes as well to gauge where you're at before you "quit".

I am "gambling" like you. If its what you want to do, don't sell yourself short like you say you did way back in undergrad. You will not be burning your bridges in the business world. If you were good, you can always get recommendations letters to get hired in somewhere else or even return to your firm. I have the opportunity to return to my previous career if I want to. My managers even wrote me recommendation letters for Med school.

2) Yes. Dental schools aren't all about GPA, showing you can do well in school again and perform well on tests, and you show you can deal well with people (business world), you should be fine.

3) No. Your past is your application?

4) You can always go to your local state school or likely return to your original university. Either is highly likely. You can always apply to special post-bac programs geared towards pre-health, but it isn't mandatory.

5) From what I understand, the verbal section is the only thing that correlates. On the DAT, you will have to know sciences even some botany, not just math like on the GMAT. So self-study/post-bac courses will help you get the material you need for that.

 

[SnowyAmoeba]

Optimalsauce,

Thanks for your insight. Maybe I chose my words poorly regarding my chances at an Ivy league MBA as you stated. I meant to say I fall right in the mix with applicants applying. Also, I am in management consulting at a big four - not in accounting. Either way, I appreciate your input, it was much appreciated!

 

[Optimalsauce]

Optimalsauce,

Thanks for your insight. Maybe I chose my words poorly regarding my chances at an Ivy league MBA as you stated. I meant to say I fall right in the mix with applicants applying. Also, I am in management consulting at a big four - not in accounting. Either way, I appreciate your input, it was much appreciated!

If you're in consulting that's a different story, I pre-judged you as an accountant 🙂.

Consulting will definitely help for dentistry as salesmanship is a huge part of that. My point about the chances at an MBA school was just to point out that being over confident will only hurt you when applying to dental school.

I am a former management consultant. I can pretty much guarantee you will be a better student this time around. My work experience made post bacc classes seem fairly easy and straightforward compared to all the hoops you face in consulting. Not only that you'll pay much closer attention to detail than you did before in school, which will help you "ace" the DAT.

 

[HUSU]

as someone with a similar background, currently working in finance and looking to go back to school, i wish you the best of luck!

as for the biggest gamble and parents encouraging you otherwise, i feel you on that - it's scary to walk away from something secure but at the end of the day, you need to do it for yourself.