Former premed student new to SDN-- tons of questions

[Lane138]

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Hey guys,

I've been following the SDN forusm for a few weeks and I think they are incredibly helpful. thanks for all the information! I'm a rising junior, former-premed turned pre-dental student and have many questions since I only have one more year to boost my background before applying to dental schools. thanks for your help!

A little bit about me:
-Attend a top-ten college
-History major
-Mostly A-'s, but two B-'s brought my GPA down
-Tons of extracurricular activities and leadership position
-Over 400 hours of hospital volunteering
-one year of research experience, full time research during the summer


My questions:
1) Will my major hinder my chances, since it's not "sciency"? Even though dental schools all say they're open to any major, is this really true? Do social science/ humanities people have a decent chance?
2) I've been trying to find dentists that I can shadow, but the 6 places I called said they were concerned with confidentiality issues or said they were too busy. Does anyone have advice about this?
3) Does non-dental related research still count?
4) Does hospital volunteering count towards dental school?
5) Some schools recommend biochemistry, anatomy, and the like. I don't really like the science classes at my college and they bring down my GPA (hence my history major) so I've only taken the necessary prerequisites. Will this hinder me?
6) How much does it cost to start a practice in a suburban/urban location? I'd like a ball-park idea to expect, on top of dental school loans.
7) Do dental schools value well-rounded people, or are they looking for people who fit a specific mold? (I know that med schools really look for people with interesting life experiences, which work for me since I'm not that strong in a particular field but have a diversity of skill/knowledge set).

Thank you for your advice!

 

[gorrillaunit18]

Hey guys,

I've been following the SDN forusm for a few weeks and I think they are incredibly helpful. thanks for all the information! I'm a rising junior, former-premed turned pre-dental student and have many questions since I only have one more year to boost my background before applying to dental schools. thanks for your help!

A little bit about me:
-Asian female
-Attend a top-ten college
-History major, minor in Health Policy
-Average GPA- 3.5, with Science GPA at 3.3 (mostly A-'s, but two B-'s brought it down)
-Tons of extracurricular activities and leadership position
-Organized a global health trip to Nigeria last summer (though I didn't personally go)
-Over 300 hours of hospital volunteering
-one year of research experience, full time research during the summer
- Haven't taken the DAT yet but I'm hoping for scores in the 20-21 range.
- Really really want to go to Columbia Dental School. (location/emphasis on research/ want an MPH too)

My questions:
1) Will my major hinder my chances, since it's not "sciency"? Even though dental schools all say they're open to any major, is this really true? Do social science/ humanities people have a decent chance?
2) I've been trying to find dentists that I can shadow, but the 6 places I called said they were concerned with confidentiality issues or said they were too busy. Does anyone have advice about this?
3) Does non-dental related research still count?
4) Does hospital volunteering count towards dental school?
5) Some schools recommend biochemistry, anatomy, and the like. I don't really like the science classes at my college and they bring down my GPA (hence my history major) so I've only taken the necessary prerequisites. Will this hinder me?
6) How much does it cost to start a practice in a suburban/urban location? I'd like a ball-park idea to expect, on top of dental school loans.
7) Do dental schools value well-rounded people, or are they looking for people who fit a specific mold? (I know that med schools really look for people with interesting life experiences, which work for me since I'm not that strong in a particular field but have a diversity of skill/knowledge set).

Thank you for your advice!

History is a joke...why not do a real major?

 

[amalgamgrillz]

Haha well that was rude.

Dental school does look for well rounded applicants after you make it to the interview. Before that, most schools just look at your gpa and dat scores. You'd better have a good reason for switching to pre-dental. No one takes kindly to Pre-meds jumping on the band wagon just because they couldn't make it into med school..especially admissions committees

 

[DividedByZero]

My questions:
1) Will my major hinder my chances, since it's not "sciency"? Even though dental schools all say they're open to any major, is this really true? Do social science/ humanities people have a decent chance?
2) I've been trying to find dentists that I can shadow, but the 6 places I called said they were concerned with confidentiality issues or said they were too busy. Does anyone have advice about this?
3) Does non-dental related research still count?
4) Does hospital volunteering count towards dental school?
5) Some schools recommend biochemistry, anatomy, and the like. I don't really like the science classes at my college and they bring down my GPA (hence my history major) so I've only taken the necessary prerequisites. Will this hinder me?
6) How much does it cost to start a practice in a suburban/urban location? I'd like a ball-park idea to expect, on top of dental school loans.
7) Do dental schools value well-rounded people, or are they looking for people who fit a specific mold? (I know that med schools really look for people with interesting life experiences, which work for me since I'm not that strong in a particular field but have a diversity of skill/knowledge set).

Thank you for your advice!

1.) No, your history major will not hinder you getting in in anyway as long as you have done well in your pre-reqs which it looks like you have.

2.) Try asking your own personal dentist since he knows you already. Or try to go through the internship/career center at your school if you have one and see if there are shadowing opportunities there. That's how I got both of my shadowing opportunities. If that doesn't work, ask them what they mean about confidentiality issues... you understand the HIPAA law, right? That's pretty much it.

3.) Yes, it still counts.

4.) Yes, it counts under volunteer experience but not dental experience (unless it was OMFS you were volunteering for or something)

5.) It will not hinder you getting in to dental school. But you will be at a slight disadvantage compared to your dental school peers who have seen that stuff before as science majors. The more exposure you have to the sciences, the easier dental school will be. But again, I highly doubt it will have any effect on the admissions process.

6.) A lot. It's all location based. You can't just say suburban and urban. Both San Francisco, CA and Phoenix, AZ are urban but the costs would be drastically different to start up a practice. I would say the ballpark would be around the cost of dental school for 4 years... but you might want to ask someone else.

7.) No one school is the same. Certain schools it may be all a numbers game, and certain schools they are looking for certain types of people. You can never truly tell unless you've visited the campus and talked with a large number of students there.

 

[slm266]

all your questions have been answered countless times and can be answered by using the search feature.

 

[Lane138]

History is a joke...why not do a real major?

You try writing a thirty page paper while cramming for an orgo exam. Not easy. I picked history because it was interesting, and the flexible requirements meant I could take both history (especially history of science) and science classes.

 

[FutureDent020]

If you did well in you pre-recs and do well on your DAT, taking few to no upper level sciences will not hurt you. However, because my DAT scores were not superb, interviewers commented on my success in upper level biology's and chemistry's. To paraphrase them: Your DAT scores are respectable and you are very capable of handling upper level courses.
So, upper level sciences do help if you perform well, but not taking them will not hurt you.
Don't some schools require that you take 2 or 3 though? They let you pick from a handful.

 

[SeattleRDH]

all your questions have been answered countless times and can be answered by using the search feature.

+1

Join your predental club for help with these questions.

 

[UndergradGuy7]

Hey guys,

I've been following the SDN forusm for a few weeks and I think they are incredibly helpful. thanks for all the information! I'm a rising junior, former-premed turned pre-dental student and have many questions since I only have one more year to boost my background before applying to dental schools. thanks for your help!

A little bit about me:
-Asian female
-Attend a top-ten college
-History major, minor in Health Policy
-Average GPA- 3.5, with Science GPA at 3.3 (mostly A-'s, but two B-'s brought it down)
-Tons of extracurricular activities and leadership position
-Organized a global health trip to Nigeria last summer (though I didn't personally go)
-Over 300 hours of hospital volunteering
-one year of research experience, full time research during the summer
- Haven't taken the DAT yet but I'm hoping for scores in the 20-21 range.
- Really really want to go to Columbia Dental School. (location/emphasis on research/ want an MPH too)

My questions:
1) Will my major hinder my chances, since it's not "sciency"? Even though dental schools all say they're open to any major, is this really true? Do social science/ humanities people have a decent chance?
2) I've been trying to find dentists that I can shadow, but the 6 places I called said they were concerned with confidentiality issues or said they were too busy. Does anyone have advice about this?
3) Does non-dental related research still count?
4) Does hospital volunteering count towards dental school?
5) Some schools recommend biochemistry, anatomy, and the like. I don't really like the science classes at my college and they bring down my GPA (hence my history major) so I've only taken the necessary prerequisites. Will this hinder me?
6) How much does it cost to start a practice in a suburban/urban location? I'd like a ball-park idea to expect, on top of dental school loans.
7) Do dental schools value well-rounded people, or are they looking for people who fit a specific mold? (I know that med schools really look for people with interesting life experiences, which work for me since I'm not that strong in a particular field but have a diversity of skill/knowledge set).

Thank you for your advice!

1. No, but they look at science gpa, and want you to take upper level science classes.
2. Keep calling more. It was hard to find someone to shadow. Introduce yourself and say you are applying to dental school, etc.
3. Yes.
4. Yes, but everyone does this.
5. Yes. Also you don't like science classes, but want to do pre-med/dental... think about that.
6. Dental school loans can be 200k-280k for in-state. Or 400k for out of state. A practice, I don't know. Don't expect $$$ out of dental school for a while.
7. Well rounded. High gpa, admissions scores, volunteer experiences, etc. Also have to have interest in the dental field.


Sounds like you were doing pre-med and stopped because it was too hard since your gpa is too low and you don't like science classes. So like everyone else, you think dental school is easier and decided on doing dental. You still have to take a lot of science classes for dental. What are you going to do in dental school when all you have is science classes for 20 credits/semester?

 

[nze82]

Hey guys,

I've been following the SDN forusm for a few weeks and I think they are incredibly helpful. thanks for all the information! I'm a rising junior, former-premed turned pre-dental student and have many questions since I only have one more year to boost my background before applying to dental schools. thanks for your help!

A little bit about me:
-Asian female
-Attend a top-ten college
-History major, minor in Health Policy
-Average GPA- 3.5, with Science GPA at 3.3 (mostly A-'s, but two B-'s brought it down)
-Tons of extracurricular activities and leadership position
-Organized a global health trip to Nigeria last summer (though I didn't personally go)
-Over 300 hours of hospital volunteering
-one year of research experience, full time research during the summer
- Haven't taken the DAT yet but I'm hoping for scores in the 20-21 range.
- Really really want to go to Columbia Dental School. (location/emphasis on research/ want an MPH too)

My questions:
1) Will my major hinder my chances, since it's not "sciency"? Even though dental schools all say they're open to any major, is this really true? Do social science/ humanities people have a decent chance? Dental Schools don't really care about your major as long as you have a decent DAT score, indicating that you have a good understanding of "sciency" topics...lol
2) I've been trying to find dentists that I can shadow, but the 6 places I called said they were concerned with confidentiality issues or said they were too busy. Does anyone have advice about this?Don't call them. Visit their office in person and speak directly with the dentist himself/herself rather than the people at the front desk.
3) Does non-dental related research still count? Even dental-related research isn't that big of a deal for dental school, unless you're applying to some of the research-oriented schools.
4) Does hospital volunteering count towards dental school? Any form of volunteering counts, because it's an indication of your devotion to the health-care field.
5) Some schools recommend biochemistry, anatomy, and the like. I don't really like the science classes at my college and they bring down my GPA (hence my history major) so I've only taken the necessary prerequisites. Will this hinder me? True! They do love those classes, and not having them may hinder your chances to some degree. Also, keep in mind that some school highly prefer applicants who have taken those classes over the ones that haven't. Besides, science classes shouldn't bring down your GPA. Dentistry is a science-related field after all. So, if you're not good at taking science classes maybe you should rethink about dental school. Additionally, a high GPA alone isn't enough. The member of the admission committee will scrutinize how you obtained that GPA. If you've taken bunch of easy classes and you have a 3.9 GPA that GPA is not nearly as valuable as a 3.3 GPA that's been obtained by taking a series of challenging courses such as biochemistry and anatomy.
6) How much does it cost to start a practice in a suburban/urban location? I'd like a ball-park idea to expect, on top of dental school loans. That shoudln't be a concern since you're not even in dental school yet. Leave that for after graduation.
Most likely you wouldn't be able to start your own practice fresh out of dental school, unless you're loaded.
7) Do dental schools value well-rounded people, or are they looking for people who fit a specific mold? (I know that med schools really look for people with interesting life experiences, which work for me since I'm not that strong in a particular field but have a diversity of skill/knowledge set).
They definitely like well-rounded people, and that's the whole purpose for having interviews.
Thank you for your advice!

Good luck👍