Gap Year Advice Needed

[Dr Dimbsa]

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Hey Everyone,

Hopefully you are all currently getting the acceptances you were wishing for. As for me, I am applying next cycle and since I'm entering my last semester of senior year I will be taking a year off. During this year I will mainly be working in research (probably biotech/pharma industry) and plan on doing a little more shadowing/volunteering.

My main concern is this: I have not taken anatomy/physiology (I'm a chem major) and have one semester left so I wont be able to fit the two classes in the spring. I thought about enrolling for summer classes to knock out A&P 1 and 2 but I'm starting to realize that it'll be difficult due to working full time and not being super close to school. I mainly want these classes to apply to UNE and possibly UNLV or MW-AZ but is it worth it? Should I spend the money and stress over taking these two classes after I graduate just to apply to a couple schools that I might not get into??

For some reference, I'm a MA resident, I have a 3.4 cgpa, 3.3sgpa, 20 AA 20 TS 22 PAT, decent ECs, tons of research etc etc.

Thanks for your help!

 

[DSchoolorBust202X]

Hey Everyone,

Hopefully you are all currently getting the acceptances you were wishing for. As for me, I am applying next cycle and since I'm entering my last semester of senior year I will be taking a year off. During this year I will mainly be working in research (probably biotech/pharma industry) and plan on doing a little more shadowing/volunteering.

My main concern is this: I have not taken anatomy/physiology (I'm a chem major) and have one semester left so I wont be able to fit the two classes in the spring. I thought about enrolling for summer classes to knock out A&P 1 and 2 but I'm starting to realize that it'll be difficult due to working full time and not being super close to school. I mainly want these classes to apply to UNE and possibly UNLV or MW-AZ but is it worth it? Should I spend the money and stress over taking these two classes after I graduate just to apply to a couple schools that I might not get into??

For some reference, I'm a MA resident, I have a 3.4 cgpa, 3.3sgpa, 20 AA 20 TS 22 PAT, decent ECs, tons of research etc etc.

Thanks for your help!

I would take them. A lot of schools are requiring or at least recommending anatomy and physiology, so I would work hard and power through. From experience, taking those classes over the summer and working full-time is tough but doable, and I think it will help you hone time management skills that will be helpful in dental school.

 

[laffytaffy19]

I would also recommend taking both anatomy and physiology as well, especially if those 2 schools are programs you're really interested in. Even for schools that don't require them, it will show the other schools that you have a strong biology background even as a Chem major. I think it would help you and add even more if you were able to do well in them. Are you able to do your job part-time to balance your load next summer?

 

[Dr Dimbsa]

I would also recommend taking both anatomy and physiology as well, especially if those 2 schools are programs you're really interested in. Even for schools that don't require them, it will show the other schools that you have a strong biology background even as a Chem major. I think it would help you and add even more if you were able to do well in them. Are you able to do your job part-time to balance your load next summer?

I'm also graduating with a biology minor so I have taken some upper level bio like genetics, immunology, and microbio. I won't be able to work part time so I'm probably just going to grind it out and work full time and take the classes. Its not so much of the work load that Im worried about, I'm more concerned about the inconvenience of trying to get to class and finding a program that fits my schedule. But thanks for the input, I'll try to find a way to take A&P next summer.

 

[SmileGoals]

Have you looked at taking A&P at a community college close to you? It’ll be cheaper

 

[Alexanderite]

Definitely take the A&P, it's practically a standard these days for applications.

But even more than that you really really want to take it because your first three months of dental school are going to be super hard. What college classes cover in two weeks dental school covers in an hour.

A first pass of anatomy and physiology in dental school would have been absolutely brutal for me, and I probably wouldn't have passed my classes. Seeing even a little of that information prior to dental school makes a big difference when all you have is 1-2 hours of study time at the end of your class day.

I'm not trying to stress you out, only highly recommend taking those classes. You are plenty smart enough to be a dentist, but do yourself a favor and make the process easier for yourself by getting some exposure with that material. Good luck on your journey!

 

[Faux]

Definitely take the A&P, it's practically a standard these days for applications.

But even more than that you really really want to take it because your first three months of dental school are going to be super hard. What college classes cover in two weeks dental school covers in an hour.

A first pass of anatomy and physiology in dental school would have been absolutely brutal for me, and I probably wouldn't have passed my classes. Seeing even a little of that information prior to dental school makes a big difference when all you have is 1-2 hours of study time at the end of your class day.

I'm not trying to stress you out, only highly recommend taking those classes. You are plenty smart enough to be a dentist, but do yourself a favor and make the process easier for yourself by getting some exposure with that material. Good luck on your journey!

I took AP 1 and 2 about a year or two prior, got As and didn't remember a damm thing in DS. If anything, my college exposure was way too basic for AP compared to DS. I never took more than 12-13 credits either .

Just goes to show you OP that everyone is different. I think the only thing that would have been beneficial would be some Gross exposure before hand. Other than that, I don't think anything is truly necessary. Dunno why some schools are requiring people to take Biochemistry and Micro.