Getting a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry in just two years.. many challenges await me.. help?

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the real tl;dr

I'm the smartest person on the planet.

On a more serious note, it sounds like most of the dental school pre-reqs were taken at a community college. You might wanna check with some dental schools whether they accept pre-reqs from a community college.

 

I'm trying to imagine seeing your application through the eyes of an admissions committee...

My first instinct is to box you in as an overachiever who doesn't have enough experience to know what you want. I know that sounds judgmental, but admission committees have to spend all day comparing people and, thusly, boxing them in to some extent. I think you need some ECs to humanize your image, maybe something to really demonstrate your desire for patient interaction.

Your situation is interesting. I would be interested in interviewing you, just to see what kind of person you are. If you have some ECs that give you stories to tell about people, that would really go a long way, I think.

 

Just aim to do well. Estimating you can score in the top .6% is a long shot, even for someone as precocious as you.

 

You're way too young. You need to see and do more before you decide. Spending 20-30K is not a joke but dental school can be anywhere from 50 to over 100K a year, so it's not a decision to take lightly.

 

Dentistry runs in my family and I thought I wanted to go into a completely different part of the health professions field until the age of 20-21. I changed to dental very late and it just happened to work out, very serendipitously I might add. If you can afford to ( which you really can, given your age), please take the time to make sure.

 

About graduation and study abroad, etc... It seems you need more breadth, not necessarily depth. I think this seems important to you personally, and I think it would be important for your application.

As far as how to do that... I think graduating next year and doing a master's degree doesn't seem right for you. It would only mean more bio/chem depth that you already have and more tuition. That's not to say you might not choose that route in the future, but I don't think it would add to either your personal growth or dental application as much as other options. So that leaves 1) taking that extra year of school and studying new things or 2) graduating and getting a job. I don't know for certain which is best for you. Both could be opportunities to learn more about different things and yourself.

If you're more interested in fleshing out your dental application, I would say take an extra year of school. It's easier to get ECs through school connections, and it's easier to plan ECs around classes. You can also keep nudging your GPA. If you're more interested in learning more about yourself, I would say graduate, move somewhere new on your own, and get a job.

For what it's worth, I got a pretty varied education... I studied my dream, got a liberal arts degree, studied abroad, etc. Those were all wonderful experiences, but I grew up the most after graduation... moving to new towns on my own, finding work, renting from weird people, relationships coming and going, wondering if I could pay rent, etc. It motivated me so much that I took all my prereqs in a year---51 credits in 14 months with a 4.0. I've repeatedly brought that up on this forum to try to share with people how motivating the world outside of school can be.

It's been nine years since I was 17 and I really don't remember who I was back then. Since then, I've explored being a guitar teacher, film composer, sound tech, going into the military, brushing up on web development, medical school, law school, high school teacher, physical therapist, psychologist/therapist... I even got accepted into an Arts Management master's program before thinking better of it.

But you seem sure---which is not impossible and it's not wrong. I wish I had just fallen straight into something.

 

I think it's pretty awesome that you're 17, I know someone that is in somewhat in the same situation. She graduated top 8 of her class, currently has a 4.0 in everything, even went on mission trips and volunteers a lot. She is supposed to graduate next year, recently took her DAT and got a 24, and is only 19 years old... Given that both her parents are dentists, she came into college with the ambition to become a dentist, after all the planning and everything she decided not to apply this cycle because she felt she was too young and not ready for dental school. She wanted to explore other careers and stuff.

My advice to you is stretch your education out another 2-3 years (apply to dental school when you're 20+ years old). You have plenty of time to become a dentist or anything you want. Get a double major, study abroad, get a masters, take a semester break to work or travel. Point is, you're ahead of the curve, take your time.

 

I would spend a year abroad, either through a formal study abroad program with your school or just traveling. Take some time to just breathe and relax. This isn't a race and you are going to burn yourself out. Then there are some practical considerations like being REALLY young compared to your classmates in dental school, not being able to go out with the crowd to the bars after a strenuous week, dating in dental school, etc. Get a job and work retail or something for a year, develop some people skills, volunteer for something over the next year, just grow up more--not to mean you are immature but graduating from college at 18 years old and then trying to go on to a professional program is just nuts.

 

Are her initials LT? Lol think I know her

 

Chronological age is less important than the maturity level, which is critical. Dragging your feet 2-3 years to finish your first degree at age 20(+/-) makes no sense.

 

Take the DAT as soon as possible.

Finish college as soon as possible.

Apply next June.

Next year, when you can tell your dad to let you work in his office. Or another dental office.

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Go to your local hospital and volunteer to get a quick view of reality.

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Just cause daddy likes it don't mean you will.

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Tutor other students, learn patience.
Get $
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Be true to yourself.

Know what you want, if you do not know, then explore....

Hence working and volunteering.


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Think about your goals.... And life's goals....

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Don't day dream all day, act now.

Pass it forward.



Good luck

 

Weird question, but relevant I think to your predicament... if you were at a speed dating event and you had only a couple minutes to describe yourself, what kinds of things would you say?

So you don't feel like you're on the spot, I'll start...

I'm pretty agreeable---too agreeable some would say. When I get back to my room after school or work, I'm usually listening to music, podcasts, reading news, studying, or practicing guitar. I ride my bike daily to get outside and stay sane, and I love finding things to take pictures of. I'm accustomed to moving around, seeing new places, new people... I start to feel trapped if I can't escape. I'm at my funniest when I'm making fun of myself. I grew up going to Church every Sunday, but I can't remember the last time I went. My goals are to never stop getting better at guitar, raise a family, and eat Indian food weekly. Friends + food = as good as it gets. Tennis Shoes > Chuck Taylors. Crew neck > V neck. Fender > Gibson. Beatles > Rolling Stones. Wine > beer. Han shot first.

 

Seems like your academic output is a big part of your identity. You've become voracious for academic completion, and you're going to go down that road regardless. It's who you are, and that's a strength.

But I do sense a disturbance in the force. You mention that you're a bit anti-social or awkward. You also seem genuinely interested in interacting with patients. Sounds like, and this won't be a revelation to you, that part of you wants to leverage your academic prowess to get into a career where you can be more connected with people on a daily basis (and also have further academic options, if you want). That's a very civilized approach. But the problem I sense, and maybe I'm wrong... you honestly seem like you don't have much desire guiding you today. If you did, you would have fewer question marks for us. It's like you've already exhausted everything you should do for someone your age, so you've come to this very specific forum to see if we can muster any more "should's" for your unique situation. When, in fact, there might already something you want that you're avoiding... and you're filling that gap with academic speed.

What I'm saying is... I know people who are anti-social and happy that way. You don't seem like that---because those kinds of people don't usually aspire to be healthcare providers. You've calculated a way to fix that a social gap in your life by planning a solution that's years away. And in the mean time, your Gas Tank of Desire® is empty. If you keep going along like that, you might find yourself in a graduate or professional program feeling even more anti-social.

That little seed of desire---wanting to interact with patients---I would act on that now. It will be good for you, your application, etc.. win/win. For your ECs, you might consider one-on-one tutoring activities. Look for adult literacy or English as a second language volunteer programs in your area. Ask your professors if they know of ways you can tutor in math and science around the school. (Tutoring is also the easiest EC to schedule that I can imagine.)

And I know the kind of schism you're talking about, where you often think only of more academic things to talk about around people. You've got a lot of time to grow and adapt, so try not to avoid uncomfortable situations. A cafeteria is the easiest place to practice politely asking to eat with people with a smile. Everyone is friendlier with a plate of chicken nuggets in front of them. (I was unhappily homeschooled through high school, and when I got to college... it was rough. But I've changed so much since then.)

Tl;dr... instead of asking us what you should do, figure out why you don't have a list of a dozen things you'd love to do. Maybe it's because you've habitually trained yourself to avoid or put off those things. Start with interacting better with people, and you might start learning a lot of other things about yourself.

You've got a lot going for you, regardless. I could be way off base here or just projecting some of my challenges on to you.

 

You do realize that dentistry requires good social skills and interactions with people, not to mention the interview process that, if you don't do well in your interviews, your stats or background isn't going to overcome that. You might be better suited for a research career, PhD in something. Maybe take some career interest surveys online or see if your high school has some and just see if dentistry is really the place for you.

 

I wish people here were more careful with their word choice. It's true that good people skills can be beneficial in dentistry, but it is not absolutely required. A mediocre people skill will suffice. You don't need to be an extrovert to be a good dentist. I think what's more important is that you put your patients' interest first and that you know what you are doing with procedures. Having a flamboyant personality might make you a more likeable dentist, but that's not really your job as a dentist, is it? You are there to treat patients ethically and with the highest clinical standards possible.

So all in all, don't rule out dentistry for the sole reason of being socially awkward.

 

He just flat out described himself as antisocial though. Not just "not outgoing", but antisocial. Makes me wonder why he wants to go into a profession with frequent patient interaction.

 

Unsolicited advice: I think part of the reason you see yourself as anti-social is because you're 17 and in your last year of university, when the majority of people in your classes are in their early 20s. See if your university has an anime club, MMORPG club, piano club, or a new random club revolving around anything that interests you. Clubs are everywhere, and maybe they can help you ease in to better social interactions since that's another common interest you can talk about besides academics.

 

People are complicated.

 

Huge difference between being an introvert and anti-social.... No one said you need to be flamboyant but someone who actively chooses to be a loaner is going to struggle in the dental world.

 

loner?

 

While I agree that your primary goal should be to treat patients ethically and with the highest clinical standards, I think it is just as important and necessary to come across as a friendly person/people person. Dentistry is also a business, so you need to sell yourself as a person as well. Think about it, if you had two experiences with dentists of equal expertise and one was more friendly than the other, who would you go back to? Having shadowed at this one practice, where the dentist has been running it for 40 years, I found the reason he is so successful is because, though he comes across as quiet and doesn't talk much during procedures, he is very friendly and open with his patients before and after procedures. Patients in turn are very comfortable being there and trust him. Basically, I agree you don't need to be an extrovert to be a good dentist, but you need those social skills to be a successful dentist.

 

Speaking of social skills, right after someone opens up about themselves is a poor moment to delve into a semantics discussion about their personality in the 3rd person.

 

I PM'd you

 

Scroll up a little and read what I posted to you. In college, there's a club for just about everything and it's super easy to find people with common interests. If your school has an activities fair at the beginning of the year, check it out!

 

Good luck!!