Going back...what would you have done differently?

[UW09]

If you could turn back time and start again as a freshman, what would you have done differently (to assure yourself a spot in a dental school)?

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[Rezdawg]

Taken more easy classes in college to get GPA higher.

Applied to dental school early in the cycle.

Attended UT-Houston.

 

[rocknightmare]

wouldn't do anything different.. except maybe live life a little more.

you just have to realize that what you went through college is what brought you to the point you are at. if you taken a different path then hell you might not be there now.

 

[beannaithe]

taken much easier classes and not have been so ambitious.

wouldn't have worked as hard and probably devoted more time to the art of doing nothing.

 

[nothen2do]

Played more golf, daily instead of 3 times a week

 

[lionelhutz]

I would not have started out as a math major... what an idiot i was.

 

[Sprgrover]

wouldn't do anything different.. except maybe live life a little more.

you just have to realize that what you went through college is what brought you to the point you are at. if you taken a different path then hell you might not be there now.

I totally agree with this point. There are times that I wish that I hadn't taken so much time to get through college, but as rocknightmare stated, it was the process that helped make me the person that I am today and influenced my decisions. But knowing what I know now and going back with that knowledge I probably would have spent more time abroad.

 

[budge311]

Although I agree with rocknightmare I think that I would have taken the DAT earlier, right when I finished all the material for the test. I also would have gone throught the whole application process but not apply to see what is was like and to learn so when I did it for real I would know what I was doing. I also would have been a chem or biochem major. I found I liked chemistry more than I thought.

 

[Dentist 2 be]

Choose an easier major. What I've learned throughout this experience is that dental schools don't really care about your major, but rather on your GPA.

Not to bash or inferiorize anyone's major but I think if I was a history major with a 3.9 GPA rather than a bio major with a 3.2 GPA it would have been easier for me with admissions.

Is inferiorize a word???

 

[fruity_trident]

wouldn't do anything different.. except maybe live life a little more.
you just have to realize that what you went through college is what brought you to the point you are at. if you taken a different path then hell you might not be there now.

u and Sprgrover make a really good point. i used to (and dissapointingly) bitch about how i would get better grades @ university X, and if i had done this and that course, i would've done better....u know watch carrie bradshaw once said -
coulda, woulda, shoulda

i am trying to stop analyzing my past, to see what could've been. my sister keeps saying to me, if u did go to a different university, if u did do different courses, u wouldn't have met the same people, wouldn't have had the opportunities that u have now, etc, etc...yes, she's only 2.5yrs older than me, but oh-so much wiser

and a chinese idiom for u all -
if we were harbingers and could forecast the future, we would have no vagrants/beggars on the streets

 

[fruity_trident]

...I think if I was a history major with a 3.9 GPA rather than a bio major with a 3.2 GPA it would have been easier for me with admissions...

i think the only way i might have gotten a better GPA was to take "easier" science courses...if u put me in the "so-called" bird-humanities/social science-courses....i will do TERRIBLY...i suck at writing

although, sociology100 was the easiest A i ever got...and i was taking 6 courses that semester

 

[canuck_chick]

tell me about it....
i never should have done 2 years in electrical engineering...

I would not have started out as a math major... what an idiot i was.

 

[UW09]

So I probably should just take the pre reqs to most dental schools (microbio, bio, chem, ochem, physics...) and concentrate on getting a high gpa by making sure that my hard classes are gnna be the pre reqs mostly. But I don't know if being a history major helps because u gtta take a load of history (since ur majoring in it) and add all the pre reqs for dental school...wouldnt that take much longer than 4 yrs. By majoring in something like bio or chem you basically get 2 for 1 dont you? (counting for dentistry pre req and for ur major).

 

[nothen2do]

So I probably should just take the pre reqs to most dental schools (microbio, bio, chem, ochem, physics...) and concentrate on getting a high gpa by making sure that my hard classes are gnna be the pre reqs mostly. But I don't know if being a history major helps because u gtta take a load of history (since ur majoring in it) and add all the pre reqs for dental school...wouldnt that take much longer than 4 yrs. By majoring in something like bio or chem you basically get 2 for 1 dont you? (counting for dentistry pre req and for ur major).

Business/Economics major here, and I did all the pre-req's with my major within 4 years. Ofcourse, without a year of gen chem, ochem, physics and ochem I could have graduated a long time ago. By majoring in something youre interested in, you are getting 2 for 1 as youll eventually do dental school, so why not do something else that interests you in the mean time.

 

[busupshot83]

I would have started as a pre-dent from the get-go... not wait until my senior year of university .

-bus

 

[IWuvTeef]

better grades and higher DAT. i was on cruise-control these past 4 years. i guess working 20+ hours a week for the first 3 years along with science courses really burned me out.

i wish i hadn't had to work, but then again, i did learn how to interact well with many types of people.

 

[rocknightmare]

is it me or do pre-dents that are going to dental school seem to be more mature than other fields... i just see us taking the serious route than other pre-profesionals (well some pre-meds are nuts about studying).. but look at the pre-law they joke around like nothing else all 4 years of college. then in their last year decide oh lets go to law school.. or pre-grad schools same thing

 

[onetoothleft]

is it me or do pre-dents that are going to dental school seem to be more mature than other fields... i just see us taking the serious route than other pre-profesionals (well some pre-meds are nuts about studying).. but look at the pre-law they joke around like nothing else all 4 years of college. then in their last year decide oh lets go to law school.. or pre-grad schools same thing

Depends on the school and the ambition of the student. Law is very cutthroat and your success and monetary compenation potential is directly proportional to where you went to law school/what you got on LSAT/GPA/ etc. If you want to go to a top 10 school and get into a top law firm in a big city and make the big bucks, you have to score much higher (%-ile wise) and have a near perfect GPA--especially compared to how we need to do to get into a good school.

But on the other hand, you can slack quite a bit, get into a mediocre law school, and make 60,000 your whole life.

Dentistry is just the opposite. Any school can make you a successful dentist.

 

[gatorchc27]

I may have messed up along the way and let my grades drop a little, but I wouldn't change them. The way I see it, I'd rather hire someone who messed up and was able to get back on track and succeed then someone who has never fallen before. Then, how do you know how that person will handle failure?

 

[Missserica]

I may have messed up along the way and let my grades drop a little, but I wouldn't change them. The way I see it, I'd rather hire someone who messed up and was able to get back on track and succeed then someone who has never fallen before. Then, how do you know how that person will handle failure?

well said. like Howie Day says, "even the best fall down sometimes."

 

[bruinbear]

I should go to easy school (cal poly pomona or csu fullerton) and get higher gpa. All of my friends get 3.7~3.8 over there. Well, I am stuck in ucla

 

[AUG2UAG]

I should go to easy school (cal poly pomona or csu fullerton) and get higher gpa. All of my friends get 3.7~3.8 over there. Well, I am stuck in ucla

Rather than an easier campus, a much more beautiful campus
--> UCSC or Cal poly

Oh, and I'd make sure to get good grades the entire time... good luck!

If I could really do it all over again, I'd get my GED at 13 and graduate dental school at 20

 

[rocknightmare]

now my post may seem serious but i am just responding to the GED idea.

i work at a perio research lab, and a rotation student doing a phd in immunology did the same thing you said. get a GED, but hte problem with that is you miss out on all high school courses, so in order to take courses in college you have to fullfill some courses at a CC. so she did that but by the time she got into the PhD program she ended up being the same age it seems. granted that she did some stuff abroad and she changed colleges twice.

when raising my kid, i think i will get them to skip a grade in elementary school. one year max probably too

 

[UW09]

would it be crazy for me to start "studying" the PAT, Reading Comp, and Math at 17? (going to uw next yr)

 

[nothen2do]

would it be crazy for me to start "studying" the PAT, Reading Comp, and Math at 17? (going to uw next yr)

yes, enjoy your first 2 years of college. Focusing on something like this can lead to a burn out, and you might want a different career path by then. Put your eagerness into your classes and do well in them. Have fun next year.

 

[dds2005]

I wouldn't do anything different for my indirect path to dentistry. I got very good grades in undergrad...3.5. Got my BS in Bio. Went to grad school for molecular bio. Again very good grades. Worked for a few years all the while trying to figure out what I want out of life and for a career. So by the time I applied to dental school, I believe my age/maturity, life experiences, etc put me ahead of most applicants albeit one can't discount good DAT scores. Without those you don't have a prayer for those are weighed the heaviest. FYI..Applied to 12 schools, got 8 interviews, went on 4 of them and got into all four.

 

[jheidenr]

I would have wasted less time on SDN!

 

[mvs04]

would it be crazy for me to start "studying" the PAT, Reading Comp, and Math at 17? (going to uw next yr)

would it be crazy for me to make a cumtastrophe on your face?

 

[xiaoxiao]

Take easier courses (I should find out which are the easier ones earlier), and take more courseload in each term. I thought I planned it well by taking fewer courses during school term and studying for DAT, but it did not work out and I still had to spend time on DAT + summer school. I should have written my personal statement earlier ...

 

[Lephisto]

.

 

[reLAXgirl]

Had more confidence in myself. Didn't realize I could get good grades in science until my junior year was almost over! It made all the difference!

 

[jurrel]

i would apply earlier, cuz applying late, esp to only 4 california schools....really does give you ulcers