Graduate in 3 Years? (High School Student Pre-Dental Advice)

[bcsuccess]

Hey Everyone,

I'm a High School student who is an uprising Senior (C/O 2019 ). I am extremely interested in the field of dentistry, and will be a biology major when I enter college fall 2019.

I have been taking dual-enrollment courses at my local college. It is not a community college, but an accredited four year university, which I feel is an advantage. By time I graduate high school, I will have about 40+ credits in the general education courses that college students usually take (freshman comp, humanities, psychology, public speaking, sociology, electives, etc.) I have also completed Anatomy and Physiology 1 with an A. It was rough though lol.

I will be entering college as a sophmore basically. The purpose of this was not to brag or anything, but to ask for advice on if graduating college in 3 years is doable. I will start college with a 4.0 which I feel will be a good base. My mom, who is a general dentist, also completed college in 3 years.... but times have changed in 2018, since that was decades ago.

If I can maintain a GPA for all of the areas (BCP , Science, All Other, and Cummulative) with a high GPA (3.7 or above) and have a strong DAT (21+)... with of course the other characteristics of a well put together application, is it possible that I can enter dental school at 20? I simply wanted to get opinions from all of you, and maybe even some people who have done this?

Thanks so much for reading this....

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[doc toothache]

2015 Community College/Advanced Placement and DS Admission

 

[IdleKoala]

Sounds like you're on the right track! I also dual enrolled at a university and started my first year of college with like 24ish credits. Since I changed my major and ended up taking some light semesters, I will still be graduating in 4 years. Which is nice cause I can actually graduate and walk with my classmates.

If you stay motivated its definitely possible to graduate early. For me however, since I started at college so young ( I took organic my freshman year ), I kinda burned out in 2017 which is why I took some lighter course loads. This is a benefit of having some credits under your belt going into college, you can take a lighter semester if you need to. I would recommend not trying to kill yourself with to many courses. For example, I would recommend not taking 16 credits of hard science classes, which might let you graduate a semester earlier, but will result in you getting a few B's. I would take just take 12 credits and keep that GPA high. You are already so far ahead of others, no need to hurt your GPA just to graduate even earlier. But if you feel you can handle the course load, go for it!

Its awesome to see some one so motivated to pursue dentistry at such a young age ( no offence ). Just try to keep that motivation up! When you start college make sure to get involved with a few key volunteer orgs and student orgs and just rack up hours. A couple hours a week over 3-4 years will be perfect. If you got time for research, go for it. Make sure to shadow dentists besides your mom as well. But remember academics are your #1 priority, make sure your classes come before work, volunteering and hanging out. Build the good habits now so you can cruise control when you start taking your harder science classes. Also have fun, college is awesome so make sure to get out there and make new friends, don't just be a hermit at home.

Since I was kinda in a similar situation to you, I would love to help you out if you have anymore questions. Feel free to pm me if you do. Best of luck in your studies.

 

[sp1997]

Hi! I want to congratulate you firstly on your amazing progress and early acknowledgement of your desire to go into dentistry. Though I won't be graduating in 3 years, my uncle who is a dentist and my main mentor did. Instead of taking a lot of classes in high school, he took classes over the summer. Instead of applying to dental school right away, he took that extra year he gained and worked as a dental assistant. If you want, DM me and we can talk about different ways that you can graduate early and also have time for extra curriculars (which are very important)

 

[redfish955]

The other thing to consider would be taking a lighter load so you can maintain a super high GPA and still have a college life. College is a great place to make some good life long friends.

 

[tiper15]

The other thing to consider would be taking a lighter load so you can maintain a super high GPA and still have a college life. College is a great place to make some good life long friends.

This. Don't get too rung up about trying to finish in 3 years and then burn out by the time you have to apply to dental school. Take care of yourself and make sure you enjoy the experience. I think you can definitely graduate within 3 years of uni with your already done credits, so you can get in with the right application. I am not in the same situation as you, but you can def get in at 20 years old, if the age worries you.

 

[deleted678432]

Enjoy college! You're only going to be able to do the things you do in college once, so might as well take advantage of it rather than be chained to a library desk. You'll be happy that you did when you're in dental school, running off fumes! Also, I'm almost 22, and think that going into dental school at 20 would have been a mess. You're still so young at that age.

 

[wgodw1]

Do it. I did it. Go to the cheapest school you get into to.

 

[Incis0r]

I can already tell you’re going to be tremendously successful and will get into many dental schools.

To answer your question, I graduated college early. No regrets. You’ve set yourself up for a great future.

Go, enjoy college, graduate in 3 years, and onwards to dental school.