Graduating a semester early...good, bad?

[sb1759]

hey guys...im an undergrad junior right now (applying for 2008 cycle) and I am deciding whether or not I should graduate a semester early because I only have two more requirements left for my major/minor. will dental schools look unfavorably upon this?

Also, do you think it is better to do a summer internship in my major (psych) or should I try to find something dental related?

any help is appreciated...thanks =)

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[dmd2011]

hey guys...im an undergrad junior right now (applying for 2008 cycle) and I am deciding whether or not I should graduate a semester early because I only have two more requirements left for my major/minor. will dental schools look unfavorably upon this?

Also, do you think it is better to do a summer internship in my major (psych) or should I try to find something dental related?

any help is appreciated...thanks =)

i think it can only be a plus. obviously you took a large course load to be in the position to graduate early. you should try to do something dental related to further your experience. if you cant find something dental related, the internship could be a good experience too. enjoy the extra time off too, you earned it!! good luck with the 08 cycle.

 

[tooth decay]

I do not think graduating early by itself is a bad thing. It is your performance during your school that will determine whether or not taking a heavy course load during college was to your advantage or to your detriment.

If you know you are applying to dental school, it would make more sense to use the extra time to develop your application instead of expanding your experience of your undergraduate degree.

 

[Maria07]

I dont think that graduating early could really hurt your application. by that time you've already gotten everything in (application, DAT, grades) and they're looking at your performance up until that point. your fall grades dont even matter that much.
I graduated a semester early and im going to dental starting this fall. Its a nice break from school to relax and do whatever you want to do before getting into the grind again for four more years.
I say do it!
And do a dental related activity over the summer. It'll give you something more recent to talk about during the interviews and they want to see that you've taken every opportunity to learn about the field you want to go into.

g'luck!

 

[dentofalltrades]

hey guys...im an undergrad junior right now (applying for 2008 cycle) and I am deciding whether or not I should graduate a semester early because I only have two more requirements left for my major/minor. will dental schools look unfavorably upon this?

Also, do you think it is better to do a summer internship in my major (psych) or should I try to find something dental related?

any help is appreciated...thanks =)

Graduate a semester early and go travel.

Find an internship related to dentistry, if you want to be a dentist. Do a Psych internship if you want to be a couch doctor.

Nobody is going to look at you unfavorably if you were responsible, worked hard and graduated early.

 

[PreDentHopeful]

I graduated a semester early and (personally) I'm regretting the decision. If you're the sort of person that is into the 'intensity' school provides, you might not like it (it could just be that this is the longest vacation I've ever had in my life). It's not really as much fun as I thought it would be as most of my friends are still busy with their last semester. If you do decide to go through with it, my advice is to keep up on reading (I'm doing journals and a couple of interesting textbooks-- stuff that's interesting)-- just to make sure that you don't lose your edge.

As for the 'will the adcom look upon me unfavorably' question, my graduating a semester NEVER came up in any of my interviews. All it did, if anything, was prove that I could handle semesters of heavy course load in order to make graduating early possible (and I assume it's a good thing).

 

[I'mFillingFine]

I had a very similar experience to PreDent below. I graduated a semester early simply because I was finished with everything and didn't want to waste money (I didn't really try to have my classes done, but it worked out that way.) It was nice to have a full 8 months before dental school, but I had NO idea how much I'd regret not having that last semester to have a bit more college and fun time.

Dental school is NOTHING like college...I'm a first year now, and it has its own joys and challenges, but you will not be reproducing your experience at undergrad, regardless of how close you are with your d-school friends. College was just so free and relaxed and social....there will be a lot more older/married people in your class in dental school, and you always have so much to do that even with a balanced life you have less free time. I couldn't have justified spending money on that last semester, but if I had known beforehand, I would maybe have spread out my courses more. OR, at least I would have stayed living closer to my undergrad (I was around 30 minutes away) and hung out with my friends more, or worked at my university.

It's funny....the counselor here said that the number one complaint for freshmen was homesickness, and we all looked at her like she was crazy. Turns out, even the people that went across the country for undergrad end up being a bit lonely in dental school...there's something about giving up your last bit of being a "kid" perhaps.

And it wasn't raised in any of my interviews...I think they're mostly concerned about your first 3 years.

 

[Toothfairy08]

I am in the exact same situation, and I have chosen to graduate in Dec 2007. Why? It saves $ in tuition and allows me to work during the break to make what little money I can scrounge up to help me pay for d-school or living expenses in the future. I contacted the dental schools I am applying to about this and all said that it can only be a plus. Go for it!