Having a minor degree??

[laee3]

I'm currently a biology major, and I also really like chemistry as well. So I was thinking about minoring in Chemistry. I'm really eager to strengthen my application somehow, and I thought to myself that minoring in Chemistry might be a way(or not). What do you guys think about this? Has anybody done it? How was it? I assume it'd be very time consuming and requires much dedication. Let me know what you guys think. Oh, and any other suggestion besides minoring in chemistry??

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[Neil45]

I do not think dental schools would care if you do a minor. I would say do not do it. It probably will not strengthen your application. If it is time consuming and dreadful, then do not bother stressing yourself out and risk lowering your GPA.

 

[Joe70h8]

I would venture to say that there are a lot applicants who are bio majors/chem minor, so I don't think it would strengthen your application all that much. However, you already have to take Gen Chem I and II, Orgo I w/lab, and many schools require Orgo II or Biochemistry. At my school, if I took ALL those classes, plus a 1hr lab safety course, I would be granted a minor. So all in all, getting a minor didn't require me to do anything above or beyond, since I already had to take 4/5 classes for dental school anyways.

 

[dontwakeme]

People are always concerned about strengthening their application. The truth of the matter is that d schools do not care about your major whatsoever. If you look at the statistics, there is no direct correlation between choice of major and acceptance. Just do well in the prerequisites and you're set.

Pre-dent is a tough path. Just major in what you enjoy; it will make the experience much better.

 

[Snahster]

I'm currently a biology major, and I also really like chemistry as well. So I was thinking about minoring in Chemistry. I'm really eager to strengthen my application somehow, and I thought to myself that minoring in Chemistry might be a way(or not). What do you guys think about this? Has anybody done it? How was it? I assume it'd be very time consuming and requires much dedication. Let me know what you guys think. Oh, and any other suggestion besides minoring in chemistry??

Don't minor unless you want to. There's not even a place to put a minor field of study on the primary aadsas application so it won't do you any good. I'm minoring because I want to, none of the schools i applied to know that I did.

 

[EnviroDentist]

People are always concerned about strengthening their application. The truth of the matter is that d schools do not care about your major whatsoever. If you look at the statistics, there is no direct correlation between choice of major and acceptance. Just do well in the prerequisites and you're set.

Pre-dent is a tough path. Just major in what you enjoy; it will make the experience much better.

Not true, dental schools do care about your major in some instances. I have heard from 3 different dental schools that I have not taken enough upper division hard science classes. If you major in a biology, chemistry, or physics, then dental schools get to see how well you do in hard sciences. If you ace all of your prerequisite classes and do well on the DAT, then and only then does it not matter what your major was.

 

[Mila]

At my school a Chem minor comes automatically after completing all the science pre-requisites. I would assume that this is the case at other schools as well, so there are likely a great deal of applicants with a Chem minor.

 

[QuackDentist]

I'm currently a biology major, and I also really like chemistry as well. So I was thinking about minoring in Chemistry. I'm really eager to strengthen my application somehow, and I thought to myself that minoring in Chemistry might be a way(or not). What do you guys think about this? Has anybody done it? How was it? I assume it'd be very time consuming and requires much dedication. Let me know what you guys think. Oh, and any other suggestion besides minoring in chemistry??

I really don't think they'll care too much about your minor. In general, they barely care about your major (unless you have something random like Electrical Engineering or something). But basically, focus on your biology classes and don't minor so it will look good on your application. Minor because you think it's fun.

 

[laee3]

lol you guys are right. I'm still thinking about doing it since I need to take only 1 or 2 more courses for it to be granted!!

 

[diane07]

EnviroDentist . . . I agree with you. I think that you can major in anything you want, and as long as you show that you are strong candidate - you'll be fine. By strong candidate, you have to be able to demonstrate an ability to handle a rigorous academic load which includes sciences. Do some people get accepted having taken the bare minimum science requirements . . . yeah, probably. But I think a lot of schools do pay attention to your undergrad coursework. Some will even outright say on their websites that they'll give preferance to those who've taken xyz upper division science courses. I think that the reason many pre-meds/pre-dents have a science major is because it automatically gives them that exposure to upper division sciences. But I think that you can pick any major you want as long as you can show that you're able to handle the sciences too.

 

[soswank]

laee3,

I was in the same situation as you. I told the admission's director that I had a choice to do a chem minor OR perform research. I was advised that the reseach would be a better option for me. Personally I like the idea of having a chem minor. The minor only required 6 hours/week, and the research combined required 22 hours/week, the choice seemed obvious. After having performed two months of research, I must say I am REALLY enjoying it and feel I was advised properly.

Every applicant case is unique. Start getting in touch with the counselors and get their opinions, and most important, get in touch with your #1 school's admission people. Get to know what they are looking for and do that.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Alliekat423]

I actually am a biology major and a film/photography minor. In this respect, your major/minor can add to the well-roundedness of your application. I have a scientific side, but I also have a creative side. However, I go to a liberal arts school, where well-roundedness is the point, so it wasn't a big deal minoring in something totally different.