Help with an undergraduate program

[taj1991]

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I am currently a junior in high school looking for the most efficient way to become an orthodontist/dentist. I am very adamant about being in the dentistry field and have been researching the process to become an orthodontist, or possibly a general dentist, and have become overwhelmed with where to begin. Is it best to go through a specific pre-dental major in undergraduate school or just go through general pre-med? If I majored in a pre-dentistry program like that offered at Baylor would I be a more likely candidate for their graduate program? Finally, is Baylor even a decent choice for a dentistry program or are there better choices available? I’m sure all of these questions are relatively simple but I am having a difficult time sorting through the loads of information. Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

[bodiddely]

The quickest way to become a dentist following high school is the 2+3 program at Pacific. However, there are plenty of combined bachelors/DDS programs out there. If you are sure you want to become a dentist I would apply to a few of them and see if/where you get in.

If you aren't accepted to one of these programs, or choose not to apply, then you are no worse off than the majority of pre-dental students. Keep in mind that pre-dental and pre-med are not majors. You need the same basic sciences classes to attend either med school or d-school (or pharmacy/vet school for that matter).

Baylor is an excellent (and cheap) dental school. I'm not sure to what degree (if any) they prefer pre-dents from Baylor undergrad at Baylor Dental, but if you choose not to attend a combined degree program, it's probably not worth it to attend Baylor for undergrad just for a slim (if any) advantage in applying to their dental school.

 

[nwdmd]

Baylor undergrad + baylor dental = one of 2342345454 possible ways to become a dentist.

In regards to most efficient, here's what I wish someone told 11th grade me about "efficiency":

As a jr. in high school, you may feel the need to find the fastest, most failsafe route to reach your goals.

Every year I realize more and more that it is all about the journey, and the destination is only an ending.

I would not trade 4 years undergrad for anything.
I think for most people the ages of 18-23 are the most formative years, and during this time we begin to realize what we really want in life.

If you want to be an 18 year old in the body of a 23 year old dentist, do pacific's 2+3 academia blur right out of HS.

Keep in mind the average age of acceptance is ~26.

Finding this valuable forum as an 11th grader puts you ahead of the pre-dental game, you'll find many examples of pre-dental paths that led to acceptance.

In summary, as long as you clear a few hurdles laid out by dental schools, you have a shot at acceptance.
Don't let efficiency guide you, don't be afraid to take out loans, study abroad, take random interesting classes, shadow other careers, etc.

This website (along with others found in useful links) was helpful to me early on: http://www.aspiringdentist.com/

Best wishes!
-15th grade pre-dental student

 

[blankguy]

taj1991,
it's good that you identified your interest early. At this point why don't you do some career shadowing to learn more about dentistry. Academically your first priority is to get to a college. It doesn't matter where you go as long as you do well at that school. Hopefully you will get into your first choice(Baylor), but admissions is a funny game. If you have done well in high school you will go to a good school, which school exactly? That's the unpredictable part. Also don't try to rush into things.

 

[NewMexDent]

Baylor undergrad + baylor dental = one of 2342345454 possible ways to become a dentist.

In regards to most efficient, here's what I wish someone told 11th grade me about "efficiency":

As a jr. in high school, you may feel the need to find the fastest, most failsafe route to reach your goals.

Every year I realize more and more that it is all about the journey, and the destination is only an ending.

I would not trade 4 years undergrad for anything.
I think for most people the ages of 18-23 are the most formative years, and during this time we begin to realize what we really want in life.

If you want to be an 18 year old in the body of a 23 year old dentist, do pacific's 2+3 academia blur right out of HS.

Keep in mind the average age of acceptance is ~26.

Finding this valuable forum as an 11th grader puts you ahead of the pre-dental game, you'll find many examples of pre-dental paths that led to acceptance.

In summary, as long as you clear a few hurdles laid out by dental schools, you have a shot at acceptance.
Don't let efficiency guide you, don't be afraid to take out loans, study abroad, take random interesting classes, shadow other careers, etc.

This website (along with others found in useful links) was helpful to me early on: http://www.aspiringdentist.com/

Best wishes!
-15th grade pre-dental student

I think this is great advice. There is so much to experience in life, it would be a shame to rush through your dental education and miss out on some of those experiences.

Also, Baylor undergrad has no affiliation with the Baylor Dental School. There would be no special adavantage of attending Baylor undergrad.

 

[bigstix808]

i know someone above mentioned it, but i would absolutely NOT give my 4.5 years of undergrad for anything (or my 1.5 yrs of graduate by the time i'm done🙂). i'm so glad i didn't rush anything, had a great time, made some awesome friends for life, and really found out who i was as a person. people get into dental school every year with every degree under the sun (art, business, chemistry, engineering, ecology, computer science, etc). undergraduate is about studying something you're passionate about. don't just pick the "pre-med" route just because it's the IN thing to do. do what you want because remember - you'd be pre-med/dental with ~80 of the other applicants. as long as you knock out those pre-dent classes (chem, bio, orgo, etc) then you're golden. i would say the biggest piece of advice i could give is to do something that will make you stand out over the other applicants. good luck man!! college will be what you make it😎!!

 

[Regmata]

Do a premed program, supplement it with dental experience rather than med experience and you will be all set.

 

[taj1991]

thanks for the helpful posts. One last question - is dental school what you expected?

 

[Regmata]

It has its good days and bad days. Being in high school, you haven't experienced what it is like to really study. If you want orthodontics, you won't experience true studying until dental school. Yesterday I woke up at six and got to bed around one a.m. after a long day of classes and the library. Today I did the same and will be studying till tonight, will take a short break and study all weekend. Hoping to get a good 24 hours of study time in between saturday and sunday. This is midterm week, so my study time is a bit inflated, but I will probably have put in around 90 hours this week...and they tell me this is one of the easier semesters 😱

Although, I expected it to be hard...so I guess it is what I expected and I am enjoying myself, when I have time to.

 

[bodiddely]

Sorry to veer off topic a bit, but are you planning to specialize Regmata? If so, which specialty? You're a D2 right?

edit: rofl, just saw your post on the residency board. Jinx!

 

[blankguy]

At this point I think Regmata wants to keep all his options open. That's why he is studying his butt off.

Going back to the original topic.
Take it one step at a time. Get to college first.

 

[Regmata]

I don't know if I want to or not, but when the time comes to choose I would like to be able to. I almost envy those that come in knowing that they want to be a GP, dental school is much easier for them. This week is quite atypical though, I normally probably put in 55-60 hours. Midterms and finals are complete hell though...and I am only a D1. Next year will be worse.

 

[blankguy]

I suppose after 2nd year it tends to ease off a little in a way.