Help!

[KentUT]

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Ok, I am currently a student at BYU in Utah. After much contemplation i have decided that i want to be a dentist more than anything. I have a pretty good GPA so far, but i haven't taken many of the pre-reqs. I recently got married at age 22 and am having some trouble meeting some financial obligations (e.g. Tuition, Rent, Car payment, and living expenses etc.) My wife's father is a dentist in Kansas City and has repeatedly mentioned that if my wife and I were to move to Kansas he would give me a job at one of his practices (making much more money then i am now) and also provide me with several shadowing opportunities.

Here is my dilemma. If i were to move to Kansas City i would not be able to get admitted in time for the Fall 2010 semester. I take responsibility for not acting on this earlier but the wedding and planning took most if not all of my summer (which i do not regret, best experience of my life). I obviously want what is best for my family, and am considering moving to Kansas and taking 1 semester off while working for my father in law and shadowing as much as possible. When spring comes around, i will continue my education.

I am worried that dental schools will be skeptical about not only a transfer, but taking a semester off. I know that if I get invited to interviews they will give me a chance to explain myself, but i need peace of mind and some genuine advice. Should i move to kansas now and take a semester off? or should i stay at BYU for one more semester and transfer in the spring?

I also don't want dental schools to think i am running away from problems. I just feel that it as an opportunity that should be considered.


Thank you to anyone who responds! 🙂

 

[PaulieGualtieri]

So you only have one more semester to complete school?

 

[KentUT]

I have only taken around 60 credits. I still have several semesters left before i can apply for dental schools. Transferring to Kansas would basically be where i started my pre-dental courses.

 

[UndergradGuy7]

If money was not an issue, then I would stay and take classes where you are now. Otherwise, you would be wasting time by taking a semester off.

Since money is an issue for you, decide which would be better for you/family. You are half done with college at 22. So you are a little behind than most people, so 1 more semester should not make that much of a difference to you. I don't think dental schools care about you taking 1 semester off, just write about it in the personal statement or secondaries. Not like you would be taking 1 semester off to sit around and do nothing. If you are working, volunteering, etc then its fine. Just say you were moving and undergoing financial troubles. As long as grades and scores are fine, you are fine at applying.

Just my opinion.

One more thing, where did you want to go to dental school? If you moved, wouldn't that mess up your state residency? I dno. Just throwing stuff out.

 

[KentUT]

Thanks for the input. I know i am behind, i am LDS and served a mission. In other words, i took two years off of school to do a service to my religion.

It might mess up my state of residency, but i would like to attend UMKC (which is in Missouri), UoP, or NYU, but will honestly go wherever i get in.

 

[slm266]

Stay at BYU, and look into getting a SMART grant/FAFSA pell grant. I had my last 2 years of school paid for by the gov b'c i'm married.

 

[alanan84]

I was at BYU, got engaged, moved to TX (both our family's are here) and continued my education here.

The upside: Close to family. (having that support has been critical) Better employment opportunities. (I went from making 7 bucks an hour to 11 an hour by moving to TX) More comfortable. (Since we're both from TX, it just felt more comfortable here) Close to the dental schools I was interested in (Being close to Baylor was huge and not having to fly down for interviews was really nice)

The downside: Any school you go to is not BYU. (I really liked pretty much everything about BYU and while the school that I transferred to is ok, it's not BYU) My BYU credits didn't transfer into things I needed. (While I could use my BYU credits as electives, I had to take some goofy core classes in Govt, History, Speech, and stuff like that to satisfy the TX requirements. That put me back a little bit. I had like 55 credit hours at BYU when I transferred.)

Just weigh the pros and cons. Don't be afraid to leave BYU. It is a great school but if it's better for you and your family to go elsewhere, then do it. It looks like you have a good opportunity with your father in law.

By the way, it is much easier to qualify for Pell grants and the like when you're married. And I would imagine you could shadow your father in law when you go out there to visit during school breaks and stuff.

 

[8 SNAKE]

It might mess up my state of residency, but i would like to attend UMKC (which is in Missouri), UoP, or NYU, but will honestly go wherever i get in.

You will want to check with UMKC about state residency requirements. Moving to MO a couple of years before applying to school might not qualify you as a MO resident in UMKC's eyes. If not and you're not from one of the states that UMKC has an agreement with (Kansas, Arkansas, New Mexico and Hawaii), UMKC won't be an option for you.

I don't know if that impacts your decision about moving to MO, but wanted to mention it. Best of luck with your endeavors.

 

[PhoebeAZ]

It seems to me that your main issue is whether transferring and taking a semester off will look bad to dental schools. On that issue I would say no. You will be able to find somewhere to explain this, personal statement, secondaries, interview, etc. Weigh the pros and cons of moving and do what's best for you, don't worry about what admissions committees will think.