Help!

[slickchick]

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so here's the story...

I just graduated from an ivy with a 3.5 GPA and honors distinction in major. I started out as a pre-med and it wasn't until my sophomore year that I realized that the classes were ruining my GPA (2.9 science GPA). I switched my major and proceeded to get a 4.0 my junior and senior years. Right now I am currently in a master's program. Here's the thing: I had an epiphany that dental school might be the perfect fit for me. I would still be able to help people/patients and be involved in the medical profession which was what I always wanted. Also, the lifestyle of a dentist is much more appealing, not to mention the significantly less amount of years needed to be able to practice.

With all this being said, what should I do? I would need to take orgo, orgo lab, and physics as well as the DAT to apply. I am confident that I could do really well in the remaining courses (aka get A's). Does this seem like the right path for me? With those classes and the DAT, how many years do you think it'll be realistically until I can apply to dental school? Any and all help and advice is much appreciated as I continue contemplating my future...

 

[Canard]

I think more info would be help to give advice.

What classes have you taken? (1 year of bio? phys? biochem? micro?). Schools have different requirements so I suggest looking at their website to see what you are missing. Since you started as pre-med, you have taken chem and bio?

Are you in master program for bio or one of those master program to take all of the science courses for health professional school?

Assuming you have time to take all the classes this summer and next year to fulfill requirement. I am sure you can take the DAT next May right before the application cycle opens up. So apply next year?

 

[slickchick]

I think more info would be help to give advice.

What classes have you taken? (1 year of bio? phys? biochem? micro?). Schools have different requirements so I suggest looking at their website to see what you are missing. Since you started as pre-med, you have taken chem and bio?

Are you in master program for bio or one of those master program to take all of the science courses for health professional school?

Assuming you have time to take all the classes this summer and next year to fulfill requirement. I am sure you can take the DAT next May right before the application cycle opens up. So apply next year?

sorry, I realize now that I should have given more info. I took 2 semesters of biology, chemistry, and chemistry lab. I didn't take any other science-related courses unfortunately. I'm in a public health master's program because I found it to be interesting--not to enhance my GPA (since I'm not sure how post-grad school works with that). Hope this helps!

 

[Canard]

Most of the MPH programs are 2 years and have you already done 1st year?

Depending on the school, requirements are different but most are very similar: (1 year = 2 semesters)
1 year of Bio (done for you)
1 year of Chem (done for you)
1 year of Ochem (Need)
1 year of Phys (Need)
1 year of Composition (done??)
(some school requires 1 semester of biochem, microbio, sociology or psychology)

It is possible to take all of the pre-requisites within one year to apply for next cycle but if you have tons of work to do for MPH then probably the cycle after the next (in June of 2013). Also, I have heard from admission that pre-requisite should be taken within 5 years of your application. This is why I re-took inorganic chem since I took it in 2002-2003 when I was Freshman in college. It also helps to review for DAT as well.

I am sure if you can pull off really good grades on those pre-req and DAT, you have no problem getting in even if you did bad on the first 2 years of your undergrad. The key is UPWARD TREND and if you haven't taken any other science courses then the sGPA (science GPA) would be around ~3.6 if you can manage all A in pre-requisite courses from now on.

I hope this helps.

 

[dentalWorks]

so here's the story...

I just graduated from an ivy with a 3.5 GPA and honors distinction in major. I started out as a pre-med and it wasn't until my sophomore year that I realized that the classes were ruining my GPA (2.9 science GPA). I switched my major and proceeded to get a 4.0 my junior and senior years. Right now I am currently in a master's program. Here's the thing: I had an epiphany that dental school might be the perfect fit for me. I would still be able to help people/patients and be involved in the medical profession which was what I always wanted. Also, the lifestyle of a dentist is much more appealing, not to mention the significantly less amount of years needed to be able to practice.

With all this being said, what should I do? I would need to take orgo, orgo lab, and physics as well as the DAT to apply. I am confident that I could do really well in the remaining courses (aka get A's). Does this seem like the right path for me? With those classes and the DAT, how many years do you think it'll be realistically until I can apply to dental school? Any and all help and advice is much appreciated as I continue contemplating my future...

I am guessing you are going to complete the masters... correct? Can you enroll into the orgo and physics classes along side the masters?

Your plan so far is right on. Complete pre-reqs (mainly orgo for now), take the DAT, and apply to dental schools (simple as that). I don't think you are ready to apply now, but if you do this right, you'll be ready to apply next year (June of 2012)

One thing I STRONGLY recommend is to get some dentistry shadowing.... having an "epiphany" for dentistry doesn't sound very convincing that you've thought and research this profession through. Get some shadowing (50-100 hrs)