High school courses

[Doomcat9167]

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I'm currently attending high school as a sophomore and I am willing to be a dentist for sure.
And I've got some questions to ask.

1. What helpful high school courses should I take? (i.e. physics, anatomy, chemistry, etc.)

2. As an outdoor school activity, will it help for dental schools and colleges, by joining Youth RedCross?

Any advice would be highly appreciated
Thanks🙂

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

I'm currently attending high school as a sophomore and I am willing to be a dentist for sure.
And I've got some questions to ask.

1. What helpful high school courses should I take? (i.e. physics, anatomy, chemistry, etc.)

2. As an outdoor school activity, will it help for dental schools and colleges, by joining Youth RedCross?

Any advice would be highly appreciated
Thanks🙂

Dental school don't look at your high school stuff, that being said, anything and everything science should be taken to prepare yourself for college. You'll obviously want to take basic chem, bio, and physics, and if you have more specialized classes (you mentioned anatomy) then also take those. Anything that can prepare you for the rigors of college so you can get good grades.

I don't know what Youth RedCross is, but it sounds volunteer-ish / medical. Anything that is volunteering is good, and the healthcare part wouldn't hurt either. Patient contact is always good (Again, i'm just guessing what this redcross thing is). Just make sure you are also shadowing dentists to demonstrate to the schools that you've been interested in dentistry since high school.

 

[subdoc]

I would worry about taking courses to prepare you for UNDERGRAD - then start worrying about classes for D School.

Get your hands on as many AP courses you can. If your area offers a "head start" program at a local CC, do it.

Good on you for the volunteerism. Keep it up. It does not necessarily need to be medical/dental related, although it does not hurt. Find ECAs you like and RUN with it! Get deeply involved instead of merely participating.

Best of luck...worry about your date for prom before you start worrying about all these classes...enjoy being 16 while you can! (I say this as I am doubling you up on your age! ...gulp)

 

[UndergradGuy7]

One thing to also know, some schools have guaranteed admissions to their programs. So if you do really good in high school, and do good on the SAT or ACT, you can apply for the guaranteed admissions. This means they will accept you to dental school as long as you maintain like a 3.5 GPA. Sometimes they let you in no matter what DAT score you get, others will have a minimum you need. This could make it easier for you to get in and get rid of the stress in applying. Check if your state schools have something like this. You need to apply for it when you are applying to the school. Once you start college it is usually too late.

I would take AP classes to help you in college. AP Biology and AP Chemistry. Calculus is not needed for the DAT, but if you like math you can take AP Calculus too.

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

One thing to also know, some schools have guaranteed admissions to their programs. So if you do really good in high school, and do good on the SAT or ACT, you can apply for the guaranteed admissions. This means they will accept you to dental school as long as you maintain like a 3.5 GPA. Sometimes they let you in no matter what DAT score you get, others will have a minimum you need. This could make it easier for you to get in and get rid of the stress in applying. Check if your state schools have something like this. You need to apply for it when you are applying to the school. Once you start college it is usually too late.

I would take AP classes to help you in college. AP Biology and AP Chemistry. Calculus is not needed for the DAT, but if you like math you can take AP Calculus too.

The dental school thing is a GREAT POINT. I didn't learn about these programs until I was already in college. I was kicking myself in the pants when I found out there were programs that would "tentatively" accept you into D-school. Definitely look for those!!!!!!

 

[New2Philly]

The dental school thing is a GREAT POINT. I didn't learn about these programs until I was already in college. I was kicking myself in the pants when I found out there were programs that would "tentatively" accept you into D-school. Definitely look for those!!!!!!

I think dental schools call them Affiliation Agreements, and they seem like a great way to take a bit of the stress off of getting in.

 

[w3u46]

I would have to echo what the other posters have said (take AP classes, focus on preparing a strong science background for undergrad, look into the 7 year programs, volunteer and so on) but I want to add that at this point, you should also be doing things you enjoy and are really interested in in terms of classwork.

I suppose everyone on this forum thinks dentistry is a great career (myself included!) but you have a looong ways to go before dental school, and you shouldn't be so narrow in your focus that you miss exploring other things that you might also enjoy or enjoy even more. You don't have to feel compelled to specialize at this point, a lot of really successful people don't even know their major 2 years into college -- then again, if dentistry is what you're truly into, than go for it! just keep looking around too, since you have the luxury of time.

good luck 🙂