How important are upper div. bio courses?

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yourdentisttt

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Would having no or very little upper division biology courses, aside from prerequisites, hurt my application?
If yes, how do non-science majors manage to take upper division science courses beyond the prerequisites, while working on their degree??
 
They are pretty important, dental schools want to know that you can handle a tough course load and some bio classes are relevant. Like Neuroscience, Microbiology...ect.
 
yourdentisttt said:
Would having no or very little upper division biology courses, aside from prerequisites, hurt my application?
If yes, how do non-science majors manage to take upper division science courses beyond the prerequisites, while working on their degree??
Click to expand...

IMO, as long as you show that you can do well in your science prereqs then they probably will not assume you can not handle the upper division bio courses.

good luck
 
yourdentisttt said:
Would having no or very little upper division biology courses, aside from prerequisites, hurt my application?
If yes, how do non-science majors manage to take upper division science courses beyond the prerequisites, while working on their degree??
Click to expand...

Mucho importante! This will show D-schools that you can handle the anatomy/histology/physiology/biochem. courseload to come. As far as juggling it with a non-science major....bust your hump or only take a couple and hope that the adcom's are satisfied. I would suggest the hump busting.
 
sorry, i'd like to bud in and ask another semi-related question instead of starting a new thread, which sometimes makes ppl mad.

which is more important as a post-bacc (not masters tho, a 5th year): getting high grades with non-science or lower year courses or: doing upper division science courses but doing not as good (as in it may pull my GPA even lower than it is!) haha. thanks for ur feedback.
 
yourdentisttt said:
Would having no or very little upper division biology courses, aside from prerequisites, hurt my application?
If yes, how do non-science majors manage to take upper division science courses beyond the prerequisites, while working on their degree??
Click to expand...
If you have good grades in the prereqs and a good DAT score, I don't think it would be necessary to take upper division bio. Remove either one of those and it would become necessary.
 
Some schools do require additional courses beyond the prereqs so it is increasingly becoming more important. Practically all the schools recommend taking a few of those courses.
 
Someone I was close with last year received an acceptance to UPENN Dental with hardly any upper level biology courses. His adviser made the recommendation of strengthening his application by taking business, accounting, and marketing classes instead. Apparently it seemed to help him. He had a 3.2 GPA and to my knowledge did only sub par on his DATs.
 
Totally depends on your situation. I got accepted having taken only gen chem (no orgo, bio, or physics)! But that was a unique situation where I was going into a post bacc type program and my other credentials made me stand out. If you've been pre-dental since entering college, they will want to see those upper level courses.
 
The bozz,

I'm curious as a fellow post-bacc., (and also non-traditional student)....

I was also wondering about whether I needed to take more upper-level science classes having just taken most of the pre-reques. and nothing more...

what were the credentials that made you "stand out?"

And did you score highly on the DAT?
 
If you do well on the DAT and have good GPA/pre-req GPA, they shouldn't really matter. If you're boarderline (whatever that means!), they could matter (unless those are the courses that brought down your GPA or something). If your on the lower end of the scale, they won't matter.
 
yourdentisttt said:
Would having no or very little upper division biology courses, aside from prerequisites, hurt my application?
Click to expand...

If you don't get into any school, then you can blame it on your lack of upper div bio courses. It's always good to have a scapegoat.

If yes, how do non-science majors manage to take upper division science courses beyond the prerequisites, while working on their degree??
Click to expand...

You do it hard... and deep. Like a python.
 
I only have the pre-requisites and graduated with a BA in Economics. I have a 3.4 and 18 AA. Would I be allright just the pre-req's, at the very least for NYU because they mentioned upper-level classes are recommended but by no means would keep an applicant from being accepted. Thank you for your help!
 
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