I am a musician, I need input!

[yumi43]

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Hi everyone.
I'm 24, almost 25, and have been a violinist for most of my life. I have a B.M. and M.M. from well-known institutions and, although I didn't take my classes in music school very seriously, I ended up with a GPA around 3.4 (this is a rough guess as they don't calculate gpa's at conservatories... hehe).
I have always struggled with my career choice, and it was either being a musician, or going into the health field. I feel as though the time has come for me to pursue the latter. I've been researching post-bacc programs, and I'll probably end up at Hunter (since I live in nyc and it's the not as expensive as NYU or Columbia). The required curriculum in 2 years is Bio, Chem, OChem, Physics, English (I took humanities as an undergrad, does that count?)... Is math not a pre-req for dental schools anymore? I didn't take calculus in high school, and I'm afraid I may not remember anything from my pre-calculus days. Should I take a math course? Also, I noticed a lot of the top dental schools ask for biochem as well. Should I sign up for that? I'm so scared about the workload and whether I will be able to retain all this new info. I haven't studied seriously for about 10 years. ACK!! I need advice! THaNKS!

 

[LoF27]

There are lots of people who successfully switch career paths before enrolling in dental school. It is not easy at all. It will be hard to take demanding science classes after not being used to studying. It takes a lot of time, money, sweat and tears, but it is certainly dooable--you just have to REALLY want it and be prepared for the long road ahead.

Do take calculus and biochem, many schools require them and if you're going to take the trouble, you might as well take these classes. You also must do things to prove that you know what it is to be a dentist, i.e. spend many hours shadowing a dentist.

Good luck!

 

[heterozygous]

I am a pianist and aspired to be a chamber musician while at Trinity College of Music in London. Reality eventually set in, however, and I realized I needed a career to support my music habit. To cut a long story short, after a few years work experience in hospital clinics I set out to do prereqs for dental school (I have a humanities degree) and have just been accepted to a school in California.
Math classes were a struggle but conceptual subjects like 0-chem and Biochem were far more interesting for me. If you have the discipline to learn an instrument well you'll find you can apply a similar mindset to studying - and even find some interesting parallels in the process.
Good Luck!

 

[markimark]

yumi43,

my story is similar...i transferred from a music conservatory (i'm a cellist) to a university to take my pre-dental requirements...it wasn't easy and it took a lot of effort on my part to switch from a relatively light course load and poor (more precisely, non-existing) study habits to hard-core courses such as orgo, biochem, upper level biology and studying every day...but it's possible if you're really determined to do it. pm me if you have any questions. good luck and i think you are doing the right thing!

 

[Blitzdt]

There are lots of people who successfully switch career paths before enrolling in dental school. It is not easy at all. It will be hard to take demanding science classes after not being used to studying. It takes a lot of time, money, sweat and tears, but it is certainly dooable--you just have to REALLY want it and be prepared for the long road ahead.

Do take calculus and biochem, many schools require them and if you're going to take the trouble, you might as well take these classes. You also must do things to prove that you know what it is to be a dentist, i.e. spend many hours shadowing a dentist.

Good luck!

Only small number of schools require them...I think it's good that you take biochem, but calculus...I personally wouldn't do it. All of the schools that i applied to only a couple require biochem and only 1 require calculus. I strongly recommend you to buy that ADA handbook and look at the requirements for each school. Good luck!

 

[dr.frahj]

I hear ya on the struggle. I'm in the middle of my 3rd year of undergrad, studying piano performance and taking pre-dental courses on the side. People say I'm crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Except for the times where I feel like screwing a secure future with a nice job to do something that could possibly be more rewarding (like composing film scores 😍 )

 

[Dr IWannaBe]

Great thread! I too am a musician. My undergrad degree was in piano and I got my master's in theory and composition. I have been teaching for almost 9 years and I have enjoyed it, but I am looking to do "something else". I am taking Bio II and Organic Chem I and I just have Org. II + the DAT this summer and off I am to appying. By the way, I think interesting people (name 1 person that doesn't think a musician is interesting) have an advantage in the whole application process! Just as long as scores and GPA are competitive. And as to the original post, I graduated with a 3.48 GPA in undergrad with piano performance (I got lazy) and in my master's program, 3.71

 

[Blitzdt]

Great thread! I too am a musician. My undergrad degree was in piano and I got my master's in theory and composition. I have been teaching for almost 9 years and I have enjoyed it, but I am looking to do "something else". I am taking Bio II and Organic Chem I and I just have Org. II + the DAT this summer and off I am to appying. By the way, I think interesting people (name 1 person that doesn't think a musician is interesting) have an advantage in the whole application process! Just as long as scores and GPA are competitive. And as to the original post, I graduated with a 3.48 GPA in undergrad with piano performance (I got lazy) and in my master's program, 3.71

uhmmm....Steve Urkle and he plays the accordion...i don't think he's interesting.

 

[HermeytheElf]

Get a haircut and a job...hippie.

 

[lnsip9reg]

it's doable, just set your mind to it!

it'll be hard at times, but remember what your end goal is 😳

as mlkjr said, keep your eye on the prize!

 

[countbluecars]

you'll have plenty to talk about when they ask you what activities you've done to demonstrate your manual dexterity.