It's Time To Quit ******* Around On This Forum...

[476515678234896]

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It's summer and I haven't really been motivated to be productive or do any goal directed work. But because application season is taking off, I want to get back into the groove of things.


Here's my plan:

Summer 10 (now)
Bio 1

Fall 10
Bio 2

Winter 10
DAT

Spring 11
Biochem
Physics 2

Fall 11
Physiology

Like you see I'll be staying an extra semester and applying the semester after my senior year.

I've shadowed several dentists and have a summer of experience in a dental clinic. Apart from that I work (paid) and have some volunteer experience. LOR's shouldn't be a problem and I'll be shooting for California schools.

The questions...

1) How much will saying an extra semester hurt me?

3) Something that's been bugging me for a while now is preparing for the DAT. I've rocked my classes (besides Gchem 1) but I'm not sure how to prepare for the DAT after my bio series ends after Fall 10. It seems like I'll have 4 weeks max, to peak my scores. Should I take a prep course from something offered by kaplan, Princeton review, ect? I'm not really sure about the whole online thing and I feel a little lost about how to effectively prepare in such a short time.

4) Fluff classes that bring me over the "full time student" status...how bad do they look even if I got 4.0's?

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6) When should I start collecting LOR's? I'm not really clear on the service that is used.

7) As far as LOR's go, I'm going to have 1 from a psych professor, 2 from bio profs, and 1 from a dentist. Should I get more? will i need more for secondaries?

8) Should I be looking at what questions are asked in secondaries and start writing about them as well?

9) I've got almost exactly a year before I need to apply. Besides keeping my grades up and owning the DAT, what can I do to make my application stronger?

 

[giveringtou]

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[476515678234896]

really helpful. just to clarify, the p/np classes or "fluff classes" are 1 unit seminars that don't have the option for a letter grade.

 

[takedailyfiber]

It's summer and I haven't really been motivated to be productive or do any goal directed work. But because application season is taking off, I want to get back into the groove of things.

My GPA is a 3.75 - 3.8ish (similar sGPA) I'm a junior psych major, I go to a top 20 school, and I've taken all my prereqs besides Bio 1/2, Physics 2, and biochem. I did poorly my first semester (w/ gchem) but I've had pretty much 4.0's since.

I got a C in GenChem 1, A's in OChem 1 & 2 and GenChem 2, a B+ in Physics 1, and an A in an intro to Bio Class (all w/ labs).

Here's my plan:

Summer 10 (now)
Bio 1

Fall 10
Bio 2

Winter 10
DAT

Spring 11
Biochem
Physics 2

Summer 11
Anatomy
Apply

Fall 11
Physiology

Like you see I'll be staying an extra semester and applying the semester after my senior year.

I've shadowed several dentists and have a summer of experience in a dental clinic. Apart from that I work (paid) and have some volunteer experience. LOR's shouldn't be a problem and I'll be shooting for California schools.

The questions...

1) How much will saying an extra semester hurt me?

2) My couseload is a little bit on the light side (13-15 units with 2 or 3 p/np each semester) because I need to stay the extra semester and I'm worried that because my major is relatively soft, I would look weak to adcoms. What can I do to strengthen my application in this aspect? (does the work help?)

3) Something that's been bugging me for a while now is preparing for the DAT. I've rocked my classes (besides Gchem 1) but I'm not sure how to prepare for the DAT after my bio series ends after Fall 10. It seems like I'll have 4 weeks max, to peak my scores. Should I take a prep course from something offered by kaplan, Princeton review, ect? I'm not really sure about the whole online thing and I feel a little lost about how to effectively prepare in such a short time.

4) Fluff classes that bring me over the "full time student" status...how bad do they look even if I got 4.0's?

5) I've taken 9 units of online courses....I can't seem to find anything concrete and specific about them on SDN or ADEA. Are they okay to calculate into your GPA?

I have a bunch more questions....I'll add them to the thread later if people respond................(please respond 😛)

1) Don't worry about it, no problemo

2) I would probably stop p/np classes, unless you don't have a choice. Combining this with #4, I think it's fine to p/np fluff classes, or other classes that are out of your major but still show some sort of productive experience. I wouldn't do it every term unless the class itself is based on p/np.

3) If you were planning to take the DAT in Winter '10, I think if you didn't feel ready at the end of your allotted study time, you could push it forward to Spring '11 and be fine. You still have to wait to fill out your AADSAS anyway. Why not take it a little later?

At the same time, it is entirely possible to study for a month and do well - start off with a practice test to see how much you know, and decide what you need to work on. As for what services to use, I can only offer what I know. Kaplan's course is about 3 weeks, and if you do everything they ask you to (which is a ton of online material), you could pull it off. They also give you many practice tests. Other people don't use courses, some do. One person I know bought a Kaplan book 2 weeks before the test and owned it. You can explore around SDN to see what kind of study plan to follow.

4) What kinds of fluff classes? I think 1-2 units of fluff a term isn't bad, but try and make sure it's not all fitness classes or something. Or, use this fluff in another way; take classes that would be helpful and fun, but not required. I was a science major, but a lot of my "fluff" classes were creative writing, music, and communication courses. I took them out of interest and relief (when compared to hard science), but with the hope that I would still get something out of them. I think these kinds of "fluff" classes are productive and may help you appear more well-rounded, at least in terms of your interests. Bad fluff is when you take like 3 sports classes, or something akin to that.


5) Online courses are grades, and all college grades must be put into the AADSAS. They belong in there.

That said, you seem to have a strong academic background, keep up the science classes and do well on the DAT. You have a good shot.

 

[doanh]

I would take physio before anatomy to help for the DATs.

 

[476515678234896]

Thanks for the responses and PM's guys. You've all been really helpful. I've added a couple more questions.

 

[giveringtou]

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[mustardseed5]

really? what is a top 20 school...?

 

[476515678234896]

bump for 10-13 (if anyone has some time to waste 😛)

 

[SeattleRDH]

10. LOE = letter of evaluation LOR = letter of recommendation

12. Anatomy, Physiology, Micro

 

[DividedByZero]

10) Same thing.

11) Yes, it is common but do not expect to get any real or helpful answers. All you'll get out of them is the company line. Examples: Each applicant is looked at thoroughly and based on all their individual merits. Keep shadowing and volunteering to show continued interest (despite having 300+ hours shadowing and 2000+ hours of community service). Etc, etc.

12) Most important: Physio and anatomy (only if it's Human Gross Anatomy!, not comparative); Least important: genetics. My advice: Take all you can and then some (biochemistry, histology, neuroscience, microbiology, pathology, immunology, virology, pharmacology, embryology, etc.) The more exposure you have, the easier dental school will be! (Also, if you can't handle more than two science courses per semester.... you will be in for a rude awakening in dental school as you will be taking about 4-5 hard sciences each semester in addition to your preclinic courses. Take at least three or four per semester so you know in your heart that you are prepared for dental school).

13) Prep course = waste of money IMO. I never did one and even though my parents have offered to pay for one, I still refused. Didn't feel like wasting their money when I have plenty of motivation to keep me going by myself. But everybody's different. Just make sure that if you do end up doing one, do not take their word as gospel. Use many different resources. Like if you end up doing Kaplan, don't just use their test prep materials... supplement them with orgoman, cliffs, CRACK DAT software, achiever, topscore, etc.

 

[476515678234896]

thank you a lot (especially byzero) but it's still not registering for #10 😳.

What's the difference in content between a LOE and a LOR? does the LOE come from a pre-health committee? (my school doesn't have one)

bumping for a 14th Q if anyone can answer.

 

[Lane138]

How does one define a fluff class? At my college, every class is a half-credit, so how does the schools evaluate if one class is hard or not? Specifically, I was thinking of taking a class on The Science of Aging-- it's really interesting but it's also not like the anatomy/biochem courses...

 

[SeattleRDH]

10. potayto, potahto

 

[gorrillaunit18]

10. potayto, potahto

 

[476515678234896]

i feel out of the loop

 

[ChubbyBaby]

I go to a top 20 school,

what school?

 

[476515678234896]

berk

edit: ahh... it's 21 now 🙁

seriously...do you like being a dentist? 😀

 

[ChubbyBaby]

berk

edit: ahh... it's 21 now 🙁

seriously...do you like being a dentist? 😀

you want the long answer?!

i could never be a general dentist. root canals, crowns, restorative, removable.... there's just too much stuff. I knew I would never be good at all of it, and i'm the type of person that would go home and not be able to flush it out of my mind if i did an MOD amalgam without good contours, or cemented a PFM in the anterior area where the color wasn't perfect or you could see the margins a little bit.

I'm specializing, and I will tell you that I'm quite certain i have lucked into the #1 best job i could have ever asked for! it's truely a blessing.

Perhaps i'm being a little cynical about general dentistry. Maybe if I did an AEGD or a GPR program I would've felt a little more confident about general.

Dentistry overall though is totally underrated as a profession, and medicine is totall over-rated.

 

[476515678234896]

you want the long answer?!

i could never be a general dentist. root canals, crowns, restorative, removable.... there's just too much stuff. I knew I would never be good at all of it, and i'm the type of person that would go home and not be able to flush it out of my mind if i did an MOD amalgam without good contours, or cemented a PFM in the anterior area where the color wasn't perfect or you could see the margins a little bit.

I'm specializing, and I will tell you that I'm quite certain i have lucked into the #1 best job i could have ever asked for! it's truely a blessing.

Perhaps i'm being a little cynical about general dentistry. Maybe if I did an AEGD or a GPR program I would've felt a little more confident about general.

Dentistry overall though is totally underrated as a profession, and medicine is totall over-rated.

That was perfect. Thank you, I've been having doubts about dentistry as of late and that was a bit of a kick in the right direction.


and I'm happy that you're in a specialty that you're excited about.

 

[476515678234896]

bumping for 14 and 15