Junior in High School with many questions!

[Member1110]

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Hello Dentists and Dentists in training,

I'm not sure how often you receive these types of questions, but I have quite a few myself to ask all you knowledgable people. I am currently in my Junior year of High School (from Philly, (Pennsylvania) Suburbs), and currently maintaining a 4.0 GPA (will probably drop to 3.94 at the end of the year) and I am aiming for about a 2000 SAT score. I have a boatload of extracurriculars including: Varsity soccer 3 yrs (Captain 2 years), JV soccer 1 yr, Track 2 yrs, Lax 1 yr, President of community service club (in it for 3 years), student council and a bunch more clubs. I also volunteer about an hour a week teaching kids how to read.

Now I was wondering about the college process as I am very interested to become a dentist myself. I know there's two paths: the accelerated dentistry program and then the Undergrad--apply for Dental School-Graduate school. Now I'm not really sure how much of a shot I would have with going to an Undergrad School and then making it into a Dental school. Ive seen the statistics and such to apply for Dental school, but I don't really know HOW hard it is to get a 3.5/3.6 GPA in college. I just am worried if I'd apply to a big school such as UCLA, I wouldn't be able to maintain that GPA, thus ruining my chances of getting into Dental School. I know if I got into an accelerated program (the famous UoP comes to my mind) I would almost be set to get into Dental School.

I really want to enjoy college, I don't want it to just be a pain in the butt and studying all day everyday until I puke. I do expect rigor, yet I don't want the work to be unbearably hard. Currently for undergrad I am looking at: UCLA, Michigan, Pitt, USC, University of Florida, Maryland UNC, UoP, Stony Brook. I'm not really sure if you should attend a school with an Dental School because my basic assumption was that you would be looked at better if you went to for example,Pitt Undergrad then would apply for the dental school and be more likely to make it in than someone outside of PItt... Yet I'm not sure if that's true. My Dad's told me I should look at a small university and get a high GPA in order to make it to graduate school. I just need to know from you guys, is it difficult to maintain that 3.5/3.6 GPA from those colleges..

Then again, I could try to get into an accelerated Dental program just so I'll basically be in the Dental school and not worry about competition all that much. But, I do want college to be fun too and not just ALL WORK, because that would really be dreadful. Are those accelerated Dentistry programs all that tough? I just want my odds of becoming a dentist to be favorable rather than unfavorable, yet I also want a fun college, lots of things to do (I really am not a country kind of guy, I prefer the city and eventful places), yet I also just want to get into Dental school to fulfill becoming a Dentist.. My father has deep pockets and can get me into any college, yet it is preferred that tuition isn't all that much. I am still really new to this college process and feel bogged down and stressed about it. Ill start going on campus tours this year.

I'm not completely in love with science, yet I do really like Dentistry. I like Bio a lot, somewhat like chem, and physics is so-so with me. I really do love Business though and am intrigued by it. Of course, everyone is a business man, yet I also would like to run many small businesses on the side of the career. Soooo the big question is should i major in BIO or some type of Business... I dont know if any Dental school would like one or the other.

Advice? Any comment about anything would truly help, thanks 🙂 Plus you can list any of your experiences with the college selection process/ going though college.

 

[tooth knockn]

Hello Dentists and Dentists in training,

I'm not sure how often you receive these types of questions, but I have quite a few myself to ask all you knowledgable people. I am currently in my Junior year of High School (from Philly, (Pennsylvania) Suburbs), and currently maintaining a 4.0 GPA (will probably drop to 3.94 at the end of the year) and I am aiming for about a 2000 SAT score. I have a boatload of extracurriculars including: Varsity soccer 3 yrs (Captain 2 years), JV soccer 1 yr, Track 2 yrs, Lax 1 yr, President of community service club (in it for 3 years), student council and a bunch more clubs. I also volunteer about an hour a week teaching kids how to read.

Now I was wondering about the college process as I am very interested to become a dentist myself. I know there's two paths: the accelerated dentistry program and then the Undergrad--apply for Dental School-Graduate school. Now I'm not really sure how much of a shot I would have with going to an Undergrad School and then making it into a Dental school. Ive seen the statistics and such to apply for Dental school, but I don't really know HOW hard it is to get a 3.5/3.6 GPA in college. I just am worried if I'd apply to a big school such as UCLA, I wouldn't be able to maintain that GPA, thus ruining my chances of getting into Dental School. I know if I got into an accelerated program (the famous UoP comes to my mind) I would almost be set to get into Dental School.

I really want to enjoy college, I don't want it to just be a pain in the butt and studying all day everyday until I puke. I do expect rigor, yet I don't want the work to be unbearably hard. Currently for undergrad I am looking at: UCLA, Michigan, Pitt, USC, University of Florida, Maryland UNC, UoP, Stony Brook. I'm not really sure if you should attend a school with an Dental School because my basic assumption was that you would be looked at better if you went to for example,Pitt Undergrad then would apply for the dental school and be more likely to make it in than someone outside of PItt... Yet I'm not sure if that's true. My Dad's told me I should look at a small university and get a high GPA in order to make it to graduate school. I just need to know from you guys, is it difficult to maintain that 3.5/3.6 GPA from those colleges..

Then again, I could try to get into an accelerated Dental program just so I'll basically be in the Dental school and not worry about competition all that much. But, I do want college to be fun too and not just ALL WORK, because that would really be dreadful. Are those accelerated Dentistry programs all that tough? I just want my odds of becoming a dentist to be favorable rather than unfavorable, yet I also want a fun college, lots of things to do (I really am not a country kind of guy, I prefer the city and eventful places), yet I also just want to get into Dental school to fulfill becoming a Dentist.. My father has deep pockets and can get me into any college, yet it is preferred that tuition isn't all that much. I am still really new to this college process and feel bogged down and stressed about it. Ill start going on campus tours this year.

I'm not completely in love with science, yet I do really like Dentistry. I like Bio a lot, somewhat like chem, and physics is so-so with me. I really do love Business though and am intrigued by it. Of course, everyone is a business man, yet I also would like to run many small businesses on the side of the career. Soooo the big question is should i major in BIO or some type of Business... I dont know if any Dental school would like one or the other.

Advice? Any comment about anything would truly help, thanks 🙂 Plus you can list any of your experiences with the college selection process/ going though college.

Accelerated dental school programs are what I recommend .


NYU , UOP are two example schools there are more .

Try to get a part time at a dental office or dental lab.

 

[Golfguy]

Try to find a school that will give you a full ride scholarship. That will do you more good than anything. Take cost into consideration when selecting a school.

I'm not aware of "accelerated" programs. But if you can cut off a few years then hey, why not.

You are in a position to do what I was too dumb to do in high school, so take advantage and get that full ride. You don't realize it now, but it will do wonders for your future.

 

[jmh018]

I went to a small university, around 1100 people with only 500 living on campus. i am the only predent here out of all four years right now, very few have gotten accepted to dental school from here but most who apply have low stats from here. i got a 3.72 and have a lot of other activities. I was accepted this year even though my university is relatively unknown to dental schools. Not sure i would have been accepted from a bigger university. Just my experience though, wont be the same for everyone.

 

[cookiemonster44]

My advice to you is to go to a university where you will obtain a broad liberal arts education. I highly doubt you have the life experiences to know how you want to use your talents to serve others. Dentistry may be the field you want to pursue; however, in the event you decide you do not want to become a dentist, you will want to have taken many courses to figure out your career path. I also suggest that you go to a school where you feel you will perform well. In other words, what makes you happy? A larger class size? A small class size? Location? It doesn't matter what is your major if you want to go into the health professions. It matters that you obtain high scores and contribute to your college community through EC's. Also, where you go to college DOES matter to some extent. If you are pursuing a business degree for example, going to a top school makes all the difference when competing for internships and jobs after college. All in all if you follow your father's advice of going to a no name school with the hopes of getting all A's, you will ultimately be cheating yourself. Since your father has " deep pockets" you should be aiming to go to as many college tours/admission fairs as possible with the hopes of getting into a school that can provide you a strong foundation to pursue any of your interests. Lastly, as you go through life you will constantly have to reaffirm to yourself as to why you are pursuing dentistry or any field that you choose. Make sure that you are truly committed to your career choice or else you will be miserable. I hope you do whatever makes you happy and that you become successful. Don't jump the gun just yet- look for a good college, then when you are in college- look for a dental school.