Low confidence

[syeh3]

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This will be my first time taking the DAT,,, I started somewhere studying but got distracted some days and some days not. I went through destroyer once for orgo and did a load of practice exams watched chads twice for gen chem (bad at cslculations part) and bio is just hard! Now I'm practicing for my PAT.. Mastered hole punching some of ranking and getting there with pattern folding 🙁 I'm not very good at these exams and somewhere along the way I feel out of place to continue to be a dentist. I never really truly loved science but I always loved art bc it's a sense of freedom and you can literally create anything without rules. I just wish it was a better career option 🙁

 

[TheDanger]

Why did you decide to become a dentist in the first place? Have you shadowed at all?

 

[TheDanger]

I'm asking this because if you have explored the field and found that you are passionate about it but have gotten discouraged because of studying for the DAT/thinking about how difficult dental school may be, I think you still have hope. If you didn't really like dentistry from the start then you really don't have a source of motivation to get through this tough time and I would then recommend reevaluating and looking into different career paths that will make you happy.

 

[syeh3]

I haven't had time for shadowing bc I was finishing up my pre-Reqs... but yeah I do have the plan B.

 

[emminent]

There is no such thing as a plan B. Plan B is an excuse to not do plan A. Stick with it you're just feeling down like all of us when we're going through this rollercoaster. Believe in yourself and push forward.

 

[TheDanger]

In my opinion, shadowing should be the first thing someone should do! Why invest so much effort and time and money into something that you aren't even sure you'll like?

At least at this point you've figured out that dentistry may not be the right path for you. I'm sure there are some students that are in their 2nd or 3rd year of dental school and are then just realizing it's not what they want, which means the hundreds of thousands of dollars they've spend and years they've dedicated have gone to waste. It's better to find this out earlier on, as in your case. I would still encourage shadowing a little, since there has to be some reason dentistry interested you in the first place. If you find that you really do like it, there's no harm in taking the DAT and applying next cycle! It's better than taking the DAT now when you aren't prepared or motivated, completely bombing it, and having that score stick with you for years. If you find that you don't enjoy dentistry, there are a million other careers out there.

Of course, I'm not trying to discourage you at all if this is what you love! There are tons of people that love the field but don't feel like they can succeed because they "aren't smart enough" or whatever excuse they provide. If you feel like you're one of those people, there's an entire forum here where people encourage one another. 🙂 If you truly want it, it can be done.

 

[AlvaDentistry]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/motivation-it-is-in-you.1082914/