Major predicament

[JackDent]

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Hi I'm in a bit of a predicament. I've recently decided to go with my heart/gut and try and become a dentist. I always wanted to go into dentistry but I was told by my older brother and parents that I dont have what it takes and that business is the safe route. I've now spent a year at a community college taking gen eds and classes geared toward a business degree that I know I wont be happy with. Currently I am thinking of changing my major to biology and going the pre dental route. Is it to late for me to make the switch if I don't have any credits geared to science? (My gpa so far is a 3.5)

 

[rejuvenatedsoul]

you could always continue with the business major and take the bio/pre reqs on the side if your course load allows it. just make sure you're taking many upper levels. they like to see that.

 

[molarbear]

You would have had to take general ed classes for bio major anyway. Go ahead and switch, you aren't that far in. Even if you were there is no time limit to apply to dental school in your life. As rejuvenatedsould said, you could just major in business and then take all of the requirements for dental school. I would watch what you take at the junior college for the pre-reqs for dental school though. Some schools have limits and some schools don't accept any from community colleges.

 

[JackDent]

well I should be out of CC soon whether it be spring 2011 or fall 2011 so I really don't have tons of time to take many pre-dental courses at the CC

 

[Blarelli]

Hi I'm in a bit of a predicament. I've recently decided to go with my heart/gut and try and become a dentist. I always wanted to go into dentistry but I was told by my older brother and parents that I dont have what it takes and that business is the safe route. I've now spent a year at a community college taking gen eds and classes geared toward a business degree that I know I wont be happy with. Currently I am thinking of changing my major to biology and going the pre dental route. Is it to late for me to make the switch if I don't have any credits geared to science? (My gpa so far is a 3.5)

The dentist I shadow is always saying he wishes he would have majored in business and that they teach you all the science you need in dental school. You could do all the required science courses for most schools in one year if you plan it out right, and just keep on with the business classes.

 

[threeblindmice]

well I should be out of CC soon whether it be spring 2011 or fall 2011 so I really don't have tons of time to take many pre-dental courses at the CC

Good don't take them at the CC. Although you can get in taking them at CC, it looks better taking them at a University.

 

[lala05]

I majored in International Business and didn't start my pre-dental coursework until the summer after my second year in college. Like me, you may have to take a few summer courses and extra credits during the school year, but it's definitely not too late for you! and I agree with threeblindmice...I believe most schools prefer the pre-dental classes to be taken at a university not a CC...but I'm not positive.

 

[peanutb123]

DONT TAKE SCIENCE CLASSES AT A CC... take them at a 4 year univ. MANY D_SCHOOLs LOOK DOWN UPON them...

That being said...

Dont listen to anyone go with your heart. No one in this world knows you best. YES that includes your parents and your brother... + they are not god to tell you what you are capable of and what you are not. Only the strength within you can decide that faith...

ITs never late.

On the side note 1000's of doctors(MD's) are being told by American Med-schools that they are not capable of becoming doctors... Yet they achieve their goal by going to Poland and carab... etc... No one saw their potential either.

So good luck in your journey and switch to a 4-year univ.

If possible at least try to get a minor in business. So you will have a BACKUP just incase if you would like to take a year break upon graduation or something happens such as you have to retake dat's etc...

 

[allover]

STOP with the business route right NOW. It is a dead end trust me I speak from experience. As soon as you can, transfer to a four year university, meet with a pre-health advsisor, and start mapping out your courses for the next few years. Bio majors have to take gen ed courses so most of what you have done already will in one way or another apply to your bio degree. And forget about the minor in business.

And do not dwell on things like not having your degree within a set time frame. Don't sacrifice your GPA by overloading classes. And most of all, distance yourself from dream killers. Im sorry your family said those things to you as I can't imagine mine every saying something remotely as negative to me. Tell your ignorant father and older brother a 4 year business degree is not worth the paper its written on. and even if were a gold mine, its not what you want so its a moot point really. Im sorry to have to tell you this but, mothers not included, the people most likely to want to see you fail are in your own family. Id love to talk to you more if you wanna ever pm id love to help. sorry if i came off a bit strong, i mean well.😳

 

[Primalcrux]

I graduated with a degree in Business/Finance. It has been completely useless in every way. I worked in the business field for the five years following my degree and this is what my experiences taught me; 1. To be successful with a company you have to be good at kissing ass. (i am not) 2. It is more about who you know than anything else.

After the economy tanked and I was laid off I realized that I had no valuable skill to support my family with. I had no control over whether I was employed or not. I decided to go back to school to take pre-rec dental classes and become a dentist.

It is still a long shot for me, but even if I cant get into any Dental schools I can always go work for some crappy company and kiss my way up a freaking ladder.

I am not saying that dentists have everything easy. But they do have a tangible and valuable skill set that cant be taken away by a bad economy.

Not sure if any of this makes any sense, but I am in the mood to rant a little.

 

[dentaldawg32]

STOP with the business route right NOW. It is a dead end trust me I speak from experience. As soon as you can, transfer to a four year university, meet with a pre-health advsisor, and start mapping out your courses for the next few years. Bio majors have to take gen ed courses so most of what you have done already will in one way or another apply to your bio degree. And forget about the minor in business.

And do not dwell on things like not having your degree within a set time frame. Don't sacrifice your GPA by overloading classes. And most of all, distance yourself from dream killers. Im sorry your family said those things to you as I can't imagine mine every saying something remotely as negative to me. Tell your ignorant father and older brother a 4 year business degree is not worth the paper its written on. and even if were a gold mine, its not what you want so its a moot point really. Im sorry to have to tell you this but, mothers not included, the people most likely to want to see you fail are in your own family. Id love to talk to you more if you wanna ever pm id love to help. sorry if i came off a bit strong, i mean well.😳

Business is only a dead end route if you attended a low tier program. If you got your BBA at Wharton, Sloan, Ross, Haas, etc., the job outlook is actually quite good. These programs have very good track records of placing their graduates in entry level jobs at investment/banking firms pulling in 70-80k first year out, even despite the recession.

 

[alanan84]

I graduated with a degree in Business/Finance. It has been completely useless in every way. I worked in the business field for the five years following my degree and this is what my experiences taught me; 1. To be successful with a company you have to be good at kissing ass. (i am not) 2. It is more about who you know than anything else.

I actually knew this when I started undergrad, which is actually why I tried to stear clear from business. I, like you, am not great at networking which is the most valuable of all tools in business.

 

[alanan84]

Business is only a dead end route if you attended a low tier program. If you got your BBA at Wharton, Sloan, Ross, Haas, etc., the job outlook is actually quite good. These programs have very good track records of placing their graduates in entry level jobs at investment/banking firms pulling in 70-80k first year out, even despite the recession.

Actually, even if you go to a lower tier program, you can still get a decent job. Both my brothers and a cousin have finance degrees from decent (not upper tier) universities. All 3 have landed jobs with defense contractors making 50 - 60k with the option of pursuing an MBA on the company's dime. Not a horrible gig imo.

 

[flabernak]

DONT TAKE SCIENCE CLASSES AT A CC... take them at a 4 year univ. MANY D_SCHOOLs LOOK DOWN UPON them...

That being said...

Dont listen to anyone go with your heart. No one in this world knows you best. YES that includes your parents and your brother... + they are not god to tell you what you are capable of and what you are not. Only the strength within you can decide that faith...

ITs never late.

On the side note 1000's of doctors(MD's) are being told by American Med-schools that they are not capable of becoming doctors... Yet they achieve their goal by going to Poland and carab... etc... No one saw their potential either.

So good luck in your journey and switch to a 4-year univ.

If possible at least try to get a minor in business. So you will have a BACKUP just incase if you would like to take a year break upon graduation or something happens such as you have to retake dat's etc...

I'm with peanutb123, it's never too late. Apply to a 4-year university and make sure they have a pre-health committee that will write you a committee letter. Biology degree is good because more schools are adding pre-req classes like physiology, biochem, calculus; and these are included in a biology degree. Don't take your science classes at CC. And some business classes will help you as well. Specifically, accounting I and Legal env of business are good for running a business (ie your own practice).

Cheers

 

[UltimateHombre]

It's kinda funny... you have people telling you not to listen to anyone's advice and follow your heart, then a sentence later they tell you what to major in!!

Peanut was the closest... you are the only person that knows what you want. Do whatever interests YOU!!! Major in what YOU want!!! To be completely honest... your major is probably the very last thing that will matter when it comes to d-school. The things that matter most are GPA, DAT, Interview, and EC's.

I personally felt that undergrad was the only time i was going to be able to study what i truly loved and liked. You will be studying tons of science once in d-school, so if something else interests you now... do it. I personally am double majoring in Communication and Sociology.... why? Because i love them... will it be a problem when it comes to d-schools? No i have a 3.75 GPA and A's in all my prereqs... but more importantly in life i will never look back and have regrets in my undergrad.

Pursue what you love and give the finger to the nay sayers. Only you know your true potential!! Good luck!!! 😀😀😀

 

[alanan84]

It's kinda funny... you have people telling you not to listen to anyone's advice and follow your heart, then a sentence later they tell you what to major in!!

Peanut was the closest... you are the only person that knows what you want. Do whatever interests YOU!!! Major in what YOU want!!! To be completely honest... your major is probably the very last thing that will matter when it comes to d-school. The things that matter most are GPA, DAT, Interview, and EC's.

I personally felt that undergrad was the only time i was going to be able to study what i truly loved and liked. You will be studying tons of science once in d-school, so if something else interests you now... do it. I personally am double majoring in Communication and Sociology.... why? Because i love them... will it be a problem when it comes to d-schools? No i have a 3.75 GPA and A's in all my prereqs... but more importantly in life i will never look back and have regrets in my undergrad.

Pursue what you love and give the finger to the nay sayers. Only you know your true potential!! Good luck!!! 😀😀😀

Studying what you love is great... as long as it gets you into dental school.

I would call up the top 3 or 4 schools you're interested in to make sure they don't give preference to bio or chem majors, or applicants with lots of upper level science courses (ie bio and chem majors).

I know most schools don't care what you major in as long as you've taken all the prereqs. With that said, I also know quite a few applicants last year that were surprised to be rejected quickly from Baylor even though they had great GPAs and DAT scores. (Hint hint, they weren't science majors)

 

[medent]

.

 

[UltimateHombre]

Studying what you love is great... as long as it gets you into dental school.

I would call up the top 3 or 4 schools you're interested in to make sure they don't give preference to bio or chem majors, or applicants with lots of upper level science courses (ie bio and chem majors).

I know most schools don't care what you major in as long as you've taken all the prereqs. With that said, I also know quite a few applicants last year that were surprised to be rejected quickly from Baylor even though they had great GPAs and DAT scores. (Hint hint, they weren't science majors)

The notion that schools prefer bio/chem majors is just not backed up statistically. Would a bio/chem major prepare you better for dental school classes, possibly. But IMO it is better to do something you love and do well, then to do something you dislike and do mediocre.

Look up the the excel spread sheet in Doc Toothaches thread below... it says it all:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=640363

However i would agree it is still a good idea to take upper level science courses if you can fit them. For example i took/taking Biochem, Micro, A+P 1 and 2, and possibly histology because i know it will be helpful later.

Bottomline.... major is very insignificant... notice (referring to the sheet and especially in 08) how there is almost equal amounts of all majors represented. IMO it is almost better to have an "unusual" major, it stands out more than the 70% of bio/chem major applicants.

But really all your getting on this thread is a bunch of pre dents advice... take it at face value. 😀

 

[alanan84]

The notion that schools prefer bio/chem majors is just not backed up statistically. Would a bio/chem major prepare you better for dental school classes, possibly. But IMO it is better to do something you love and do well, then to do something you dislike and do mediocre.

Look up the the excel spread sheet in Doc Toothaches thread below... it says it all:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=640363

However i would agree it is still a good idea to take upper level science courses if you can fit them. For example i took/taking Biochem, Micro, A+P 1 and 2, and possibly histology because i know it will be helpful later.

Bottomline.... major is very insignificant... notice (referring to the sheet and especially in 08) how there is almost equal amounts of all majors represented. IMO it is almost better to have an "unusual" major, it stands out more than the 70% of bio/chem major applicants.

But really all your getting on this thread is a bunch of pre dents advice... take it at face value. 😀

Sure, you can disregard what I'm saying all you want. I'm just recommending people check with their top 3 or 4 schools to see if they prefer a bio/chem degree and/or upper level sciences. Doing that got me into dental school. I intended to major in Kinesiology but upon talking with Baylor, learned that I would not be as competitive with that degree. I know not every school is as strict about that as Baylor but I'm just saying...

I'm not saying everybody should major in bio or chem, but that's the fastest way to get a degree, fulfill dental school prereqs, and adequately prepare for dental school.

What doc toothaches spreadsheet doesn't show is the amount of upper level sciences that the non-bio/chem people had taken. Sure, you're going to be very competitive if you major in business but take 6 or 7 upper level bio classes.

 

[peanutb123]

The notion that schools prefer bio/chem majors is just not backed up statistically. Would a bio/chem major prepare you better for dental school classes, possibly. But IMO it is better to do something you love and do well, then to do something you dislike and do mediocre.

Look up the the excel spread sheet in Doc Toothaches thread below... it says it all:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=640363

However i would agree it is still a good idea to take upper level science courses if you can fit them. For example i took/taking Biochem, Micro, A+P 1 and 2, and possibly histology because i know it will be helpful later.

Bottomline.... major is very insignificant... notice (referring to the sheet and especially in 08) how there is almost equal amounts of all majors represented. IMO it is almost better to have an "unusual" major, it stands out more than the 70% of bio/chem major applicants.

But really all your getting on this thread is a bunch of pre dents advice... take it at face value. 😀

Alan is correct. When i talked to a dean from D-school. He said yeah sure we love to see variety of majors. Then he put a "BUT" stating that we love to see upper division science(BIO) classes even more.

He also stated this as a fact for this certain school. He said if you look at their data you will see some non bio majors. But in fact they are in a way BIO majors lacking one or 2 classes. Non bio majors take so many upper division classes that they START TO look like bio majors in the adcoms eyes.

Think about it in most schools excluding bioI & II (8 credits)
You only need to take about 7-8 bio classes to become bio major.

So ULTi... you would look like a bio mojor... since you already took like 6/8 classes required to be a bio major...

 

[UltimateHombre]

I'm just recommending people check with their top 3 or 4 schools to see if they prefer a bio/chem degree and/or upper level sciences. Doing that got me into dental school. I intended to major in Kinesiology but upon talking with Baylor, learned that I would not be as competitive with that degree. I know not every school is as strict about that as Baylor but I'm just saying...
I completely agree with you, def call your top schools to see their preference. Thanks for the sound advice.
What doc toothaches spreadsheet doesn't show is the amount of upper level sciences that the non-bio/chem people had taken. Sure, you're going to be very competitive if you major in business but take 6 or 7 upper level bio classes.
True... the spreadsheet is missing that data, that could potentially change a lot. Either way, with the competitiveness that exists today, it would be wise to take more upper division sciences to show your ability.

Thanks for giving me better perspective!

 

[UltimateHombre]

He said if you look at their data you will see some non bio majors. But in fact they are in a way BIO majors lacking one or 2 classes. Non bio majors take so many upper division classes that they START TO look like bio majors in the adcoms eyes.

Think about it in most schools excluding bioI & II (8 credits)
You only need to take about 7-8 bio classes to become bio major.

So ULTi... you would look like a bio mojor... since you already took like 6/8 classes required to be a bio major...

Never thought about it like that, well stated!! It makes a lot of sense when you think about it like that!