Majoring in Sociology for pre-dental

[Dentistlife]

Hello, I was a biology major but I switched my major to sociology. I switched because honestly, I'm realizing a major that is just biology courses is not for me. I'm just not happy. Although I am doing well in my science classes I'm not enjoying it and the only reason I'm doing well is that I only take two sciences a semester. Whereas, most biology majors take a lot more a semester. I still want to become a dentist, but I want to ENJOY my undergrad. Is sociology really looked down on by dental schools? I mean it is a major and I will still be fulfilling my science prereqs. I do plan on killing my science prereqs and taking a few upper division courses. What are your opinions? Should I go back to biology? Or stick to sociology and get great grades in the science prereqs and an awesome dat score? With a sociology major I will end up with a gpa of around 3.7 or 3.8 and with biology a 3.4 or 3.5.
Also, should I take trig or calc during my undergrad?

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[WaveRace]

Hello, I was a biology major but I switched my major to sociology. I switched because honestly, I'm realizing a major that is just biology courses is not for me. I'm just not happy. Although I am doing well in my science classes I'm not enjoying it and the only reason I'm doing well is that I only take two sciences a semester. Whereas, most biology majors take a lot more a semester. I still want to become a dentist, but I want to ENJOY my undergrad. Is sociology really looked down on by dental schools? I mean it is a major and I will still be fulfilling my science prereqs. I do plan on killing my science prereqs and taking a few upper division courses. What are your opinions? Should I go back to biology? Or stick to sociology and get great grades in the science prereqs and an awesome dat score? With a sociology major I will end up with a gpa of around 3.7 or 3.8 and with biology a 3.4 or 3.5.
Also, should I take trig or calc during my undergrad?

You can major in whatever you want. I'd personally encourage pursuing sociology if you genuinely like the coursework. If you excel in your prereqs and sneak in some upper-level bio courses, you'll be just fine.

As for the math courses, I would consider doing a year of college math. Here is a link to doctoothache's guide to prereqs. It was updated in 2015, so be sure to check individual school's requirements on their websites or in the ADEA guide for any changes. A good combination would be a semester of calc and a statistics course.
2015 Prerequisites

 

[Life of Pablo]

As stated above, you can major in whatever you want. However, what concerns me is you state that the only reason you're doing well is because you only have to take a couple science classes a semester whereas a bio major would take much more. In dental school, you're going to take around 30 credits of science courses at once. If you can't handle the rigor of undergrad science courses, dental school will be much, much worse.

 

[Dhudez]

I was in similar shoes not too long ago. I decided to make the switch from Biology to Psychology. Don't regret it at all. Not only am I studying what I enjoy, but I also have a higher GPA than a lot of my Bio friends. I'm sitting around at 3.5 while a lot of my Bio peers are hanging by a thread at 3.0. I'd say make the switch. It doesn't matter what you major in as long as you meet the requirements in terms of pre-reqs and DAT scores.

 

[Dentistlife]

I was in similar shoes not too long ago. I decided to make the switch from Biology to Psychology. Don't regret it at all. Not only am I studying what I enjoy, but I also have a higher GPA than a lot of my Bio friends. I'm sitting around at 3.5 while a lot of my Bio peers are hanging by a thread at 3.0. I'd say make the switch. It doesn't matter what you major in as long as you meet the requirements in terms of pre-reqs and DAT scores.

Yes I agree! How are you fitting in your science pre reqs?

 

[Dentistlife]

You can major in whatever you want. I'd personally encourage pursuing sociology if you genuinely like the coursework. If you excel in your prereqs and sneak in some upper-level bio courses, you'll be just fine.

As for the math courses, I would consider doing a year of college math. Here is a link to doctoothache's guide to prereqs. It was updated in 2015, so be sure to check individual school's requirements on their websites or in the ADEA guide for any changes. A good combination would be a semester of calc and a statistics course.
2015 Prerequisites

Okay! There’s a thread on here and somebody said sociology is too easy/dental schools don’t like it and to major in psychology instead... but if someone excels in science pre reqs isn’t that what dental schools mostly focus on?

 

[Dentistlife]

As stated above, you can major in whatever you want. However, what concerns me is you state that the only reason you're doing well is because you only have to take a couple science classes a semester whereas a bio major would take much more. In dental school, you're going to take around 30 credits of science courses at once. If you can't handle the rigor of undergrad science courses, dental school will be much, much worse.

Yes I agree! But it’s not that I am not capable of handling high science course loads. It’s more because I commute 35-40 mins, and lab is very long not so much hard.

 

[I-hate-alginate]

Okay! There’s a thread on here and somebody said sociology is too easy/dental schools don’t like it and to major in psychology instead... but if someone excels in science pre reqs isn’t that what dental schools mostly focus on?

There are people majoring in music/art and still make dental school.... high gpa and a decent DAT score will make you a strong candidate.

 

[I-hate-alginate]

As stated above, you can major in whatever you want. However, what concerns me is you state that the only reason you're doing well is because you only have to take a couple science classes a semester whereas a bio major would take much more. In dental school, you're going to take around 30 credits of science courses at once. If you can't handle the rigor of undergrad science courses, dental school will be much, much worse.

I worked with a dentist who graduated with a psychology degree, and wasn't that interested in bio classes, attended UoP (condensed curriculum) and graduated with no problems, but she did put in the work.

 

[Dhudez]

Yes I agree! How are you fitting in your science pre reqs?

At my university, the Psychology major has 12 free elective credits and then 12 upper elective credits outside of psychology. I fit most of my pre-reqs in there. Some of them are "unused courses" like my physics classes and I think human physiology which I'm taking next semester.

 

[toothdoctor123]

Or stick to sociology and get great grades in the science prereqs and an awesome dat score?

This is exactly what I did and it paid off.