Need advice (Lawyer who want to change career to dental)

[Gomdol]

Hi, I am a lawyer who came back to school to go to dental school. These are my stats:

############
34 years old, TX resident

UGPA: 3.9 (big state univ, Business & Math major, 160+ credits)

Master’s degree from Ivy school (Math)

Juris Doctor (law school) from big state univ.

Started to take science classes from Spring 2014. (took Bio 1 & Chem 1 and got As on both)

Still work part-time as a lawyer, and I am a National Guard solider.

Target schools: All 3 TX schools and OU (aiming for Fall 2016 entry)
#############

I worked for big corporation before and my work hours were 60-80 hrs per week. I didn’t hate the work, but I hated the fact that I don’t have my personal life at all. I am surrounded by many health-care professionals in my family (MD, OD, Pharmacist, Dentist etc) and I see their work/life balance is far superior to mine and make similar or more money.

I shadowed all, but liked the dentist’s work the best. So, the issue is not whether I should go to dental school or not. Rather I am trying to get advice how I can increase my chance to getting into dental school. I was worrying about my age a lot, but I read the other post here regarding the age and it encourages me.

Can someone help me out to answer below questions?

1. Community College vs 4 years

I know that this topic was discussed many times in this forum and I read it all. But I want to get advices from someone who had experiences with TX schools regarding this topic. They said that they accept community college pre-req, but it seems that they prefer 4-year college.

I took 2 science classes in Spring 2014 from CC, but I was impressed with professors. And we only have 15-20 students, so I had chance to get to know professors pretty well. It only costs about $40 per credit ($306 for 8 credits) to me while it costs about $1332 per credit for 4-yrs college. ($3,970 for 8 credits) I am willing to pay this difference if it will increase my chance of admission substantially.

Because I already went to decent Universities so far, I am tempted to stay in CC to maintain good GPA and got more tailored rec letters. Any thoughts?

2. Pending pre-req courses

Many of my target schools require 2 extra bios other than biochem and Bio 1-2. Due to my Army training schedule, I will lose this Fall 2014 semester entirely. So, I will still have 3 pending courses (Biochem, Bio elective, Bio elective) in Fall 2015.

Do I have a shot to apply in summer 2015 for Fall 2016 entry even if I have 3 pending pre-reqs in Fall 2015? (assuming that I will get DAT score by summer 2015) Or should I wait another year and apply for Fall 2017?

3. Shadowing/Volunteering

I did lots of volunteering work including several months’ abroad services. However, it was all done about 10 years ago. Do dental schools (especially my target schools) care about volunteering that I should add more? If so, what types of volunteering they look for? (hopefully the fact that I am in the military would be plus.)

I know that OU requires at least 100 hrs of shadowing. Should I aim for more hours than that? What are the average hours you guys try to achieve? I feel that more than 150 hours of shadowing sounds too much to me.

4. Graduate GPA

Although I have great UGPA, my GGPA is horrible. (around 3.0) Does graduate GPA have a big impact as well?

Thank you for all your advices!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[wjc]

First off, good luck to you. I am 38 and applying this summer, so I know that attempting some of this stuff is daunting and a lot of the advice on here doesn't quite fit for people in our circumstances. I won't be able to speak to everything you asked, but I would definitely suggest getting as much shadowing time and volunteering as possible. I believe the schools like to see continuous and ongoing activity, especially with volunteering. I definitely think that your service should account for something, but you want to be extra prepared. I definitely advise you to reach out to all of the schools that you are applying to with your questions. My conversations with admissions reps have been very helpful.

GPA also gets tricky. In my case I graduated 15 years ago with a 2.73 UGPA. I went back to school for 3 years and I just got a new B.S. degree in biology with a 4.0. I am going to have to average all of this stuff together though, and I have no idea how that works with such a big gap of time in the middle of it. In your case, I would suspect that the GGPA should not be so bad, since graduate level work should be considered more difficult, but I really don't know.

I think there is a forum for non-traditional students that you might try as well.

 

[Gomdol]

First off, good luck to you. I am 38 and applying this summer, so I know that attempting some of this stuff is daunting and a lot of the advice on here doesn't quite fit for people in our circumstances. I won't be able to speak to everything you asked, but I would definitely suggest getting as much shadowing time and volunteering as possible. I believe the schools like to see continuous and ongoing activity, especially with volunteering. I definitely think that your service should account for something, but you want to be extra prepared. I definitely advise you to reach out to all of the schools that you are applying to with your questions. My conversations with admissions reps have been very helpful.

GPA also gets tricky. In my case I graduated 15 years ago with a 2.73 UGPA. I went back to school for 3 years and I just got a new B.S. degree in biology with a 4.0. I am going to have to average all of this stuff together though, and I have no idea how that works with such a big gap of time in the middle of it. In your case, I would suspect that the GGPA should not be so bad, since graduate level work should be considered more difficult, but I really don't know.

I think there is a forum for non-traditional students that you might try as well.

Hi wjc,

Thanks a lot for your input. 4.0 with BS Biology is amazing achievement! Good luck to you as well!

 

[stag123]

Also a texas resident

1. Most of my prereqs are from a cc and when I contact the texas dental schools is that they tell me as long as you don't take more then 60 hours at cc then you're okay. I'm sure they PREFER a university like almost all schools, but it really doesn't matter.

ochem2 wasn't in my degree plan and I didn't want to pay 2k for the class, they advice me to take it cc because of money. So I don't think it matters. Do whatever is best for you.

2. it's okay as long as you plan to take the classes before you go to the dental school, they can still be pending.
3. You need recent shadowing/ volunteering, I know, expecially Baylor loves people who work with underserving areas. Maybe about 100 is enough.

4. It does impact your application, but your recent grades and post back is MORE important. They look at upward trend!

goodluck

 

[gn4]

maybe @tandem7 can give you some advice as she was in the same shoes last year I believe. However, I think you should increase your volunteer hours and shadow hours need to be at least 100 or so. Just rock the DAT and I think you will be fine

 

[doc toothache]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...vancement-placement-and-ds-admission.1069984/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2014-shadowing-requirements-recommendations.1069934/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2014-prerequisites.1068956/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2013-ranking-of-ds-based-on-gpa-dat-other.1064713/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2012-age-and-ds-admission-2006-2011.945567/

 

[Illfavor]

As a career-changing TX resident (born in OK) who also targeted the same four schools, here's my opinion:

1. Go to a real uni if you can. I think you could cross Baylor off entirely if you did all of your pre-reqs at a CC. I believe it is worth the money, and it is not all that difficult to get a good LoR if you are proactive about it.

2. This will depend mostly on your past academic record IMO. I applied missing Micro, Biochem and Physics 2 and was accepted 4/4 (of the 4 schools you are targeting). I also had excellent stats. It can happen. You are obviously smart and motivated. You can certainly apply missing some pre-reqs. Baylor cares a ton about upper division bio courses, but I don't think that's a big limitation for highly qualified applicants. For example, I had none.

3. I would try to do some recent volunteering. I had 110 hours of shadowing. Just get over 100.

4. Every grade matters, but the more recent ones are more important.

PM me if you want more advice/tips/just to chat with someone who was in a pretty similar situation and had a lot of success.

 

[tandem7]

I am the lawyer that @gn4 mentioned. I start dental school this August at the ripe old age of 33. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions or want to chat. In response to your earlier questions:

1. Community College vs 4 years

It's better to take the pre-reqs at a four year university, but I would suggest reaching out to the dental schools you want to attend and see what they think. If you do really well in the classes and on the DAT, it may also be a non-issue but I would highly recommend taking your remaining pre-reqs at a four year institution.
2. Pending pre-req courses


Yes, you can take classes that year you are applying to dental school.

3. Shadowing/Volunteering


Focus on shadowing. I did no dental related volunteering but I did have lots of other volunteering/pro bono legal work on my application and I think that was just as good. I had a hair shy of 50 hours of shadowing, and my state school did not have a set shadowing amount. If the school you want requires 100, then do 100, but I don't think you need to do more than that. I already think 100 is too much.

4. Graduate GPA

Graduate GPA won't be as important if it's not a biology/pre-dental graduate GPA. At this point, focus on your science GPA and DAT scores. Your other attributes, your law career, and your military service will significantly enhance your application.

 

[Gomdol]

stag 123,
Thanks for sharing your thought. Good luck to you!

gn4,
Thanks for letting me know the info and encouragement!

doc toothache,
Thanks for the links. Actually I read your mini guide thoroughly and it was very helpful. Thank you!

lllfavor,
Congrats on your acceptance! Actually, Baylor is my dream school. (I live in North Dallas area.)
I will send you PM! BTW, you got awesome DAT. 🙂

tandem7,
It's great to see fellow lawyer here! I will send you PM! Thanks!