New and Worried

[ClickityClack]

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Hello, everyone,

Please, PLEASE help ease my worries.


I'm a non-traditional student with wishes of becoming a dentist, (of course 😀). I'm 27, I've been in the Army for the last 8 years. I hope that dental schools will see that as maturity, etc. I'm currently a sophomore Mech. Engineering major, and I've only gotten one B. I'm in an honors program, and my extracurricular activities include Tai Chi, Karate, volunteering, and many hobbies. I haven't shadowed a dentist yet, but I will before the end of this semester. I was a TA at my university as a freshman, and turned down a research fellowship this summer for an internship with Cummins diesel.

My worries come various states: I could get better grades with a major like biology or chemistry, but I enjoy engineering much more. Also, I'm more comfortable with the career I could obtain with an engineering degree if I don't get into dental school. (Unfortunately, with the bad grades that I may receive in obtaining that eng. degree, I may have to stick with just those careers.)
Also, I live in Greensboro, NC. If anyone is familiar with this place, we have two colleges. NCA&T has an engineering program, so that's where I'm registered. UNCG however, has a pre-dent program and is not an HBCU. UNCG, however, costs twice as much.




Lastly, I'm type 1 Bipolar. With a dash of ADHD, for good measure. I intend to keep this as far from admittance officials as possible. I'm medicated, and completely normal as far as anyone would know. Still, could dental school be an impossibility for me, as far as medical records?

I'm wondering if anyone (hopefully someone accepted into a Dent school, etc.) could give me some advice. I'm really freaking out about which school to attend, which major should I declare, on and on and on. The last calculus course that I took (in which I got a B) has scared me into thinking that I'll do horribly from here, onward.


Thanks for any replies.

 

[TheWiredNerv]

If you love engineering so much then keep it all. All you need are the pre-reqs of 6 credits general biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry and physics (all with labs too.) You can just take those classes if you already have your engineering degree. You also have to take the DAT. After all thoses are down then you can think about what schools to apply too, lol. Wish you best of luck.

 

[ClickityClack]

Thanks for your input, but perhaps I was too wordy.

Engineering = happy/ probably lower GPA
Chemistry/ Biology = not so happy (but who cares, anyway), higher GPA

I'd like to consider myself old enough to be practical, not basing my future on how happy I was during college.

I'm already taking the pre-reqs needed for dental school, however they don't apply to my major. It confuses my advisor, who promptly calls the G.I. Bill department to ensure that my payments are denied for the semester.

 

[Ron Jeremy]

I'm a non-traditional pre-dent that has an M.S. in Mech Engineering that worked as an engineer for eight years. I quit my job to pursue a B.S. in Bio as a pre-dent when I was 32. Therefore, I am living through the life of a career changer trying to get into dental school.

Long story short: from my own experience trying to get into dental school as a former engineer, your desire to have a dual path into dental school as an engineer plus taking a job with Cummins can be a "hard sell" to dental schools. Dental schools want to see that you are dead serious about a career in dentistry, and that you are convinced that you DON'T want to be an engineer. It is true that some engineers get accepted into dental right out of undergrad, but I'm pretty sure they were convincing to dental schools that they are no longer pursuing an engineering career.

Also, don't think that getting a Bio degree will give you a higher gpa. I have a B.S. & M.S. in Mech Eng from two Big 10 schools, and I have a B.S. in Bio from Northwestern. Getting A's in Bio and Chem are just as hard as getting A's in engineering. Pre-meds and pre-dents are just as competitive as engineering students. Plus, in general, engineers SUCK at memorizing. Super memorizing skills are essential for A's in bio and chem.

Since you stated that you like engineering much more, maybe you should look into a Bio-Eng program.

 

[lzbthcox]

Thanks for your input, but perhaps I was too wordy.

Engineering = happy/ probably lower GPA
Chemistry/ Biology = not so happy (but who cares, anyway), higher GPA

I'd like to consider myself old enough to be practical, not basing my future on how happy I was during college.

I'm already taking the pre-reqs needed for dental school, however they don't apply to my major. It confuses my advisor, who promptly calls the G.I. Bill department to ensure that my payments are denied for the semester.

Ouch. What an awful advisor. My husband was Army for the last 7 years. That GI Bill is really important to us. I'm sorry yours was cut over not taking classes that fall into the major. 🙁 Is it possible to take the required courses for engineering (just enough to max out GI Bill) and stack your dental pre-req's on top of it? That is if you decide to stay engineering.

 

[zoom12]

.

 

[ClickityClack]

Awesome. I was suspecting as much, I just needed someone to second it. I've worried about the "hard-sell", also. That's why I've spoken with the liberal arts college about attending, lately.

Pretty hard stuff to decide by yourself, I guess...😳

I say that my bio or chem GPA would be higher than an engineering one because my aptitudes in those regions are much higher. I actually do much better in those areas. That's why I like the engineering, because of the challenge. However, if it could be agreed upon that I can drop that challenge for the challenge of dental studies, then......

I guess it bothers me very much, having known biology majors who ended up as bums. Seriously, no offense! Just saying that I have, and that it scares me.

Thank you very very much for your reply. Coming from an engineer and non-trad student, it means alot. You guys are cracking away at these worries of mine.

 

[ClickityClack]

I think what someone was previously trying to say is that dentistry = heavy bio and chemistry (biochemistry) and is as far from your love (engineering) as possible.

I'm not sure of that, but thank you. I mean no disrespect toward him, this is just a very difficult thing to do as a non-trad student. I'm basically rolling the die with my wife and I's future, and the emotions have started to run high.

I know it's really objective/relative/whatever as to which major is best. I just needed to ask. What if you can pretty much do anything you set your mind to? I see more careers (in case I can't get into dental school) in engineering, but does that mean I should pick a major just based on that? I really do NOT like being unsure about things. I saw some biochem research posters today and they scared the crap out of me. I've never thought about doing anything like that ever in my life, and it seems as if that's the level of quality that will be expected of me in 400 level biochem courses. Structural analysis of some certain virus, or something. I dunno.

________________________________________________________________
Yes, a very bad adviser. What you said is exactly what I'll end up doing, if I stay in this major, yes. Lots of people with some of my same stats! Doesn't feel so lonely anymore!

 

[Ron Jeremy]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying to change your major. During my engineering undergrad, I knew several ME's who worked a few summers at a large corporation, and then decided that medicine was for them. They then took the extra year of Gen Bio and O-Chem and got into Med school right after graduation with the M.E. degree. It can be done, but the work load is intense.

The moral of the story is that these individuals worked their summers as engineering interns, and then decided to go full pre-med as engineering students. Therefore, they did the weekends of volunteering, research, shadowing, etc. They had to prove to the med schools that they want to be doctors, not engineers.

You should work the summer at Cummins and find out if you can really see yourself as an engineer working at a factory that is 100 degrees in the summer. Diesel engines are neat, but remember that about 1000 engineers work on those engines. You're going to work on "a little" piece of the engine. You may also get to work in the corporate office. From there, you will get to see if you like spending eight hours making spreadsheets and sitting meetings talking about customer satisfaction charts and "what can we do next year to save the company an extra dollar?"

After your summer, you can then work on a "story" of why you want to pursue a career in dentistry.

 

[ClickityClack]

Whoa, man, no. I've already done that internship. I actually did really well, I designed a new engine hoist for one of their main block lines. Can't get the patent because of the intellectual property rights, and all... blah blah. I've got emails in my inbox right now from Toyota and Caterpillar, which I can copy and paste if you want. What you're talking about is exactly what I'm already doing. Thought I already said all of that?

We're come back around, full circle. 🙁 Maybe it's just a self-confidence thing, and I need to stop asking people on the internet.

 

[ClickityClack]

No disrespect meant by that last post, by the way. My nerves are a little shot, so please forgive me for rash wording. I don't want to give the application board any reason to think that I want to be basically a "tooth mechanic".
I want to be a doctor who specializes on the oral cavity. But, my "Aha!" moment came late. I'm trying to apply all of the dedication that I've previously aimed toward design engineering into dentistry. That's proving to be difficult with a lack of school advisers, though. The director of the pre-dent program at UNCG has helped only enough to fuel my fire more. He has given me the name and number of an individual at UNC-Chapel Hill dentistry school, but I'm reluctant to call. I've absorbed all the information I can find through the internet and local book stores. My family knows nothing on the subject. I've talked to many local dentists, but I am suspicious that their opinions are outdated or misguiding (because they operate private practices and don't sit on the application board).

I'll shut up now. I'm not doing myself any good. The work load that you're talking about is exactly what I'm trying to get away from. I guess you've summed it up. Looks like a biochem B.S. is in my future, and a change of school. I'm lacking the big warm and fuzzy, though.