[nontrad] I don't like my engineering major and I wanna go to dental school

[Carrot Cake]

I have 2-2.5 years left to complete my Civil Engineering degree, but I hate it and find it passionless. I also do not like the type of work now that I've seen the industry and I realized I am less of a physics/calculations guy anyways. I am at a state university and have a 2.86 GPA at the moment, as well as allot of units from Community College back when I didn't take school very seriously (this is hurting my GPA).

My desire to do dentistry stemmed from a family friend who is my dentist. I love his work, he straight up says he is paid to have fun and I have to agree with him. I find all the procedures he has done on me and the ones he tells me about to be interesting. Dentistry just seems very meaningful and self fulfilling, plus he is his own boss. He said I can shadow him and he encouraged me to pursue Dentistry. However I know getting into dental school will be difficult because because I have allot of CC units from 2011-2015 (Bio 100, physics II (E&M), Calc 1-3, all general ed).

Since I know I need to raise my GPA, and I hate engineering, and I am thinking of switching majors to something I find more enjoyable, such as Kinesiology and then taking the prerequisites for dental school (two bios, 4 chem, English) as a backup. At CC my Bio 100 grade was a C, Physics II was a C, and I took Physics I at my state school and got a C. I know that looks pretty bad, so I am wondering what can be done to salvage this situation. I know I've read of crazy non-trad acceptances on this forum before into med school, but I haven't seen too many for dental. The Physics were the calculus based ones intended for engineering majors and physics majors, I don't know if that'd give me mercy points from adcoms.

Can I one day get into dental school? I am gonna speak to the pre-Health advisor at my school tomorrow and see what they say. I understand dental school is no joke, and while my CC performance was poor my university performance has been an improvement for sure. I simply had allot of maturing to do when I started college, and I had major self esteem and thought disorder issues back then stemming from a broken family and being obese at the time. I was able to overcome my issues though through forcing self change in areas of my health, seeing a Psychiatrist, moving out of my parents house when I transferred to a university, joining a fraternity, getting involved on campus, seeking new experiences that I previously thought I could never do, etc. Many people I haven't seen in a while often double take or can't even recognize me when they see me. I know I have the drive now, I know I have changed for the better, but sadly you can't undue past grades.

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[FanOfCostco]

Hennything is possible -JR smith

 

[MLC45]

I have 2-2.5 years left to complete my Civil Engineering degree, but I hate it and find it passionless. I also do not like the type of work now that I've seen the industry and I realized I am less of a physics/calculations guy anyways. I am at a state university and have a 2.86 GPA at the moment, as well as allot of units from Community College back when I didn't take school very seriously (this is hurting my GPA).

My desire to do dentistry stemmed from a family friend who is my dentist. I love his work, he straight up says he is paid to have fun and I have to agree with him. I find all the procedures he has done on me and the ones he tells me about to be interesting. Dentistry just seems very meaningful and self fulfilling, plus he is his own boss. He said I can shadow him and he encouraged me to pursue Dentistry. However I know getting into dental school will be difficult because because I have allot of CC units from 2011-2015 (Bio 100, physics II (E&M), Calc 1-3, all general ed).

Since I know I need to raise my GPA, and I hate engineering, and I am thinking of switching majors to something I find more enjoyable, such as Kinesiology and then taking the prerequisites for dental school (two bios, 4 chem, English) as a backup. At CC my Bio 100 grade was a C, Physics II was a C, and I took Physics I at my state school and got a C. I know that looks pretty bad, so I am wondering what can be done to salvage this situation. I know I've read of crazy non-trad acceptances on this forum before into med school, but I haven't seen too many for dental. The Physics were the calculus based ones intended for engineering majors and physics majors, I don't know if that'd give me mercy points from adcoms.

Can I one day get into dental school? I am gonna speak to the pre-Health advisor at my school tomorrow and see what they say. I understand dental school is no joke, and while my CC performance was poor my university performance has been an improvement for sure. I simply had allot of maturing to do when I started college, and I had major self esteem and thought disorder issues back then stemming from a broken family and being obese at the time. I was able to overcome my issues though through forcing self change in areas of my health, seeing a Psychiatrist, moving out of my parents house when I transferred to a university, joining a fraternity, getting involved on campus, seeking new experiences that I previously thought I could never do, etc. Many people I haven't seen in a while often double take or can't even recognize me when they see me. I know I have the drive now, I know I have changed for the better, but sadly you can't undue past grades.

You are starting out at a bit of a disadvantage with the GPA, but most dental schools realize that the first 2 years are “party” years and they tend to look at the last 60 credit hours more than the first 60. As for Physics, I don’t know if this is the correct advice but I woun’d worry about the “C” grade. Physics isn’t part of the DAT and I’ve heard that it’s the bio and chem that’s a bigger deal to admissions boards.

FYI my current boss got his undergrad in Civil engineering before going to dental school. He said the two are actually very similar. If you’re trying to figure out how to restore a building (like a tooth) you have to look at what’s the best repair work that can be done to help the building (or tooth) remain stable and strong for many years. If you don’t like engineering then I don’t know if dentistry is the right field. Maybe something leaning more towards medical would interest you.

 

[Gyuji]

Dentistry is going to be different in 5 years or so. And not in the good way too.

 

[Advance]

I have 2-2.5 years left to complete my Civil Engineering degree, but I hate it and find it passionless. I also do not like the type of work now that I've seen the industry and I realized I am less of a physics/calculations guy anyways. I am at a state university and have a 2.86 GPA at the moment, as well as allot of units from Community College back when I didn't take school very seriously (this is hurting my GPA).

My desire to do dentistry stemmed from a family friend who is my dentist. I love his work, he straight up says he is paid to have fun and I have to agree with him. I find all the procedures he has done on me and the ones he tells me about to be interesting. Dentistry just seems very meaningful and self fulfilling, plus he is his own boss. He said I can shadow him and he encouraged me to pursue Dentistry. However I know getting into dental school will be difficult because because I have allot of CC units from 2011-2015 (Bio 100, physics II (E&M), Calc 1-3, all general ed).

Since I know I need to raise my GPA, and I hate engineering, and I am thinking of switching majors to something I find more enjoyable, such as Kinesiology and then taking the prerequisites for dental school (two bios, 4 chem, English) as a backup. At CC my Bio 100 grade was a C, Physics II was a C, and I took Physics I at my state school and got a C. I know that looks pretty bad, so I am wondering what can be done to salvage this situation. I know I've read of crazy non-trad acceptances on this forum before into med school, but I haven't seen too many for dental. The Physics were the calculus based ones intended for engineering majors and physics majors, I don't know if that'd give me mercy points from adcoms.

Can I one day get into dental school? I am gonna speak to the pre-Health advisor at my school tomorrow and see what they say. I understand dental school is no joke, and while my CC performance was poor my university performance has been an improvement for sure. I simply had allot of maturing to do when I started college, and I had major self esteem and thought disorder issues back then stemming from a broken family and being obese at the time. I was able to overcome my issues though through forcing self change in areas of my health, seeing a Psychiatrist, moving out of my parents house when I transferred to a university, joining a fraternity, getting involved on campus, seeking new experiences that I previously thought I could never do, etc. Many people I haven't seen in a while often double take or can't even recognize me when they see me. I know I have the drive now, I know I have changed for the better, but sadly you can't undue past grades.

I think it’s funny cause me and a couple of my classmates were just talking about how we should have done engineering instead of dentistry.

You can definitely get in it’s just going to take a lot of work. You can do it.

 

[Medin2017]

Dentistry is going to be different in 5 years or so. And not in the good way too.

It definitely won't be as good as it was/is (just like how 10 years ago it was better than it is now), but I'd say you're hard pressed to find a job that pays similarly with such good hours.

What you gotta note is everything is going to be different in 5 years or so and not in the good way. Medicine, computer science, law, business, pharm, nothing is as good as it was 10 years ago. But I feel medicine and dentistry is pretty cool in that you don't have to be a genius to be in the top 1-2% of the nation's income level like you do in say law or computer science. Literally just take 1000s of powerpoint slides, brute force memorize it, and you're looking at probably a 200k+ mid career salary on around a 40 hour work week at the minimum, seeing as the lowest doc specialty average gets paid something like 180k and a starting dentist can make 130 right out of school (which obviously would increase in the 3-4 years that docs are still in residency). And then there's the decently higher ceiling than most jobs too: if you do have a noggin on you or awesome work ethic, you get paid like 350k to work 40 hours (derm, Omfs, etc) just by memorizing more powerpoint slides than the next fella or studying a bit more instead of going out and acing step 1 or the CBSE etc. I'd like to see most of the people in medicine or dentistry try doing that in another field. There's just a much smaller chance of it happening.

 

[DRSB]

Dentistry is going to be different in 5 years or so. And not in the good way too.

What do you mean by this?

 

[Medin2017]

What do you mean by this?

saturation, corporations, among other things

 

[spdental]

I had a 2.75 after freshman year doing CS. I figured out i wanted to do dentistry after freshman year, stepped my game up and had a 3.0 after Sophmore year and 3.4 after junior year. I started a few student orgs, volunteer weekly at a low income dental clinic, and do shadowing in my free time. I received 4 interviews out of the 8 schools I applied to so far this cycle.

It is 100% possible for you to get in. If you’re passionate about this you will show it in your grades, ECs, and DAT when the time comes. Good luck. Looking forward to seeing your transition.

 

[Gyuji]

saturation, corporations, among other things

The U.S. population is getting poorer and poorer. For a field that needs people to come through the door, not a good thing as the common people see going to the dentist as a luxury.

 

[Stanelz]

How dare you tempt me with that delicious carrot cake. Im on a diet jeez.

 

[Michael_Scott]

I don't have any regrets choosing dentistry but if I had the option, i might have done computer science or atleast seriously looked into it. MUCH more possibilities there in the future!

 

[sobertiger]

The U.S. population is getting poorer and poorer. For a field that needs people to come through the door, not a good thing as the common people see going to the dentist as a luxury.

How is going to the dentist a luxury? I don't understand. When one is in pain, it is a necessity.

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[Iroh]

How is going to the dentist a luxury? I don't understand. When one is in pain, it is a necessity.

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Anything other than an emergency is often times deemed unnecessary from what I've seen as a DA.

Patients hear they have early development of caries that are not an issue at the moment, but could become problematic in the future and believe they don't need to act on it because they'd much rather ride it out rather than have it fixed at an earlier stage.

They then let it evolve into something more serious (RCT, extraction, etc) and then get hit with the heavy hitters when they could have spent a fraction of that cost in preventative measures (routine cleanings, minor fillings).

 

[Gyuji]

How is going to the dentist a luxury? I don't understand. When one is in pain, it is a necessity.

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Go ask a random person when's the last time he or she went to the dentist. And ask someone who looks like an average American not some young professional or dental student.

 

[sobertiger]

Go ask a random person when's the last time he or she went to the dentist. And ask someone who looks like an average American not some young professional or dental student.

Asking a handful of random people is hardly a reliable way to do a survey.

A simple Google search will show that the majority of Americans have cavities and need dental care, whether they realize it or not. If they don't go see a dentist now, they will go when it becomes painful.

p.s. I can't recall the last time I've been to the hospital. Doesn't mean anything.

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[Carrot Cake]

I'm torn between majoring in Kinesiology or Bio. I feel Kinesiology would be more fun but Bio seems like it'd prepare me more. If I do Kinesiology, what other classes should I do besides the prereqs? I assume Biochem, anatomy?

 

[sobertiger]

I'm torn between majoring in Kinesiology or Bio. I feel Kinesiology would be more fun but Bio seems like it'd prepare me more. If I do Kinesiology, what other classes should I do besides the prereqs? I assume Biochem, anatomy?

Biochemistry, anatomy, microbiology, histology, physiology, genetics, cell biology... These are all good electives to take.

Many schools require biochem, some require microbiology, anatomy, etc. Make sure to check before you apply.

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[Gyuji]

Asking a handful of random people is hardly a reliable way to do a survey.

A simple Google search will show that the majority of Americans have cavities and need dental care, whether they realize it or not. If they don't go see a dentist now, they will go when it becomes painful.

p.s. I can't recall the last time I've been to the hospital. Doesn't mean anything.

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when the majority of the population doesn't go to the dentist due to being too expensive, there's a problem.

 

[sobertiger]

when the majority of the population doesn't go to the dentist due to being too expensive, there's a problem.

Sources?

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[MLC45]

when the majority of the population doesn't go to the dentist due to being too expensive, there's a problem.

My opinion from working the the dental field is: “People don’t go to the dentist because they aren’t in pain”. Kind of like “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” attitude. MD’s have the same problem. People don’t go in for yearly check up’s because they don’t feel sick. Why take the time and money to be told everything is in good condition. I’ve been working in a dental office for 14 years and had my teeth professionally cleaned twice. Why don’t I do it more? It doesn’t cost me anything, I’m already there, but I have no desire to sit in the chair unless something is wrong and I have to.