Pre-Dent advisor a no-go

Started by sweetxtooth
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sweetxtooth

sweetxtooth

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Hello all,
I visited my pre-dental advisor last week and he was not very helpful at all. He told me that it is extremely difficult to go into dental school and that my grades were not very good (I did pretty badly my first year). Basically he made me feel hopeless and didn't offer much advice except a few recommendations on classes to take. Has anyone had a similar problem? Or has anyone been through the process without any assistance from someone at your university? Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
Just focus on your own work and excel in a few science classes. Then come back and talk to him again, i bet once you've bagged a few A's in upper year bio/physio/chem he'll give you more supportive comments.
good luck
 
whilst you may have had subpar grades, it is never too late to pull yourself back up. Don't worry. My pre-health advisor was a complete dumb*****. I circumvented her completely and took matters into my own hands.
 
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Agreed...Also it depends on what your situation is now. If you are 3-4 years along with a 2.0 it would be pretty hopeless. If you are only a year into college you can definatly turn it around! Make school your job and settle for nothing less than an A.
 
don't let the comments of others bring you down, if you got bad grades FIX IT and go on, pre-health advisors are rejects in their own right people with psychology degrees who couldn't do anything better...
 
I've pretty much made it a point NOT to visit my pre-health advisors- went my first semester freshman year (only because we were required to in order to register), and haven't been back since...the majority of the time, I know more than they do about classes to take, admissions requirements, etc...or I can find the answer elsewhere (like on SDN or the bio department website). As long as you've seen the error of your ways and have started an upward trend in your GPA since then, it is not at all impossible to get into dental school...if you still think your GPA is sub-par (and don't have enough time to improve any further), study your butt off for the DAT and rock it.
 
ugh i was totally in your shoes. i ended up giving up for a while because they made me feel like i had no chance. but eventually i realized that this is what i really want, and went for it. don't let them bring you down!! they only feel like they should give the time of day to the stellar ones.
 
I totally had the same experience! I went in to talk to my predent advisor and she basically made me feel like a failure. I never went back to see her again and have just talked to other fellow predents or dental students. Don't let your advisor bring you down! Just concentrate on your classes and do well and whatever she says shouldn't matter.
 
My predent advisor said the same thing to me....told me im not too competitive. told me bad information. wouldnt write me a good recomondation letter for a summer program. Just do well on your DAT. they know nothing
 
I have been out of college since 2005, and i was out of the country for almost 2 years, just until June of this year. I went to talk to the pre-health advisor at my college, to get some direction for how to get everything done that I needed to for applying, and he told me not to bother this year, to wait until next year. He said there was no time to study for the DAT and still apply to dental school early enough to get interviews. Other than that he wasn't very helpful, and didn't seem too interested in helping me out. Thank goodness I didn't listen to him. I did pretty well on the DAT, and I have an interview in three days, plus two more as of right now. I think the info on this website was way better than the pre-health professions advisor.
 
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2.9 after my freshman year. Graduated with 3.5 and 3.6 sGPA. Do the best you can in undergrad and if it still isn't where you want or think it should be, get a masters. All work and no play will make ya a dull boy.
 
cellbio said:
don't let the comments of others bring you down, if you got bad grades FIX IT and go on, pre-health advisors are rejects in their own right people with psychology degrees who couldn't do anything better...
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Hey dude,

don't you think this is a little harsh?? I know a lot of advisors that are great people and very helpful. Just a reminder that because we are predental, bio majors, or whatever, doesn't mean we are better than everyone else....IMHO

ANZ
 
sweetxtooth said:
Hello all, I visited my pre-dental advisor last week and he was not very helpful at all. He told me that it is extremely difficult to go into dental school and that my grades were not very good (I did pretty badly my first year). Basically he made me feel hopeless and didn't offer much advice except a few recommendations on classes to take. Has anyone had a similar problem? Or has anyone been through the process without any assistance from someone at your university? Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Bashing pre health advisers seems to be a favorite past time as if they are somehow to blame for poor academic performance. You do not need an adviser to tell that you need to improve your gpa if you are serious about getting into a professional school. By your own reckoning he did make "a few recommendations on classes to take". With that, what he implied was take these courses show improvement and then come back and talk some more.
 
The pre-dental advisor at my school didn't know a lot about dentistry, but he did know what classes I needed to take. I would just focus on the courses you need to take. Once you know that, make a plan for which classes you will take what semesters. If you don't like the pre-dental advisor, maybe find another advisor in the biology/chemistry department that can assist you with a plan. Then just work hard to get that GPA up!!👍
 
I was not "bashing" him at all or blaming him for 'poor academic performance'. You must be assuming. What I meant to say is that advisors should be encouraging. They shouldn't put you down so fast!!
 
sweetxtooth said:
I was not "bashing" him at all or blaming him for 'poor academic performance'. You must be assuming. What I meant to say is that advisors should be encouraging. They shouldn't put you down so fast!!
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I'd rather have realistic advice than encouragement. Depending on your academic situation (you still haven't listed any stats), he could very well be giving you sound advice that you just don't want to hear.
 
Blarelli said:
I'd rather have realistic advice than encouragement. Depending on your academic situation (you still haven't listed any stats), he could very well be giving you sound advice that you just don't want to hear.
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I agree. There job is to give you the necessary information to facilitate the application process and better your chances of acceptance. Your friends and parents will provide the words of encouragement. Nevertheless, just cause the advisor is discouraging doesn't mean you shouldn't pursue it or give up. The advisor just goes on what trends he/she has seen.
 
sweetxtooth said:
I was not "bashing" him at all or blaming him for 'poor academic performance'. You must be assuming. What I meant to say is that advisors should be encouraging. They shouldn't put you down so fast!!
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Cheerleading is not in the job description for a university pre health adviser. That section is usually made up of mom/dad/uncle Leroy, aunt Matilda, cousins Billy Bob and Sally Mae and some fellow SDNers.
 
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