Pre-Dental Course Advice

[nanilla]

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Hey everyone, I have recently began to consider going dental more and more and would like to figure a few things out first. I am currently a sophmore at Georgia Tech and am an Industrial Engineering major. I really do not like engineering, although IE is not to bad. So in preperation for pre-dent I have a few questions. I will complete Physics I and II, along with Calc I, II, III, and General Chem here at Tech. I recieved a B in Chem, Phys I, Calc I, II, and III. I currently have a 3.3 G.P.A. and 3.0 science G.P.A

First, I could take the other sciences (another Chem, 2 Orgo's, 2 Bio's) at GT, but since I live in Colorado I will probobly end up taking them at UCCS (University of Colorado Colorado Springs). I am fairly confident I could get A's at UCCS especially if I am taking them over the summer or probobly mostly B's at GT. Which would dental school's prefer? Basically would the toughness of classes outweigh the lower GPA?

Second, Would it be beneficial to just switch majors and bring up my GPA? Such as switch to management? Or ask as above would admissions look favorably on engineering?

Realistically with good DAT scores 19-20 what kinda GPA would I need in engineering?

Thanks Reed

 

[voager]

I will start with answering your first question "if toughness of class outweight the lower GPA " and to this i will say no ..dental school application is the combination of every thing from GPA , extra curriculum, shadowing, volunteering ...community services..DAT etc. they will compare your apllication with all the others who have applied and honestly ppl who wanna be in dental / med schools works really hard..not that I am saying you are not doing it ..but you might need to get a competitive GPA of average predent studet...ranging from 3.7-3.99...again my recommendation is based on the GPAs of all predents ..some ppl might have lower than that ...the higher you achieve the more competitive you will be ...

answer to your next question is switching a major doesnt really matter ..if you think you can do better with some other major ..go for it ..but then keep in mind your interest and courses...dental schools do not care what under grad major you are ..as long as you have your science requirements fullfilled.....and again no " one" major is favorable as compare to other in dental school.

again i would say no matter what DAT score you have...good GPA will shine on your application.

 

[Regmata]

You need to get As in the rest of the pre-reqs and you need to not take them over the summer. Nobody will care if you took them at GT or another 4 year university...

You don't need a 3.7+ but you do need to start performing better, especially in the sciences

 

[nanilla]

Thanks for the replyls guys, that was what I was expecting. I am planning on getting all A's in science classes and thought I would need a 3.7 or so to average out to a little over a 3.5. I would just switch over to management where I know I could get 3.8 + and be able to really focus on the few sciences I take. But then I dont get into dental school I'll be stuck with a sub-par degree with not many options. Any thought's?

 

[pishi1361]

Well I am not sure about this, but some schools love engineering majors!!!! so I don't think your major can have any bad effect on your application. Second you need to do really well on the rest of your classes and you have to take some upper division classes such as biochemistry, anatomy, physiology and so on and get As so you can show dental schools that you can do this! second I don't want to discourage you at all , I think you have a great chance of getting into dental schools, but you always have to think of your future too, if you like your major then don't change it into a major just to improve your GPA, stay in your major and work very hard to get the same GPA you would at an easier major, because JUST in case you did not get in you want to have another options for your life, but again I am sure you will do great, just study very hard and you will make it, DAT is not hard at all, just study 1-2 months hard core and you will do great, Best of luck to you...

 

[Ron Jeremy]

I was a former engineer with industry experience and I have both a B.S. and M.S. in Mech Engineering. Here's my cents on engineering and applying for d-school. D schools don't really care that I was an engineer.

Question 1. I fully appreciate that you are going to a tough school, but I have attended four different universities, and I will make a very general statement. I believe that getting A's at ALL large 4-year schools is difficult. Therefore, I wouldn't assume that switching from G-tech to UCCS is going to raise your gpa, but that is for you to decide. I really don't know how much the name of your undergrad school really matters. High GPA trumps everything, even the DAT.

Question 2. I personally think switching your major to a non-science major is a bad idea because you need to take a ton of science classes to get your sci gpa from 3.0 to 3.5. Even if you get straight A's in Orgo and Bio, you will only move your science gpa to 3.4. But, you may not got straight A's in those classes; therefore, your final sci gpa could be around 3.2.

Here's the other problem, if you go for a B.A. in management, those science classes may not fulfill your graduation requirements. Therefore, you could risk delaying graduation since Bio and Orgo will have to be taken in addition to your other required classes. If you also decide to take BioChem and Anatomy, etc, those classes also may not count towards graduation.

Let's say you switch to Bio engineering or strictly a Bio major. Then, Gen Bio and Orgo count towards graduation. In addition, all of your upper level engineering and Bio classes also count towards your science gpa. By your Junior / Senior year, you have high chance of moving your science gpa up to the high 3 range and the science material will still be fresh when you enter D school.

 

[sublimegd]

You need to get As in the rest of the pre-reqs and you need to not take them over the summer.

Why not take them over the summer?

 

[nanilla]

Why should I not take them over the summer? As I stand now I have taken 5 sciences and I still need Physics II, 2 orgo's, 2 bio's and will prob end up taking physiology and anatomy. That's 7 more classes so hopefully I can bring up science to around a 3.5, and overall around 3.7.

 

[Khala Jaan]

schools do not like summer courses. they say it strait up at some interviews

 

[cabbagebrain]

No one has taken issue with mine. As far as prereqs, I took Organic II as a 10-week summer course and it has not been a problem. I always take courses in the summer.

 

[Regmata]

Many schools use a formula to decide who they will accept. Summer courses do not plug into that formula favorably. Maybe not as bad as community college courses, but they are not looked upon in the same light as a course taken during they school year. Also, summer courses tend to not have a lab component.

 

[cabbagebrain]

Also, summer courses tend to not have a lab component.

For my university, a science course offered in the summer requires a lab if it is required any other semester. The only difference is that classes are longer/more frequent to cram the same number of hours/material into a shorter session. If anything, it's more intense. You definitely don't get out of anything.