Pre-Dental, Thinking About Switching Over, Questions

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AddHood

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I am currently a pre-dental student. After learning more and more that Dental schools are harder to get into than most medical schools, I have started considering switching to pre-med. I only have a 3.0 gpa and have not taken the DAT or MCAT yet. If I would go to medical school, there is an extra biology class I would have to take along with 2 other classes, which is fine.

What are people's thoughts.
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AddHood said:
I am currently a pre-dental student. After learning more and more that Dental schools are harder to get into than most medical schools, I have started considering switching to pre-med. I only have a 3.0 gpa and have not taken the DAT or MCAT yet. If I would go to medical school, there is an extra biology class I would have to take along with 2 other classes, which is fine.

What are people's thoughts.
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Stay dental, your GPA is too low.
 
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AddHood said:
I am currently a pre-dental student. After learning more and more that Dental schools are harder to get into than most medical schools, I have started considering switching to pre-med. I only have a 3.0 gpa and have not taken the DAT or MCAT yet. If I would go to medical school, there is an extra biology class I would have to take along with 2 other classes, which is fine.

What are people's thoughts.
Click to expand...
Switching to something because it's supposedly easier is a bad way to decide something that may change your life entirely.
 
amwatts0322 said:
Stay dental, your GPA is too low.
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I was under the impression Dental Schools are more competitive to get into, due to the ratio of schools to prospective students. Is this incorrect?
 
AddHood said:
I was under the impression Dental Schools are more competitive to get into, due to the ratio of schools to prospective students. Is this incorrect?
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Look at the numbers, Medical school matriculants and applicants have higher GPAs. I am not sure what the percentage of ppl that apply to Dental school actually matricualte, but for med school its less than 44%.
 
You should check out the mean GPA of those matriculating med schools and those matriculating dental schools...and then you can decide if it's easier to get into med school.

Plus, the attitude of going into medicine because its easier than getting into dental school will not get you past an interview if you can't explain why you actually want to be a doctor and show that you're serious about it with your EC's.
 
Dane Cook himself said that all dentists became dentists because they couldnt get into medical school....Check out Good luck Chuck.

Lol
 
suwaifo said:
Switching to something because it's supposedly easier is a bad way to decide something that may change your life entirely.
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this is the only post you should read and value (ok, I only read the first three posts myself, but this post is VERY wise)

You will have a successful career whether you are a dentist or a physician and successful careers (by definition) demand a LOT of your life. You will probably be much happier choosing the career you will enjoy more.

Edit: I was reading the pharmacy boards the other day and came across the same very flawed logic that you are applying (more applicants:less spots = more competitive).

Consider 2 scenarios:

A) 100,000 high school dropout applicants for 200 spots at veterinary school

vs.

B) 1,000 nobel prize winners for 200 spots at optometry school

Would you consider veterinary school more competitive? I would MUCH rather compete against people who don't even HAVE college GPAs than people who are obviously very intelligent and accomplished. Your logic is obviously very flawed.
 
AddHood said:
I was under the impression Dental Schools are more competitive to get into, due to the ratio of schools to prospective students. Is this incorrect?
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If you are suggesting that you'd have an easier time getting into med school with a 3.0 you are way off.
Less than half of all people who apply to med school get in. Some med schools are getting as many as 10,000 applications for 150 seats. And that is after about 90% of all folks who originally were "premed" in college self selected themselves out of the pool. In terms of your own stats, the average GPA for allo med school matriculants is around 3.5 or higher and it is a fairly tight distribution; you basically are wasting your money applying with a 3.0. If you wanted to go this route you should plan on several more years of school to bring the GPA up. Additionally, you need to get clinical experience before you should even consider medicine -- not only is it pretty much a requirement for med school but it may help you decide if this path is for you (it isn't for everyone). Bottom line, if you really want it (and you so far haven't suggested you do, just that you somehow confusedly think it's easier), you can probably get there but we are talking several intense years of working toward that goal.
 
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AddHood said:
I am currently a pre-dental student. After learning more and more that Dental schools are harder to get into than most medical schools, I have started considering switching to pre-med. I only have a 3.0 gpa and have not taken the DAT or MCAT yet. If I would go to medical school, there is an extra biology class I would have to take along with 2 other classes, which is fine.

What are people's thoughts.
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:eek: since then??? It's the other way around, bro!
 
fisko82 said:
lmao I was kidding around. I knew it wasn't his self-pic, duuuh. Who would be that hot and post on sdn? :laugh:
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Dont deny it Fisko!! Admit it, you want it. You want it BAD!!!!!:D

lmao
 
Seeing as how it isnt tearing you up inside to switch between dentistry and allopathic medicine you should consider podiatry. I hear its a great combo of both clinical practice and surgery. According to the AACPM the national average GPA for Podiatry School applicants for the 2006 school year was 3.2 overall. You should go to www.aacpm.com and check it out. What year are you in school?
 
shreeve21 said:
Seeing as how it isnt tearing you up inside to switch between dentistry and allopathic medicine you should consider podiatry. I hear its a great combo of both clinical practice and surgery. According to the AACPM the national average GPA for Podiatry School applicants for the 2006 school year was 3.2 overall. You should go to www.aacpm.com and check it out. What year are you in school?
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this is the end of my senior year, but i will need to stay in school for another year to finish out my major. I was undecided about everything 2 years into college. And now I am paying. I figure I will retake the courses I did not do so hot in, because I am pretty sure it erases my first grade in it totally.
 
AddHood said:
this is the end of my senior year, but i will need to stay in school for another year to finish out my major. I was undecided about everything 2 years into college. And now I am paying. I figure I will retake the courses I did not do so hot in, because I am pretty sure it erases my first grade in it totally.
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Not really buying this thread either, but lest someone actually has these questions, on AMCAS you have to list all original and retake grades. The originals never get erased for allo application purposes. Which is why it will take a NUMBER of years to fix your GPA. For DO schools however retakes will supplant original grades, so you can raise your GPA faster for DO purposes.
 
Law2Doc said:
Not really buying this thread either, but lest someone actually has these questions, on AMCAS you have to list all original and retake grades. The originals never get erased for allo application purposes. Which is why it will take a NUMBER of years to fix your GPA. For DO schools however retakes will supplant original grades, so you can raise your GPA faster for DO purposes.
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Interesting, I never knew that about DO schools.
 
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