Pre-requisite Determination

[626385]

How can I be assured that the introductory biology, chemistry, and physics courses I take (either at a community college or 4-year) will fulfill the pre-requisites of many dental schools?

Is there a handy resource to use or is it just a matter of calling each and every possible dental school (15-20 for me) and running every possible curriculum by them?

The last thing I want to do is spend time taking classes which won't count, delaying my application by another year.

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[Avery07]

How can I be assured that the introductory biology, chemistry, and physics courses I take (either at a community college or 4-year) will fulfill the pre-requisites of many dental schools?

Is there a handy resource to use or is it just a matter of calling each and every possible dental school (15-20 for me) and running every possible curriculum by them?

The last thing I want to do is spend time taking classes which won't count, delaying my application by another year.

It should be pretty obvious. Talk to your advisor.

And no community college pre-reqs. They need to be done at a 4-year.

 

[626385]

It should be pretty obvious. Talk to your advisor.

And no community college pre-reqs. They need to be done at a 4-year.

I might not be able to take them at a 4-year. I've already graduated undergrad in a liberal arts field. If I can even register at a 4-year at all, I'll be the lowest priority for class registration.

 

[Avery07]

I might not be able to take them at a 4-year. I've already graduated undergrad in a liberal arts field. If I can even register at a 4-year at all, I'll be the lowest priority for class registration.

I don't see the reason you can't register at a 4-year. Just cause you have one degree doesn't mean you can't get another and if anything, you'd have first priorty with all those credits.

Priority shouldn't even matter cause you're starting at level 1 with intro bio and chem 1.

Generally speaking, dental schools do not accept pre-reqs -- and definitely not if they are science pre-reqs -- from community colleges. You'll have to figure something out if you really want this.

 

[SuperTank]

I might not be able to take them at a 4-year. I've already graduated undergrad in a liberal arts field. If I can even register at a 4-year at all, I'll be the lowest priority for class registration.

There are dental schools that will accept pre-reqs from a community college. I would imagine that would be the case, especially in your situation. I was accepted to dental school, but am missing a couple pre-reqs. I graduated in 2005, so it wasn't like I could just add classes for next semester. I talked to the school and they said I could take them from a community college, or a 4-year university. I tried the community college first, (and this part's hilarious) but they wouldn't let me take anatomy or microbiology because I didn't have a strong enough background in Biology (I MAJORED IN BIOLOGY!). Anyway, I was able to get into a 4-year institution as a post-bac, non degree seeking student to take the two classes I need.

 

[rvali001]

There are SOME schools that require you take prerequisites at a university, definitely not all. If u really can't enroll just apply to the schools that don't mind u taking them at a cc.

 

[626385]

There are dental schools that will accept pre-reqs from a community college. I would imagine that would be the case, especially in your situation. I was accepted to dental school, but am missing a couple pre-reqs. I graduated in 2005, so it wasn't like I could just add classes for next semester. I talked to the school and they said I could take them from a community college, or a 4-year university. I tried the community college first, (and this part's hilarious) but they wouldn't let me take anatomy or microbiology because I didn't have a strong enough background in Biology (I MAJORED IN BIOLOGY!). Anyway, I was able to get into a 4-year institution as a post-bac, non degree seeking student to take the two classes I need.

Those community colleges...so selective!

How did you get into a 4-year institution as a post-bac, non-degree seeking student? That's exactly what I'd like to do, if possible. I have many more classes to complete than you did (eight to ten), but any insight you could give me would be great.

I do understand that community college is generally frowned upon and, in some cases, outright unacceptable to selection committees, but my options are limited. I'm keeping it open as a possibility. I will do everything in my power to take my pre-reqs at a 4-year university, but I'm not going to let a closed door there stop me on my journey.

 

[customx]

I don't see the reason you can't register at a 4-year. Just cause you have one degree doesn't mean you can't get another and if anything, you'd have first priorty with all those credits.

Priority shouldn't even matter cause you're starting at level 1 with intro bio and chem 1.

Generally speaking, dental schools do not accept pre-reqs -- and definitely not if they are science pre-reqs -- from community colleges. You'll have to figure something out if you really want this.

You can register, but at a lot of schools you'll have to apply as a post-bac student. I was denied into my state school last month and was told to take classes as a non-matriculated student. That would be great but all of the chem and bio courses are full and profs won't overload them.

You may be better off taking chem 1 and bio 1 at a community college and then see if you can get into the upper level courses at a 4 year school. If there are other reasons why you can't take classes at a 4 year, then feel free to take them at a community college. You'll find a lot of people on SDN have gotten into DSs by taking classes at community colleges. There are however limits to the amount of credits that you can take, so you may want to check with the dental schools your'e interested in.

 

[dentalWorks]

How can I be assured that the introductory biology, chemistry, and physics courses I take (either at a community college or 4-year) will fulfill the pre-requisites of many dental schools?

Is there a handy resource to use or is it just a matter of calling each and every possible dental school (15-20 for me) and running every possible curriculum by them?

The last thing I want to do is spend time taking classes which won't count, delaying my application by another year.

Very valid question and the answers are very simple:
a) talk to your pre-med / pre-dent advisor (every school has em)
b) also every school has a special section in thier websites for "pre-prefessional studies for dental / medicine / vertrenary / etc etc".

 

[such as]

It should be pretty obvious. Talk to your advisor.

And no community college pre-reqs. They need to be done at a 4-year.

I got into a lot of schools with CC pre-reqs under my belt.

Schools that I wasn't interested in didn't accept CC's, so it didn't bother me.

 

[such as]

I don't see the reason you can't register at a 4-year. Just cause you have one degree doesn't mean you can't get another and if anything, you'd have first priorty with all those credits.

Priority shouldn't even matter cause you're starting at level 1 with intro bio and chem 1.

Generally speaking, dental schools do not accept pre-reqs -- and definitely not if they are science pre-reqs -- from community colleges. You'll have to figure something out if you really want this.

Did you apply to dental school? Because this is not really the case. There are some schools that don't accept CC credits. But not "generally speaking" at all.

 

[Avery07]

Did you apply to dental school? Because this is not really the case. There are some schools that don't accept CC credits. But not "generally speaking" at all.

Every school I've talked to will not accept science pre-reqs. No I have not applied. I said "generally speaking" to confer that this is not always the case. If you have an app full of CC science, red flags will go up.

You say you have a lot of cc pre reqs. What are these in?

 

[coolfez]

The OP asked if their is a handy source out there with all the school's pre-req. I knoe it is rare, but some school have some weird requirements and lots of recommandations. Is there a handy booklet out there somewhere? I would imagine so with only 60-ish dental schools, I don't want to go through every school's website that i want to apply and find everything.

 

[such as]

Every school I've talked to will not accept science pre-reqs. No I have not applied. I said "generally speaking" to confer that this is not always the case. If you have an app full of CC science, red flags will go up.

You say you have a lot of cc pre reqs. What are these in?

When you said "Generally speaking" that = MAJORITY. Or MOST of the time. That's NOT the case at all. How do you know red flags will go up? Have you applied? I don't understand where you are getting this info. I have applied with a good GPA and good amount of CC work...NO red flags at my interviews? So, maybe you should hold off for this kind of advice until after you have actually gone through the process.

I took many Pre-reqs at CC's.

Here's a few that do not care about CC's: Harvard, Columbia, Penn, UCLA, UCSF and many more


check this out:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=527335&highlight=community+college

 

[626385]

I've already heard that the level of organic chemistry from my local community college (which fulfills CSU and UC pre-reqs upon transfer...) is not accepted at UCSF. It would be helpful if the dental schools maintained some universal standards, but I suppose I'll be forcing my way back into a UC!

 

[dentalWorks]

When you said "Generally speaking" that = MAJORITY. Or MOST of the time. That's NOT the case at all. How do you know red flags will go up? Have you applied? I don't understand where you are getting this info. I have applied with a good GPA and good amount of CC work...NO red flags at my interviews? So, maybe you should hold off for this kind of advice until after you have actually gone through the process.

I took many Pre-reqs at CC's.

Here's a few that do not care about CC's: Harvard, Columbia, Penn, UCLA, UCSF and many more


check this out:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=527335&highlight=community+college

Yeh but dental school admissions is EXTREAMLY competitive these days. I would rather squeeze every bit of competitiveness out of my application as possible. It is a "rumor or myth" that CC credits look "weaker" in the eyes of adcoms, so woun't you think its a good idea to take your sciences (most importantly the pre-dents) at a 4-year university rather than a CC JUST INCASE these rumors or myths are real?

Just becuase a dental school doesn't mind you taking your pre-reqs at a CC it doesn't make you more competitive compared to someone else who took THE SAME pre-reqs at a 4-year university. People need to underestand this, what is considered "okay" doesn't mean it qualifies you as "competitive". An example of this is a score of 18 or 19 on AA, which is "okay" for many schools, but does it make you competitive?

 

[dent2014]

You can try assist.org to check if they they transfer. I know this works to see if community college courses are transferrable to 4 year universities... but not too sure about dental schools. I do know that UCSF dentistry is on there though. If that doesn't work, talk to your advisor or directly contact the school.

 

[626385]

You can try assist.org to check if they they transfer. I know this works to see if community college courses are transferrable to 4 year universities... but not too sure about dental schools. I do know that UCSF dentistry is on there though. If that doesn't work, talk to your advisor or directly contact the school.

I did find ASSIST through UCSF's website, but the only dental school it links to is UCSF. My concern is that some schools will accept the pre-reqs I take and others will not. That would narrow the list of schools I could apply to.

No one has encountered this problem when applying? If I had gone to my local CSU (state university) as an undergrad and majored in chemistry, I wouldn't have met UCSF's pre-reqs according to ASSIST. That doesn't seem right. They must be somewhat flexible?

 

[Avery07]

I did find ASSIST through UCSF's website, but the only dental school it links to is UCSF. My concern is that some schools will accept the pre-reqs I take and others will not. That would narrow the list of schools I could apply to.

No one has encountered this problem when applying? If I had gone to my local CSU (state university) as an undergrad and majored in chemistry, I wouldn't have met UCSF's pre-reqs according to ASSIST. That doesn't seem right. They must be somewhat flexible?

The ADEA guide says who does and who doesn't accept cc credits and what their limits are if they do accept. Get your hand on one of these guides.