Pre-Requisite timing...

[islandergold]

I'm a non-trad student so I'm looking to pick up my pre-requisites and be ready to apply next summer for 2010 matriculation. Can some of you guys give me your thoughts on my rough course schedule (below). I'm worried that I won't have completed enough courses to do well on the DAT (plan on taking it early next summer), and also whether I'd have enough of the pre-req's completed for the adcoms to get a feel for my performance. Of course, I'd have to complete them all before matriculating.

Lastly, does it seem like this is way too many pre-req courses? This is the basic plan that the University of Washington recommends for most dental schools. http://www.washington.edu/uaa/gateway/advising/degreeplanning/predental.php

Thanks a lot!

Summer (beginning this June 23rd):
General Chemistry 1
Physics 1
English
Anatomy & Physiology

Fall:
General Chemistry 2
Physics 2
Biology 1
English 2
Microbiology 1

Winter:
General Chemistry 3
Physics 3
Organic Chemistry 1
Biology 2

Spring: (Starting to Apply)
Organic Chemistry 2
Biology 3
Anatomy

Summer: (Writing the DAT during this term)
Another Organic Chemistry (some schools require 3 or a full year)

Fall:
Biochemistry 1
Microbiology 2

Winter:
Biochemistry 2

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[La Dentista]

Saying as how you are a non-trad student... you might want to rethink that summer schedule.
Questions: Do you work? Do you have a family? Does your social life matter a whole lot? If you answered yeah, you are in for a bad time with that summer schedule.... honestly, you are probably in for a rough road with it regardless IF you don't know what to expect...
Remember summer = (very)accelerated.

Remember with your chem and bio classes, etc etc they have chem and bio labs (I dont see those as part of your schedule).

What exactly is general chem 3? Have you looked at your school's class catalog? I think you definitely need to go to an advisor and work things out with them since I think you are a little confused on the classes. Also things like microbio might have prereqs you dont know about. I know at mine, you can't head to micro right after bio1 and bio2...

Not sure why you'd need a third physics... I don't think that's required, is it? I think you may be mistaking some labs as an actual physics/bio/chem class when it's really just a lab.

There is not really a "bio 3" usually there's bio 1 and 2, then whatever comes after it (microbio like you mentioned, cell bio, molecular genetics/bio, etc etc etc


Why take an anatomy class on down the line if you're taking anatomy and physiology this summer? I think you need to do MUCH more planning and thinking this out than you have.

Also, a full year of organic chem, I believe means... 1 class per semester (orgo 1, orgo 2)... I don't believe it means 3 (unless you're including labs?) I don't know, I'm basing this off my own school and thoughts on it, CORRECT ME SOMEONE, IF I AM WRONG.

You definitely need to speak to someone about scheduling.

 

[islandergold]

La Dentista,

Thanks for your reply, your comments are helpful. I do currently have a full-time job, but I'm prepared to quit or scale down as needed. I know that's probably not the best plan, but I'm going to try to make it work for now. I'm quite used to extreme workloads, so I'll see how it goes and adjust as time goes on.

Just to address some of your comments:
- I didn't include labs but many of those classes have labs attached as well.
- I wasn't sure how to full explain the classes so I just labelled them General Chem/Bio 1,2,3. For example, Oregon's Dental School requires Chem 142, 152, 162 and Bio 180, 200, 220 and Physics 114, 115, 116, etc. Yes, that list did seem like a lot of classes to me as well - it's pretty much 2 yrs of college!
- University of Pacific requires 1 yr (3 quarters or 2 semesters) of Organic Chem, so that's why I had Org Chem 3.

I have scheduled these classes out and made sure that I have the pre-req for each future class as they move along, though it's a little tricky. One of the problems is that I can't find an advisor to help me out, as I'm not a 'Degree' student anywhere.

Any more advice would be GREAT. I'm really making a huge career change here and CAN'T afford to screw up on scheduling, class choice, etc.

Cheers

 

[small]

Do you really need English? You should have had it or tested out of it (SAT). When I applied to IU, they stated that they don't accept AP credit (I think), but they accepted for the English requirements. Check into this, might save you some time.

 

[McNursey]

I'm a non-trad student so I'm looking to pick up my pre-requisites and be ready to apply next summer for 2010 matriculation. Can some of you guys give me your thoughts on my rough course schedule (below). I'm worried that I won't have completed enough courses to do well on the DAT (plan on taking it early next summer), and also whether I'd have enough of the pre-req's completed for the adcoms to get a feel for my performance. Of course, I'd have to complete them all before matriculating.

Lastly, does it seem like this is way too many pre-req courses? This is the basic plan that the University of Washington recommends for most dental schools. http://www.washington.edu/uaa/gateway/advising/degreeplanning/predental.php

Thanks a lot!

Summer (beginning this June 23rd):
General Chemistry 1
Physics 1
English
Anatomy & Physiology

Fall:
General Chemistry 2
Physics 2
Biology 1
English 2
Microbiology 1

Winter:
General Chemistry 3
Physics 3
Organic Chemistry 1
Biology 2

Spring: (Starting to Apply)
Organic Chemistry 2
Biology 3
Anatomy

Summer: (Writing the DAT during this term)
Another Organic Chemistry (some schools require 3 or a full year)

Fall:
Biochemistry 1
Microbiology 2

Winter:
Biochemistry 2

I'm a non-trad too...........and I am applying next year. I have a BS in nursing so I do have gen chem (8hrs) and 20 hours of biology courses (bio, a&p, and micro) but I lack any upper level bios and chems.........except for micro. So many schools have recommended I take upper levels to beef up my application. So that is what I am doing......do you plan on taking any upper level classes? It will help make you more competitive. I am not a "degree" student either but when I went to register for summer, I did get an advisor because I am interested in dental school and they have advisors for this sort of thing......I couldn't register without seeing an advisor........or else I would have asked for one. For all that I am paying for tuition, I am squeezing all that I can out of this school. That would be helpful because your advisor will be used to dealing with pre-dents. And just be careful with your schedule, your summer schedule looks heavy.......how many hours are you allowed to take in summer. Looks like you have at least 12 or 14 if you include labs........thats alot of hours for summer. I'm a non-trad too.........so I feel your pain! I wanted to apply this year but after doing some research, I realized my application is rather week due to lack of upper level classes, volunteer work, and gpa of 3.39, sci 3.19, no LOR (I have been out of school 2 years). I had to be brutally honest......my current stats probably wont get me in..........so I am gonna apply next year. I would rather do all I can now and have a good shot of getting in than submitting a weak application and hoping for a miracle. Anyway, good luck.

 

[islandergold]

I'd like to take some upper level classes as well, but just with the pre-requisites I've listed it's going to take me 1.5 yrs. There's no way I'd be able to complete more than that before applying...possibly before actually matriculating though. I have an electrical engineering background so I've actually taken the Physics 1,2,3 classes but got C's in them due to partying way to much in my first of college. I later pulled my GPA to about a 3.1 and did a master's with about a 3.5. With that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to re-take them and likely get 4.0's. As for English, I do have 1 English class that I can use, but some schools require a full 3 quarters of classes, so I thought I should take 2 more of them as well.

 

[Bruinlove]

I guess you have taken few science classes in your college career.
To follow that schedule and get 3.7+ out of it, you need to quit your job, and study super-mega hardcore.

Taking 4 science classes in one semester requires a lot of work.

 

[McNursey]

I'd like to take some upper level classes as well, but just with the pre-requisites I've listed it's going to take me 1.5 yrs. There's no way I'd be able to complete more than that before applying...possibly before actually matriculating though. I have an electrical engineering background so I've actually taken the Physics 1,2,3 classes but got C's in them due to partying way to much in my first of college. I later pulled my GPA to about a 3.1 and did a master's with about a 3.5. With that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to re-take them and likely get 4.0's. As for English, I do have 1 English class that I can use, but some schools require a full 3 quarters of classes, so I thought I should take 2 more of them as well.

I see. If you got C's in them, I understand why you want to re-take. I dont know how many C' you have. So you may want to retake some classes.......C's are acceptable, not the best but acceptable. I have 4 C's: A/P, A/P II, A/P II lab and Gen chem 1 lab and in Trig. I thought about retaking but I decided after talking to several schools and people to just redeem myself with upper levels. It may end up taking you longer than 1.5 years to get in D-school.....I wanted to apply this year but I decided to save time,money, and sanity and wait until I have a better application. It sucked but I am okay with it now. But I guess you just have to look at the schools you are interested and see what they want. Your master's gpa is good. So I am sure that will help.

 

[islandergold]

Any thoughts on how far along my pre-req schedule I would be ready to start preparing for the DAT? If I wrote the DAT next summer (assuming I finish the listed classes) would I have covered the needed classes? Or do you need some Microbiology and Biochemistry as well?

From what I have gathered, the DAT tests you on General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Biology.

Thanks

EDIT: One more question...as it stands, I'm going to probably have to take some of these courses at a University and some at a Community College - due to the likelihood of not getting into all of the Uni classes as a non-matriculated student. Do you think that would be an issue? I'd have two transcripts from different schools during the same time period. It seems like most schools don't have a problem with CC courses, as long as you don't take too many and you make sure they transfer.

 

[islandergold]

Bumpski