prereqs

[patricke]

Hi All,
I'm thinking of doing the prereqs informally. My undergrad is technology and I'm a Junior. Am I risking 'capping out' for aid if I try and squeeze all my prereqs in with my tech undergrad. I don't want to get 70% done and find out I have to take courses post grad to apply to dental school. Is a formal post bacc smarter?
Also, is applying to dental school with a technology undergrad degree frowned upon (assuming all pre reqs are done but obviously not all counted towards my tech degree?)
thanks all!!

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[nboogie]

Hi All,
I'm thinking of doing the prereqs informally. My undergrad is technology and I'm a Junior. Am I risking 'capping out' for aid if I try and squeeze all my prereqs in with my tech undergrad. I don't want to get 70% done and find out I have to take courses post grad to apply to dental school. Is a formal post bacc smarter?
Also, is applying to dental school with a technology undergrad degree frowned upon (assuming all pre reqs are done but obviously not all counted towards my tech degree?)
thanks all!!

You will have to check with your school and department in terms of what the "cap" limit is. For my university, the aid cap limit is something like 150% of the units required for a degree and to obtain a degree in my department requires ~130 units. So my cap would be 195 units. If your school is anything like mine, unless you've been screwing around, you should be fine.

You will have to do your own homework of course, but the way I understand it, it becomes harder to get aid once you have obtained a bachelors if you aren't enrolled in a special program (not even sure if formal post bac counts).

Now shifting from the financial aid perspective to the acceptance perspective, formal postbacs (like the dental one offered by UCSF) may increase your chances of getting in while an informal post bac may or may not have any affect (depending on the school).

I think having a degree in a non-traditional area will only help you because you will have not only the science background from your pre reqs but also a background in technology. You will be able to look at things from a different angle while natural science students will only be trained to look at it from one.

 

[patricke]

You will have to check with your school and department in terms of what the "cap" limit is. For my university, the aid cap limit is something like 150% of the units required for a degree and to obtain a degree in my department requires ~130 units. So my cap would be 195 units. If your school is anything like mine, unless you've been screwing around, you should be fine.

You will have to do your own homework of course, but the way I understand it, it becomes harder to get aid once you have obtained a bachelors if you aren't enrolled in a special program (not even sure if formal post bac counts).

Now shifting from the financial aid perspective to the acceptance perspective, formal postbacs (like the dental one offered by UCSF) may increase your chances of getting in while an informal post bac may or may not have any affect (depending on the school).

I think having a degree in a non-traditional area will only help you because you will have not only the science background from your pre reqs but also a background in technology. You will be able to look at things from a different angle while natural science students will only be trained to look at it from one.

Thanks for your perspective. It's NYU, so I'll have to check into caps. I live in NJ , so I'm shooting to go to UMDNJ. Plus I'm 39 so the clock is ticking..