Question about bio prerequisite for dental schools

[ll12147]

Hi all. I know a lot of people have asked this question, but I'm still confused as to what the exact bio prerequisites are for dental schools.

I know it varies from school to school, but I understand most schools require 1 year of biology with labs.

I am a nontraditional student who graduated from a UC school. And I'm back at cc taking the prerequisites for science courses.

I took a quarter of these following courses at a UC school:
- intro bio course (without lab)
- evolutionary bio (without lab)
- genetics (without lab)
- biochem (without lab)
[these are introductory bio classes that all bio majors need to take]

And I only took this bio class at a cc:
- anatomy (with lab)

I'm taking microbiology (with lab) at a cc right now.

Do you think these two classes (anatomy and microbio with labs) are sufficient to fulfill the bio lab prerequisites for many of the schools?

Any inputs will be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

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[whitepapertree]

You'll need that second introductory biology class or zoology class w/ lab. Just take at a CC in Spring or whatever.

 

[ll12147]

So the anatomy/microbio with labs don't suffice?

What exactly is the topic of a second introductory biology class? I tried looking for it on my cc website and I don't know which class is the second introductory bio class....

 

[OrphanageCaretaker]

Stop taking prereq courses at CC's, not only will adcom's look down upon you, but some schools flat out don't accept any prereq classes from a CC, transfer to a 4 year, finish your prereqs there. Why didn't you take any labs for the bio courses? I don't think Anatomy and Micro labs will suffice

 

[whitepapertree]

Stop taking prereq courses at CC's, not only will adcom's look down upon you, but some schools flat out don't accept any prereq classes from a CC, transfer to a 4 year, finish your prereqs there. Why didn't you take any labs for the bio courses? I don't think Anatomy and Micro labs will suffice

Back down lil boi

 

[virtualmaster999]

Hmm yeah I think you would benefit from taking the rest of your classes at a 4- year university (which is what adcoms like to see). I know a good amount of schools do accept cc credit, but some don't, so use the ADEA guide for that.

Definitely take the labs for all the sciences (bio 1/2, chem 1/2, orgo 1/2, physics 1/2, anatomy, and I believe microbio too). Just get your remaining classes done at a 4-year and you'll be in a good spot.

For that year of bio, I think most people take general biology 1/2, or zoology. But you do need 1 year of that, so it's best to check with a university to see what the exact class is called.

Just keep working hard, and get through the rest of your classes- good luck!

 

[ll12147]

I understand that it's better to take the prerequisite classes at a 4 year institution. The biggest reason why I'm not finishing up my classes at a 4 year institution is because of the cost-factor. (This is also why I'm not in a post-bac program) I couldn't take any labs for the bio classes while I was at a UC school because they didn't offer them to non-bio students.

Thank you for all your inputs. So I guess anatomy/microbio labs won't be enough. I'll see what I can do to get into other labs.

 

[ajj70]

I understand that it's better to take the prerequisite classes at a 4 year institution. The biggest reason why I'm not finishing up my classes at a 4 year institution is because of the cost-factor. (This is also why I'm not in a post-bac program) I couldn't take any labs for the bio classes while I was at a UC school because they didn't offer them to non-bio students.

Thank you for all your inputs. So I guess anatomy/microbio labs won't be enough. I'll see what I can do to get into other labs.

It will cost you a lot more in application fees and such to take all of these classes at a CC and then be told the dental schools don't accept them and you have to take them all over again. Find a cheep state school near you and take these at a 4 year college. It will hurt your admissions to have taken these classes at a community college after you got your 4 year degree and many schools will flat out not accept credits for upper level classes. Find the money to do this right.

 

[doc toothache]

The issue has less to do with lacking a bio lab and more to do with having taken an "intro" course which is not designed for science majors. In general, ds expect pre requisites to be at science majors level.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...-advanced-placement-and-ds-admission.1138556/

 

[ll12147]

The issue has less to do with lacking a bio lab and more to do with having taken an "intro" course which is not designed for science majors. In general, ds expect pre requisites to be at science majors level.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...-advanced-placement-and-ds-admission.1138556/

Thank you for all your honest replies. And doc toothache, thank you for the link.

But yes, the intro courses that I have taken at my UC school are prerequisites for science majors. I haven't taken any upper div bio classes at a UC, however. So my option after I graduated was to (a) take classes at an "academic finisher" program at a state school or (b) finish them up at a community college. And I chose the latter, but you guys are making me worried now. 😕

I just want to clarify my situation with more information right now......

I have already taken some prerequisites at my UC school before I graduated:
- lower division biology courses (DNA to organisms, evolutionary biology, genetics, biochem) without lab
- a full year of inorganic chemistry with labs
- a full year of physics with labs
- a quarter of organic chemistry with a lab
And these are all the prerequisite classes for science majors.

And I'm finishing up the prerequisites at a community college. I took:
- 1 semester of organic chemistry (taking the second semester now)
- 1 semester of anatomy with lab
- 1 semester of microbio with lab (now)

My overall GPA = 3.67 and my science GPA should be about ~ 3.4? I'm not too sure.

With these, any more advice will be appreciated. I am planning to apply next June. I have not taken my DAT yet. Would the only advice be to start taking rest of my bio classes at a state school? Please...... Any advice will be appreciated. 😳

 

[darknightzzz]

Thank you for all your honest replies. And doc toothache, thank you for the link.

But yes, the intro courses that I have taken at my UC school are prerequisites for science majors. I haven't taken any upper div bio classes at a UC, however. So my option after I graduated was to (a) take classes at an "academic finisher" program at a state school or (b) finish them up at a community college. And I chose the latter, but you guys are making me worried now. 😕

I just want to clarify my situation with more information right now......

I have already taken some prerequisites at my UC school before I graduated:
- lower division biology courses (DNA to organisms, evolutionary biology, genetics, biochem) without lab
- a full year of inorganic chemistry with labs
- a full year of physics with labs
- a quarter of organic chemistry with a lab
And these are all the prerequisite classes for science majors.

And I'm finishing up the prerequisites at a community college. I took:
- 1 semester of organic chemistry (taking the second semester now)
- 1 semester of anatomy with lab
- 1 semester of microbio with lab (now)

My overall GPA = 3.67 and my science GPA should be about ~ 3.4? I'm not too sure.

With these, any more advice will be appreciated. I am planning to apply next June. I have not taken my DAT yet. Would the only advice be to start taking rest of my bio classes at a state school? Please...... Any advice will be appreciated. 😳

you went to UC Irvine? yea bio labs at uci are super packed and you stand no chance taking it by being a non-major.

if so, you can look into cal state fullerton or cal state long beach university, their tuition cost is only 6k a year compared to 12k for a UC. yea above posters are true. you still need some upper div bio.

plz remember some community colleges in socal received warning about their education quality just a few years back due to their sub par education. So you will shed about 2-3k at least for dental school interview. Ditch out 6k for state school, take full time, take 16 units then you will be set. Good luck.

 

[OrphanageCaretaker]

Back down lil boi

Are you going to just name call or offer credible information?

 

[ll12147]

you went to UC Irvine? yea bio labs at uci are super packed and you stand no chance taking it by being a non-major.

if so, you can look into cal state fullerton or cal state long beach university, their tuition cost is only 6k a year compared to 12k for a UC. yea above posters are true. you still need some upper div bio.

plz remember some community colleges in socal received warning about their education quality just a few years back due to their sub par education. So you will shed about 2-3k at least for dental school interview. Ditch out 6k for state school, take full time, take 16 units then you will be set. Good luck.

yeah bio classes are literally impossible to get into if you're not a bio major. 😢

a warning about their educational quality?! surprisingly though my bio classes at community colleges have been far more enriching than the classes i have taken at a uc.... but admission people wouldn't care about that do they...

so do you think i should hold off applying next june and take classes at a state college for another year?! even though i understand that you should apply after you have done all that you can to maximize your chance of getting in..... i graduated in 2014 and i do not want to hold off applying for another year

 

[ajj70]

Can you transfer to the 4 year school now? Are you still within the drop time for the CC classes? Call one of those schools mentioned earlier and ask about getting in and starting this week if you can still drop classes at the CC.

 

[ll12147]

@ajj70 Unfortunately, yesterday was the last day to drop the cc classes without receiving a W in the grade. I'm so stressed as to what I should do now... 😕