Questions

[Ewt812]

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Hi,

I was a pre-med who recently moved to the pre-dent realm. I have a couple questions and hopefully people can answer them. Thank you for reading this, and I appreciate your insight.

1) I've always wanted to do something in the health profession when I was in high school, so when I entered college, I decided to do Pre-Health, but I wasn't sure which profession I should go to. At first, I decided that I wanted to be a pharmacist, so I began doing varies kinds of activities related to pharmacy, such as volunteering at hospital's pharmacy, pre-pharm club, and working at local pharmacy. After getting expose to pharmacy, I didn't really like it. My job/position was boring to me and I definitely didn't want to do this for next 30 yrs.

A lot of my friends are pre-med so I decided that maybe I should try pre-med too. I recently shadowed a doctor for 30 hours and it was not the life that I want in the future. Doctors seem to have no control over their schedules since they are always on call and it is a pretty stressful career. I've already working so hard to maintain my grade and stuff. I want to at least have a easy job when I graduate. Thus, I switched again.

I then, chose to do pre-dent, since there are not many choices left. However, I have not shadowed a dentist yet so I don't know if I really like the life style of dentists'. However, from what I searched and heard, usually dentists opened their own clinic so they are their own boss and average dentists tend to make more money than doctors. Sounds like an ideal job for me.

My question is, assuming I stick with dental school at the end, should I even list all the activities that I have done when I was pre-pharm and pre-med, such as volunteering at pharmacy, shadowing a medical doctor?

Also, if I am lucky enough to get an interview, when adcom ask me, "why dent?" Should I tell them my reason? "I was a pre-pharm and pre-med but I didn't like it. After shadowing a dentist, I really want to be a dentist..." or should I make up other reasons?

2)
My overall gpa is 3.65 and my science gpa is 3.56. I have a downward trend because of biology. Is my downward trend bad enough that I should retake those courses??

Freshmen gen chem
3.9 3.9 3.5

Sophomore
Biol 3.2 3.3
Ochem lecture 3.7 3.5 3.3
Ochem lab 3.8
Physics 3.9

Junior
Genetics (Biology?) 3.2
Ochem lab 3.6
Biochem 3.7
Physics 3.5

 

[Impulse155]

1) im confused by your gpa next to your classes.
2) When listing activities you did, list everything, nothing can hurt unless you list something like alcoholics anonymous or rehab.
3) Start shadowing a dentist so you know what its like. Plus dental schools require at least 50 hours, some require up to 150.
4) Dont be in it for the money, its not worth it to be miserable for the next 40 years is it? Plus most doctors who are on call are the doctors who are new, im sure wherever you go you wont see the doctor whos worked there for 20 years on call or having to go in at 4 in the morning because grandma fell down the stairs.

 

[Ewt812]

Thanks for the reply,

I go to UW, where they have a annoying grading system, which they give out grades by gpa instead of letter grades. If you get an "A", then it ranges from 4.0-3.8 🙁 .

Well, I want to have a stable job that makes money. That's why I chose Pre-Health over other professions. Don't get me wrong. I love pre-health. I want to work in a hospital or a clinic. However, I just don't know what profession I should be. That's why I compare the money (an objective indication) between doctors and dentists.

 

[duycuonggg]

Most of your questions will be answered once you start shadowing. If you end up truly loving the profession, the answer to "why dent" will be pretty clear to you.

 

[two thirty]

1) I probably wouldn't put them on the application, but I'd be sure to talk about it in an interview. It would show you truly explored your options and decided what was best for you. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt you to put it on your app, just make sure you make it clear you are only applying to dental school and not applying to pharm and dental school at the same time.

2) I'm not quite sure of your grading system, but from the numbers you posted it appears you are still making higher than a B(>3.0) in those courses. I'd only consider retaking a course if you failed it or maybe a C. Certainly not if you got a B, most dental applicants are A/B students. Your current 3.56 sGPA is certainly competitive for dental school.

 

[Ewt812]

I got a 2.7 in Math when I was a freshmen in my first quarter. Do I need to retake this to get at least a 3? or is Math not that important to dent school?

 

[Osity]

I got a 2.7 in Math when I was a freshmen in my first quarter. Do I need to retake this to get at least a 3? or is Math not that important to dent school?

One bad grade, especially as a freshman, won't be a problem. You overall GPA and science GPA are solid. I would do what some of the other guys on here have posted: shadow a dentist. You will find out whether or not it is something for you. As for being on call, family doctors and pediatricians are not generally on call (there are emergency rooms/instacare clinics for that); however, general dentists (as well as some specialists) are sometimes on call. Something for you to think about. Good luck figuring out what you want to do!

 

[Dusk]

Ewt, I'm in UW too, junior year also haha. You in bioc 406 now?
And your grades are fine, don't worry about it. Just keep getting 3.5+ now

 

[Ewt812]

Dusk,

It's good to find someone here on SDN who's also in UW. It seems to me that not a lot of people here go to UW. No, I am not taking Bioc 406 this quarter. I was Biochem BS, so I took 440 last quarter and I decided that I want to switch to BA since I want to double major in History. I am not taking any biochem now. Last quarter's biochem exhausted me.

Do you know that will UW take 440 and 406 as two quarters of Biochem? I know that BA degree can be completed with those two courses, but not sure about dental school.

Go Husky!

 

[Dusk]

Yeah I know! I think you're the first one I've seen, but I don't peruse sdn as frequently. go dawgs!

And I'm pretty sure you need just 2 quarters of biochem, it shouldn't matter if you switched the series. You might want to make sure though by asking Heather through email or something or call the school of dent, but you should be fine.

 

[mitrieD]

Make sure you do something that you love. Don't do it for the money, or you might be miserable. All health professions that make good money are stressful by the way. But if you enjoy it, the stress seems to work with you.

 

[healthcaree]

Dusk,

It's good to find someone here on SDN who's also in UW. It seems to me that not a lot of people here go to UW. No, I am not taking Bioc 406 this quarter. I was Biochem BS, so I took 440 last quarter and I decided that I want to switch to BA since I want to double major in History. I am not taking any biochem now. Last quarter's biochem exhausted me.

Do you know that will UW take 440 and 406 as two quarters of Biochem? I know that BA degree can be completed with those two courses, but not sure about dental school.

Go Husky!

I'm a graduate from UW and I took BIOC 405, 406 since I was a microbio major. UW dental takes BIOC 405, 406; or 440, 441.

http://dental.washington.edu/education/prospective_students/admissions.php#required

you can find more info on here but it will differ by school since some dental schools calculate it as semester credits. By having 405 and 406 completed with 6 quarter credits total (full 440 series will give you 12 credits), I did not encounter any problems applying to dental schools that require biochem so I think you should be good. (you will have 7 quarter credits total: 440(4) and 406(3))

for UW dental, microbio is also a pre-req: MICROM 301, 410; or 412, 442. One student who is currently a D3 at UW dent told me that she took microbio 301 and 412 which seemed like a combination of two different recommended classes. So I'm guessing BIOC 440 and 406 should be enough. If you're still unsure, you can contact the admissions office listed on the website.

it kinda sucks that you will have to wait another year to take 406 since it's only offered in winter..

oh and it seems like you haven't taken microbio yet. I see that you're a junior now.. so fyi, schedule it out in advance since most major microbio classes are only offered once a year. 410-fall, 412-spring, 442-winter (442 class recommends that you take 410 or 441 before). 301 should be offered throughout the whole year.

 

[notin]

1a. yes, mention all of your volunteer experience. it is all related and beneficial.

1b. as for why you want to be a dentist, yes you should tell them your reason. you'll have plenty of time to refine your answer. also, you must shadow a dentist to answer this question.

2. generally speaking, retaking courses is bad. you can't erase the old grade, and you're taking the class a second time so they'll expect you to do better anyway. if you want to make up for a few bad biology grades, take upper level biology classes and do well as opposed to re-taking anything. your grades aren't bad though.

 

[jenbruin]

Just wanted to agree with the others and say you should put all your other health experiences on the app. I put my experience working as a urologist's assistant and a veterinarian's assistant. I mentioned both in my personal statement and in my interviews to address the "Why Dentistry?" question. I think it shows you've really taken the time to explore other fields and now you're 100% confident dentistry is the right one for you. I did well this application cycle so it's definitely not bad to list these past experiences.