Second Career.....Need advice

[Nininger1]

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Hi everyone....i have a bachelors in psychology and a masters in social work and now am back in school (now at a community college) completing my prerequisites. I work as a medical social worker in a hospital and have gotten close to 100 hours of shadowing dentist (am still shadowing so I will get more). By the end of this spring semester, I will have BIo 1&2 completed, General Chem 1&2 completed, and Org 1 chem completed. I plan on taking the DAT early summer, then taking Org 2 and Micro this summer semester. I'm going to continue taking other science classes up until Spring next year. I was planning on applying to dental school early this summer (for admission 2010) and am wondering if you feel i will be a competitive candidate since I still have some other classes to take. I am an untraditional student in the sense that I will be 28 this summer and I am a social science major by far. Let me know what your thoughts are and please leave any advice and recommendations. Thanks 🙂

 

[BillytheEchidna]

More than 24 hours without a response to your first post? How rude of us -- I'm sorry! I'm non-traditional, too (30).

You might want to consider postponing the DAT until after you've had Orgo II (since you will be tested on Orgo II materials on the DAT). Some people might say that taking your classes at a community college isn't the best idea, but as long as you have taken the associated labs, the opinion about whether that's acceptable will probably vary from school to school. You don't need to have taken all your required pre-requisites when you apply -- they just need to be done by the time you matriculate.

If you do well on the DAT and have an excellent GPA, they will love you! Keep in mind that they will look at any science and math classes that you took in your social sciences undergrad and include them when they calculate your science GPA. Try to volunteer if you have time... You might also want to consider writing your personal statement as soon as possible, just to get it out of the way. I had the hardest time writing mine, and I was an English major -- it delayed my submitting my application by about three weeks. It is the most important thing you will ever write, so don't put it off, thinking that it will be easy. As a non-traditional student, it will probably be a long essay, unlike anyone else's! Good luck!

 

[austinsanity]

Hi everyone....i have a bachelors in psychology and a masters in social work and now am back in school (now at a community college) completing my prerequisites. I work as a medical social worker in a hospital and have gotten close to 100 hours of shadowing dentist (am still shadowing so I will get more). By the end of this spring semester, I will have BIo 1&2 completed, General Chem 1&2 completed, and Org 1 chem completed. I plan on taking the DAT early summer, then taking Org 2 and Micro this summer semester. I'm going to continue taking other science classes up until Spring next year. I was planning on applying to dental school early this summer (for admission 2010) and am wondering if you feel i will be a competitive candidate since I still have some other classes to take. I am an untraditional student in the sense that I will be 28 this summer and I am a social science major by far. Let me know what your thoughts are and please leave any advice and recommendations. Thanks 🙂

If you can complete as much of your application as possible and then take OChem II before taking the DAT, you can take the exam with the material fresh in your mind and then immediately submit a finished application (minus courses you'll taking and updating).

If OChem II runs until the end of August [for instance], take one to two weeks to study and get all the information straight in your head. Then take the exam and submit by mid-September. It may sound late to some people, but I didn't throw my application into the mix until December 16th and I was accepted at my top choice school. The important thing is that you do well on the test. If you rush to take it and don't feel you're ready and/or don't possess all the knowledge you'll need, you'll end up wasting your time and ultimately sitting in for a second go at it.

 

[dentalmama]

I too am a non-trad (43) and took the DAT BEFORE taking OchemII. My score was 20 on Ochem - so it is definitely POSSIBLE, but you must work at it on your own - and get a tutor!!! It's probably not the best way to go, but it can be done. I, for one, really think its important to get your application complete before August, that was a priority for me, so I had to take the DAT before I could finish the summer session Ochem II - there was no option for me. I interviewed in the first round from my top schools (I only applied to 3) and now I can relax until I start in the fall. Get your application as early as possible!!!

One last bit of advise: You don't have to take Physics until after you take the DAT, so leave that class for the last year (if the DS you want to go to allows that, most do...) and leave about 6 weeks to study for the DAT where you will focus on nothing but that!

Good luck!

 

[Nininger1]

Thanks you all so much for your responses. I have started my personal statement already, so that's almost all ready to go.

Dentalmama, question for you... What were your best strategies for studying for the DAT. How many additional courses did you have to complete after you applied for dental school? I know that everyone says that they don't care that you haven't completed all of your courses, but I wonder if they look at your application less or in a negative manor if you still have quite a bit of classes to take.

 

[dentalmama]

Thanks you all so much for your responses. I have started my personal statement already, so that's almost all ready to go.

Dentalmama, question for you... What were your best strategies for studying for the DAT. How many additional courses did you have to complete after you applied for dental school? I know that everyone says that they don't care that you haven't completed all of your courses, but I wonder if they look at your application less or in a negative manor if you still have quite a bit of classes to take.

Studying for the DAT: Complete your coursework: take Kaplan or Princeton Review - start NOW. When your classes are over this spring, start studying on your own. Buy DAT Destroyer (I think???) - you can find it on Amazon or Craigs list for about $80. Answering the questions will be challenging at first, but then study the answers and why the wrong ones are wrong. Get a tutor for Ochem II - all of this focused studying should take about 6-8 weeks! Take full length exams (you will get them online if you pay for a review class and in the mean time it will be good review of all the material).

I applied June 2008, and I still had to take Ochem II over the summer, then physics this year (08-09). I also took Biochem, currently Anatomy, and research/lab units just for fun this year. I had no problem at all getting interviews with still 1 year of Physics left to complete, (but I also have a 4.0). They don't hold this against you, (at least that is what I've directly heard from admissions directors at the schools I've applied to, but you should check yours), but you should have MOST of your prereqs done - which you have! You've already done the work, don't worry about that. Just worry about doing very well on your DAT.
Hope that helps and good luck!