Self-esteem is very low.

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Tyler Reichard

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All my life I've had self-esteem and confidence issues and I can feel it starting to show as I approach my senior year of High School.

I want to be in the dental field so badly to the point I'm obsessing over everything now. I know it takes time and patience to become a Dentist and I just need to grasp this.

I think what scares me the most is what my guidance counselor said. She told me that the math would probably be too hard for me in Dental School and that totally shredded my self-esteem. I feel like total crap now because she basically told me I'm not cut out for it.

My lowest grade is a 89% and that was in History, everything else was an A. This is where I start second guessing myself. Did I take easy classes and I'm actually just very stupid or am I in a decent place.

Next year for my senior year I scheduled 3 sciences ( AP Biology, Physics and Chemistry )

In 2 weeks I get to job shadow a Dentist and Hygienist for a day and I'm super excited.

I'm just scared of failing because I feel as though I'm not "smart" enough.
 
I haven't taken Math since gr.12 and I am going to dental school in September! I never had to take it since! Don't listen to your counsellor, I was told a similar thing from my counsellor in high school, said my marks were too low (but they were all A's). Now that I look back, I really don't know what she was talking about. Your marks are fine - try to stay positive 🙂
 
Your guidance counselor is an idiot which is why he/she will be a guidance counselor giving poor advice for life.

High school is a joke and doesn't mean anything. You need to come back in a couple years after you complete some college classes. Then you will see how smart you are and if you have really failed.
 
1) Your counsellor is clearly useless. Math? What is he/she smoking?
2) You're the only one who can set limits for yourself! Don't let anyone tell you what aren't cut out to do!
3) Like amfasszz said, high school is academically insignificant. You need to get past it, go to university, take the required courses and kick their butts! If you're determined, you'll do a great job.

Chin up and good luck!
 
Math? Lol

Don't worry. Work hard , keep your grades up in college, volunteer and you can do anything you want to
 
I don't mean any offense by this, but those who work as mentor or counselor usually don't know what the hell they are talking about. My "mentor" doesn't even know is happening in science classes or how difficult/easy they are. You are going to encounter a lot of people who say bad things, not because they want to see you fail, but because they had bad experience with it and think everyone will achieve the same results.

Moral of story, learn to ask why/how/proof whenever someone is doubting you.
 
You are young and just coming into your own. I think that it is totally normal to feel a lack of confidence in high school. Try to find friends and adults that you feel comfortable expressing these feelings with. Sometimes it helps to talk about these kinds of things.

In terms of dental school, there is virtually no math once you are there. However, the pre-requisite classes that you will take in college to prepare for dental school are relatively math intensive. However, the level of math required is not very high. Chemistry and (trig based) physics only require you to know algebra and trig. Plus, you pretty much have straight A's. Try your best and work towards your goals and you will be where you want to be.
 
Tyler Reichard said:
All my life I've had self-esteem and confidence issues and I can feel it starting to show as I approach my senior year of High School.

I want to be in the dental field so badly to the point I'm obsessing over everything now. I know it takes time and patience to become a Dentist and I just need to grasp this.

I think what scares me the most is what my guidance counselor said. She told me that the math would probably be too hard for me in Dental School and that totally shredded my self-esteem. I feel like total crap now because she basically told me I'm not cut out for it.

My lowest grade is a 89% and that was in History, everything else was an A. This is where I start second guessing myself. Did I take easy classes and I'm actually just very stupid or am I in a decent place.

Next year for my senior year I scheduled 3 sciences ( AP Biology, Physics and Chemistry )

In 2 weeks I get to job shadow a Dentist and Hygienist for a day and I'm super excited.

I'm just scared of failing because I feel as though I'm not "smart" enough.
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your guidance counselor is an idiot. they all typically are. In 9th grade, mine told me Honors English and AP courses would be way too much work for me and I should stick to only the bare minimum to graduate. Well, thank goodness I didn't listen. I graduated ranked top ten in my class and went to a very competitive university for undergrad.

The point is, don't stress about getting into dental school right this second. You're young. Take things one step at a time. Make sure you're getting good grades in college, but also remember to have fun along the way 🙂
 
look up hip hop preacher on youtube and watch some of his videos. should get you inspired right away!
 
Lol I laugh at everything my high schools counselor would always tell me..
I had a 2.3GPA graduating from high school because of the lack of motivation I had that time. Long story short, I'm now on my way to becoming a dentist soon with a overall GPA of 3.44 (could be a bit better I know) and I can tell you that what you do in high school doesn't reflect how you'll do in college.


P.S: Try not taking too much advice from counselor as A LOT of them hardly know what they're even saying. Forums (In my opinion) is the best option for help!
 
Listen, you are so young! The fact that you are this interested and worried about your future in and of itself is quite impressive. Let alone your passion for dentistry at such an early age.

Number one: your high school guidance counselor obviously has no knowledge of the dental pathway. Ignore that person.

Number two: enjoy what you have left of high school. You don't send in your high school transcripts to dental school unless they request it, which would be out of the norm.

Number three: Math isn't even in the course work in dental school. It is on the DAT and you do have to take it in college. I got into dental school only taking college alg. and trig.

Enjoy your youth. You have so much to look forward to!
 
Young people never really know what they're capable of, so you're not alone here. In fact, real success is occasionally assisted by the type of insecurity you're displaying here (link). When you get older, you may observe that not every high schooler is as on the ball as you seem to think you and they should be. Plus, you'll talk to a few advisers who either don't know what they're talking about, or are poor communicators.

In regards to the comment about math, just a few dental schools require some calculus classes, and they all require Physics, which *may* have a calculus course or two as prerequisites. Don't sweat it, though. Math is a good "monkey" skill - just do the problems over and over again enough to keep your head above water. The skills are not necessarily required in the field of dentistry, or taught in dental school, but you need to work on it in the run up to dental school.

Fun story though, one dental school faculty member I interviewed with was told she was awful at chemistry in HS, and she hated the subject, but she went on to major in it in college, and, clearly, got into dental school (then interviewed me!). You can use these types of slights to your advantage.

Lastly, shadowing early, doing dental clinics early, volunteering early, will not only build character, but look good on an application when you do finally get to apply. You will run past more than a few college juniors and seniors who are putting these types of things off. So you've got that going for you. =) (edit to add: I don't think you can claim high school volunteer work, but you probably can claim shadowing experience - if no where else, you can mention it in your personal statement and interviews.)
 
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Just to echo what others have said, as soon as you step foot on a college campus, nothing you ever did in high school matters academically. Plus, if you were curious, once you get a job, very very little of what you did in college will matter, unless you apply to grad. school.
 
The older you get the more you realize that "adults" are just people, they don't have all the answers, and are just stumbling their way through life same as you are. Hell, I'm technically an adult and...well, just by me saying I'm "technically" an adult should let you know where I was going. When someone is telling you anything about anything you should always take it with a grain of salt. Use what you know to be true, through your experiences and research, to determine how to use other's advice.

Let me add that you are leaps and bounds above where I was during my senior year in terms of thinking about dental school. Senioritis may sound terrible, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
 
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Guidance counselors can only counsel others on how to be guidance counselors. They know very little about other fields.

There is very little math in dental school.
 
1. You will need to learn to have some self confidence, because if you don't believe in yourself, how do you expect others to believe in you? Chin up, buttercup.

2. Don't take advice from someone who hasn't been through dental school/application process because they don't know what they are talking about. I was terrible in high school because I was bored; if someone told me I couldn't get into dental school because of that back then, they would have been wrong.

3. Align yourself with people who will be honest with you but will also encourage you and your talents.

4. Guidance counselors: rank of importance in your future: a grain of salt. (P.S. the same dried up guidance counselors from high school will also find themselves in the collegiate level, again, having NO idea what they are talking about. Pave your own way.)
 
Man, guidance counselors don't know anything, they don't know you. Only you can predict your success in whatever you do with how much work your willing to put in. The most math you'll probably see is some calc in undergrad thats about it. But math is going to be the least of your worries, undergrad courses are much more involved than whatever your doing in high school. What I'm saying is that your too damn young to start worrying about dental school, focus on what your doing now and do the best you can, and everything will fall into place. If you start worrying now, your going to look at coursework in undergrad and say this is too much and reconsider your decision. You seem to be doing well in high school so keep it up.

In the words of Will Smith,
You don't start out trying to build a wall, you lay a brick as perfectly as you can, and eventually you'll have a wall.
 
I can't stand it when adults in such influential positions draw negative conclusions about someones future and then tell them about it! Do yourself a favor and don't listen to that dim wit anymore.
 
ahopers said:
4. Guidance counselors: rank of importance in your future: a grain of salt. (P.S. the same dried up guidance counselors from high school will also find themselves in the collegiate level, again, having NO idea what they are talking about. Pave your own way.)
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Yup, right on the money. The only advice and insight you should be getting on school, DAT, and dental school applications are from those who have recently (within last couple years preferably) went through it and been accepted. Right in the same vein with guidance counselors are basic science professors, who indiscriminately give out very misguided information on health professions/applications. A couple of hours at Starbucks surfing on SDN and flipping through the ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools will give you more than any of these people will combined.
 
I'm actually quite annoyed that your guidance counselor would just spout nonsense about things that he/she doesn't really know about. We all already have our own insecurities and hearing these kinds of things can have a huge effect on people. It reminds me of what happened to one of my friends in college... she was an amazing student with amazing extracurriculars and everyone knew she would have gotten into med school had she applied. But some stupid pre-med counselor told her, "Oh, your application isn't strong enough. You should wait another year." And that kind of killed her confidence and then she told me afterwards she totally regretted listening to that counselor and wasting a year.

Sorry for the somewhat unrelated anecdote. I was just trying to make the point that perhaps you're not giving yourself enough credit. Besides, from all the comments above, I'd say the people on this forum can give you much better advice.
 
This is one rare occasion when a student actually paid attention to what a teacher/counselor had said.
 
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Considering that most dental students have a bachelors degree, it would be wise to declare a math major during your undergraduate years. This should prepare you for the mathematical rigors of dental school. If you still feel that this is insufficient, you may look to invest in a year or two of graduate studies in advanced mathematics. Good luck!
 
Tyler Reichard said:
All my life I've had self-esteem and confidence issues and I can feel it starting to show as I approach my senior year of High School.

I want to be in the dental field so badly to the point I'm obsessing over everything now. I know it takes time and patience to become a Dentist and I just need to grasp this.

I think what scares me the most is what my guidance counselor said. She told me that the math would probably be too hard for me in Dental School and that totally shredded my self-esteem. I feel like total crap now because she basically told me I'm not cut out for it.

My lowest grade is a 89% and that was in History, everything else was an A. This is where I start second guessing myself. Did I take easy classes and I'm actually just very stupid or am I in a decent place.

Next year for my senior year I scheduled 3 sciences ( AP Biology, Physics and Chemistry )

In 2 weeks I get to job shadow a Dentist and Hygienist for a day and I'm super excited.

I'm just scared of failing because I feel as though I'm not "smart" enough.
Click to expand...
I know this is the Dental forum and I'm on unknown territory, but OP, when you get to UG, you're your own man. You can take whatever you want, and I think you will do better for one reason...
In college, you take blocks and can pick your classes. So, you can design your schedule like I did with mine to give you time to study and relax your butt off.
 
like everyone else has said. pretty much every HS guidance counselor in the country knows next to NOTHING about preparing for, applying and getting into dental school. it is an intensive process that few non-applicants really understand. my own pre-professional advisor has asked me many questions on the details of applying. back to the hs counselor... do you even need a bachelor's to be one? the kind of people who become HS guidance counselors and the people who become dentists are definitely of a different weave.chin up, kid. you're gonna have a lot more bumps in the road before you get that acceptance letter.
 
I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for the support.

I think what really gets me down is seeing all these posts on SDN of people who are actually struggling in this intense process and I always compare myself to them and realize that they probably are smarter than me and that I'll have a rougher time.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm wonderful in High School. I never got a C on my report card unless it was Spanish.. BUT. . . . That wasn't physics, chemistry or bio-chem. I'm just scared to death that these classes might potentially be to hard for me because I'm second guessing myself that I took the "unintelligent" classes in High School.

Next year there was unfortunately a hiccup in my schedule I wanted. I can't take 3 sciences which were going to be AP Bio, Chem and Physics due to me not meeting the requirements of one of the Maths.

BUT...

I could however take Algebra 2 for 6 weeks during the summer, 3 hours every day and be able to skip that my senior year and take my 3 sciences.

Or . . .

I could just take algebra 2 during my senior year and take AP Bio, and Chem and then I'll have to take Physics in a CC and then transfer to a state university after.

As you see guys this has been eating me away, I know I'm only in High School and I should be enjoying life like any other teenager but I just don't want to fail in life.. I want to be successful and I want to be able to achieve so much in my life and It totally sucks knowing that I'm close to graduating and I still haven't got what I wanted out of High School because I didn't decide on Dentistry till it was too late and now I feel like a total bum.

I'm sorry for ranting, it's just been hard.

-Tyler
 
Tyler Reichard said:
I still haven't got what I wanted out of High School because I didn't decide on Dentistry till it was too late and now I feel like a total bum.

I'm sorry for ranting, it's just been hard.
Click to expand...

Man I don't mean to put down your efforts but...you're in high school. When it comes to hard, you've barely scraped the tip of the iceberg. Stop fretting about deciding on dentistry until it was too late...you're not even in undergrad yet. Deciding sooner would have made literally zero meaningful difference. AP courses are not some significant factor in the admissions process. Just take those courses in college like most people do. Relax.
 
Don't worry so much about it right now. Once you get to undergrad you'll be able to take the pre-req courses and THEN you can freak out about them (yes, they can be tough, but it's definitely not impossible to ace them!) Besides, undergrad is a completely different world, filled with new possibilities, so while you're taking some electives you might find out that instead of being a dentist you'd rather be a lawyer, who knows? I started out in engineering, and found myself interested in dentistry during my second year of university (I hadn't even thought about it until then). One thing I would tell you to make sure you do while you're in high school, is to look up the pre-req courses you need for registering in the undergrad courses required for dentistry (usually bio, chem, and physics, AP is NOT required - come dentistry admission time, no one in the adcom will care that you took AP courses in high school, so don't kill yourself over taking all your AP's). Most importantly: don't stress out about your application stats just yet.

I'm a student in Canada, but I'm pretty sure the courses you need for dentistry are pretty much the same.
 
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Tyler Reichard said:
As you see guys this has been eating me away, I know I'm only in High School and I should be enjoying life like any other teenager but I just don't want to fail in life.. I want to be successful and I want to be able to achieve so much in my life and It totally sucks knowing that I'm close to graduating and I still haven't got what I wanted out of High School because I didn't decide on Dentistry till it was too late and now I feel like a total bum.

I'm sorry for ranting, it's just been hard.

-Tyler
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I decided dentistry was going to be my thing in the summer after sophomore year in college. Pat yourself in the back knowing that you are way ahead of the game.
 
Tyler Reichard said:
All my life I've had self-esteem and confidence issues and I can feel it starting to show as I approach my senior year of High School.

I want to be in the dental field so badly to the point I'm obsessing over everything now. I know it takes time and patience to become a Dentist and I just need to grasp this.

I think what scares me the most is what my guidance counselor said. She told me that the math would probably be too hard for me in Dental School and that totally shredded my self-esteem. I feel like total crap now because she basically told me I'm not cut out for it.

My lowest grade is a 89% and that was in History, everything else was an A. This is where I start second guessing myself. Did I take easy classes and I'm actually just very stupid or am I in a decent place.

Next year for my senior year I scheduled 3 sciences ( AP Biology, Physics and Chemistry )

In 2 weeks I get to job shadow a Dentist and Hygienist for a day and I'm super excited.

I'm just scared of failing because I feel as though I'm not "smart" enough.
Click to expand...


Hi,

Please DO NOT STRESS over this. Let it give you motivation to prove everyone wrong. I told my dad I wanted to try field hockey going into highschool my freshmen year and he told me I would be awful at it and I should just stick to a different sport like softball (which I hated and ended up quitting to place lacrosse my junior year) I ended up proving him wrong and receiving a full scholarship to play field hockey in college. When I told my recruiter mom and dad my junior year of highschool I wanted to be a dentist they literally laughed at me and told me I should just go into communications. (I did not have good grades like you however in highschool) I ended up playing both field hockey and lacrosse in college and majoring in biochemistry. I graduated in May with a good GPA and a biochemistry degree. Still when I would tell some of my professors that I wanted to go to dental school they would literally tell me I should pick something else because they didn't think I would get in. Many, many more people have continued to tell me they don't think I can get in.. I can't wait to prove them wrong. You can accomplish anything that you put your mind to. You seem like an awesome individual and have high goals ALREADY set and you didn't even graduate highschool. I definitely have all the confidence in you that you will succeed. Never let anyone put you down use it as motivation.
 
Tyler Reichard said:
I think what really gets me down is seeing all these posts on SDN of people who are actually struggling in this intense process and I always compare myself to them and realize that they probably are smarter than me and that I'll have a rougher time.
Click to expand...

Do you remember back when you were in preschool, and you thought your preschool teachers were so darn tall, and 7 year olds were wise old owls? This is roughly the same thing. =)

College is a big step up academically, if for no other reason than your tests usually come in blocks (i.e. lulls in between 3 or 4 tests right on top of each other), and you only get 3 or 4 grades in the semester to pass the class *sometimes*. You have to learn how to learn, and learn how to teach yourself a few things because the information will not be spoon fed anymore. You also have to learn how to take advantage of the resources around you, like tutors, teachers, books, online sources, etc., but I don't think you should go in thinking you're any less likely to succeed than most. The advice available here could and does fill many books, but here's just a fun article that seems oddly applicable here: link.

(Quick note, I have only skimmed the other posts here, so I apologize for any redundancy. I've typed both posts while watching my college basketball team try to win on the road.)
 
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I just feel really stupid that I HAVE to go to a CC for physics. Do most people go to a CC then transfer to a state?
 
rnco said:
Worry about dental school after you've been weaned off your mother's nipple…..
Click to expand...

Probably the meanest/funniest thing I've seen all day. Thanks for making my Monday a little bit better!
 
Tyler Reichard said:
All my life I've had self-esteem and confidence issues and I can feel it starting to show as I approach my senior year of High School.

I want to be in the dental field so badly to the point I'm obsessing over everything now. I know it takes time and patience to become a Dentist and I just need to grasp this.

I think what scares me the most is what my guidance counselor said. She told me that the math would probably be too hard for me in Dental School and that totally shredded my self-esteem. I feel like total crap now because she basically told me I'm not cut out for it.

My lowest grade is a 89% and that was in History, everything else was an A. This is where I start second guessing myself. Did I take easy classes and I'm actually just very stupid or am I in a decent place.

Next year for my senior year I scheduled 3 sciences ( AP Biology, Physics and Chemistry )

In 2 weeks I get to job shadow a Dentist and Hygienist for a day and I'm super excited.

I'm just scared of failing because I feel as though I'm not "smart" enough.
Click to expand...


How old are you? And when the day comes when you shadow, don't just stand there, ask if you can work there, start by working in the lab and scrubbing the instruments, learn the names of the instrument and then see if this job is for you.
 
Two things:

1) Please don't let your real name be Tyler Reichard and,

2) Barring an encounter with the law, virtually nothing you do in High School will matter for dental school. Just get to a college and make your marks.
 
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