Soon to be freshamn Tips

[UW09]

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I was recently accepted to the University of Washington and I plan on being a dentist (I'm a SNR in high school right now and taking college classes at a comm. college). I haven't decided on what to major in so I was kind of wondering what a strong major is for you to get into a dental school (I'm thinking like neurobio or bio). I was just looking for general tips on how to build a strong application right from the start and score well on the DATs. I appreciate all the help.

 

[juggamynugga]

Don't worry about your major, it doesnt matter as long as you take the requirements, just have fun and do well enough to get in. college only happens once.

 

[mikhiel]

welcome to UW 🙂 I'm just graduating this spring. Are you a running start student? I did that too, and it helped out quite a bit.

I agree, don't worry about major. Do some research, get the prereqs done. I'm getting the Biology-Physiology degree, and I like it, but it's not for everyone. Neurobio is very very competitive here, and if you're able to get into that major, I would assume you're a good enough student to make it into dental school. But don't be afraid to major in whatever you want. As long as you get the requirements done, you can get into dental school regardless of major.

 

[mikhiel]

oh, and at some point, you should get your Hep B vaccines and take DPHS 201. It's called "Intro to Dental Careers," and it's offered every spring. In that class, you learn about different aspects of dentistry (basic dental info, specialties, forensics, academics, etc) and you get paired up with a dentist to do some shadowing. It's a great class, and it really helps prepare you.

 

[BeachLuvr]

This is a cool random thought, but...by the time you graduate college and start to go to d.school, many people here will be graduating dental school 🙂 Exciting thought. Back to the topic...it doesn't matter what you major in, but with that said...there are majors/courses which will facilitate the process (DAT preparation, dental school itself, and life beyond D.school): business courses, science, art, etc.

Best Wishes!

Beach

 

[Pikeyman]

Man, I had no idea what I wanted to do entering college.

I was just excited about getting away from home, daily dose of beer, co-ed dorms, co-ed bathroom (but I have found out since then, the last thing you want to see is some beautiful blonde going into the crapper to take a huge dump that lasts for >30 mins. After that, you don't look at her the same way as before.)...

Kid, it's nice to get a heads up but you will eventually find out about all of this in school.

My advice is to just enjoy high school while you can.

 

[UW09]

haha great story about the blonde.

mikhiel- yes I'm doing running-start and enjoying it quite a bit. I wouldn't consider myself a very smart student but more of a hard working one. I'm kind of excited about the UW but I've heard a lot about the tough science classes. How was your first year @ at the UW? I presume you took the schedule similar to the pre-dental webside.

http://www.washington.edu/students/ugrad/advising/predent.html

 

[mikhiel]

UW09, my first year was actually a little different, since I got all my Gen Chem, Calc, and 1st year Bio done with at the community college. So I started out with OChem and stayed pretty easy that first year taking all my I&S and VLPA classes, and doing foreign language. I hope you like it here! It's a beautiful campus. Be sure to explore lots of areas that interest you, this school is huge and has lots to offer.

 

[Jaws]

This is a cool random thought, but...by the time you graduate college and start to go to d.school, many people here will be graduating dental school 🙂 Exciting thought. Back to the topic...it doesn't matter what you major in, but with that said...there are majors/courses which will facilitate the process (DAT preparation, dental school itself, and life beyond D.school): business courses, science, art, etc.

Best Wishes!

Beach

Since I got accepted to dental school, a lot of things have gradually been hitting me, such as the fact that in four years, when I graduate from dental school, I will be able to write a letter of recommendation for my youngest brother's classmates. Just a random thought...no relivance to this thread. 😎

Has anyone else who has been accepted this year noticed similar thoughs going through your heads?

Oh, UW09, have a good time. College is a great experience, try to get all that you can out of it. 😀

 

[F*R*I*E*N*D*S]

uw09,

congrats on getting into the uw! i am a 5th year finishing up my prereq's to dental school. since i decided on dentistry sort of late, i chose to major in econ because its a quick requirement to fulfill to get your BA. like everyone says, it does NOT matter what you major in so pick something you are interested in. anyway, good luck and welcome to uw!

 

[BeachLuvr]

I did think of another one today, actually. I was sitting in my Plant Anatomy class, and a girl behind me starts asking me about what she needs to do to get into dental school. And I'm telling her things, and thinking to myself...that when it's time for me to really get to practicing, I want to make it a personal goal to be as helpful as possible to other pre-dents. I remember what a headache it was trying to find a dentist who would let me observe, trying to get people to send letters in on time, etc. It will be nice to be at the other end.

🙂
Beach

Since I got accepted to dental school, a lot of things have gradually been hitting me, such as the fact that in four years, when I graduate from dental school, I will be able to write a letter of recommendation for my youngest brother's classmates. Just a random thought...no relivance to this thread. 😎

Has anyone else who has been accepted this year noticed similar thoughs going through your heads?

Oh, UW09, have a good time. College is a great experience, try to get all that you can out of it. 😀

 

[UW09]

I was also wondering if it really matters which dental school you go to. I mean don't most dentist open up their own business? What are some of the "sucky" schools and what are like the minimum stats (GPA,DAT) that you can have to have a decent shot at a "sucky" school.

I was also thinking of taking Chem and other science classes at the comm. coll. here but I thought that most dental schools wouldn't like that because it's at a comm. college. I just took a couple of English classes, political sci, art, pe, language, and up to calc (might take calc bc during the summer).