UCLA Economics Major Interested in Dentistry

[kbryant24lal]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this site and I have already learned so much new and valuable information. It seems like a great place to ask my question.

I recently graduated UCLA with a B.A. in Economics. It was a fairly tough subject for me hence the 3.2 overall GPA. The competition at UCLA was no joke so I guess I'm happy with my GPA. I have always been fairly good in science, but i have not taken any of the necessary pre-reqs for dental school. I plan on taking my BCP courses at a community college, and I am obviously aiming for a very high science GPA (3.7+).

Would I have a good chance to get into dental school with a 3.2 overall and a 3.7+ science GPA? Is it a big concern that I will be taking these courses at a CC? I haven't taken a chemistry course before, not even in high school, so I am obviously a little hesitant to start this pursuit. I think if I really put effort into it, I can do pretty well.

Also, I don't have any dental volunteer experience. Its a bit concerning when some of my UCLA friends pursuing dentistry have a lot of volunteer work and I have to start from scratch. Any advice on how I could get this going?

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[stoopidmonkeycatdog]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this site and I have already learned so much new and valuable information. It seems like a great place to ask my question.

I recently graduated UCLA with a B.A. in Economics. It was a fairly tough subject for me hence the 3.2 overall GPA. The competition at UCLA was no joke so I guess I'm happy with my GPA. I have always been fairly good in science, but i have not taken any of the necessary pre-reqs for dental school. I plan on taking my BCP courses at a community college, and I am obviously aiming for a very high science GPA (3.7+).

Would I have a good chance to get into dental school with a 3.2 overall and a 3.7+ science GPA? Is it a big concern that I will be taking these courses at a CC? I haven't taken a chemistry course before, not even in high school, so I am obviously a little hesitant to start this pursuit. I think if I really put effort into it, I can do pretty well.

Also, I don't have any dental volunteer experience. Its a bit concerning when some of my UCLA friends pursuing dentistry have a lot of volunteer work and I have to start from scratch. Any advice on how I could get this going?

It would unfortunately be an issue if you took all of your pre reqs at a community college. It definitely would be a lot better if you took them at any 4 year institution, even if it wasn't UCLA.

As far as dental experience goes, volunteering is great but secondary to just shadowing first. I would cold call dentists if you don't know any to find one who will allow you to shadow, or you could also see if there are any dental clinics in the area where you could sit in and watch.

 

[kbryant24lal]

It would unfortunately be an issue if you took all of your pre reqs at a community college. It definitely would be a lot better if you took them at any 4 year institution, even if it wasn't UCLA.

As far as dental experience goes, volunteering is great but secondary to just shadowing first. I would cold call dentists if you don't know any to find one who will allow you to shadow, or you could also see if there are any dental clinics in the area where you could sit in and watch.

I appreciate your response! There is a state school that is nearby my house. They have a post bac program. Would you recommend this?

 

[Likkriue]

Yes get those pre reqs done at a 4 year. Make sure you maintain a high gpa and you will be in a good spot.

 

[stoopidmonkeycatdog]

I appreciate your response! There is a state school that is nearby my house. They have a post bac program. Would you recommend this?

Yes I think that would be a good way to get some of the courses in. I personally did take chemistry 2 at a community college, so dental schools accept the credit, but maybe not when all of your pre reqs are from there.

If you find the schools you want to attend you can actually see the policies on community college on their website usually.

I might take chem 1 and 2 at community and then take ochem and others at a 4 year university. But that might be a red flag if you do poorly.

Physics is the science that matters least, so you could get that done at a community college and have it matter less than the other sciences

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Yes, you can take (almost) all of your prereqs at cc. I did what you are planning on doing- went back to school to get my dental prereqs, started out with a GPA of 3.0, earned a BCP GPA of 3.67. I had no problem getting interviews/acceptances.

But some things to keep in mind, if you take your prereqs at a cc:

-schools may use your dat scores as an indication of the rigor of your cc education.

-some schools absolutely will not take cc classes, but nearly all do. buy the online ADEA guide to dental schools ($15) to find out which one don't

- cc doesn't offer every prereq you may need, like biochemistry

-many dental schools have a cutoff limit of 60 transferable cc credits, which is more than enough to complete your prereqs classes, but may be problematic if you attended a cc in the past (you can also determine which schools have this cutoff limit from the ADEA guide)

 

[Graffix]

I second the post-bac idea. Fellow SoCal here, there are some postbacs at local state schools that are designed to help students do career changes. It would mean working your butt off for a year or 2 but sounds like you can handle it.

 

[kbryant24lal]

Yes, you can take (almost) all of your prereqs at cc. I did what you are planning on doing- went back to school to get my dental prereqs, started out with a GPA of 3.0, earned a BCP GPA of 3.67. I had no problem getting interviews/acceptances.

But some things to keep in mind, if you take your prereqs at a cc:

-schools may use your dat scores as an indication of the rigor of your cc education.

-some schools absolutely will not take cc classes, but nearly all do. buy the online ADEA guide to dental schools ($15) to find out which one don't

- cc doesn't offer every prereq you may need, like biochemistry

-many dental schools have a cutoff limit of 60 transferable cc credits, which is more than enough to complete your prereqs classes, but may be problematic if you attended a cc in the past (you can also determine which schools have this cutoff limit from the ADEA guide)

Awesome! Glad to hear from someone who has already taken this path.

What was your DAT score if you don't mind me asking?

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Awesome! Glad to hear from someone who has already taken this path.

What was your DAT score if you don't mind me asking?

AA-24, TS-26

 

[MathGRL]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this site and I have already learned so much new and valuable information. It seems like a great place to ask my question.

I recently graduated UCLA with a B.A. in Economics. It was a fairly tough subject for me hence the 3.2 overall GPA. The competition at UCLA was no joke so I guess I'm happy with my GPA. I have always been fairly good in science, but i have not taken any of the necessary pre-reqs for dental school. I plan on taking my BCP courses at a community college, and I am obviously aiming for a very high science GPA (3.7+).

Would I have a good chance to get into dental school with a 3.2 overall and a 3.7+ science GPA? Is it a big concern that I will be taking these courses at a CC? I haven't taken a chemistry course before, not even in high school, so I am obviously a little hesitant to start this pursuit. I think if I really put effort into it, I can do pretty well.

Also, I don't have any dental volunteer experience. Its a bit concerning when some of my UCLA friends pursuing dentistry have a lot of volunteer work and I have to start from scratch. Any advice on how I could get this going?

You can get accepted. I received several acceptances and I have a B.S. and M.S. in Mathematics. My GPA was similar to yours. Math is hard and admissions people knew that so they didn't even ask about my GPA when I was invited for interviews. I suggest go for it!

 

[kbryant24lal]

You can get accepted. I received several acceptances and I have a B.S. and M.S. in Mathematics. My GPA was similar to yours. Math is hard and admissions people knew that so they didn't even ask about my GPA when I was invited for interviews. I suggest go for it!

Nice! I did do pretty poorly in calculus. Had to retake Calc 1 then got a C in Calc 2. Think this is going to be a big issue?

 

[MathGRL]

Nice! I did do pretty poorly in calculus. Had to retake Calc 1 then got a C in Calc 2. Think this is going to be a big issue?

I don't think so. I had to retake Calc 2.

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

To answer your other question, a huge amount of specifically dental related volunteering is not necessary, as long as you are active in some way or another. I had only ~30 hours of dental related volunteering, but ~3500 hours of work experience. Nevertheless, it's excellent experience to have (and fun), since it demonstrates your interest in the profession.

 

[kbryant24lal]

AA-24, TS-26

Could you give me a little bit of insight on how you dealt with getting the necessary amount of hours shadowing? Also any extra curricular activities that you pursued?

 

[kbryant24lal]

I don't think so. I had to retake Calc 2.

Do yo think it is an advantage to have a degree in a non-science major? I feel like it would separate us from the crowd, as long as we do well in our pre-reqs.

How did you go about explaining why you decided to pursue dentistry with a non-science major?

 

[kbryant24lal]

To answer your other question, a huge amount of specifically dental related volunteering is not necessary, as long as you are active in some way or another. I had only ~30 hours of dental related volunteering, but ~3500 hours of work experience. Nevertheless, it's excellent experience to have (and fun), since it demonstrates your interest in the profession.

Dang that is a lot of hours! How did you go about accumulating so many hours?

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Could you give me a little bit of insight on how you dealt with getting the necessary amount of hours shadowing? Also any extra curricular activities that you pursued?

I had virtually no extracurricular activities, just work experience. Getting the necessary shadowing hours is easy. Simply, walk into one/many of your local dentists office and ask if you can shadow. I did this for 2 of the dentists that I ended up shadowing. Also, you could call up your local dental society and explain that you want to shadow and they'll probably direct you to some great dentists. My ds directed me to two more dentists that I ended up shadowing.

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Dang that is a lot of hours! How did you go about accumulating so many hours?

I worked full time for a year before going back to school. Then, worked nearly full time to support myself without loans during the first years of taking the pre-dental classes.

Having that many hours is not necessary. Just be active in some way outside of classes.

 

[stoopidmonkeycatdog]

Could you give me a little bit of insight on how you dealt with getting the necessary amount of hours shadowing? Also any extra curricular activities that you pursued?

I shadowed one dentist extensively, got around 80 hours with them (if you think about it, you're in an office for like 8 hours a visit, you only need to go 10 times.) Then I just occasionally shadowed other doctors and spent a lot of time volunteering in free clinics (which count as both volunteering and shadowing).

Extracurriculars, if you're at a 4 year institution you can still get involved in student government, or other organizations as a post-bac

 

[kbryant24lal]

I worked full time for a year before going back to school. Then, worked nearly full time to support myself without loans during the first years of classes.

Having that many hours is not necessary. Just be active in some way outside of classes.

Do you think you made the right decision going into dentistry? Obviously I think the two biggest turn offs are not getting accepted into a dental school and the amount of loans necessary to complete dental school.

Going into college I did want to pursue dentistry but I feel that I was too intimidated to go for it. Now that I have finished college and I am working I feel that I may have screwed up by not even trying.

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Do you think you made the right decision going into dentistry? Obviously I think the two biggest turn offs are not getting accepted into a dental school and the amount of loans necessary to complete dental school.

Going into college I did want to pursue dentistry but I feel that I was too intimidated to go for it. Now that I have finished college and I am working I feel that I may have screwed up by not even trying.

The way I saw it is- sometimes you have to take chances in life to get the things you truly want. If you give it 100% of your effort in your journey to dental school, then it will no longer be a "chance," but a certainty that you will be accepted. Also, what I came to find throughout the process is that once you start accomplishing the intial goals (like getting good grades in your predental classes) getting into dental school seems less daunting.

 

[MathGRL]

Do yo think it is an advantage to have a degree in a non-science major? I feel like it would separate us from the crowd, as long as we do well in our pre-reqs.

How did you go about explaining why you decided to pursue dentistry with a non-science major?

Absolutely, all my interviewers loved my math background. They knew that I could get numerous high salary jobs with my master's but I CHOSE dentistry. I actually had a career as a Biostatistician at a hospital before encountering dentistry and falling in love with the field. In one of my interviews after they asked me if I had any questions, I asked them if they had any more questions for me, and they said they could talk to me for hours but we had to end the interview. It makes us very unique

 

[kbryant24lal]

Absolutely, all my interviewers loved my math background. They knew that I could get numerous high salary jobs with my master's but I CHOSE dentistry. I actually had a career as a Biostatistician at a hospital before encountering dentistry and falling in love with the field. In one of my interviews after they asked me if I had any questions, I asked them if they had any more questions for me, and they said they could talk to me for hours but we had to end the interview. It makes us very unique

I think so too! I believe I just saw a stat where math makes up only 1% of dental school applicants and business 4% of applicants, yet almost 60% of those get in. Pretty good odds if you ask me.

Do you mind if i ask what your DAT score was and GPAs?