What is your undergrad?

[parham3]

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Currently, im doing a double major in bio and chem. I have heard soo many stories of people getting into dental school with a Kinesiology degree which is much less extensive than a typical bio degree. What do you guys think?

 

[jeffity]

Currently, im doing a double major in bio and chem. I have heard soo many stories of people getting into dental school with a Kinesiology degree which is much less extensive than a typical bio degree. What do you guys think?

Do what you want (enjoy, find interest in). Bio is most prevalent but not something you have to do. Bio and chem double major sounds intense. Don't suck it up with Bs and Cs. I think all the bio degree people have a nice background for going into the health field though. But it's also a degree that limits your plan B if things don't work out.

 

[Mr. Thirsty]

Currently, im doing a double major in bio and chem. I have heard soo many stories of people getting into dental school with a Kinesiology degree which is much less extensive than a typical bio degree. What do you guys think?

People get into dental school with business, psychology and yes Kinesiology majors. It doesn't matter what you major in as long as it is interesting to you and you will excel in it. Biology and chem sounds intense...but if you really enjoy both of those topics then approach it. Biology will help you with D-school for the first year or two but really that should not be your sole reason for taking it. Adcoms will look at your course load and take into consideration that you chose a "more tough" path than per say kinesiology.

 

[MOUTHLOVER]

I know of someone who got in with a theology degree hahaha

 

[dent1011]

Not all Kinesiology degrees are "easy" as you imply. At some Canadian universities it is purely science-based with courses ranging from anatomy, physiology, psychology, human growth and development, biomechanics, musculoskeletal anatomy, functional anatomy, rehab science, cardiac physiology, muscle physiology etc. I could go on and on (of course for people who want to go into the sport and wellness side of it they can take sport psych, coaching, nutrition etc.) I did a Kin degree and feel like I have a solid grasp of human biology and a diverse background of courses taken. I wouldn't say it is less extensive - I have many friends who did Biology or Life Sciences who did not get to take anatomy (w cadavers as Kin did) or took plant bios and ecology... Since as a pre-dent you have to take the intro bio, chem, orgo, physics anyway these are Kin degree ELECTIVES.

Not sure how it is in the states and if it still a physical education/fitness concentration there... but I would not generalize...

 

[parham3]

No offence directly to the curriculum of kinesiology or anything (taking human physiology now in the summer). But in Canada, or specifically at my university science courses are capped at an average of 65% where kinesiology courses are not. This is a huge disadvantage in my scenario because i need to have unnecessary competition and work harder

 

[wjs010]

Not all Kinesiology degrees are "easy" as you imply. At some Canadian universities it is purely science-based with courses ranging from anatomy, physiology, psychology, human growth and development, biomechanics, musculoskeletal anatomy, functional anatomy, rehab science, cardiac physiology, muscle physiology etc. I could go on and on (of course for people who want to go into the sport and wellness side of it they can take sport psych, coaching, nutrition etc.) I did a Kin degree and feel like I have a solid grasp of human biology and a diverse background of courses taken. I wouldn't say it is less extensive - I have many friends who did Biology or Life Sciences who did not get to take anatomy (w cadavers as Kin did) or took plant bios and ecology... Since as a pre-dent you have to take the intro bio, chem, orgo, physics anyway these are Kin degree ELECTIVES.

Not sure how it is in the states and if it still a physical education/fitness concentration there... but I would not generalize...

This. Degrees are : 1. Where you attend( country too) and 2. What YOU put into it. Kinesiology has some stupid and easy courses, but so do all majors. I would love to see a bio major taking 400 level kinesiology classes... Brb what is strength and conditioning , brb what is exercise physiology. And completely agree on the Canadian schools .. Western Ontario in particular... Some schools aredoinitright and some students aredoinitwrong

I might add this is a clinical kine degree, not health promotion. HP is a lot easier. No physics, no higher level adult programming , no cell bio or other related bio courses

 

[parham3]

Yea, i go to York and you need to take i think about 8 PKINE courses which are basically exercise courses like soccer, basketball, gymnastics, swimming etc.

 

[dent1011]

Yea, i go to York and you need to take i think about 8 PKINE courses which are basically exercise courses like soccer, basketball, gymnastics, swimming etc.

York Kin is very physical education based. And then of course, on top of that are the overwhelming rumors of York's reputation as a whole. True or not, it's clear we definitely can't generalize.

 

[TheRoni]

Any degree works. I was accepted and I have a Justice Administration degree! Pick what you love so that you enjoy the hard work it takes to get A's, and make sure you take the science requirements for dental school. Any degree is fine.

 

[reidjones]

Very well put. =)

 

[deleted323428]

Women's studies

 

[93248]

Would Biology and Economics double major be consired a "more tough" path?
I am really passionate about both of these field, but I would not mind impressing the Ad. Com 😀

 

[theleatherwalle]

There are two types of kinseiology majors that I know of.

Education Kinseiology-P.E. teacher

Health Kineseiology- usually pre-physical therapy majors.

How tough a course is is relative. I am sure some kine majors have it very tough, however the majority of kine majors have it easier than biology. It doesn't matter what you major in as long as you do well. Bio and chem will def help you immensely for the DAT. Kine majors may not get that advantage. At the end of the day, you want a high gpa and a high DAT. If you only have a high GPA, you'll be out of luck. Same thing goes if you only have a high DAT. So follow you passions, but also remember to make your major relevant as it will help in dental school. I know a few psych majors who just went through hell in D1. That is my little take on it. From my experience the vast majority of dental school students are chem and bio majors. I have seen a few in psych and a few chem e's

Edit: Last thing I wanted to add. Most schools in my experience will look harder at how you did in your pre-req courses. So if you failed got C's and D's in your chemistry, biology, and other science courses a 4.0 in political science will rarely help you.

 

[BU2012]

What do I think?

I think if you feel like you need to justify your intelligence or academic ability by taking "hard" majors and, in turn, debase other applicants based on the virtue of their "easy" majors for your own self-assurance, then good luck in dental school when the "easy majors" all of a sudden start outperforming you.

It's extremely ignorant to think there is any significant correlation between an individual's academic ability and the perceived rigor of their degree; people choose majors for hundreds of reasons, and I pity individuals who waste 4 years on a degree they don't enjoy but choose simply b/c they feel they needed to "impress" some adcoms. Some majors don't need to be "difficult" to effectively communicate practical information. Why make it hard if it doesn't need to be?

As far as Bio/Chem goes in relation to dental school, it'll definitely help you in the basic science courses. But to think you'll do better than someone without that background is simply ignorant. The girl at the top of her class at our state school this year graduated with a public health degree, and was only magna cum laude. My friend who worked her butt off to graduate with a 4.00 in Biology from the same school? She'll be reapplying next cycle.

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

I did a chem degree because i hated bio. for chem, everything was so elegant and once you get it, you really really get it. in bio, you just sit down and memorize all day. the bio wasn't harder, it was just never-ending memorization, which seemed boring to me.

then i realized, chem phds can't find jobs, so i gotta sit down and memorize stuff now.

 

[MOUTHLOVER]

The Kinesiology degrees that I've been exposed to seem to be way way harder and more intensive than a typical Bio degree!

 

[theleatherwalle]

What do I think?

I think if you feel like you need to justify your intelligence or academic ability by taking "hard" majors and, in turn, debase other applicants based on the virtue of their "easy" majors for your own self-assurance, then good luck in dental school when the "easy majors" all of a sudden start outperforming you.

It's extremely ignorant to think there is any significant correlation between an individual's academic ability and the perceived rigor of their degree; people choose majors for hundreds of reasons, and I pity individuals who waste 4 years on a degree they don't enjoy but choose simply b/c they feel they needed to "impress" some adcoms. Some majors don't need to be "difficult" to effectively communicate practical information. Why make it hard if it doesn't need to be?

As far as Bio/Chem goes in relation to dental school, it'll definitely help you in the basic science courses. But to think you'll do better than someone without that background is simply ignorant. The girl at the top of her class at our state school this year graduated with a public health degree, and was only magna cum laude. My friend who worked her butt off to graduate with a 4.00 in Biology from the same school? She'll be reapplying next cycle.

I really want to know what school you went to. Public health at least where im at is considered "easy" and Kine is considered a "jock major." Different schools have different standards though. Honestly though if public health or kinesology prepare you for the DAT and dental school by all means do it.

Bottom line do well on your DAT anything above a 20 will impress an adcom no matter if your major was english, history, or something completely unrelated to dentistry.

 

[BU2012]

I really want to know what school you went to. Public health at least where im at is considered "easy" and Kine is considered a "jock major."

I went to a top-20 public university on the East Coast (I don't think we even offer kinesiology). Sure, my Health Science major was pretty easy. But I want to work in public health, so why would I major in anything else? Plus, it opened up my schedule to do a TON of extracurricular, service, and leadership activities. I also made better numerical averages in my science classes (bio, chem, ochem, physics, a&p) than I did in health classes. So while the science classes were definitely more rigorous, making an A was actually slightly more difficult, to me, in my "easy" major.

I also only studied for the DAT for three weeks and scored a higher academic average and total science than anyone I know at my school, despite having a much weaker science background than most. I still secured first-round interviews to every school to which I applied, and admission to Harvard (which I am not attending), among others. Like I said, the former Health Science major at our state dental school is currently first in her class, and she only had a 3.7 or so undergrad GPA.

The point is that the difficulty of one's major isn't a predictor of future success. There will be people at the top of dental classes from "easy" undergrad majors, just like there will be people at the bottom from "difficult" undergrad majors. I think anybody can get a good DAT score if you just study the right prep materials, so I think majoring in a hard science just to help you out for the DAT is a complete waste of 4 years when you could major in something that interests you/is a safe fallback option.

 

[MOUTHLOVER]

Take note of this my SDN friends... this is why it doesn't matter what degree you have for premed/predent...because it's always different wherever you go. If you told a kines major at my school that it was a jock degree, they would have a heart attack.

 

[ataha]

Do what you love, or if you really just ultimately want to be a dentist, do a degree you know you can get all A's in, and then take the prerequisites on your own. Most schools really just care about your DAT and science GPA everything else is just to distinguish you from the crowd (EC's, volunteering, etc)

 

[theleatherwalle]

I went to a top-20 public university on the East Coast (I don't think we even offer kinesiology). Sure, my Health Science major was pretty easy. But I want to work in public health, so why would I major in anything else? Plus, it opened up my schedule to do a TON of extracurricular, service, and leadership activities. I also made better numerical averages in my science classes (bio, chem, ochem, physics, a&p) than I did in health classes. So while the science classes were definitely more rigorous, making an A was actually slightly more difficult, to me, in my "easy" major.

I also only studied for the DAT for three weeks and scored a higher academic average and total science than anyone I know at my school, despite having a much weaker science background than most. I still secured first-round interviews to every school to which I applied, and admission to Harvard (which I am not attending), among others. Like I said, the former Health Science major at our state dental school is currently first in her class, and she only had a 3.7 or so undergrad GPA.

The point is that the difficulty of one's major isn't a predictor of future success. There will be people at the top of dental classes from "easy" undergrad majors, just like there will be people at the bottom from "difficult" undergrad majors. I think anybody can get a good DAT score if you just study the right prep materials, so I think majoring in a hard science just to help you out for the DAT is a complete waste of 4 years when you could major in something that interests you/is a safe fallback option.

If what you are saying is true, you are not the typical dental school applicant. I had to bust ass for my 21. I think I accumulated two months of studying. Im gonna have to disagree with you about picking a science major as being a waste. I think sciences classes will help you immensely. Even if you are not in dental school yet. Classes like histology, embryology, and biochem will give you a massive boost! What atsha said is really what is correct. You're major doesn't really matter as long as your sci GPA and DAT back it up.

 

[corymartin2012]

Unless its Baylor. Then just get a Bio degree.

 

[wcombs]

I'm a biology senior. I did biology only because it's truly what I love... If I was really interested in language studies, I would have done a linguistics degree. I've always had an obsessive craving for knowledge of how things work, especially living organisms. I'm in my fourth year and I still love going into class every day and learning about how my body functions 🙂.

I do love chemistry as well, and I've always had a really strong understanding of all things organic, but that degree requires some upper level math at my school and I'm practically unteachable when it comes to mathematics.

I also strongly agree with BU2012 in that you don't need to major in a hard science to help you on your DAT. I took bio, GC and OC all at a community college and I got a 26, 23 and 27 respectively. I had not taken any upper level sciences, and now that I am taking them I still don't really see them being all that useful for the very broad, basic topics covered on the DAT. It's a shame community colleges are frowned upon by so many schools because I obviously received a quality education at mine. Oh well, I'll save it for another thread.

 

[BU2012]

If what you are saying is true, you are not the typical dental school applicant.

Well, yes, I did get in to Harvard after all 🙂 And I assure you that everything I've said is accurate.

I understand that it's different strokes for different folks as far as the DAT is concerned; however, to my knowledge the top three performers on the DAT at my school for the past three years were non-Biology majors. There simply appears to be no correlation between degree and DAT performance, in my experience.

No one is saying a Biology degree is a waste; of course it will help with the basic science courses in dental school. I'm saying it's a waste to pursue a core science major just to prepare for professional school when some people can excel in those basic science courses while studying an alternative, more practical major that we enjoy (public health, philosophy, business, management, etc.). And I'm also saying, in response to the OP, that it's injudicious to judge someone for pursuing an "easier" route through undergrad. If you can take the "easy" route, which just happens to be the more interesting/fulfilling route for you, and still do well, then why wouldn't you?

 

[theleatherwalle]

lol im a sadist and you guys are super geniuses 😛