what should i major in?

[dogfood2k3]

---

Members don't see this ad.

what should i major in to get into D-school? what GPA and DAT score will keep me a competitive applicant? i was thinking of majoring in economics/finance so that if i dont get into a dental school i can still have a decent degree to fall back on.

 

[cba]

what should i major in to get into D-school? what GPA and DAT score will keep me a competitive applicant? i was thinking of majoring in economics/finance so that if i dont get into a dental school i can still have a decent degree to fall back on.

I know a girl who had an economics major and she got into University of Detroit-MI and University of Michigan (I don't know if she applied anywhere else). Good luck!

 

[INFNITE]

doesn't matter. Depends on what you are interested in. Most people major in biology because bio required courses normally fulfill predental requrements at the same time (like general bio, orgo, general chem, etc). If you are interested in economics, go for it. Just leave room in your courseload for the extra courses necessary for you to get into dental school.

Good Luck!

 

[DIRTIE]

what should i major in to get into D-school? what GPA and DAT score will keep me a competitive applicant? i was thinking of majoring in economics/finance so that if i dont get into a dental school i can still have a decent degree to fall back on.

With that outlook its looks like you will be a finance guy, heck with dental school.
It would be better to think oh I will major in business so when I do become a dentist I will have somewhat of a clue of how to manage money and be sucessful at it.

If I could do it again I would do Microbiology for sure.
You hear people say all of the time it doesn't matter what you major in, I beg to differ. Schools want to see that you have taken the basic prerequisites plus a few upper division biology classes. Obviosly this is not the case at every school and for every applicant, but in general it will make you a more competitive applicant and you can do it alot quicker, plus I personally am glad that I had the extra science backgroung because D school is tough, and I am kind of slow and stupid.
I have noticed a trend from 5 years ago when I started looking at dental school and admissions procedures, many schools have added extra courses like biochemistry, micro, anatomy, physiology, etc to their requirements, for good reason too. I think this trend will continue, because in general you do better in a subject the second time around

 

[teethextraction]

I don't think the major really matters as long as you take the pre-reqs and maybe a couple of higher level science courses...I think what really matters is what you do in addition to your major that shows your interest in dentistry (like shadowing, volunteer work, etc.)..I think as long as you have the extracurricular activities and great DAT scores, you will be okay...Of course, my opinion may be bias because I got into dental school as an Econ major with a finance concentration, but it's possible....maybe get both a sciene major and an econ major if you want...

 

[dogfood2k3]

h ear alot of people majoring in biology,chemistry or bio chemistry. i also hear these degrees are very good foundations for pharm/dental/med school because they are difficult majors.how difficult are these majors? i would except chem/bio-chem to be the hardest of the three.

 

[howui3]

to be competitive for dental school you need to have a solid GPA and you are more likely to do well in courses you enjoy. For that reason major in a subject you are interested in, history, math, econ, bio, whatever. If you choose a non-science major make sure you look into which pre-reqs you need to take. All schools require a year of bio, ochem, and gchem, and some schools have specific reqs (UCLA - psychology, UNLV - biochem, Harvard - full year of calculus).

There are many students who major in non-science majors that get into med and dent school each year. So don’t feel you have to do biochem to get in. If you are interested in econ make that your major, but make sure to do VERY WELL in your science courses.

side note: if you want to make money, it is much faster and easier with a business/econ major. go into i-banking and you will be making real money right after graduation. Dentistry requires a lot of hard schooling so make sure dentistry is what you want to do! Not just for the money, but for all the other aspects of it.

 

[bkwash]

what should i major in to get into D-school? what GPA and DAT score will keep me a competitive applicant? i was thinking of majoring in economics/finance so that if i dont get into a dental school i can still have a decent degree to fall back on.

I am biased towards chemistry 😎 but it really doesn't matter, major in what you are interested in. That way it will be easier to get good grades since you enjoy what you are studying.

 

[WonderY]

Major in something that you love...because you'll do well in it. There is a reason why there isn't a required major for dental school: diversity. It would be boring if all of my classmates had the same academic background as me in undergrad. If you like econ, then go for it, just make sure you do well in your science classes to be competitive.

 

[polarnut]

all these advice are bogus. major in something that's the easiest. get 3.7+ GPA in it and you'll get into dental school. TRUST ME. take the major with the most athletes in it. TRUUUUUUUUUST ME.

 

[DIRTIE]

Its foolish to start out majoring in something other than biology or something similar like chem, exercise phys, micro, zoo, etc etc. Here is why, in 4 years you can earn your degree in business, whatever 120 credits, now after all of that wasted time, most of it doesn't even count towards dental school, you still need roughly 24 credits of chemistry(labs included), 10 credits of Physics(labs included), most likely 20 credits in biology. so fifty or 60 credits later you are ready for dental school. Try doing that in 4 years, it is possible, but very difficult, so good luck

 

[NA4242]

all these advice are bogus. major in something that's the easiest. get 3.7+ GPA in it and you'll get into dental school. TRUST ME. take the major with the most athletes in it. TRUUUUUUUUUST ME.

Now, that's what I'm talking about 👍

 

[EyeAmCommi]

Biochemistry is a good major because it touches on a lot of bases but it's a HARD major because it belongs to the division of chemistry, not biology. And, physical chemistry is required for the major but is too much for dental school. Major in something useful and easy like Exercise Biology or just plain Biological Sciences with an emphasis in Physiology. Bio Sci is by far the easiest of biology majors.

 

[Dutchboy]

Its foolish to start out majoring in something other than biology or something similar like chem, exercise phys, micro, zoo, etc etc. Here is why, in 4 years you can earn your degree in business, whatever 120 credits, now after all of that wasted time, most of it doesn't even count towards dental school, you still need roughly 24 credits of chemistry(labs included), 10 credits of Physics(labs included), most likely 20 credits in biology. so fifty or 60 credits later you are ready for dental school. Try doing that in 4 years, it is possible, but very difficult, so good luck

I'm a sociollogy major. I also have the strong bio background but could still get the soc major with more ease than the bio. With soc I am able to take 15-20 credit hours a semester and barely try and still pull a 4.0. Try doing that with bio or chem courses. All my classes are chuck full of football and basketball players!! 😀

 

[OrinScrivello]

what should i major in to get into D-school? what GPA and DAT score will keep me a competitive applicant? i was thinking of majoring in economics/finance so that if i dont get into a dental school i can still have a decent degree to fall back on.

Why choose? Do a double major/dual degree. One in the sciences and one in whatever your strongest/preferred field (liberal arts, business, phys ed., hotel mgmt., whatever). If you choose the "fun" major wisely, you should have no problem making good grades, which can help to balance out the cumulative GPA if you take a couple of punches from some tough science courses. The fact that AADSAS calculates a separate science GPA means that you can't rely on your fun major to bail you out, however. The increased courseload shows dental schools that you can manage your time. The broad content shows that you are a well-rounded person.

Of course, if you go this route and F-up, you will really be in trouble.

 

[colt]

Its foolish to start out majoring in something other than biology or something similar like chem, exercise phys, micro, zoo, etc etc. Here is why, in 4 years you can earn your degree in business, whatever 120 credits, now after all of that wasted time, most of it doesn't even count towards dental school, you still need roughly 24 credits of chemistry(labs included), 10 credits of Physics(labs included), most likely 20 credits in biology. so fifty or 60 credits later you are ready for dental school. Try doing that in 4 years, it is possible, but very difficult, so good luck

This is what I think also. After you take all the prereqs for d-school, you'll be way into a bio major. 2 physics classes, 2 general chemistry, 2 orgo, 2 bio....that's 8 classes right there.

 

[beezies]

I'm a sociollogy major. I also have the strong bio background but could still get the soc major with more ease than the bio. With soc I am able to take 15-20 credit hours a semester and barely try and still pull a 4.0. Try doing that with bio or chem courses. All my classes are chuck full of football and basketball players!! 😀

Damn all you soc majors for being so smart! Seriously, I wish I had taken an easier major and just coasted through undergrad. However, I think you'll find it's gonna be a lot easier if you take a difficult course load now with challenging sciences than figuring out how to do it in dental school. I wouldn't go back and change my major for anything, but when my spanish major friend got into Harvard without breaking a sweat, I was jealous.

 

[DIRTIE]

Why choose? Do a double major/dual degree. One in the sciences and one in whatever your strongest/preferred field (liberal arts, business, phys ed., hotel mgmt., whatever). If you choose the "fun" major wisely, you should have no problem making good grades, which can help to balance out the cumulative GPA if you take a couple of punches from some tough science courses. The fact that AADSAS calculates a separate science GPA means that you can't rely on your fun major to bail you out, however. The increased courseload shows dental schools that you can manage your time. The broad content shows that you are a well-rounded person.

Of course, if you go this route and F-up, you will really be in trouble.

You know I was a geography major and I was going to go to dental school with that, I love geography, but the classes still sucked, I don't find college fun, yeah maybe the college social life, but taking classes from prfoessors that are lame, the whole college system really just sucks, but it is the route to getting my dental permit so I will do it. But fun, taking any class was never fun, so why not take the bare min, a double major?, or 4 minors?, wow, lame I must say. I was taking all of these geography classes wondering why, yea I like the subject be it wasn't getting me anywhere, and they were still hard. So I decided to put all of my efforts into o-chem and anatomy classes like those and I did just as well in those without having to worry about my "other" major. So I switched to Biology. It just does not make any sense to prolong undergrad by taking "fun" classes that get you nowhere, just get it done, because when you start dental school then you will see that you still have so much to go to get to your goal, and it makes undergrad look like a party