- Joined
- Aug 4, 2016
- Messages
- 94
- Reaction score
- 43
http://www.dentalgoal.com/
A professor told me “the days will be long, the years will be short”. This was in reference to our journey as dental students. I completely resonated with this as my undergrad felt very much like this. The caviat is that in fact the duration of your undergrad is a significant portion of your life. If it not strategically planned out it can make the difference of your admission into the dental school of your dreams. Looking back at the years, these are the advice I would tell a friend to maximize the experience and overall results to yield the best outcome. I will focus on course selection aspect in this blog giving my top tips.
It may seem obvious, but study what you actually enjoy. Many people have the misconception that you need to be a science student to get into dental school. It is true that majority of dental student have come from science backgrounds but that is because they have already have the prerequisite courses to apply. Another reason is that is recommended by many educational advisors. It could also be due to the fact that students rightfully so believe that having a science foundation would give them an advantage in dental school. I was fortunate to have been placed in a program that I actually enjoyed but I was afraid of approaching (chemistry major). Although it was a very difficult journey, I learned that difficulty of a subject or obstance is not the sole determinant of results, rather its your admiration/ passion for the subject. The more you like something, the more time you will put in it. This upward spiral of positivity will place you on top of the field. Choose something that you enjoy.
Choose your school wisely. Many students believe that they would have a higher chance of dental school admissions if they attended a higher ranked school. This could be further from the truth. In my opinion with the expectation the very few schools like (Harvard, Columbia, Stanford), the school that you attend does not matter. But that doesn’t mean graduating to Harvard with a 3.0GPA is better than a 4.0GPA at your state school. Choose the school that gives you the best chance for success. Factors in subjects such as scholarships, proximity to family and college lifestyle (party school or not).
As a dental student who did not take some of the recommended courses that some dental schools have, I can attest that my life in 1st year would have been much easier if I took the course that some schools recommend but are not pre-requisites. For me these include physiology and anatomy. If you don’t put the time now, you will need to put it later.
These are few tips that I would recommend to friend pursuing the long but beautiful journey to dental school. There will be many obstacles along the way but as Darwin says “It is not the best who survives, but rather the one that is most adaptable to change”. I encourage you to speak to other dental students to gain their perspective on the journey.
A professor told me “the days will be long, the years will be short”. This was in reference to our journey as dental students. I completely resonated with this as my undergrad felt very much like this. The caviat is that in fact the duration of your undergrad is a significant portion of your life. If it not strategically planned out it can make the difference of your admission into the dental school of your dreams. Looking back at the years, these are the advice I would tell a friend to maximize the experience and overall results to yield the best outcome. I will focus on course selection aspect in this blog giving my top tips.
It may seem obvious, but study what you actually enjoy. Many people have the misconception that you need to be a science student to get into dental school. It is true that majority of dental student have come from science backgrounds but that is because they have already have the prerequisite courses to apply. Another reason is that is recommended by many educational advisors. It could also be due to the fact that students rightfully so believe that having a science foundation would give them an advantage in dental school. I was fortunate to have been placed in a program that I actually enjoyed but I was afraid of approaching (chemistry major). Although it was a very difficult journey, I learned that difficulty of a subject or obstance is not the sole determinant of results, rather its your admiration/ passion for the subject. The more you like something, the more time you will put in it. This upward spiral of positivity will place you on top of the field. Choose something that you enjoy.
Choose your school wisely. Many students believe that they would have a higher chance of dental school admissions if they attended a higher ranked school. This could be further from the truth. In my opinion with the expectation the very few schools like (Harvard, Columbia, Stanford), the school that you attend does not matter. But that doesn’t mean graduating to Harvard with a 3.0GPA is better than a 4.0GPA at your state school. Choose the school that gives you the best chance for success. Factors in subjects such as scholarships, proximity to family and college lifestyle (party school or not).
As a dental student who did not take some of the recommended courses that some dental schools have, I can attest that my life in 1st year would have been much easier if I took the course that some schools recommend but are not pre-requisites. For me these include physiology and anatomy. If you don’t put the time now, you will need to put it later.
These are few tips that I would recommend to friend pursuing the long but beautiful journey to dental school. There will be many obstacles along the way but as Darwin says “It is not the best who survives, but rather the one that is most adaptable to change”. I encourage you to speak to other dental students to gain their perspective on the journey.
