I am going to be a freshman and I was wondering if you had any advice for a pre-dental student.
You need to be strong in the sciences. Go to a college where you can get merit or need based aid to keep undergraduate costs down because dental school won’t be cheap.
As with medical school, you need to take quite a few science courses but you don’t need to major in a science.
You could consider majoring in a subject that would help you with whatever alternate career you would choose if you can’t get into dental school (or if you change your mind about dentistry as a career).
Or you could major in business or a related field to obtain some skills that would be helpful if you want to open your own dental practice eventually.
Or you could even major in a subject you actually like, just because it interests you.
What do you mean by predental? Are you in a predental program? You can major in anything and become a doctor or dentist. You can pick up prerequisites during college if there is room in your schedule or after graduation (there are even programs for that).
@compmom is correct that (like med school) you can have any major and apply to dental school as long as you have completed the prerequisite coursework. See if your college has a pre-health advisory group that can help insure you are on the right path.
Get excellent grades.
Another agreeing you can major in whatever you want. Check a few dental schools to see what kind is prequidites are required so you fit those in during undergrad.
Check out the pre-dental forums on studentdoctor dot net.
Unless you are gifted in academics, many non STEM majors may not have the adequate preparation to get into medical, dental, phamacy or optometry school and do well in the MCAT, DCAT, etc. For medical or dental school, you need to get top grades in the STEM classes (calculus, chemistry, physics, biology, etc.). I do know of a recent graduate from UCB who majored in economics and math (and was able to take the prerequisite science courses) and later was accepted to medical school. Instead of going to medical school, he chose investment banking with GS and later a top school MBA. It was clear that he was gifted. A normal non STEM major, say, english, sociology, history, etc. would have difficulty getting into medical school. Engineering majors who have top grades can get into medical school as long as they completed the biology and chemistry requirements.
I’m not sure what type of college you’re attending, but there should be a pre-dental/pre-med group at your school where you can get matched with an advisor, join study groups, and make sure you keep on track with all your requirements. (Most pre-dental/pre-med students are biology or chemistry majors because this is the easiest way to fit in all the requirements.) Have you worked or volunteered in a dental clinic? If not, at least do some shadowing in different dental specialties so you know what you are getting into and which specialties appeal to you. Do you like working with your hands/have excellent fine motor skills? Can you tolerate blood, bad smells, and other gross things? Can you tolerate the thought that patients may fear you/that you will cause patients pain? I say this because some people like the idea of entering a profession like medicine or dentistry because they are good at science or for the respect and higher income associated with that profession. They might ace the bookwork, but when it comes down to actually working in people’s mouths all day, they realize it is. . . not what they want to do.
Keep your goal–admission to dental school–in mind from the beginning of freshman year. Other than DAT scores, your grades, especially in the sciences, are the most important thing. You may have to sacrifice some of your social life to aim for a 4.0. (Too much socializing and a not-so-great GPA/grade deflation college are what kept my D from getting into dental school a few years back. Can you stay home to study when all your friends are going to parties and other fun activities? My D couldn’t make that sacrifice, and her grades suffered.) Good luck to you!