<p>Sorry for the absence. I thought this thread was dead. A lot of discussion about majors and courses needed to gain acceptance to dental school. Best advice that I can give is to choose a competitive school, get good grades in the core courses ( four chem, two calc, two physics, a few bio), and do well on the DAT. Most schools look for an overall ave. of 3.5-3.6 these days. So choose a major that you enjoy and will do well. You do NOT have to be a science major to gain acceptance to Dental (or Medical) school these days. In fact, most schools require some courses in the Humanities just to be considered. They want to see that you are more than a science geek. They want communication skills. I have seen that many schools also require meaningful volunteer/work experience in the field prior to applying. </p>
<p>Another important decision when looking at schools is cost. My advice is to choose a state school if possible as the cost has gotten out of control. Today most private schools are in the $60,000/year range…and that doesn’t include living expenses. In our state, a resident pays $35,000/year. The reality is that “Name” really has little impact on outcome of a graduate. Either the student has what it takes to succeed, or they don’t. Dentistry is dentistry. As long as the school is in good standing with the powers that be, it doesn’t matter where you get your training. I attended a very well regarded private dental school in New England and had no better education than my friends at the State schools…just saying. </p>
<p>So what is my kid doing to prepare for applying to dental school and follow in my steps? He is studying Fine Arts at a small, competitive liberal arts school. He has taken two calc, two bio, two intro Chem classes, and two Organic chem. Hopefully he will knock off two physics classes this summer at a local liberal arts college. Most importantly, he has worked in dental offices for the last five years during breaks and “shadowed” a bunch of colleagues in town. If he is lucky, he will get accepted to a “State” school and get out only $200,000 in debt. Good luck to everyone!</p>