Hi- I’m a sophomore in high-school and I would like to go pre-dental. Currently I’ve taken AP Environmental science and AP Seminar along with all normal honors courses for freshman year including honors biology and honors chemistry. While choosing my classes for next year I currently am looking to take APUSH, AP Lang, AP micro, AP macro, and AP research. While choosing my science class I’m either planning on taking AP Chem and dropping AP Lang or taking college anatomy at a local college. Which course would be more beneficial and what can I do to improve myself before the time runs out to apply? I’m currently rank 79 because my schools ranking system seems off. I have a 4.0 unweighted and 4.74 weighted and have never gotten below an A in any course. I have a few extracurriculars but nothing special in particular. What can I do to increase my chances of getting into a good college? Thanks!
I suggest AP Chem in 11th, and AP Bio in 12th. Don’t take anatomy at the college - too early.
Do you have good manual dexterity? Good spatial perception? Look up the dental aptitude test’s perceptual ability section. Some people are good at this, and some just aren’t. Dentists really need to be good at this. Plus, they need good backs, necks, and arms, since they spend their lives working hunched over.
If you have reasonable spatial perception ability, consider that dental school is expensive. Your best bet for college, honestly, is going to be your state flagship U. You don’t need to get into an Ivy to go to dental school. Depending upon your state, you may be able to take a little bit of a lighter load and still get into the flagship U. You may not need to take every AP your school offers.
I would drop AP research before dropping AP Lang. Next to come off the list would be Econ. So APUSH, AP Lang, AP Chem, and maybe AP macro/micro. What about your foreign language? Math? And in senior year, AP Bio. Maybe also AP Physics. The reason I recommend chem before bio is that bio requires some knowledge of chem, but not the other way around.
You are ranked 79th with a 4.0. Your weighted seems high. Are you using the UF system of +.5 for an Honors and +1 for AP?
You’ve done great academically. Not sure how your rank could be where it is.
You should find the courses you need at HS. Be the best you that you can be. Florida has lots of great schools - and if it’s not UF, it’ll be another.
Best of luck.
I recommend talking with your HS counselor to make sure rank is accurate, but it won’t matter for UF because I have been told they don’t use rank in their review.
Definitely don’t do the CC anatomy class. The core sciences are more important and more highly-regarded by colleges. Anatomy is better taken later (and not at CC); I don’t even think it’s a dental school prereq.
How about physics? That’s the missing core science… and you have plenty of AP’s for next year already. Is there an Honors Physics class you could take? Also, you don’t have a math class for next year? What math have you taken?
Per the CDS, UF ranks rigor, GPA, essay, ECs, talent, and character as most important.
Test scores, first gen, volunteer and work experience as second most important.
Rank and state residency as “considered”.
Not doubting what you say. Often the CDS and what schools say differ.
They have an FAQ - but it’s dated 2012.
Thank you for the response! We do have honors physics, which I was taking into consideration as another option as-well. As for math, I was planning on taking Honors Pre-Calculus although my school has AP Pre-Calculus as-well which would be an option but with my course-load I figured it would be stressful. Would you recommend taking AP Chem next year and physics senior year? Or take physics next year and skip AP Chem overall? Thank you!
You want to take four years of English, Science (completing a sequence of bio, chem, and physics), Social Studies, Math, and Foreign Language with the most rigorous curriculum you can manage comfortably. Leave yourself time to get involved and contribute to EC activites and to enjoy your friends and family.
I suggest working with your teachers and guidance counselor to come up with a schedule. None of us knows you, your academic capabilities, the demands of your HS, etc.
Keep in mind that you can major in a science with an eye towards dental school in tons of fine colleges and universities throughout the country.
The person from UF admissions who is active on here said: “We do not specifically consider class rank.” Also state residency is not considered based on what I heard from a UF rep at a college fair. I don’t know why the CDS does not match up or what I should believe lol.
Haha, thank you! I’m just concerned about my extracurriculars and weighted GPA honestly, because my school is odd and weights GPA’s differently then honors being 4.5 and AP being 5.0
Your ECs should be a concern. You don’t need to walk on water. You need a couple things you are involved with, get tenure, depth, and make an impact.
A sport, a job, a couple clubs, band, service activity (work at the animal shelter) - any of these and you’re fine.
The school will re-weight you.
If you have straight As and a rigorous schedule, then you’ll be fine.
Not sure where your rank came from…
but assuming a 4.0 means straight As.
I think either order could be all right. If all of the options are really open to you (in my experience, schedule conflicts often answer these sorts of questions for you!), then I’d go by the reputations of the teachers and, in the case of AP classes, the track record of students doing well on the exam. (For example, my daughter’s school had a very well-loved chem teacher who was absolutely abysmal at preparing kids for the AP exam. So may students got A’s in his class and 2’s on the exam. If I had to take such a class at all, I’d push it to senior year when the AP score really wouldn’t matter. ) You don’t need calc for Honors Physics, so I think I’d lean toward getting that done, and then picking an AP science senior year… but you can definitely flex that depending on schedules and on optimizing the quality of teaching as much as possible.
A 4.0 / 4.74 is fantastic:)
In general, tippy top schools like to see all 5 core subjects (english, history/social studies, science, math, foreign language) all 4 years… some wiggle room and exceptions for a 4th year of language, or others due to scheduling conflicts… etc etc. Take highest rigor your HS offers and you can handle, make sure to get to calculus - ideally AP calculus. Make sure by end of HS you have done bio/chem/physics (don’t all have to be APs, though).
For 11th I would do APUSH, AP Lang, AP Chem, your foreign language and math (which you left off??.) 2 years in HS of foreign language will rule you out of some schools altogether and many others really do expect 3-4.
You can do AP micro/macro next year…
Hi! I’m new to CC so when I was typing that I wasn’t focused… thanks for pointing out that I left math out! My school has many math courses- next year I’m on track to take either Honors Pre-Calculus or AP Pre-Calculus. Currently in Algebra II I have a 105… math comes easy to me and it has been this way most of my life. I could also dual enroll math at a local community college but could be placed in Algebra I College level which would essentially backtrack my math record. Which course would you recommend with the course-load that you previously listed? Thank you!
Side note: I’ve heard many people say that next year there will be a new rule that you MUST take AP Pre-Calculus in order to take AP Calculus the following year (so you can’t take honors pre calculus and go to ap the following year)
No need to complicate your life…just take next class in sequence! Ideally hardest available.
Also, the “must” take AP pre-cal before AP cal would be a school specific rule (not an AP rule) so I wouldn’t know what is happening there. It could be, schools handle things different ways.
That all said, taking AP Calc as a sr. is considered pretty standard (if available)and expected by highly selective schools so I would try not to rule out that path if you can, especially for a STEM major.
APs are considered more highly than DE (In general) since they are more standardized - CC classes can vary widely in curriculum I think.
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