I am a junior in a liberal arts college and first time to post. I'm here because I want some suggestions for what I should do in this summer, as now I desperately want to figure out.
I am a biochemistry major with no prior research experience in school or out of school at all. I used to be pre-med, but decided to switch to pre-dental due to several reasons:
First of all, after my shadowing experience in the hospital from the past summer, I realized that the field of medicine (specially internal medicine) was not that appealing to me. The only field I was and still am interested in is the field of surgery (I really like to work with my hands). Yet the criteria for becoming a surgeon in the States made it really difficult for me since I don't have outstanding GPA (around 3.3 for both overall and science) nor a green-card holder.
Secondly, I have not realized the beauty of dentistry until this winter when I shadowed with a family friend back in my hometown. Dentistry, on the other hand, seems more independent and requires more creativity. I love working with my hands, and people around me do think that I'm eligible to all those hand skills required for a dentist. Since then, I have been really fond of it.
However, I'm not confident in my grades at all. I know for an international students to be admitted to a dental school in the States require far more than for a US citizen. I'm working on my grades, and started a direct study with a chemistry professor (just to get at least some lab experience), but still have a lot more to work on in terms of EC, shadowing, etc.
So here comes the question now. I am really stuck right now in making the decision for this coming summer break. I don't know if I should just go shadow with a dentist for two months, or apply for a research program (although it is really late to apply now and I don't think my GPA will get me in any), or just spend two or three months study like crazy for the DAT (I'm definitely planing on taking a gap year after graduation to boost up my resume stuff like EC, volunteer and/or GPA)??? Or do you guys have even better ideas or options for me?
I fully appreciate your help and thank you very much!
Best wishes to you for your pre-dental or dental career! :)