A General Overview

First of all, you should make sure to research what classes your desired schools/programs say have to take. Take those classes and get the highest possible grade you can and learn as much as you can as you will be glad you did later. Begin to talk with your professors and get to know them as you will need Letters of Recommendation (LOR) later. Do research with them as this puts you above a large proportion of your fellow applicants. Start studying for the MCAT/DAT as early as possible and spread your study time out as much as possible. Doing a little bit each day is better than cramming it into one night. Try and get a job at a hospital or dental practice as this is valuable experience that may be required and does put you above a large portion of your fellow applicants as well. You want to do as much as possible that shows you the field you are interested in and that allows you to interact with others even if you have to volunteer, You will want to do these activities for as long as possible.  It does not look good to start and stop etc as it shows a lack of commitment.  Try to become as well-rounded as possible. They want well-rounded doctors and dentists.  Note that you do not have to major in a science field or discipline to get into medical or dental school, you merely have to complete their requirements up to their standards. This means that if you happen to like English or engineering or philosophy major in that. With that being said, you must vie to get the highest possible GPA as possible. This is one of the first criteria that is looked at and on which an initial decision as to whether they want to grant you an interview is made, along with MCAT/DAT scores and LOR.  You will want to thoroughly research the schools for which you want to apply and begin making a list of those you feel you have the best chance to gain acceptance to and then pick a few schools that you feel are a reach to get into and a few that you feel you are a shoe into so as to cover all the possible bases.  Be aware that applying to medical and dental school will likely be very expensive so be careful and wise in your choices and start to save early.

Majors

A few words on majors. Pre-med/Pre-dent are not majors... English, chemistry, biology, biochemistry, engineering etc are majors. Now you want to get into medical or dental school right? Does it matter what major you choose? Not really, I was told by an admissions counselor of a well known medical school that only one major will give you any ground over another major and unfortunately that major was not biochemistry, but engineering. What does this mean for you and me? That you do not have to major in some difficult area that will bring down that SO important number, your GPA. It means that you can major in art or English or religious studies and still get into medical school. In fact, medical schools and dental schools both like those type of applicants because they are usually very well rounded. Now keep in mind that as most science majors feel getting a degree in those types of subjects is too easy and you should all have 4.0 GPAs, the fact of that matter is that they too have to take those same entry level science classes to even be considered as an applicant for medical or dental school. Those courses are usually; Freshman bio 1 and 2 with corresponding labs, Freshman chemistry 1 and 2 with corresponding labs, Organic Chemistry 1 and 2 with corresponding labs, physics 1 and 2 with corresponding labs, and English ( usually at least 2 classes that must be composition classes).  Now as far as specifics go and as I have heard for many years now, many people major in the sciences as I did because they feel that they will gain a leg up if not in the application process than in the actual course of attaining that professional degree. This is simply not true, you may be ahead for the first week but then everyone is on the same playing field. Not because science does not matter and philosophy is so important but because they throw such a large amount of material at you at such a fast pace that it really does not matter how many science classes you aced in college; simply put it is a whole nother ball game ladies and gentlemen! I want you all to take this into account and pick a major that you will enjoy getting and that you can get the highest possible GPA in, IT IS THAT IMPORTANT!!!!