u/Icy-Chart9745

Hey everyone,

Kind of stressing out. I currently go to community college (in my freshmen year) in California and I’m trying to figure out the best timeline for completing my prerequisites for dental school. Right now, I’m running into a scheduling issue with physics.

I’m waitlisted for physics that I will take in my sophomore year, and realistically I probably won’t get in. That means I’ll most likely have to take my entire physics sequence during my junior year instead at the university I transfer too.

My question is: will taking physics that late hurt my dental school application (specifically for schools like UCLA and UCSF), alter my timeline of applying (I don't want to take a gap year), affect my ability to do HPSP, or affect my DAT preparation?

For context, by the end of my sophomore year I will have completed Calc 1 & 2, Gen Chem 1 & 2, Bio 1 & 2, and O Chem 1 & 2 before transferring to a 4-year university.

Thanks so much.

Do yall think there is any possibility in the future where a different administration would be able to change the BBB and bring back the graduate plus loan program where students would be able to borrow up to their entire cost of attendance without taking out private loans?

Hey guys I wanted to know if non-dental related research is good for dental schools, particularly for schools like UCSF and UCLA. Also I had some other questions as well.

I have gotten a research position at Stanford University School of Medicine for my sophomore year of college which I will be starting in fall of 2026. Its a paid position and I'm expected to get anywhere from 700-800 hours of research over the year. The research itself is science/health-related with a general focus on tobacco/vaping its affects on health and public health advocacy. I will have the opportunity to narrow down my research topic once I get paired with a mentor so there is a slight possibility I can propose a connection between smoking and oral health. I have a personal connection with smoking in general and I would love to do research where I would be able to help prevent it an advocate against it. Also I don't believe that I will get any publications or anything like that, but I will be making a poster and presenting it at the end of the program.

I know it looks good if students stay and do research for a long time (over many years) but this program is only for one year and after I will transfer out from cc and go to a 4 yr for my junior year. Will the fact that it's only one year hurt me because it looked like I had a lack of commitment?

Thanks.