James Garza ⋅ Sandy, TX self-employed ⋅ 18 years experience

i'm a medical doctor, not a dentist. my first advice for you is to really understand what you'd be getting yourself into. even though my mother was a nurse and i had been around hospitals much of my life i really wish i had sat down and listened to as many different medical specialists as possible to hear their experiences. knowing that you possess the intellectual ability to accomplish a noble feat is one requirement. but it's not sufficient to get you through without serious strategic planning. have you spoken with a dentist? an orthodontist? an endodontist? a dental hygienist? a professor at a dental school? office workers in a dental practice? etc, etc. one question that came up repeatedly during medical school interviews was along the lines of "there are 3 applicants for every position. what will you do if you don't get accepted?" that has to be the most salient question of the many that were asked. unfortunately, i don't have any specifics about dental school for you. best wishes to you!

Kiara Vann ⋅ Conyers, GA U.S. Army National Guard, Private First Class ⋅ 2 years served

Honestly I'm not really into teaching and I am in my senor year so it really wouldnt benefit me to just stop and switch to teaching. The military is helping to pay back a portion of my loans which is a plus because I def needed that.

Natasha Shamone-Gilmore ⋅ Upper Marlboro, MD Maryland Resource and Training Center Incorporated ⋅ 4 years experience

Okay. You have a major in Biology, but want to go to Dental school next? Here is my take. Unless all of your education is "free", stop. You do not want a huge college debt. I know that you can www.google.com where dental schools are in Georgia. Right. The world is big on S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) so I would think of a dual major that includes you also gaining your Master's in Biology (Science) coupled with Special Ed and stay the course with one focus. You can graduate with your Bachelor and teach at a school, if you gain your Masters , you can also teach as a "Adjunct Professor" at a college, earning a great wage and helping others. Stay focused. Stay the science course. The demand is greater. P.S. Masters in Education for example is cool.

Kiara Vann ⋅ Conyers, GA U.S. Army National Guard, Private First Class ⋅ 2 years served

I never said I wanted to be a dental assistant I said I had aspirations of attending dental school which a bachelor degree is required. A dental assistant doesn't require a degree just need to be certificated. But yes, I have chosen to get a degree and go to dental school to become an orthodontist. So yes in this case I am aiming for the top.

John Green ⋅ Cary, NC Information Technology ⋅ 40 years experience

Kiara,

Here is a good set of salary guides.

http://www.roberthalf.com/workplace-research/salary-guides

If you are satisfied making $30k per year, then ok. Hopefully you can pay your student loans on that. But if you really are ambitious as you say, for example, aiming for the top, you could, with the right skillset make more than $200k per year as an IT expert.

Over ten years, thats $1.7 million more dollars, so I guess what Natasha and I are scratching our heads over is why you want to live a bare existence as a Dental Assistant when you could be $1.7 million more richer as an IT specialist?

JG

Kiara Vann ⋅ Conyers, GA U.S. Army National Guard, Private First Class ⋅ 2 years served

Maybe I'm not understanding what Natasha Shamone-Gilmore means when she is speaking of STEM because it is very broad, what I'm doing now falls under STEM. Please explain. Also I haven't totally dismissed teaching and I am a member of teach.org. I like to have have back up plans just in case I change my mind or things just don't go as planned. Being a dental assistant can be a great position when working for the right company. I have looked in to that as well. Being that I have a year left till I have my degree why not finish. It has been a very long road and getting to this point is a milestone for me. I belive wholeheartedly if you are going to do something aim for the top. Yes being a dental assistant is great and they made good money but eventually you may get bored of being an assistant and want to be the person in charge. So I'm aiming for the top so I won't have any regrets of wanting more. But I really want to know what other positions you guys were speaking about in the STEM arena, because I do know someone can do a lot of different things with a science degree. I don't know all of those things though lol.

John Green ⋅ Cary, NC Information Technology ⋅ 40 years experience

Well, a dental assistant in Georgia average wage is only $16.35 per hour (according to DentalCareerGuide.com). Natasha's suggestion that you focus on STEM is a good one, I wouldn't dismiss her advice so quickly.