Our Dental School Journey

This was originally posted on November 29, 2012. It covers our dental school story from when Joe decided to go back to school to his last interview before decision day 2012. Since this post, Joe was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and began classes in August 2013!

When you finish, you might want to click here to read about decision day.

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Today was Joe's last Dental School interview. This is a very exciting day, because hopefully it also marks the end of shelling out ungodly amounts of money to ship him off to interviews across the country one more chapter in this Dental School journey.

Dental School, so far, has had several chapters:

Chapter 1: Katie Freaks in the Pet Food Aisle (Fall 2008)

Katie finds out by phone call in the middle of the Wal Mart pet food aisle that her boyfriend wants to become a dentist. She proceeds to panic, since he explains that dental school is four years. She really panics when he says he doesn't have the right classes for dental school and will have to quit his job and go back to school for two years prior to applying. In that moment, the former commitment-phobe realizes that this Midwestern boy has stolen her heart and she's along for the ride no matter what. She panics some more.

Chapter 2: Does He Have What it Takes? (Spring 2009)
Before Joe quits his job, he decides to take an English class at the local Junior College to see if he has it in him to be a student again. Despite reading one of the most God-awful books ever written - he decides he does, and applies to San Francisco State's Post-Baccalaureate Health Sciences Program (try saying that 10 times fast).

Chapter 3: Student Loans Start Again (Summer 2009)
Joe starts his post-bac. He commutes the first couple months, until he decides the drive is too much and he needs to move to the city. His distance from Katie increases from 1 hour to 2 hours. Katie is sad. Joe's classes are hard. He takes things like Organic Chemistry (ew). At the same time, he volunteers at dental offices and is an officer of the pre-dental club at SFSU since he needs his application to dental school to be as impressive as possible.

Chapter 4: Babies Are Postponed Another Year (Spring 2010)
Around the time Joe proposes (YAY!), Joe also breaks the news to Katie that he will need to extend his Post-Bac program another year to boost his application. Since babies can't come until mid-Dental School (at least), her first thought is, "Oh, no! Our babies will be postponed another year!" Katie, and her biological clock, are very sad. This also means that Joe will be taking more advanced classes like Anatomy, where he dissects a human cadaver.

Chapter 5: The DAT - A.K.A. The Test From Hell (Spring 2012)
Joe studies night and day for the five hour Dental School admittance exam. It's full of science, math, and a thing called perceptual ability. This photo shows his study materials.

Chapter 6: Applications Round 1 (June 1, 2012)
After three years of Post-Bac classes, assisting Dentists chair-side, working in a dental lab making mouth guards, and helping a Dental School professor with her (hopefully someday published) research paper, Joe is finally ready to apply. Joe and Katie decide he should apply to 21 of the 61 US dental schools. Their bank account cries.

Chapter 7: Applications Round 2 (July 2012)
Because it's not enough to apply once, Dental Schools also require secondary applications. Some merely request a check, while others request a check and dozens of essay questions answered. Katie and Joe's bank account cries again. Joe's sick of essay questions.

Chapter 8: Interviews (August - November 2012)
Joe is offered interviews at 7 schools, is rejected from one, and receives the silent treatment from 13 (jerks). Joe kicks butt at his interviews, but Dental Schools are fickle, and you can never really tell where you stand.


This brings us to present day. Our next chapter is on December 3rd (just 4 days away!) That's the day when Dental Schools can finally offer acceptances to students.

Needless to say, I've been eagerly awaiting this day since that phone call in the Wal Mart pet food aisle.

Literally counting down the minutes: