Claire Koukol '13

Claire's Picture

 

Name: Claire Koukol

Graduating Class: 2013

Major: Biology and Management

Your Story:

Hello, my name is Claire Koukol, I am a senior at Gustavus Adolphus College. I grew up in Omaha, Nebraska.

I chose Gustavus, because I liked the community feel. I liked that there was such a great support system here. It just felt like home and somewhere I could spend my life for four years.

My interest in pre-dentistry started from my dentist. I have always loved going to the dentist and thought about many careers throughout my childhood. In middle school or high school, I began to seriously think about dentistry and set goals for what I would need to do if I wanted to end up in dentistry. I took part in a dental exploring program at Creighton Dental School in Omaha, my senior year in high school. It was a semester-long, weekly program. That convinced me that pursuing dentistry was a good idea. My sophomore year at Gustavus, I shadowed four dentists for the month of January. I loved every minute of it and was excited to go each day. That is what you want in a career; to be excited to get up each morning.

My most influential experience at Gustavus confirming pre-dentistry path was the experience overall. I have had multiple leadership experiences that have brought me out of my shell and that has helped me develop as a person and in my leadership capabilities. While the classes have prepared me and my professors have guided me along the way, it is truly the experience I have had at Gustavus in my activities and the relationships I have created in terms of mentors that have been most influential. I also chose to have a major in management as well as biology to gain that business sense that is so important in owning your own practice. It was advice I received from dentists who have been out of school for decades and struggled with learning good business practice and made mistakes they would not have made otherwise if they had taken more business classes in college.

 

My Class Schedule (click to view PDF)

Top Five Activities/Experiences: (in no particular order)

  • Music Program at Gustavus
  • Study abroad in Greece
  • My national sorority, Sigma Sigma Sigma, and the leadership it has allowed me to have and the interaction with other Greeks on IGS and Order of Omega
  • Big Partner Little Partner
  • Senior Week Committee

 

Advice:

1. Shadow as much as you can. You want to be able to show them you are interested and stay interested throughout college.

2. Get involved in a variety of things. Don’t just do science, pre-health, community service or one organization. You need to be multi-faceted.

3. Start your applications early. The summer before you plan to actually submit your application, practice. Some of your activities or essay may change, but the core will stay the same and the practice of filling the application the first time will help.

Future Plans:

I will be attending the University of Nebraska Dental school in the Fall of 2014.

 

 

Updated 4/04/2013 JMV