Applying to dental school before i have my bachelor/graduate

[Skateguitar]

Hello everyone, I have a question, and it would really help me if you guys could answer or guide me.
Basically, I am applying during may 2010 to dental school however, I will not have my bachelor at the time of application NOR will I "be" a university graduate. My question: Is it ok to apply to dental schools without my bachelor and/or university diploma at the time of application? It seems highly competitive and i want to know how to plan my next semester accordingly, due to budget cuts and the fact that i go to a state university (nothing wrong with that, they just dont offer enough classes or different times to take those classes ) I will probably finish my bachelor and graduate university at the end of spring 2011 or hopefully fall 2010. I want to get into dental school for fall 2011. Please answer if its ok!!! thank you!

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[StirrinIt]

I'd guess that the majority applicants are in between their jr and sr year.

As long as you have your prereqs for each school taken care of you are fine.

 

[yuppers]

You just need your bachelors by the time you would matriculate in dental school.

 

[Colos]

It's certainly not a requirement to have your Bachelor's while applying, although it may be seen as a plus to have your bachelor's by the time of matriculation.
However, it is not also necessary to have your Bachelors at all. There are students who apply during their third year of university, and are accepted without ever obtaining a bachelors.

 

[StirrinIt]

You just need your bachelors by the time you would matriculate in dental school.

not necessarily true. you just need your prereqs, but if u plan on graduating and tell the schools you are gonna, you need to graduate before matriculation. TECHNICALLY you dont need a bachelors

..but thats basically just semantics i know

 

[Skateguitar]

Alright, makes sense, so it is ok to apply without anything (aside from DAT scores, im sure they want those early) before I even open the door to the dental school as long as it gets done the semester before I start taking classes at the Dental school.
I can graduate and get my bachelor after spring 2011 and be ok as long as its before august something when classes start or registration.

 

[yuppers]

It's certainly not a requirement to have your Bachelor's while applying, although it may be seen as a plus to have your bachelor's by the time of matriculation.
However, it is not also necessary to have your Bachelors at all. There are students who apply during their third year of university, and are accepted without ever obtaining a bachelors.

not necessarily true. you just need your prereqs, but if u plan on graduating and tell the schools you are gonna, you need to graduate before matriculation. TECHNICALLY you dont need a bachelors

..but thats basically just semantics i know

I know that you can get in without a bachelors, but the number of people that do so is underwhelming. Therefore, I say it would be wise to plan on graduating. Anyway getting your degree can only help you in the future.

 

[Skateguitar]

By the way, I will be getting a bachelor and I will be graduating university, the question is the timing, is it ok to get both of those things the semester before classes officially start in august.

 

[uclaDDS101]

I know that you can get in without a bachelors, but the number of people that do so is underwhelming. Therefore, I say it would be wise to plan on graduating. Anyway getting your degree can only help you in the future.

Very true. I was actually planning to attend dent school without a bachelors degree, but I ended up chickening out. It's just hard to gauge your chances without that degree. Ultimately, I'm glad that I'm waiting to apply, so that I'll have my degree before I go to d school. Plus, it opens up the option of doing a joint DDS/MS or DDS/PhD program.

 

[bbabalu]

By the way, I will be getting a bachelor and I will be graduating university, the question is the timing, is it ok to get both of those things the semester before classes officially start in august.

I would like to know the answer for this question too, will it hurt my chances to apply in 2010 may without my bachelor BUT I work on it to get it at the end of the spring 2011 semester before dental school starts. So it goes like this:

May 2010 - apply to dental school
Fall 2010 - take classes for my bachelor
Spring 2011 - Finish the rest of my classes for my bachelor
Fall 2011 - Dental school begins

I know that many receive their acceptance letters during sept. - Dec 2010, would someone that gets their bachelor in spring 2011 be at a disadvantage? I am asking because i will not be able to finish my bachelor until spring 2011 would it be too late by then?

 

[junkemails44]

I would like to know the answer for this question too, will it hurt my chances to apply in 2010 may without my bachelor BUT I work on it to get it at the end of the spring 2011 semester before dental school starts. So it goes like this:

May 2010 - apply to dental school
Fall 2010 - take classes for my bachelor
Spring 2011 - Finish the rest of my classes for my bachelor
Fall 2011 - Dental school begins

I know that many receive their acceptance letters during sept. - Dec 2010, would someone that gets their bachelor in spring 2011 be at a disadvantage? I am asking because i will not be able to finish my bachelor until spring 2011 would it be too late by then?

This is perfectly fine. It will be a conditional acceptance.
I did exactly the same thing. Also, the first batch of acceptance notifications will be mailed out on Dec. 1st, not in Sept.

 

[StirrinIt]

Alright, makes sense, so it is ok to apply without anything (aside from DAT scores, im sure they want those early) before I even open the door to the dental school as long as it gets done the semester before I start taking classes at the Dental school.
I can graduate and get my bachelor after spring 2011 and be ok as long as its before august something when classes start or registration.

No, you have to finish ur planned courses spring semester 2011 if u plan on matriculating fall 2011.

 

[Skateguitar]

No, you have to finish ur planned courses spring semester 2011 if u plan on matriculating fall 2011.

My mistake I think I wrote that wrong, I meant that finishing my courses for graduation and bachelor during the Spring semester of 2011 while applying for fall 2011, or do they want us to finish all of our courses and have our bachelors BEFORE spring 2011, as in do nothing for the semester before matriculation.

 

[bbabalu]

This is perfectly fine. It will be a conditional acceptance.
I did exactly the same thing. Also, the first batch of acceptance notifications will be mailed out on Dec. 1st, not in Sept.

It just seems that it is too late in the application process for them to hold out on an application you know? I thought that most schools have their selections done by summer 2011, and I would go "hey, here it is my bachelor!" as soon as spring 2011 semester is done, it seems to late.