Dental How does Howard University BS/DDS 6 Year Dental Program work?

[MusicDOc124]

Hello, I’m a Junior in HighSchool from New Orleans, Louisiana and I am interested in dentistry as a career choice. While doing my research, I saw that Howard University has a program where you can complete your BS and DDS all in 6 years.I was just wondering if anyone knew what the process was like applying to this program? Did you have to visit howard for an interview? Are you admitted before your fall semester at Howard? What is the course work like during the undergrad part. Are you automatically accepted into the Dental School after graduating with your BS or do you have to reapply? Sorry for all the questions lol I’m just really interested and would like to know what I’m getting into before I apply. Anyone who knows anything about the programs help would be appreciated! Thank you !

I'm not specifically familiar with Howard's program, but most combined 6-, 7-, and 8-year programs work similar, but still may differ from program to program, and DDS/DMD to DO/MD.

From a quick glance, it appears almost identical to the medical school I went to as well as another, even though this is dental school.

That said, generally yes, you will have an interview at the dental school AND the undergrad.

When applying for the program, and with having two interviews, you will need to be accepted to both programs. I've never heard of a case where someone was accepted to the medical or dental school, and not the undergrad, however there is a chance you could be accepted to the undergrad and not the dental school (or medical for others who may be reading this). There is also the small possibility of neither of course.

--> Short answer, yes, you would be admitted [to both] before the fall semester begins.

The undergrad course work is identical to anyone else at that undergrad not in the combined program. Read: normal college coursework.

In the case of the combined program - the "BS/DDS" - if accepted to the combined program, then yes, you will go directly to the dental school without re-application in some cases. In some cases, you may have to "apply" but just as a formality for having an official application through the system - if this is the case, because it would be guaranteed, you would NOT BE ALLOWED to add other schools to the application.

These programs have other interim requirements as well. For instance, they usually require that you maintain a minimum pre-specified GPA, and minimum GPA in particular coursework.

Some programs waive or adjust other requirements - for instance the DAT may be waived, or you may have to take it by a certain date and receive a certain score, or you may have to take it simply to take it without a specific required score - for this, you'd have to check directly with the program.

Also, keep in mind the length of the program. As mentioned, the coursework is the same regardless of being in the combined program or not, but the 6-year program is likely accelerated. In 8-year programs, it mimics a traditional 4 year undergrad degree followed by a 4 year dental med degree. The 7-year programs often count the first semester of the professional program as the "final year" of undergrad, effectively conferring the undergrad degree after the first semester of dental school is complete, thus the 3 years of undergrad are "regular" when compared to others. HOWEVER, 6-year programs are quick accelerated in that you may have to go to school during your summers instead of having off like traditional students would, and sometimes the credit load is higher than average, which for some could be difficult, especially when needing to maintain a high GPA, and not getting a break.

With that said, I'm not familiar enough with Howard as a whole, let alone the dental program to comment more in depth on that as I am in medicine. For instance, I know pharmacy schools also have 6 year programs, but differ greatly from medical 6-year programs.



I hope this helps.

Good luck!



And if anyone see's a mistake in this, please let me know, and I'll edit it, but from looking at their program site, and being quite familiar with combined programs at other schools, it appears very similar.

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[Mr.Smile12]

Every school's process for admitting guaranteed BS/DDS students differs, but usually it is generally coordinated through the undergraduate admissions office. Email them, and someone should be able to inform you about the general admissions procedures for this predental track. Sometimes you have to interview on-site as a high school senior (as my program did), but others won't interview you until you matriculated and already completed coursework in college that satisfies the requirements (GPA, DAT, experience hours). Often there is a separate application you would have to do through AADSAS but if you have qualified for a guaranteed admissions spot, you will be told what to do to secure it.