Is it better to become a hygienist or do a master's?

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MouthDoc

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I have my BS in biology and am currently attending the UMDNJ MBS program as a non-matriculated student, but I just got accepted to the accelerated UOP dental hygiene program and need to make my decision soon. My dream is to ultimately become a dentist, but I'm at a crossroad on which program to choose. Right now I'm trying to weigh out the pros and cons of both programs.

MBS - I assume it will look better to dental schools because it more parallels the curriculum, but since I'm non-matriculated, I can't get any federal aid. With tuition being $850/unit and needing 30 units to complete the master's, it's pretty expensive. The program is interesting so far, but if I never make it to dental school, then I think the master's isn't very practical in the job market...especially if I hate doing research, but at least it's still a "master's." Not everyone from this program makes it dental school (or med school) after completion...I would say about 15%...?

Hygiene - I will get to do clinical, which I love doing, but I don't know if getting another bachelor's will be useful to dental schools. I will have good clinical preparation for dental school, and if I never get accepted to dental school, I will have a degree with practicality. The only problem with that is, the job market is terrible for dental hygienists. After reading different forums, it seems that a lot of hygienists regret going into the field and many dentists don't respect them. I will be in over $100k in debt after the program, and again, I still can't receive any federal aid because I already have a bachelor's degree.

I don't know if there are any dental schools that favor candidates with a dental hygiene degree, but I would think that more dental schools would favor those with a master's in science. I did horrible in undergrad (like a 2.7 gpa), and am trying the find the best way to get to dental school without taking too much time. If I finish the MBS, I could probably finish it in a year. The hygiene program is only a year and half for me because I have all the prereqs from my bio degree. Any help that anyone can offer would me much appreciated...thanks in advance!
 
I have my BS in biology and am currently attending the UMDNJ MBS program as a non-matriculated student, but I just got accepted to the accelerated UOP dental hygiene program and need to make my decision soon. My dream is to ultimately become a dentist, but I'm at a crossroad on which program to choose. Right now I'm trying to weigh out the pros and cons of both programs.

MBS - I assume it will look better to dental schools because it more parallels the curriculum, but since I'm non-matriculated, I can't get any federal aid. With tuition being $850/unit and needing 30 units to complete the master's, it's pretty expensive. The program is interesting so far, but if I never make it to dental school, then I think the master's isn't very practical in the job market...especially if I hate doing research, but at least it's still a "master's" that may look nice on a resume. Not everyone from this program makes it dental school (or med school) after completion...I would say about 15%...?

Hygiene - I will get to do clinical, which I love doing, but I don't know if getting another bachelor's will be useful to dental schools. I will have good clinical preparation for dental school, and if I never get accepted to dental school, I will have a degree with practicality and sort of a back up. The only problem with that is, the job market is terrible for dental hygienists in California right now with what seems to be a poor outlook. After reading different forums, it seems that a lot of hygienists regret going into the field and many dentists don't respect them. Some hygienists say it's tedious and they get burnt out pretty quickly. I will be in over $100k in debt after the program, and again, I still can't receive any federal aid because I already have a bachelor's degree.

I don't know if there are any dental schools that favor candidates with a dental hygiene degree, but I would think that more dental schools would favor those with a master's in science. I did horrible in undergrad (like 2.7 gpa), and am trying the find the best way to get to dental school without taking too much time. If I finish the MBS, I could probably finish it in a year. The BS in hygiene is only a year and half for me because I have all the prereqs from my bio degree. Any help that anyone can offer would me much appreciated...thanks in advance!
 
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Going for a hygiene degree after a bachelor's is like going for an AA degree after an MS/PhD.
 
It won't matter that the hygienist program will give you a job in the short run, you'll owe at least three times as much money with interest. You love clinical, great, hold out for a few years and let the love loose during dental school instead.

While I think doc tooth is being a bit harsh, it does seem like a lateral move at best, while the masters (with a solid GPA) will definitely be going upward and like you surmised, probably look better to dental schools. Also, are you saying because only 15% of the MBS program's grads go on to dental/medical school, you only have/you only give yourself a 15% chance yourself? If your dream is to become a dentist, change your attitude! (i.e. you will be in that 15% no matter what 😉 ).

Have you considered a MA/MS in anything else? I only ask because you don't sound completely interested/convinced in the MBS.
 
Based on your opening statements, I believe you have answered your own question.

Your endgoal is Dental School. You have two primary considerations in that progression: time and money.

The Hygienist program will take longer than the MBS tract and it will cost more money. Right?

UMDNJ has a very unique and appealing program design that I think could greatly benefit you. The MBS program does not require a research thesis (huge plus). It can be completed in one year or less (huge plus). Furthermore, you have the option to study as a 'dental scholar' in which case you are afforded the opportunity to take classes with current dental students (gigantic plus). You are also afforded academic and admissions advising directly from the Dental School faculty/staff. You can earn a concentration in Oral Biology. And you can complete research. Seems pretty enticing to me.

Again, you should always direct these specific questions to Dental Schools that interest you before you make any major academic/career changes.

Good luck.
 
You have a BS in Biology, why don't you apply to dental schools next cycle? Are you in considering enrolling in either program to boost your stats because they're currently low? Give us more info... GPA, DATs, extra-curriculars up to this point?

Disregard this ^^^^ only half the post showed up on my phone!
 
I'm a dental hygienist and recently obtained my MS in Biomedical Sciences. Becoming a dental hygienist was my fall back plan, incase dental school never became a reality. However, the job market for a dental hygienist at this time is poor in many areas including where I live. This why I went back to grad school to test myself if I was capable of accomplishing a heavy, rigorous course load. I'm still waiting to hear back from dental schools due to late submission of my application.

So to answer your question between one program or the other, I would go with a Masters program to become closer to achieving your goal of becoming a dentist. I would think a Masters degree makes the applicant stand out more and displays they are serious and committed to their academics. Again, dental hygiene school is a great career option but is currently on hold at the moment. Hopefully the demand for hygienists will be up again in a few years. In my area, five + years ago, it was almost impossible to find a hygienist due to high demand. Now, the demand is so low that a hygienist might apply to 50 offices and 'maybe' receive hours as a temp and may eventually lead to something more permanent but no guarantee.
 
Kahr said:
It won't matter that the hygienist program will give you a job in the short run, you'll owe at least three times as much money with interest. You love clinical, great, hold out for a few years and let the love loose during dental school instead.

While I think doc tooth is being a bit harsh, it does seem like a lateral move at best, while the masters (with a solid GPA) will definitely be going upward and like you surmised, probably look better to dental schools. Also, are you saying because only 15% of the MBS program's grads go on to dental/medical school, you only have/you only give yourself a 15% chance yourself? If your dream is to become a dentist, change your attitude! (i.e. you will be in that 15% no matter what 😉 ).

Have you considered a MA/MS in anything else? I only ask because you don't sound completely interested/convinced in the MBS.
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I agree and was thinking the same thing about hygiene being a lateral movement, but I was just taking into consideration that it as a back up plan in thee unfortunate case that I can't get into dental school. I am currently in my second cycle applying, and I still haven't even gotten any interviews (I'm sure it's because of my ridiculously low gpa).

I am not saying that I'm only giving myself a 15% chance, but I was considering the fact that since I was only able to enter as a non matriculated student, then I would assume that most everyone else in the program that are matriculated students would have better scores than me. My undergraduate gpa sucks...I only have a 2.7 according to my school, but it drops significantly lower to a 2.4 with AADSAS calculations.

You're right...I am not completely convinced with the MBS, but I am just trying to use it as a stepping stone. I mean, I do think that the UMDNJ is a good program, but if I never make it to dental school, I don't know what I would be able to do with a master's...especially if I'm not at all interested in research. The only other master's I was considering was an MBA and a MS in oral biology. Although I'm interested a lot in business, I'm sure an MBA will do absolutely nothing for me to get into dental school, and an MS in oral biology would require a thesis that I'm not too fond of.
 
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I'm a firm believer in shooting for the top. But I would think hard before going forward with a 2.2 GPA heavy weighted with 4 years of UG.

How many credits do you need to a 3.0? I would imagine ~ 3yrs full time at 4.0. Even then it's just a 3.0. Have you ever thought about DO school? they do grade replacement so if you retook a class and got an A it would be replaced by an A. Just something to think about...

Even with a great masters you would still only have a 2.2 UG GPA. Which seems below the cut off range for dental schools.



MouthDoc said:
I am not saying that I'm only giving myself a 15% chance, but I was considering the fact that since I was only able to enter as a non matriculated student, then I would assume that most everyone else in the program that are matriculated students would have better scores than me. My undergraduate gpa sucks...I only have a 2.7 according to my school, but it drops significantly lower to a 2.2 with AADSAS calculations.
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masters all the way. 👍 why bother wasting time with an RDH degree that you dont plan to use?
 
carlfusco said:
You have a BS in Biology, why don't you apply to dental schools next cycle? Are you in considering enrolling in either program to boost your stats because they're currently low? Give us more info... GPA, DATs, extra-curriculars up to this point?

Disregard this ^^^^ only half the post showed up on my phone!
Click to expand...


I'm in my second cycle of applying. The first time I applied, I only applied to the 5 schools that were free (before they changed it). A big reason I applied was because some post-baccs require you to apply and get rejected to dental school in order to apply to their post-bacc program. Then, the next cycle I skipped while I took some extra classes to boost my really low GPA, and I'm currently applying this cycle to 20 schools but have already gotten rejected by some and I'm sure won't even get an interview if I haven't by now.

I'm considering the master's to boost my GPA and will probably look better to dental schools, but I've been considering the hygiene program because I can start doing clinical immediately and it'll probably be more practical if I never get accepted to dental school. Either program, I feel I can do well in. I was just too caught up in things when I was an undergrad.

I have to boost my GPA no matter what. As for my scores 🙁, my GPA is a 2.7 according to my colleges, but since that doesn't matter to dental schools, my AADSAS caculated GPA is 2.4. After I graduated undergrad, I've taken 15 units and have gotten only A's. I messed up in undergrad, but I'm trying to make up for it...I'm just worried it might be too late :bang:. I've never let anyone know my DAT scores, but here I am publishing it on the internet...anyway AA-16 TS-17 OC-16 GC-17 B-17 RC-18 QR-11 PA-19. I only took it once, and only studied for two weeks so I know I can bring it up. I haven't taken it again because I don't want to waste my limited amount of times I can take it and was thinking about doing it after the master's or hygiene program. I have had my RDA license for over 5 years and have worked in the dental field for over six and a half years with thousands of hours of experience in several different specialties and general. I have done a few hundred hours of volunteer work - dental and non-dental related. I have two years of organic chemistry research under my belt with a published paper, but it doesn't really seem that dental schools really care about research. I was in a couple of clubs in undergrad that were more dental related, i.e. pre-dental and pre-professional. But currently, I am doing nothing but taking this one course in the MBS program to help me get matriculated because I moved from California to here without a car and can't get a job for the life of me. Being non-matriculated is really setting me back from being able to be involved in the school.
 
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yappy said:
I'm a firm believer in shooting for the top. But I would think hard before going forward with a 2.2 GPA heavy weighted with 4 years of UG.

How many credits do you need to a 3.0? I would imagine ~ 3yrs full time at 4.0. Even then it's just a 3.0. Have you ever thought about DO school? they do grade replacement so if you retook a class and got an A it would be replaced by an A. Just something to think about...

Even with a great masters you would still only have a 2.2 UG GPA. Which seems below the cut off range for dental schools.
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I thought about DO school, but I didn't know that about the grade replacement. Is that true for all DO schools? I also thought about MD, but only in the Caribbean. I guess it's something I might have to consider, but I honestly have been dreaming of dental school for so long, and it's hard to imagine myself doing anything else as a career.

The thing about some dental schools (including the one at UMDNJ), is that they will neglect your undergraduate grades if you've done a master's. However, they will hold you to a higher standard and expect more from you.
 
Thanks to everyone that has been replying! All very helpful. It seems that everyone on this forum would suggest I stick with the master's.



minimee99 said:
I'm a dental hygienist and recently obtained my MS in Biomedical Sciences. Becoming a dental hygienist was my fall back plan, incase dental school never became a reality. However, the job market for a dental hygienist at this time is poor in many areas including where I live. This why I went back to grad school to test myself if I was capable of accomplishing a heavy, rigorous course load. I'm still waiting to hear back from dental schools due to late submission of my application.

So to answer your question between one program or the other, I would go with a Masters program to become closer to achieving your goal of becoming a dentist. I would think a Masters degree makes the applicant stand out more and displays they are serious and committed to their academics. Again, dental hygiene school is a great career option but is currently on hold at the moment. Hopefully the demand for hygienists will be up again in a few years. In my area, five + years ago, it was almost impossible to find a hygienist due to high demand. Now, the demand is so low that a hygienist might apply to 50 offices and 'maybe' receive hours as a temp and may eventually lead to something more permanent but no guarantee.
Click to expand...


How are your applications going? Have you gotten and advising about how significant it was in doing the MBS?

Thanks for letting me know about what you've been doing. It's great to hear from your perspective since you have both. When I looked up dental hygiene, everything sounded great...it had a strong outlook and that they made great money especially in California (where I'm from). I was about to accept the hygiene program because I was excited to do clinical, but after doing some reading on forums, it seems that many dental hygienist are unhappy...and that's if they even have a job. I did a job search, and found that there were so few positions available, and the ones that were posted were mostly part-time, which meant no benefits.
 
With your low stats you would not get in to dental school even if you had years of experience as an RDH let alone just the degree. Maybe you should just settle for hygiene as a career?
 
MouthDoc said:
Thanks to everyone that has been replying! All very helpful. It seems that everyone on this forum would suggest I stick with the master's.






How are your applications going? Have you gotten and advising about how significant it was in doing the MBS?

Thanks for letting me know about what you've been doing. It's great to hear from your perspective since you have both. When I looked up dental hygiene, everything sounded great...it had a strong outlook and that they made great money especially in California (where I'm from). I was about to accept the hygiene program because I was excited to do clinical, but after doing some reading on forums, it seems that many dental hygienist are unhappy...and that's if they even have a job. I did a job search, and found that there were so few positions available, and the ones that were posted were mostly part-time, which meant no benefits.
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If you are intelligent, personable, mature, and have well developed skills you will do fine as a hygienist. Full time, benefits, no problem.

If you're looking for the easy road become an RDH. Going for a science based masters with thesis and getting a 4.0 while bring up your DAT by 4 points is not an easy road.
 
SeattleRDH said:
If you are intelligent, personable, mature, and have well developed skills you will do fine as a hygienist. Full time, benefits, no problem.

If you're looking for the easy road become an RDH. Going for a science based masters with thesis and getting a 4.0 while bring up your DAT by 4 points is not an easy road.
Click to expand...


I'm not looking for an easy or hard road. I just want what would be best to get me to dental school in the shortest amount of time. I was mainly considering the hygiene route as a back up plan that can provide me money, but I can't imagine doing it for the rest of my life. The master's I'm currently working towards doesn't require a thesis, but I don't get to do the clinical work that I enjoy. As I mentioned in a previous post, a big benefit the master's offers is that some dental schools will focus on the master's rather than the undergraduate degree.
 
MouthDoc said:
I'm not looking for an easy or hard road. I just want what would be best to get me to dental school in the shortest amount of time. I was mainly considering the hygiene route as a back up plan that can provide me money, but I can't imagine doing it for the rest of my life. The master's I'm currently working towards doesn't require a thesis, but I don't get to do the clinical work that I enjoy. As I mentioned in a previous post, a big benefit the master's offers is that some dental schools will focus on the master's rather than the undergraduate degree.
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It might be time to start looking for another career. A 2.2 seems like the kiss of death for any medically related profession.

An 11 in QR also indicates that you either have bad study habits or maybe your just not be ready for this profession. I'm sorry If I sound mean, while your heart is screaming yes for dentistry, your mind or lack of motivation is screaming NO NO NO!
 
Yes. The agency that calculates grades for DO replaces the original grade if the course is retaken. Therefore, if you got a F (GPA =0.00) then retake the class and get an A (4.0) it will calculate that you have a 4.0.

This makes turning around your very low GPA possible and fast. You could most likely do a serious 4-6 semester turn around to get to ~3.4-3.5 then get a 28-30 on the MCAT and you would be competitive. Don't even think about MD lol.

Really think about what would make you happy and what is possible. If you think it is dentistry and you cannot see yourself doing anything other than it then you better raise that UG GPA to 3.0, near 4.0 a masters and score 21+ on your DAT.

There is really no easy road for you but i think DO is much more possible than either DDS or MD given your starting point (2.2).

Might look into Podiatry too or RN (lots of upward mobility as an RN)

MouthDoc said:
I thought about DO school, but I didn't know that about the grade replacement. Is that true for all DO schools? I also thought about MD, but only in the Caribbean. I guess it's something I might have to consider, but I honestly have been dreaming of dental school for so long, and it's hard to imagine myself doing anything else as a career.

The thing about some dental schools (including the one at UMDNJ), is that they will neglect your undergraduate grades if you've done a master's. However, they will hold you to a higher standard and expect more from you.
Click to expand...
 
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MrAvicii said:
It might be time to start looking for another career. A 2.2 seems like the kiss of death for any medically related profession.

An 11 in QR also indicates that you either have bad study habits or maybe your just not be ready for this profession. I'm sorry If I sound mean, while your heart is screaming yes for dentistry, your mind or lack of motivation is screaming NO NO NO!
Click to expand...


I know it's not a huge difference, but I just recalculated my GPA after my academic update and I would have a 2.41 total GPA. If I continue with this MBS program and get a 4.0 in the 30 units, I still would only have a 2.6 overall GPA, but since there are some dental schools that will neglect undergraduate GPA if you have an master's in science, it makes me think I might have a chance. The 11 in QR can be improved significantly...I was being really stubborn on one question that took way too much time and ended up having to guess like half the questions.

I know it looks very grim for me, but becoming a dentist has been my dream for a long time. I screwed up in undergrad, but I can't imagine doing anything else. I just hope I'm not being idealistic.
 
MouthDoc said:
I have my BS in biology and am currently attending the UMDNJ MBS program as a non-matriculated student, but I just got accepted to the accelerated UOP dental hygiene program and need to make my decision soon. My dream is to ultimately become a dentist, but I'm at a crossroad on which program to choose. Right now I'm trying to weigh out the pros and cons of both programs.

MBS - I assume it will look better to dental schools because it more parallels the curriculum, but since I'm non-matriculated, I can't get any federal aid. With tuition being $850/unit and needing 30 units to complete the master's, it's pretty expensive. The program is interesting so far, but if I never make it to dental school, then I think the master's isn't very practical in the job market...especially if I hate doing research, but at least it's still a "master's" that may look nice on a resume. Not everyone from this program makes it dental school (or med school) after completion...I would say about 15%...?

Hygiene - I will get to do clinical, which I love doing, but I don't know if getting another bachelor's will be useful to dental schools. I will have good clinical preparation for dental school, and if I never get accepted to dental school, I will have a degree with practicality and sort of a back up. The only problem with that is, the job market is terrible for dental hygienists in California right now with what seems to be a poor outlook. After reading different forums, it seems that a lot of hygienists regret going into the field and many dentists don't respect them. Some hygienists say it's tedious and they get burnt out pretty quickly. I will be in over $100k in debt after the program, and again, I still can't receive any federal aid because I already have a bachelor's degree.

I don't know if there are any dental schools that favor candidates with a dental hygiene degree, but I would think that more dental schools would favor those with a master's in science. I did horrible in undergrad (like 2.7 gpa), and am trying the find the best way to get to dental school without taking too much time. If I finish the MBS, I could probably finish it in a year. The BS in hygiene is only a year and half for me because I have all the prereqs from my bio degree. Any help that anyone can offer would me much appreciated...thanks in advance!
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i can tell you from personal experience via proxy that a 2.7 GPA in undergrad wont cut it at a lot of places. if you did hygiene you'd likely need a # of yrs exp before any school would consider you a solid applicant and that is assuming you rocked your classes through Hygschool and possibly did some research. not to mention, some hyg programs are pretty tough to get into (comparatively speaking here so put your flamethrowers away).

now, if you did a MS/MA and had a good GPA and ROCKED the DAT you might have a better shot b/c even though hyg would make you more "competent" as a clinician (initially anyway), a solid GPA and possibly research with a MS/MA would show that you can roll the dice didactically as well… and with your sub par GPA in undergrad you’re gonna need all the help you can get to show adcoms that YOU are what they want to take a chance on.
 
I paid the tuition for my brother's dental 2 years dental hygiene education a few years ago in Fresno and it was only $12K. Perhaps you can try to get in that school instead?
 
I think I've made my decision to stick with the MBS program since I got matriculated early and I think that it will help my chances of getting into dental school more so than hygiene. I wanted to take a pathway that would be practical in the real world if I never make it to dental school, and the master's doesn't seem to be much of a moneymaking powerhouse, but it isn't as though there are many good jobs out there for hygienists either.

I chose UOP dental hygiene because my dream dental school is UOP and was hoping to enhance my networking, but after my interview, it doesn't seem like there is much interaction between the two campuses. Hygiene itself would not seem so bad to me if it was common for them to receive benefits and the job market was booming, but it seems like quite the contrary now. The market seems to be saturated with hygienists and not as many dentists hiring them.

So in the end, I got accepted to the UOP hygiene program and got early matriculation into the MBS program, but decided to stick with the master's since it will probably give me a better chance at dental school and I won't be moving laterally with another bachelor's degree.


Does anyone know someone that got into dental school with a similar situation as mine? If so, what dental school did they get into?
 
MouthDoc said:
The thing about some dental schools (including the one at UMDNJ), is that they will neglect your undergraduate grades if you've done a master's. However, they will hold you to a higher standard and expect more from you.
Click to expand...

MouthDoc said:
...since there are some dental schools that will neglect undergraduate GPA if you have an master's in science, it makes me think I might have a chance.
Click to expand...

You keep saying this. I've never heard of a professional program neglecting undergraduate grades in lieu of a master's degree. Sure, perhaps they'll weigh the master's slightly more in combination with a good DAT because it's more recent and shows an upward trend, but to neglect undergraduate grades altogether? Doubt it, unless there are special circumstances, such as the grades are decades old and/or you have a second BS or something. I mean, I wish this were true (I'm a low-GPAer myself), and if you know of any specific schools whose admissions departments have told you this, I'd be interested in finding out which ones they are. If it's hearsay, however, I'd be very skeptical. Not trying to be negative here--just realistic.

I agree with yappy overall. A 2.2 is extremely hard to bring up, and if you want to be in healthcare, DO is probably your best option, quite honestly. DO's are great IMO--my PCP is one and she is an amazing physician who takes incredibly good care of her patients.

This is all really hard to hear, I'll bet, but I personally think it's a better bet for you than the uncertainty of whether dental schools will even look at your application with a sub-3.0 gpa, even if you manage to raise it to a 2.6 (which is still not competitive--I'm sorry, dear).
 
I would say look for a post bacc program that allow you to take science classes that cater to dental school. A year of science classes (with hopefully a 4.0 in 30hrs) will do great justice towards dental school. Try taking classes that are in the dental curriculmn. Then study hard and retake the DAT. From what i heard, (from dental adcom) Master programs dont compare to the rigors of dental school.
 
How about both? That's what I'm doing because I am a gluttony for punishment.

I did 2 years of hygiene after my bachelors. Working part time while obtaining my MS in physiology (non-thesis) with a 3.7.
 
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