Accelerated Program vs Traditional Route?

[predentwasconfused]

So lately, I've been looking at these excellent accelerated dental programs near where I live at schools less than an hour away (I live near Philadelphia). I have spoken with the people who run the programs and based on my credentials (shadowing hours, SAT scores, AP courses, interest in bio and chem, manual dexterity, etc.) they said I have a good shot at these programs.

However, my parents suddenly want to move to Illinois because my aunts and uncles live there, and basically a big chunk of my family (two of whom are dentists). They don't want me to go to a school too far away, no more than 2-3 hours by car, so the schools in PA/NJ are out.

Illinois has no good accelerated dental programs, aside from one at the Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. And there is no contact info for the program, no additional info aside from like a paragraph, so that's out.

If we do end up moving to Illinois, I'll have to take the traditional route, 4 years undergrad and 4 years grad. Would this be okay? Like, would an accelerated route give me any advantages? Or is it not worth arguing over this decision to move with my parents?

I do have relatives in Chicago that are in the dental field who can give me guidance and have connections, so that would really help me out in dental school and after that. Would that be more of a help than an accelerated route?

I'm so sorry if this sounds weird or poorly written, I'm kind of pissed over this decision to move, but know I would benefit in more ways than one in Illinois, but would also suffer from a loss of the 3+4 programs.

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[gimmedatDDS]

I have some experience in this. I attended an accelerated program, was accepted to the dental school, but was also accepted to 4 other schools (will be attending a dental school other than the program I was in).

My experience with most of these programs is that if you are smart and capable enough to be accepted to an accelerated program, you are also likely to be accepted to a dental school. For me, the accelerated program was a safety net. I knew that IF something happened in college (unforseen circumstance), and my GPA or DAT was subpar, at least I would be most likely accepted to my school with the program I was in.

With that said, you can also "accelerate" or do a 3+4 program anywhere in the country. All it takes is planning. If you have some AP credits, you can take some classes in the summer and meet all your requirements for graduation with a bachelors in 3 years instead of 4. No dental school will doubt this. No one asked me about graduating in 3 years. Instead, it's a positive thing for you to argue that you were able to finish a 4 year course load in 3 years, so you're ready for the stresses in dental school.

So in conclusion, a 3+4 program isn't worth dying for if your circumstances do not allow you to pursue it. You can also talk to your parents and let them know that you're passionate about joining, and maybe they will let you go ahead with it knowing that it will be beneficial for your career. Best of luck!

 

[ajj70]

Call the SIU dental school and ask them about the program, explain your situation and see what they say. Also, why can't you continue on your plan if your parents move? I'm assuming you are going to be a senior in high school, can't you go back to that school you were considering after you graduate? As for an advantage, other than not really having to apply to dental school, although most do, there really isn't an advantage other than the year of tuition savings. The programs are pretty intense and fast paced so keep that in mind. I looked into a couple of these and basically you had class and studied and it was next to impossible to be involved on campus and such.

 

[predentwasconfused]

I have some experience in this. I attended an accelerated program, was accepted to the dental school, but was also accepted to 4 other schools (will be attending a dental school other than the program I was in).

My experience with most of these programs is that if you are smart and capable enough to be accepted to an accelerated program, you are also likely to be accepted to a dental school. For me, the accelerated program was a safety net. I knew that IF something happened in college (unforseen circumstance), and my GPA or DAT was subpar, at least I would be most likely accepted to my school with the program I was in.

With that said, you can also "accelerate" or do a 3+4 program anywhere in the country. All it takes is planning. If you have some AP credits, you can take some classes in the summer and meet all your requirements for graduation with a bachelors in 3 years instead of 4. No dental school will doubt this. No one asked me about graduating in 3 years. Instead, it's a positive thing for you to argue that you were able to finish a 4 year course load in 3 years, so you're ready for the stresses in dental school.

So in conclusion, a 3+4 program isn't worth dying for if your circumstances do not allow you to pursue it. You can also talk to your parents and let them know that you're passionate about joining, and maybe they will let you go ahead with it knowing that it will be beneficial for your career. Best of luck!

Yeah, I was thinking about transferring my AP credits over and graduating in 3 years. At this rate, I'm opting out of Gen Chem I and Calc I for sure, not sure how I'll do in AP Physics B and AP Calc BC, and I probably will have to take Bio I anyways so no AP Bio credits. I'll have about 4 classes taken out in the best case scenario. How many credits per semester will I have then? I don't want to do more than 18 credits because I want to do Marching Band in college and possibly work study.

Did you graduate in 3 years, and if so, how many credits did you have in one semester?

And ultimately, the only thing a 3+4 program gives me is to reassure the dental school I can handle the course load?

I really appreciate your response!!! :>

 

[ajj70]

Yeah, I was thinking about transferring my AP credits over and graduating in 3 years. At this rate, I'm opting out of Gen Chem I and Calc I for sure, not sure how I'll do in AP Physics B and AP Calc BC, and I probably will have to take Bio I anyways so no AP Bio credits. I'll have about 4 classes taken out in the best case scenario. How many credits per semester will I have then? I don't want to do more than 18 credits because I want to do Marching Band in college and possibly work study.

Did you graduate in 3 years, and if so, how many credits did you have in one semester?

And ultimately, the only thing a 3+4 program gives me is to reassure the dental school I can handle the course load?

I really appreciate your response!!! :>

Most dental schools will not take AP credits for required classes with the exception of the English requirement so you can't really "opt out" of Chem, Physics and a lot of schools want math, calc and stats, so you might want to refigure your plan.

 

[predentwasconfused]

Call the SIU dental school and ask them about the program, explain your situation and see what they say. Also, why can't you continue on your plan if your parents move? I'm assuming you are going to be a senior in high school, can't you go back to that school you were considering after you graduate? As for an advantage, other than not really having to apply to dental school, although most do, there really isn't an advantage other than the year of tuition savings. The programs are pretty intense and fast paced so keep that in mind. I looked into a couple of these and basically you had class and studied and it was next to impossible to be involved on campus and such.

Yeah, I did contact them, but they just kept saying the same things on the site and told me I'd be given further details after completing one semester there. Ugh, I hate it when they don't take high school students seriously for these programs.

My parents don't want me studying any more than 3 hours away... I guess I understand that much and I will be forced to find schools nearby. Right now, it's 50/50, and of course I would prefer my accelerated programs (looking at USciences-Temple, Temple-Temple, NJIT-Rutgers, Villanova-UPenn, Lehigh-UPenn). I'm looking at UIC and Northwestern in Illinois, probably won't get into UChicago but I'll try since they have no application fee.

Thank you so much for your reply!! c:

 

[predentwasconfused]

Most dental schools will not take AP credits for required classes with the exception of the English requirement so you can't really "opt out" of Chem, Physics and a lot of schools want math, calc and stats, so you might want to refigure your plan.

Oh no. I thought they'd accept anything that wasn't my major. The only APs I've taken and plan to take are in the maths and sciences.

 

[gimmedatDDS]

Yeah, I was thinking about transferring my AP credits over and graduating in 3 years. At this rate, I'm opting out of Gen Chem I and Calc I for sure, not sure how I'll do in AP Physics B and AP Calc BC, and I probably will have to take Bio I anyways so no AP Bio credits. I'll have about 4 classes taken out in the best case scenario. How many credits per semester will I have then? I don't want to do more than 18 credits because I want to do Marching Band in college and possibly work study.

Did you graduate in 3 years, and if so, how many credits did you have in one semester?

And ultimately, the only thing a 3+4 program gives me is to reassure the dental school I can handle the course load?

I really appreciate your response!!! :>

I did graduate in 3 years. If you have 4 classes complete via AP credits and assuming those transfer, that is basically 1 semester, of half a year, of courseload complete. You can just take a couple classes in the summer to kill off another semester workload, leaving you with a bachelors in 3 years. Its definitely doable.

I also did not take more than 18 units a single semester. Maximum was 18 units (4 classes x 4 units and research with 2 units).

Not sure what you mean by your last question, but another thing about accelerated programs is that acceptance is not guaranteed. If you do not meet their GPA/DAT or interview requirements, you will be kicked out. If you do graduate 3 years with a traditional route (no program), it allows you to argue that you can handle a 4 year load in 3 years which is always a good talking point.

 

[ajj70]

In the sticky section at the top of the pre-dental board is a guide to dental school admissions. I would suggest reading that before you go much further with this process so you know which classes you will need, how the process works, what shadowing hours/volunteer work, etc. you will need.

Why don't your parents want you going more than 3 hours away?

 

[arlmay]

I can answer any questions you have about SIU's program. I'm current dental student and went to siue for undergrad. There actually is quite a bit of information online about the program but I can probably answer anything you want to know.

http://www.siue.edu/advising/93gened/BSDMD.pdf

 

[predentwasconfused]

I can answer any questions you have about SIU's program. I'm current dental student and went to siue for undergrad. There actually is quite a bit of information online about the program but I can probably answer anything you want to know.

http://www.siue.edu/advising/93gened/BSDMD.pdf

So sorry for the late reply!

Thank you so much for this link! I couldn't find any more info on their program so I had just given up on SUIE. But I just read something on there that concerns me... Do I have to have attended high school in Illinois? Because I'm entering my senior year of high school now in NJ and will move to Illinois in June... no high school there for me, it's straight to college.

Also, why is Illinois so bent on getting in-state applicants for everything? Even UIC's GPPA requires 12 months of Illinois residency before one applies to the program.

 

[predentwasconfused]

In the sticky section at the top of the pre-dental board is a guide to dental school admissions. I would suggest reading that before you go much further with this process so you know which classes you will need, how the process works, what shadowing hours/volunteer work, etc. you will need.

Why don't your parents want you going more than 3 hours away?

They just don't want to have me staying on campus for weeks at a time to the point when I only come home for holidays. They're big on family, and that's fine with me.

I do have 40 hours of shadowing already and am planning to only add to that over the course of the next school year. It may not be much, but I'm planning on doing a lot more during my undergrad time. I have a general idea of how the process works, but don't know a lot about the application to dental school. I will definitely look into that sticky thread! Thank you!!

 

[arlmay]

So sorry for the late reply!

Thank you so much for this link! I couldn't find any more info on their program so I had just given up on SUIE. But I just read something on there that concerns me... Do I have to have attended high school in Illinois? Because I'm entering my senior year of high school now in NJ and will move to Illinois in June... no high school there for me, it's straight to college.

Also, why is Illinois so bent on getting in-state applicants for everything? Even UIC's GPPA requires 12 months of Illinois residency before one applies to the program.

To answer your question, yes you do need to have been a resident of Illinois that attended high school here. Siu in general has accepted almost exclusively illinois residents that attended high school here, with exceptions occasionally. I know that UIC also shares a similar policy. Coming from out of state before college, you will certainly have gained residency by that time and I would tell you to apply to all the illinois schools (UIC, siu, and Midwestern) as well as other schools in other states. As you will probably come to find out getting in to any dental school is not an easy process so when the time comes apply broadly and be prepared to potentially have to settle on spending a lot of money attending a private school. Not trying to be all doom and gloom, just giving you an early warning. In the meantime do your best in college and save yourself a lot of money with chances for a scholarship or cheaper school.