Advice needed!!! Dental or BSN

[rkn19]

Hello all! So this is my very first post because desperate times call for desperate measures! Anyways, I am 18 years old and just got accepted into nursing school, except I have realized that after shadowing some dentists, I totally want to do dental school. But, I read on some other SDN forums that many recommended others to stay in their BSN programs. I just wanted advice if I should stay or not (economy, over-saturation), or if I should do what I actually want since I am still young and haven't actually started nursing school. I feel as though I have already answered my own question but I really would appreciate input from those already in the field (nursing or dentistry)! I would also be happy to clarify if something I wrote didn't make sense!

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[DDShemi]

It’s important to do whatever you feel is going to make you happy. You just have to keep in mind that in 4 short years you will have a BSN and have probably passed the NCLEX and looking at BSN, RN behind your name with a starting salary of somewhere I’m guessing between 30-50K based off friends I know that are nurses And have a reasonable amount of debt. Going to dental school will mean you need to complete those 4 years in a science major probably, take all the pre-reqs , study for and successfully take the DAT with a 20+ AA, and find the time to shadow and volunteer. Then you will have to apply and get accepted and go another 4 years. Then you will leave there with 250k in debt at least. Dentistry is great but you really have to be sure ,you’re not even guaranteed that you would get accepted on that first application cycle. Most students get accepted after 2-3 rounds Of applying. I will be 28 when I graduate from dental school having had to get a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in fields I do not care about to get where am I. It is worth it, only if you are sure, that nothing else will be as fulfilling as dentistry.

 

[LaughingGas]

1 - Can you work under someone?. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes not taking full responsibilities is great.
2 - Amount of debt you are willing to take.
3 - If RN-BSN is not enough, you can always get NP license and make six figures with much less debt, although the earning potential is capped. Dentistry on the other hand, can cost you a lot of money ( private schools going 600k , by the time you apply, most likely 700k), but also earning potential is much higher. But then again, is it worth taking 600k loan at worst case scenario?

If I were you and I wasn't sure, I would get BSN-RN, if possible also attack dental prereqs, keep high grades in case you decide to apply later. The higher grade/DAT = higher chance of getting into cheaper dental school. OR if you set yourself to apply dental school, get good GPA and apply state schools. If you don't get in, you end up with useless 4 year degree. That's why I would do BSN-RN and take dental prereqs if you can't decide. That way, you will at least have a useful bachelors degree.
Last advice, look worst case working scenarios of both professions and think which one is less worse.