High school senior in need of help!

[WorthPossible23]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hello sdn community,
I am currently a high school senior who applied to several 7-year dental programs including University of Detroit Mercy, Nova Southeastern University, and University at Buffalo and got admitted to all three!

I know there are no particular rankings between Dental schools, but I am having trouble deciding which university to attend especially as a high school student. What should I consider? Undergraduate program quality? Dental school clinic quality? Or purely tuition fee?

I would really appreciate any insights and pieces of advice!

p.s. Please understand if this post doesn't make sense as I am very new to this community and dental programs in general. Thanks.

 

[deleted678432]

Go for location and price. Undergrad program quality doesn't matter at all really.

 

[WorthPossible23]

Go for location and price. Undergrad program quality doesn't matter at all really.

Thanks for the reply. If that's the case, it gets rid of one of my worries as the schools I mentioned aren't really ranked highly.

 

[schmoob]

If you're a rock star, look into UoP. I'm pretty sure they have a 5 year DDS program straight out of high school.

 

[deleted678432]

If you're a rock star, look into UoP. I'm pretty sure they have a 5 year DDS program straight out of high school.

Imagine being a doctor at 22/23 years old. holy cannoli

 

[WorthPossible23]

If you're a rock star, look into UoP. I'm pretty sure they have a 5 year DDS program straight out of high school.

I actually did look into UoP, but my family can't financially support the tuition fee there :/

 

[BluntForceTrauma]

I actually did look into UoP, but my family can't financially support the tuition fee there :/

So you're like everyone else then. Cool!

 

[schmoob]

I actually did look into UoP, but my family can't financially support the tuition fee there :/

Are you an international student? take out the loans you need. Look into the exact amount you would need to cover what you're folks can't, and then decide if that number is worth 2 years of lost opportunity cost.
I dont feel like looking it up right now, but I would guess that 7 years at Nova can't be THAT much more than 5 years at UoP. I could be wrong though

 

[setdoc7]

Combined degree programs are not a guarantee. There are still minimums you must satisfy, and saying that you rocked in high school is not a guarantee you will rock in college. College has more distractions, especially if you live away from home. Combined degree programs also cram college into less time, making your course load heavy and science lopsided. College should be a time to explore, but if you insist on going this route, understand that you still have choices if you do well. You can attend ANY dental school you wish, and can apply to as many as you want. The only deal you may have is admission to the school affiliated with your undergrad. I did a combined degree program. DDS at 24.

 

[questionasker1071]

Purely tuition fee and dental program quality/location. At the end of the day you will have the same degree as all other dentists but hopefully you will like what you are doing while you’re there!

 

[WorthPossible23]

Are you an international student? take out the loans you need. Look into the exact amount you would need to cover what you're folks can't, and then decide if that number is worth 2 years of lost opportunity cost.
I dont feel like looking it up right now, but I would guess that 7 years at Nova can't be THAT much more than 5 years at UoP. I could be wrong though

Yes, I am an international student. Along with the financial problem, I was unable to apply as I did a restrive early action school which doesn't allow me to private schools early and UoP's deadline was pretty early. It's kinda late to apply now :/ And yes, the amount of money I need to pay still turns out to be significantly more. Thanks for the advice tho!

 

[WorthPossible23]

Combined degree programs are not a guarantee. There are still minimums you must satisfy, and saying that you rocked in high school is not a guarantee you will rock in college. College has more distractions, especially if you live away from home. Combined degree programs also cram college into less time, making your course load heavy and science lopsided. College should be a time to explore, but if you insist on going this route, understand that you still have choices if you do well. You can attend ANY dental school you wish, and can apply to as many as you want. The only deal you may have is admission to the school affiliated with your undergrad. I did a combined degree program. DDS at 24.

Thanks for the advice! Are you currently satisfied with your choice of choosing to do the combined degree program?

 

[WorthPossible23]

Purely tuition fee and dental program quality/location. At the end of the day you will have the same degree as all other dentists but hopefully you will like what you are doing while you’re there!

I'm not sure how I can find out the dental program's quality, because many are saying there's no particular ranking to dental schools... Can you help me out?

 

[questionasker1071]

I'm not sure how I can find out the dental program's quality, because many are saying there's no particular ranking to dental schools... Can you help me out?

You should probably tour them and read about them on the Internet. Lists that rank them are actually not very reliable. Choose the things that are important to you.

For example it was really important to me to choose a school that had a lot of clinical time so I made sure to look at what their websites had listed for that.


Also I didn’t want to be more than 400,000 in debt. Nova southeastern will put you there but it’s in a good part of Florida so you’re near the beach and it’s always sunny but humid. Not sure about the other two as I didn’t apply to them

 

[setdoc7]

The dental program should be the least of your worries. The undergrad college you will be attending is what is important right now. You may end up being a lawyer for all you know. Go to a great undergrad school which will be there for you for the rest of your life. Look for strong alumni associations and great campus life...a winning combination.

 

[setdoc7]

Thanks for the advice! Are you currently satisfied with your choice of choosing to do the combined degree program?

It's way too late for me to even think about that, I've been a dentist for almost 36 years. It was a good deal for me. Full scholarship.

 

[WorthPossible23]

It's way too late for me to even think about that, I've been a dentist for almost 36 years. It was a good deal for me. Full scholarship.

Wow, 36 years! I'm honored to get advice from such an experienced dentist. Then, may I ask how satisfied you are with your dentist life?

 

[Dentasp]

Hello sdn community,
I am currently a high school senior who applied to several 7-year dental programs including University of Detroit Mercy, Nova Southeastern University, and University at Buffalo and got admitted to all three!

I know there are no particular rankings between Dental schools, but I am having trouble deciding which university to attend especially as a high school student. What should I consider? Undergraduate program quality? Dental school clinic quality? Or purely tuition fee?

I would really appreciate any insights and pieces of advice!

p.s. Please understand if this post doesn't make sense as I am very new to this community and dental programs in general. Thanks.

Congratulations on your admit. I am in high school junior year and am looking to apply for direct admit dental programs too. What kind of GPA and SAT, and EC did you have to get into these schools ?

 

[setdoc7]

I like being a dentist, but I am often in the minority amongst my peers, who like to complain about everything. Nothing is perfect. And dentistry, like everything else, is just a job that I go to during the day. During my free time I am just like everyone else.

 

[doktorinprogres]

Assuming costs are relatively equivalent focus on location, 7 years is a long time to be somewhere you don't like.

 

[TanMan]

Hello sdn community,
I am currently a high school senior who applied to several 7-year dental programs including University of Detroit Mercy, Nova Southeastern University, and University at Buffalo and got admitted to all three!

I know there are no particular rankings between Dental schools, but I am having trouble deciding which university to attend especially as a high school student. What should I consider? Undergraduate program quality? Dental school clinic quality? Or purely tuition fee?

I would really appreciate any insights and pieces of advice!

p.s. Please understand if this post doesn't make sense as I am very new to this community and dental programs in general. Thanks.

My criteria: Cost and ease. Go to the cheapest school and easiest school. The easiest school will allow you to experience real world dentistry more since you are not constricted to the ways of inefficient dental school (and make graduation easier). The cheapest school will reduce your debt load and allow you to get out of debt and open a practice faster (and make a lot more $$ faster).

If it were me? I'd go to UOP. I messed up in life and had to turn around to do prereqs for dentistry. Wasted 3 more years that I didn't need to waste.