How hard are DO schools vs Dental School to get into

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predent909

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My friend and I were having a discussion about which of the two is harder to get into. I said that both were relatively similar, except dental school might be ever so slightly harder to get into than DO schools due to the slightly higher GPA and because there are fewer dental schools than DO schools, but my friend claims that DO schools were a lot harder to get into. Who was right?

As you can tell from my username, I might have some bias, which is why I posted here, because if I posted in the dental forums, they would just confirm my biases, so yeah, I'm not trying to troll.

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You are asking pre medical students whether they think its harder to get in to medical school than dental school. The truth is that most of the people you talk to here aren't gonna have any idea about the dental school application process, competitivness, etc because they aren't applying to dental school. Similar to why you dont know much about the medical school process.
 
My friend and I were having a discussion about which of the two is harder to get into. I said that both were relatively similar, except dental school might be ever so slightly harder to get into than DO schools due to the slightly higher GPA and because there are fewer dental schools than DO schools, but my friend claims that DO schools were a lot harder to get into. Who was right?

As you can tell from my username, I might have some bias, which is why I posted here, because if I posted in the dental forums, they would just confirm my biases, so yeah, I'm not trying to troll.

I think at this point in time, there are actually more dental schools in the US than there are osteopathic medical schools. The last statistic I saw said that there are about 57 dental schools in the US, whereas there are 28 osteopathic medical schools (1, 2). However, there are more medical schools in general, when you include both MD and DO granting institutions, than dental schools, and furthermore, plenty of folks applying to medical school will apply to both MD and DO granting institutions.

The question is how do we assess how "hard" it is to get into either school? I think it is sufficient to say that both are types of professional schools are difficult to gain entrance into, unless we come up with some agreeable criteria to measure the difficulty, since there is much more involved than just admissions statistics. Indeed, the entrance exams are different between the two types of schools, so it is difficult to compare in that regard. However, if you look at mean GPA values, dental student enrollees do tend to the higher averages [(DO, 2006: Sci, 3.36; Non-Sci, 3.55; Mean, 3.45) and (Dental, 2007: Sci, 3.46; Mean, 3.53)]. This is, however, based on the 2006 data for DO. I expect the 2007 averages to be higher, as this tends to be the trend.

Anyway, as I stated previously, GPA averages aren't sufficient, in my opinion, to delineate difficulty in gaining admissions. You need more and better criteria than that. It's a foolhardy argument at best. Who cares? Go for the profession that fits you best.
 
How on earth does this matter? Two completely different professions, and the only reason anybody would care is if they're looking for bragging rights about getting into a more difficult program.

Getting into MD = Hard.
Getting into DO = Hard.
Getting into DDS = Hard.
Getting into DMD = Hard.
Getting into DVM = Hard.



Fin
 
I have no clue how hard it is to get into DDS. Because, you couldn't pay me to look at peoples' teeth. I get disgusted even from a distance when people have a bad breath. So, I guess I have my priorities straight.
 
How on earth does this matter? Two completely different professions, and the only reason anybody would care is if they're looking for bragging rights about getting into a more difficult program.

Getting into MD = Hard.
Getting into DO = Hard.
Getting into DDS = Hard.
Getting into DMD = Hard.
Getting into DVM = Hard.



Fin

Truth. You will have to work your ass off for 4 years either way, but after school is a different story.
 
Dental admissions, much like MD, DO, DPM, DVM, Pharm.D, JD and every other professional degree imaginable can feel like a grab bag. I'm a bit more familiar with the dental admissions process than most premeds since I have a ton of friends going that route. It is challenging. The DAT is seen as "easier" but I just see it as different. I have to say that many of the pre-dents I've met have felt much more laid back than pre-allo people. I hate saying one is easier or harder than the other because it kind of demeans each field. A strong student with lots of motivation shouldn't have too much problem getting into any school with enough work. One thing I've noticed, nearly every dental school seems expensive as hell relative to the medical counterpart.
 
Dental admissions, much like MD, DO, DPM, DVM, Pharm.D, JD and every other professional degree imaginable can feel like a grab bag. I'm a bit more familiar with the dental admissions process than most premeds since I have a ton of friends going that route. It is challenging. The DAT is seen as "easier" but I just see it as different. I have to say that many of the pre-dents I've met have felt much more laid back than pre-allo people. I hate saying one is easier or harder than the other because it kind of demeans each field. A strong student with lots of motivation shouldn't have too much problem getting into any school with enough work. One thing I've noticed, nearly every dental school seems expensive as hell relative to the medical counterpart.

Yeah, I totally agree. The visual perception stuff on the DAT seems hard... I'd rather do physics haha (which the DAT does NOT have btw). It's tough to compare apples and oranges.
 
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I have no clue how hard it is to get into DDS. Because, you couldn't pay me to look at peoples' teeth. I get disgusted even from a distance when people have a bad breath. So, I guess I have my priorities straight.
You'll love bad breath when your patient takes a C.diff poo while you're in the room, or when you're cleaning an absess, or when you're examing a gangrenous limb.
 
Yeah, I totally agree. The visual perception stuff on the DAT seems hard... I'd rather do physics haha (which the DAT does NOT have btw). It's tough to compare apples and oranges.

I'm good at the visual perception part. That was a bit of a game for me when sitting with friends. I'm sure that if I were taking the test, the stress of the situation might change my viewpoint.
 
Who gives a ****?? Just walk outside, see who can pee further and be done with it.
 
I agree with those who said WHAT GIVES A FLYING %*(#$ if you want to be as dentist go to dental school, if you want to be a doctor, go to medical school, in the end both will be hard, both will have rewards and both will give you a good life. Just do what you love for the right reasons, dont jump into stuff you are know little about. I remember this guy at my school was an Biomed Eng major, very very very smart, 3.9GPA and 30+MCAT, internationally student, was kind of scared he wont get into med school, had his ****** friend convince him that dentistry=300K, chicks, more fun, etc... so dude ended up applying only to dental school, got into UPenn, last time I seen him he looked depressed as crap and was like, I wish I would of went to medical school, I dont like just working with the mouth. lol
 
Dental admissions, much like MD, DO, DPM, DVM, Pharm.D, JD and every other professional degree imaginable can feel like a grab bag. I'm a bit more familiar with the dental admissions process than most premeds since I have a ton of friends going that route. It is challenging. The DAT is seen as "easier" but I just see it as different. I have to say that many of the pre-dents I've met have felt much more laid back than pre-allo people. I hate saying one is easier or harder than the other because it kind of demeans each field. A strong student with lots of motivation shouldn't have too much problem getting into any school with enough work. One thing I've noticed, nearly every dental school seems expensive as hell relative to the medical counterpart.

I read once that dental students have the highest average debt and highest suicide rate of students in any graduate-level professional program.

I'm not sure if that's still true, but it's sobering at any rate.
 
I read once that dental students have the highest average debt and highest suicide rate of students in any graduate-level professional program.

I'm not sure if that's still true, but it's sobering at any rate.
I bet that people who use this website (more pre-allo, but this board too) probably have the highest suicide rate of any demographic in the world. This thread alone makes me want to kill myself. Just think... people who talk about things like this may one day be removing polyps from my colon. No thanks. Just point me in the direction of about 2000 tylenol capsules.
 
I bet that people who use this website (more pre-allo, but this board too) probably have the highest suicide rate of any demographic in the world. This thread alone makes me want to kill myself. Just think... people who talk about things like this may one day be removing polyps from my colon. No thanks. Just point me in the direction of about 2000 tylenol capsules.

I wish we were in the same class. We'd get along just fine.
 
I bet that people who use this website (more pre-allo, but this board too) probably have the highest suicide rate of any demographic in the world. This thread alone makes me want to kill myself. Just think... people who talk about things like this may one day be removing polyps from my colon. No thanks. Just point me in the direction of about 2000 tylenol capsules.

You only need about 20 extra strength.
 
I bet that people who use this website (more pre-allo, but this board too) probably have the highest suicide rate of any demographic in the world. This thread alone makes me want to kill myself. Just think... people who talk about things like this may one day be removing polyps from my colon. No thanks. Just point me in the direction of about 2000 tylenol capsules.

LOL... you mean you aren't sick of the passive DO-bashing threads yet?
 
You only need about 20 extra strength.
Yeah, but if I end up in the hospital, I'd like it to be where no amount of AC in this world will keep me alive long enough to read another one of these threads.
 
You'll love bad breath when your patient takes a C.diff poo while you're in the room, or when you're cleaning an absess, or when you're examing a gangrenous limb.

Thanks for the quip but I would be fine with that. However, I can't imagine looking down others' mouths all day, every single day. That's just me.
 
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