How hard is it to get into Dental School?

[RAlec114]

I am thinking of whether I want to do a accelerated/direct entry dental program for highschoolers. I believe I have the highschool stats for at least some of these programs. However, as I look more and more, I am finding that these programs are usually with dental schools that are already considered "easy" to get into (BU, NYU). I am using this site as a source http://toptennation.blogspot.com/2008/02/top-10-easiest-us-dental-schools-to-get.html.

That being said, how hard is it to get into a dental school? If it is not that hard, I would rather to go to an undergraduate institution of choice rather than go to one with a direct entry program that I do not like. Of course "hard" is subjective; I know dental schools are easier to get into than med school (at least med people say this - I'm not sure if I can trust them lol, there seems to be a bitter rivalry between dentists and doctors). In HS, I have a 3.9 GPA UW and 2100 SAT (sophomore, hopefully I'll raise it more before junior year), ap courses blah blah, top 5% of class, science fair clubs blah blah some shadowing. This is a pretty bad question to ask, but just so I can get some sort of idea, can yall tell me how hard it is for me to get into a dental school?

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[Badgerfaithful]

It's pretty hard to get into dental school. On the whole it is probably easier to get into most dental schools than med schools since med school applicants are on the whole more competitive. But the toptennation website is awful and obviously nowhere near reliable. It will all depend on how you do in undergrad, so it's hard to say how easy it will be for you to get in somewhere based on a high school GPA. If you don't have your heart set on a particular dental school at this point, which you probably don't, just go to the undergrad of your choice, in my opinion.

 

[dentaldawg32]

I am thinking of whether I want to do a accelerated/direct entry dental program for highschoolers. I believe I have the highschool stats for at least some of these programs. However, as I look more and more, I am finding that these programs are usually with dental schools that are already considered "easy" to get into (BU, NYU). I am using this site as a source http://toptennation.blogspot.com/2008/02/top-10-easiest-us-dental-schools-to-get.html.

That being said, how hard is it to get into a dental school? If it is not that hard, I would rather to go to an undergraduate institution of choice rather than go to one with a direct entry program that I do not like. Of course "hard" is subjective; I know dental schools are easier to get into than med school (at least med people say this - I'm not sure if I can trust them lol, there seems to be a bitter rivalry between dentists and doctors). In HS, I have a 3.9 GPA UW and 2100 SAT (sophomore, hopefully I'll raise it more before junior year), ap courses blah blah, top 5% of class, science fair clubs blah blah some shadowing. This is a pretty bad question to ask, but just so I can get some sort of idea, can yall tell me how hard it is for me to get into a dental school?

For the love of god, do not make any sort of decision based on this website!

 

[652316541]

It's pretty hard to get into dental school. On the whole it is probably easier to get into most dental schools than med schools since med school applicants are on the whole more competitive. But the toptennation website is awful and obviously nowhere near reliable. It will all depend on how you do in undergrad, so it's hard to say how easy it will be for you to get in somewhere based on a high school GPA. If you don't have your heart set on a particular dental school at this point, which you probably don't, just go to the undergrad of your choice, in my opinion.

 

[doc toothache]

You will find a world of difference between hs and college.

 

[hopefullyadent]

if ure 100% sure you want dentistry.you can get into the UOP program straight from high school and become a dentist in like 5 or 6 or 7 years (UOP also gives out a lot of money in scholarships from what ive heard)..also there is a Lehigh/Upenn dental school accelerated at 7 years...only if ure interested tho..UOP is a GOOD DENTAL SCHOOL...check out UOP requirements I think u need a slightly higher SAT score, but not that much higher for UOP..id say go to UOP..i have a friend who is goin there and i see her FBs pictures...the women there are hottttt ...hell u could prolly meet ur future wife there (chances are she's asian and she's gonna be a pharmacist, which is hotttt)....and no im not a UOP undergrad..im a UCLA undergrad, and let me tell u UCLA sucks

 

[angelnyc89]

I have a friend who got into the program at NYU, he didnt go cause Dentistry wasnt for him, instead he's doing Pharmacy. Go figure. You need a really high SAT score and high GPA, great ec and shadowing, and an application that sets you apart from every other applicant! Good Luck!

BTW, that link is for reagular admission to ds. Either way I still dont think its easy to get into ds, its becoming very competitve...

 

[RAlec114]

UOP is a GOOD DENTAL SCHOOL...check out UOP requirements I think u need a slightly higher SAT score, but not that much higher for UOP..id say go to UOP..i have a friend who is goin there and i see her FBs pictures...the women there are hottttt ...hell u could prolly meet ur future wife there (chances are she's asian and she's gonna be a pharmacist, which is hotttt)....and no im not a UOP undergrad..im a UCLA undergrad, and let me tell u UCLA sucks

Cool! That's always great. Right now I'm just thinking of various options:
1. UoP 3+3 program (expensive, but cutting 2 years helps.)
2. Penn CAS/Penn dental program (hard to get into, accepted no one last year, and $$$$$)
3. Buffalo 7yr program (would rather go to a better undergraduate school)
4. undergrad of choice (I'd like to go to Penn) and then apply to dental school.

I am 99% sure I am set on dentistry. And thanks everyone for telling me how bad that site is... I unfavorited it already.

 

[RAlec114]

You will find a world of difference between hs and college.

Haha yes. I guess it was kind of pointless to make this thread.

 

[txlonghorn]

Go to college and figure it out. It seems from your high school stats that you are a bright kid, so you should have no trouble getting into some great universities. While you have done a lot of shadowing, taking different types of classes/doing internships might expose you to things that you did not know you liked. You might be 99.99% sure on dentistry, but after taking a few business, engineering, or political science class that may change. Saving one or two years is not worth it in my opinion - go to college and enjoy your time there.

 

[Munks]

lol, I'm in the 3+3 program at UoP currently (I am getting my degree) and I agree that it is an excellent program all round... If you are completely and utterly sure that you want to do dentistry, you may be able to get into the 2+3 program and skip 3 years (though that was too fast for me*)... That being said, you can always choose to drop down (drop up? lol) to 3 or 4 years if you decide you want to explore pharmacy, engineering, business, or law, as all are great programs at the school (as supported by friends in the respective majors). Like I said, I am getting my degree and am applying to other dental schools as well (though UoP still seems the most attractive heh)... *You probably could get your degree in 3 years at some other university as well if you so desired so, consider that. Like txlonghorn said, your gpa and sat will probably get you into some great universities so explore all options.

Ah, and also, you have slightly higher high school stats as I did, so you are probably eligible to receive the fairly hefty honors scholarship that they give out (if money is a factor).

**Also, like dentaldawg32 said.. don't use that website to figure out the best DS for you; you'll find many threads about which dental schools are best for you... and yes, applying to dental school is becoming more and more competitive each year (just take a look at all the crazy 25+ DAT scores being posted on the forums lol).

Random P.S. to hopefullyadvent: The stereotype is true! My girlfriend is asian and studying to be a Pharmacist lol... *To the OP: there are plenty of white women waiting here for you as well if you so wish

 

[komradrobot]

I feel like dental school is easier to get into that lets say...a liberal arts phd program at a prestigious school, medical school, and various other masters programs. People on this site will make it seem like dental school is impossible to get into, and I just don't buy it.

I've met three undergrad students who were on the accelerated program to dental and pharmacy school, and all three of them ended up dropping out. They realized that those professions were not what they wanted to do. They were all extremely intelligent and motivated individuals.

In my opinion, if you have the discipline and work ethic to be getting good enough grades in high school to get yourself into one of these accelerated programs, you could probably get into any professional/graduate school of your choice without having to do the program.

It's probably nice to know you have a spot in a dental school waiting for you, but don't sell yourself short because someone like you has a lot of options. If it's between doing an accelerated thing at a crappy university and attending the Ivy of your dreams...well...personally I'd go for the Ivy.
It will bring you a more diverse range of opportunities.

(given that your academic performance is consistend with hs)

 

[chimm]

there is no "accelerated thing at a crappy university".

how can a crappy university accelerate its curriculum, and yet still be well-known for its high quality education

 

[cmcner]

I feel like dental school is easier to get into that lets say...a liberal arts phd program at a prestigious school, medical school, and various other masters programs. People on this site will make it seem like dental school is impossible to get into, and I just don't buy it.

I've met three undergrad students who were on the accelerated program to dental and pharmacy school, and all three of them ended up dropping out. They realized that those professions were not what they wanted to do. They were all extremely intelligent and motivated individuals.

In my opinion, if you have the discipline and work ethic to be getting good enough grades in high school to get yourself into one of these accelerated programs, you could probably get into any professional/graduate school of your choice without having to do the program.

It's probably nice to know you have a spot in a dental school waiting for you, but don't sell yourself short because someone like you has a lot of options. If it's between doing an accelerated thing at a crappy university and attending the Ivy of your dreams...well...personally I'd go for the Ivy.
It will bring you a more diverse range of opportunities.

(given that your academic performance is consistend with hs)

Replace all the bold statements with based on nothing. Dental school is a crap shoot, there are on average 3000 applicants for 70 spots, 2930 of these applicants won't be getting in, meaning it's hard to get in. Some people who get into the more highly regarded schools don't even get an interview at some of the "easy" schools. And before you make your decisions make sure the information you're using is good information.

 

[sharksurfer]

Replace all the bold statements with based on nothing. Dental school is a crap shoot, there are on average 3000 applicants for 70 spots, 2930 of these applicants won't be getting in, meaning it's hard to get in. Some people who get into the more highly regarded schools don't even get an interview at some of the "easy" schools. And before you make your decisions make sure the information you're using is good information.

couldnt agree more. a friend of mine had a 4.0 in undergrad, 24 AA on the dat, a bunch of ec's and only got into one school out of the five he applied to. you'd think those numbers alone would get u in everywhere.

every year there are tons of new and qualified applicants and dental schools wont be increasing their class size anytime soon to accommodate them. u know someone doesnt know what theyre talking about when they refer to uop as "crappy" haha

 

[dentalWorks]

Replace all the bold statements with based on nothing. Dental school is a crap shoot, there are on average 3000 applicants for 70 spots, 2930 of these applicants won't be getting in, meaning it's hard to get in. Some people who get into the more highly regarded schools don't even get an interview at some of the "easy" schools. And before you make your decisions make sure the information you're using is good information.

Its not that cut-dry.

I think it was last year, approx 12,000 applicant applied for the 4500-ish dental seats across the nation.... 37% of the applicants got in. 37% is not that inspiring but its a hell of a lot better than 70/3000

 

[doc toothache]

Replace all the bold statements with based on nothing. Dental school is a crap shoot, there are on average 3000 applicants for 70 spots, 2930 of these applicants won't be getting in, meaning it's hard to get in. Some people who get into the more highly regarded schools don't even get an interview at some of the "easy" schools. And before you make your decisions make sure the information you're using is good information.

Those 2930 applicants that were rejected quite likely were accepted elsewhere. There is not much value one can place on the number of applicants a school receives since, on average, each applicant has 9 other applications pending.

 

[komradrobot]

Right, more than 70 applicants out of the 3000 get acceptance letters. The acceptance rate is not actually 2% but much higher.

I'm sorry some universities aren't as good as others. With good scores you might have the opportunity to attend a good university that is a good fit for you. This is not crap information, it is opinion. That's why I prefaced everything I said with "in my opinion" and "personally". They are not based on nothing, but my own experiences. I'm pretty sure people on here are able to understand that without the addition of a footnote, cmcner.

To the op, I think you know the answer to your question. You say you would rather go to the undergraduate school of your choice rather than an accellerated program at a school that might not be a good fit for you. So research and apply to programs and schools first, then see what kind of options you have with the schools you get into. That's what I would do, make sure you talk to a lot of professionals and based on nothing dont listen to your parents.

By the way, an application with amazing scores sent out in early June that reflect somewhat of an interesting person with sincere experiences will DEFINITELY get into dental school. There is NO WAY! I'm sorry, NO WAY you will not get into a dental school with a good application. That's all.

 

[alanan84]

By the way, an application with amazing scores sent out in early June that reflect somewhat of an interesting person with sincere experiences will DEFINITELY get into dental school. There is NO WAY! I'm sorry, NO WAY you will not get into a dental school with a good application. That's all.

Bold = Ambiguous

And I disagree with your thesis. Many people with "good" applications do not get into dental school.

 

[Skygrandpager]

I feel like dental school is easier to get into that lets say...a liberal arts phd program at a prestigious school, medical school, and various other masters programs. People on this site will make it seem like dental school is impossible to get into, and I just don't buy it.

claims the person without an acceptance.

 

[dentalWorks]

By the way, an application with amazing scores sent out in early June that reflect somewhat of an interesting person with sincere experiences will DEFINITELY get into dental school. There is NO WAY! I'm sorry, NO WAY you will not get into a dental school with a good application. That's all.

"Good application" is simply unmeasurable. and your not really defining what being good is anyways. Now I do believe applicants with strong numbers (GPA and DATS) have a strong tendency to get acceptances but that does NOT mean its a guarantee like your making it seem. There are a lot of "good" applicants floating around whom doesn't get accepted.

Sometimes, having the right numbers alone won't be enough. There are over-confident folks who only apply to only a few schools (less than 5) and get surprised when they don't get in, some folks have amazing numbers but have the personality of a drywall in the interviews, there are MANY factors that can contribute to a rejection letter, adcoms are looking for just 1

claims the person without an acceptance.

This is uncalled for.

 

[Skygrandpager]

This is uncalled for.

how??

 

[goffdent]

Those 2930 applicants that were rejected quite likely were accepted elsewhere. There is not much value one can place on the number of applicants a school receives since, on average, each applicant has 9 other applications pending.

It's not necessarily certain that they "likely" were accepted elsewhere when you consider that roughly 15,000 students apply for only about 5,000 seats per cycle. that's only 33.3% of the applicants being accepted. Roughly 66.6% are not getting in, but it IS hard to say whether they were accepted elsewhere considering the large number of schools one can submit an application to. I agree with you that there is no value one can place. New applicants just have to realize that it is still difficult to get in and you don't necessarily have even a 50% chance of getting in when looking at it mathematically. So you really have to be on the upper half of competitiveness to be accepted.

On a side note, one more wrench to throw in the calculation is that you have to consider how many people who didn't get in this year and reapplying and making up that ~15,000 applicant pool. BTW, my numbers may be a little off since they're from a 2 year old ADEA official guide and i don't have it in front of me for exact numbers, so i'm estimating.

 

[FutureDent020]

I feel like dental school is easier to get into that lets say...a liberal arts phd program at a prestigious school, medical school, and various other masters programs. People on this site will make it seem like dental school is impossible to get into, and I just don't buy it.

 

[FutureDent020]

I feel like dental school is easier to get into that lets say...a liberal arts phd program at a prestigious school, medical school, and various other masters programs. People on this site will make it seem like dental school is impossible to get into, and I just don't buy it.

This statement is true, but proves nothing. Yes, a Harvard or yale masters program is going to potentially be more difficult to get into than certain dental schools due to the quality and quantity of applicants. But every dental school is more competitive than the majority of masters programs. Dental school is by no means the hardest academic institution to gain admittance into. I'm just not sure what your point is about other institutions being harder. It's still one of the harder professions to get into. Simply due to number of schools, seats, and applicants.

 

[komradrobot]

I agree that dentistry difficult profession to get into. My point was that a lot of info on this site makes it seem impossible to get into dental school. In reality it's totally doable, and it is not the most difficult graduate program out there.

The op is considering doing an accelerated program in order to gain admittance to dental school, but mentioned that they would rather attend a university of their choice. They want to gain some kind of understanding of how difficult it is to get into dental school before making the decision.

My opinion is that if they continue to do well academically, pursue their outside interests, and make sure they have some kind of social skills, then they will most likely be able to get into a dental school without the accelerated program, and should attend the university of their choice.

 

[FutureDent020]

I agree that dentistry difficult profession to get into. My point was that a lot of info on this site makes it seem impossible to get into dental school. In reality it's totally doable, and it is not the most difficult graduate program out there.

The op is considering doing an accelerated program in order to gain admittance to dental school, but mentioned that they would rather attend a university of their choice. They want to gain some kind of understanding of how difficult it is to get into dental school before making the decision.

My opinion is that if they continue to do well academically, pursue their outside interests, and make sure they have some kind of social skills, then they will most likely be able to get into a dental school without the accelerated program, and should attend the university of their choice.

Oh ok. I didn't read much of the other posts. Makes sense now and I agree with you

 

[alanan84]

My opinion is that if they continue to do well academically, pursue their outside interests, and make sure they have some kind of social skills, then they will most likely be able to get into a dental school without the accelerated program, and should attend the university of their choice.

I would do the accelerated program any day of the week.

Don't you have a choice of what undergrad university you go to as long as it's on their list? At least the ones I've looked at have that...

To the OP, I'd say, you're a sophemore in high school. We have no idea what your chances are going to be in 6 years. If you have the stats to do an accelerated program, I'd seriously consider it.

 

[cmcner]

Those 2930 applicants that were rejected quite likely were accepted elsewhere. There is not much value one can place on the number of applicants a school receives since, on average, each applicant has 9 other applications pending.

In my opinion, if you have the discipline and work ethic to be getting good enough grades in high school to get yourself into one of these accelerated programs, you could probably get into any professional/graduate school of your choice without having to do the program.

Doc toothache, I agree with you that the value is a bit ambiguous, but I was responding to the idea that you could get into any school you want, so I used an average school as an example to show that even if you do everything right, there are still no guarantees for any one specific school.

While it is possible that the post really didn't intend to mean any program of your choice, I thought that should be cleared up for the OP.

Also to the OP, accelerated programs have standards bench marks that you have to meet for admission into the dental school, and some of the schools that have accelerated programs implemented them long ago when dentistry wasn't as competitive and don't completely honor the contracts as written. It is very important to call up the dental school and ask them about these programs directly before getting involved in them. Calling the undergraduate school is not enough, also email is great because nothing is better than having something saved in writing.

 

[RAlec114]

Thanks for all the responses. I still have not made a decision, and I will probably be torn apart when decision time comes around in senior year. Since both sides are strong (glorious college education + some work and tough odds + probably more $$ VERSUS accerlated/direct entry in to dental school + non-glorious education/social life/campus + cheaper), I will have to look at specific programs and eliminate those that I am sure I will not go to, so in the end I will have a solid list.

Thanks everyone. More opinions are greatly appreciated.

 

[xhamburgersamx]

Depends on your definition of "hard"

Because it's probably not the same as what she said