I got a recruitment letter awhile ago from the navy dental program and have took much consideration into it. My main question I have is how hard is it to get into the navy dental program? I will most likely end up going to an expensive dental school if i get in due to my sub par stats and would really need the help of the scholarship. Please elaborate on the difficulty of getting in and what they look for in dental graduates.
Is it hard to get into navy dental program?
- Thread starter dkgrubby
- Start date
I have really looked into the lifestyle of being in the navy dental program and it doesn't sound bad to me. I have been reading first hand experience from those who have been in the program. My question is how difficult it is to get into the program? Do I start applying when I get accepted into a dental school?
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2005
- Messages
- 735
- Reaction score
- 110
The difficulty of getting into the Navy varies from year to year. You'll never know if you don't apply. It's not like it costs you anything. Ideally, you should be in contact with a health professions recruiter before your acceptance. This gives you time to fill out all the paperwork and when the acceptance comes you can then submit your package.
oh okay. Should i get started with navy dental before I get accepted into dental school or after? Not quite sure about the time line etc.. I am assuming that if I get into dental school then I would contact the navy health profession recruiters? Also, for those who are accepted into the navy dental program and unfortunately get kicked out of dental school do the students have to repay the navy dental program? Just out of curiousity
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2006
- Messages
- 351
- Reaction score
- 15
I would start contacting them before you were accepted b/c the process is long, and there is a ton of paperwork. Additionally, it can be an advantage to have the scholarship in hand (know that you have it) while you're interviewing at dental schools. Many schools love the HPSP students b/c it's guaranteed money.
If for some reason, you get into trouble academically in dental school, then you would have to pay back the money to the Navy. However, I remember in ODS we had a teleconference with the higher ups who run the HPSP program at Bethesda, and they did mention they were times when students ran into trouble (had to repeat a year or took a year off from school for personal reasons etc.) and the Navy worked with them. Don't quote me on this b/c that was nearly 4 years ago, and I have no idea what they would do in those situations now.
The best thing is with the scholarship, you should have the focus to do your best and dont worry about not completing the DDS/DMD program. If you're smart enough to get into dental school and get a military scholarship, you can graduate dental school; just believe it. I hope this helps.
