Looking to change my career and go to dental school

[Novandi]

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Hi guys so I used to be obsessed with wanting to become a dentist when I was younger. During my junior and senior year in high school I took this dental technical course where the first year you are taught a lot about the dental field and then your senior year you go out and volunteer at a dental office. I was able to shadow this great dentist who taught me a lot and I still keep in touch with today. He is actually a professor at a dental school where I work at and I think he will be great help for a recommendation. In between high school and college I joined the Navy Reserves as a hospital corpsman (medic) to get some experience in the health field. I tried to go to the dental side but I was never allowed and was always put in medicine. I think this is what changed my mind and made me give up on becoming a dentist, because I soon started to hate anything that dealt with the health field. As my time in the military and in college progressed my dream of becoming a dentist started to fade away. Eventually I ended up majoring in economics, going to grad school, and went down the business route.

Fast forward to today where I am working in a university hospital as a financial consultant. I like the job, the pay is great ($75k), but I just cannot see myself doing this for the rest of my life. I have been feeling it for some time that I am in the wrong profession and my heart is telling me to go to dental school. I wanted to get some advice on how I can get start the process to apply for dental school. I know I need to do the dental pre-reqs but how realistic is it for me to go to dental school?

Here are some of my stats:
- 23 Years old
- Not married and no kids
- I have paid off all my student loans
- Prior military service
- BA in Economics with minor in business (George Mason University) - 2.81 [not the best]
- Post-baccalaureate certification in IT (George Mason University) - I can't remember the GPA
- MS in finance (Liberty University) - 3.8

Since I have a low undergrad GPA will my grad GPA make up for it? Or will my acceptance rely more my pre-req GPA?

I am working for a university I can take up to 18 free credits per year. I was planning to use this to pay for the prereqs.

Also how hard is the DAT?

 

[Robin-jay]

Can you get an MBA and even make more? Sounds like you got it made pretty well. Finance degrees make you money. health care degrees make hospitals money.

One thing dentistry ADCOMs might thing is interesting is the fact you had so many career changes (economics, IT, finance), so they will be worried you will also change on them. If you can get the grades, the DAT, the EC's, and convince them you're 100% deadset on becoming a dentist, I don't see why you can't do it.

 

[HKSZYU]

Your undergrad GPA will hurt you. Your finance masters GPA will likely be neither here nor there. You'll need a very strong post-bacc GPA or even a second masters in Biomedical Sciences to offset that 2.81. Your sGPA in your science courses will be crucial. Assuming you have none of the pre-reqs done currently, you'll need two years, since the courses are sequential.

The DAT is a very learnable test, particularly if you take it right after you finish your pre-reqs. There are good prep resources available.

I think the biggest thing for you now would be just get more shadowing. You've bounced around between a number of things, which is perfectly fine. I'm also a non-trad and did my fair share of bouncing too. That said, once you're in dental school, you can't do too much bouncing since you'll be shackled to the debt. Shadow at a bunch of offices (general practice v, specialty, upscale FFS offices v. HMO/medicare offices.) Not only will this shadowing help make you more convincing of an applicant, but it'll also help you make sure this is what you want to do.

Lastly, be aware of the financial implications. The perception that dentists are all rolling in cash is misleading. There is a lot of delayed gratification in dentistry. You say that you're currently in a position that you like that pays $75k. Granted there's decent career progression, you could likely be making nearly $100k within a few years, without any debt. Compare that to dentistry where you will be in at least $250k of debt (plus the opportunity cost of the lost income associated with those 4 years you could have been working) and now you're back nearly $650k from where you could have been at 29. The good news is dentistry is still very profitable, and the ROI is definitely there, but it's a long game. The remainder of your 20s and early/mid 30s will likely be lean.

Other things to consider:
- Do you want to own a dental practice? Some people don't like the idea of being a business owner. If that's you, realize that salaries as an associate will likely be lower, and could further push the needle away from dentistry being a good financial decision.

- Are you flexible in terms of geography? Dental opportunities are very regional. If you're willing to go to where there is need (generally rural areas) there is a lot good to be done and money to be made. If you're determined to stay in a saturated urban area (SF, LA, NYC), then it will be a grind.

- Look at your shadowing objectively. I find a lot of people just do it to get the hours without actually thinking about what they liked, didn't like, how it compares to their current job, etc. I'd have a stronger reason for wanting to go into dentistry beyond simply some shadowing during high school. It seem like you've explore a number of career paths, and I'd hate for you to get too far down this one only to realize it's not for you, especially because the upfront investment in this path is hefty.