Need advice - Non-traditional 29 year old

[simply.me]

Hello everyone,

I have some questions - if they have been answered earlier on these forums, I apologize for that. But after exhausting the search options, I still am in search of some answers.

I am a 29 year old female. I reside in Northern Virginia (I'm on visa) with my husband, and I'm a Canadian citizen. I did my bachelors in Molecular Biochemistry and Math, and then finished my graduate studies (MPH program) in Biostats/Epi. Dental school has been on my mind for quite some time, and finally I am thinking to pursue dental school. I would like to attend post bacc program at George Mason University. However, I am facing some obstacles, and I am doubting everything at this point. I'll ask in point form. If anyone has any opinions or suggestions, kindly share.

1. My husband is not supportive of me pursuing dental school because of the debt we'll accrue, my income that we'll lose for next 5/6 years, delay in having kids (he wants to have kids in next 2/3 years), and the time we'll lose during this time (as it would be hard to go on vacations, or have an active social life). My questions:
1a. Is it possible to work while studying for post-bacc?
1b. Are there any post-bac programs offered online, and are they worth it?
1c. Are there any post-bac programs offered part-time/night-time while I work during the day in Virginia?
1d. Is post bacc at GMU a good program? It doesn't offer linkage to any dental school, so is it worth it? VCU would be expensive for me to attend as I'll have to rent an apartment (& convince my husband which is next to impossible) but it guarantees a review after a certain GPA/DAT score, which I think is great. Are there any rankings of post-bac programs? Does it matter which program we attend?

2. Are there any female dental students (or do you know of any) who have had kids BEFORE starting dental school? If yes, is it doable? I realize it's going to be extremely hard, but I'm not sure if I'm able to juggle studies & parenting.

3. If everything goes well and I do well on my post-bacc and DAT, I plan to start dental school by fall 2020, by which time I will be 31. Am I too old for dental school? Will I be too old to make friends and make study groups in my dental classes? I will graduate by the age of 35. Is that an acceptable age to start a career?

4. If anyone is in my situation with an unsupporitve spouse and still pursued dental school, how did you manage your relationship? I dearly love my husband but him being unsupportive is making me question my relationship which is a very sad feeling. I don't know if I should give up or continue convincing him.

5. Being a canadian citizen, is it even possible for me to get in a dental school in US? I would love to go to VCU (as it is the only dental school in Virginia) but is it canadian friendly? My undergrad GPA is ~3.3, and my graduate MPH GPA is ~3.6. I have two publications, good research experience, and tons of volunteer work. If I do well in post-bac and in DAT, do I even stand a chance? or will I not be considered at all because I'm not a US citizen. Unfortunately, I cannot move away from Virginia as my husband works here, so VCU is kinda my only shot.

6. When I was in undergrad, I also wrote MCAT because med school was on my mind back then but I never took it seriously. I scored quite low. If I apply to dental schools, will they ever know that I had written MCAT exam and scored low on it? Or Am I required to disclose this particular information?

Thank you for reading, and I hope someone will be able to help me.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Lau Sang]

I can't help, but you may reach a more helpful audience in the "dental" section.

 

[1ysh]

1a. Is it possible to work while studying for post-bacc?
6. When I was in undergrad, I also wrote MCAT because med school was on my mind back then but I never took it seriously. I scored quite low. If I apply to dental schools, will they ever know that I had written MCAT exam and scored low on it? Or Am I required to disclose this particular information?

1a - It's necessary to aim for a 4.0 for your post-bacc. Studying should be your "full-time job," there's no time for other work.
6 - Depends on the school. I didn't apply to VCU but some schools asked if I've applied to med schools, if I've got in, if I'm reapplying etc. but I haven't seen questions about if I've taken the MCAT.

 

[KK Lin]

I am a non-Canadian international student who got in this year, first try. So it’s possible especially u r Canadian.

 

[predent2151]

The advice I’ll offer is if you would only go to Vcu dental don’t waste your time. This process is so random and guaranteeing that they’ll review your application given certain scores means nothing. At the end of the day getting into dental school for the majority of people means 3.2+ sgpa, some decent ecs, 20+ DAT, and giving off a good vibe at an interview. Your acceptance will literally come at the hand of a vibe you give off to another person. Then if your interviewer doesn’t go to bat for you it doesn’t even matter if you had a good interview. I say this a lot on this forum, if you’re only going to apply to 1 school you’re taking a huge risk and making a stupid decision. To answer a few of your other questions is no most schools don’t offer a post bacc science night program and most schools would not like an online program. However, you can take the prerequisites whereever you feel like. Given your background you’ll probably just be repeating classes so I doubt you’ll have a big problem. And yes raising a family while going to dental school would be very hard.

 

[simply.me]

I am a non-Canadian international student who got in this year, first try. So it’s possible especially u r Canadian.

Hello. What were your stats (GPA, DAT, research/extracurriculars?), if you don't mind me asking? What schools did you apply to, and where did you get in?
Thank you.

 

[simply.me]

It is possible to work while studying in a post-bacc program; however that's entirely up to you on how you can handle the coursework in a post-bacc program. My recommendation is not to work and focus on acing your classes, but I sympathize with the possible financial crunch in doing so.

There are female dental students in my class who have had kids before starting dental school. They have supportive spouses who understand the need to help out when they're not able to, and some were able to afford a nanny.

31 is not too old for dental school, and 35 is not too old to practice. I have classmates who are in their 40s and know of one in the upper class who is 60.

If VCU is your goal, I would seriously consider their post-bacc program. As you've said, going through their program with a certain GPA/DAT guarantees a review, so I think it's worth some serious consideration despite the cost of moving.

On the dental school application, I believe you are required to disclose if you have applied to another health professional school, not if you have taken another health professional exam like the MCAT. You may be asked about whether you have considered medical school in your interview, but you are not required to disclose your past exam history and how you scored on it.

In my opinion, you do not need a post-bacc to get into a dental school with your current undergrad GPA and MPH, assuming you do well on the DAT. However, since you are a Canadian citizen and want to specifically attend VCU, I would contact their admissions department and ask for their advice regarding your application. See what they have to say before pursing more classes and adding more stress to your life.

Hello Illumindent, thank you very much for your suggestions. You say post-bacc is not necessary for me. Do you know anyone who had similar stats as of me, is canadian/international, and got in? Because I seriously thought my GPA is way below average and schools won't consider me fairly considering I am not American.

 

[simply.me]

The advice I’ll offer is if you would only go to Vcu dental don’t waste your time. This process is so random and guaranteeing that they’ll review your application given certain scores means nothing. At the end of the day getting into dental school for the majority of people means 3.2+ sgpa, some decent ecs, 20+ DAT, and giving off a good vibe at an interview. Your acceptance will literally come at the hand of a vibe you give off to another person. Then if your interviewer doesn’t go to bat for you it doesn’t even matter if you had a good interview. I say this a lot on this forum, if you’re only going to apply to 1 school you’re taking a huge risk and making a stupid decision. To answer a few of your other questions is no most schools don’t offer a post bacc science night program and most schools would not like an online program. However, you can take the prerequisites whereever you feel like. Given your background you’ll probably just be repeating classes so I doubt you’ll have a big problem. And yes raising a family while going to dental school would be very hard.

I understand what you're saying but given my personal circumstances, VCU seems like the only option for me. Thank you for responding and I'll think about what you said.

 

[Dio Ether]

Hello everyone,

I have some questions - if they have been answered earlier on these forums, I apologize for that. But after exhausting the search options, I still am in search of some answers.

I am a 29 year old female. I reside in Northern Virginia (I'm on visa) with my husband, and I'm a Canadian citizen. I did my bachelors in Molecular Biochemistry and Math, and then finished my graduate studies (MPH program) in Biostats/Epi. Dental school has been on my mind for quite some time, and finally I am thinking to pursue dental school. I would like to attend post bacc program at George Mason University. However, I am facing some obstacles, and I am doubting everything at this point. I'll ask in point form. If anyone has any opinions or suggestions, kindly share.

1. My husband is not supportive of me pursuing dental school because of the debt we'll accrue, my income that we'll lose for next 5/6 years, delay in having kids (he wants to have kids in next 2/3 years), and the time we'll lose during this time (as it would be hard to go on vacations, or have an active social life). My questions:
1a. Is it possible to work while studying for post-bacc?
1b. Are there any post-bac programs offered online, and are they worth it?
1c. Are there any post-bac programs offered part-time/night-time while I work during the day in Virginia?
1d. Is post bacc at GMU a good program? It doesn't offer linkage to any dental school, so is it worth it? VCU would be expensive for me to attend as I'll have to rent an apartment (& convince my husband which is next to impossible) but it guarantees a review after a certain GPA/DAT score, which I think is great. Are there any rankings of post-bac programs? Does it matter which program we attend?

2. Are there any female dental students (or do you know of any) who have had kids BEFORE starting dental school? If yes, is it doable? I realize it's going to be extremely hard, but I'm not sure if I'm able to juggle studies & parenting.

3. If everything goes well and I do well on my post-bacc and DAT, I plan to start dental school by fall 2020, by which time I will be 31. Am I too old for dental school? Will I be too old to make friends and make study groups in my dental classes? I will graduate by the age of 35. Is that an acceptable age to start a career?

4. If anyone is in my situation with an unsupporitve spouse and still pursued dental school, how did you manage your relationship? I dearly love my husband but him being unsupportive is making me question my relationship which is a very sad feeling. I don't know if I should give up or continue convincing him.

5. Being a canadian citizen, is it even possible for me to get in a dental school in US? I would love to go to VCU (as it is the only dental school in Virginia) but is it canadian friendly? My undergrad GPA is ~3.3, and my graduate MPH GPA is ~3.6. I have two publications, good research experience, and tons of volunteer work. If I do well in post-bac and in DAT, do I even stand a chance? or will I not be considered at all because I'm not a US citizen. Unfortunately, I cannot move away from Virginia as my husband works here, so VCU is kinda my only shot.

6. When I was in undergrad, I also wrote MCAT because med school was on my mind back then but I never took it seriously. I scored quite low. If I apply to dental schools, will they ever know that I had written MCAT exam and scored low on it? Or Am I required to disclose this particular information?

Thank you for reading, and I hope someone will be able to help me.

1d) I know few people who managed to get into Howard, Maryland, and Tufts after completing GMU program so I don't think post-bacc reputation matter in this case
6) Have you applied to med schools? if you only took MCAT and never actually applied, then you don't need to disclose it

Also, do you have any shadowing hours?

 

[predent2151]

I understand what you're saying but given my personal circumstances, VCU seems like the only option for me. Thank you for responding and I'll think about what you said.

Think long and hard. There are plenty of schools around VCU you could apply to. WVU, Maryland, UNC just to name a couple. To spend 1-2 years taking pre-reqs, and studying for the DAT just so that you get an interview to one school which then gives you about a 30% shot of acceptance is madness. Just don’t be shocked if it takes you multiple cycles to get in. Start hammering in MOM clinics and working with the underserved. But ultimately know, vibes are going to determine whether or not you get in. Good luck, rooting for you and other career changers.

 

[simply.me]

1d) I know few people who managed to get into Howard, Maryland, and Tufts after completing GMU program so I don't think post-bacc reputation matter in this case
6) Have you applied to med schools? if you only took MCAT and never actually applied, then you don't need to disclose it

Also, do you have any shadowing hours?

Yes I did apply to med schools. Would I need to disclose this information?

Think long and hard. There are plenty of schools around VCU you could apply to. WVU, Maryland, UNC just to name a couple. To spend 1-2 years taking pre-reqs, and studying for the DAT just so that you get an interview to one school which then gives you about a 30% shot of acceptance is madness. Just don’t be shocked if it takes you multiple cycles to get in. Start hammering in MOM clinics and working with the underserved. But ultimately know, vibes are going to determine whether or not you get in. Good luck, rooting for you and other career changers.

Thank you for these suggestions, and for the encouragement. It’s going to be a tough decision to make considering my husband is not 100% supportive. Here’s sending power to everyone who is in similar place as me. May we all have enough courage and perseverance to pass such obstacles.

 

[simply.me]

Think long and hard. There are plenty of schools around VCU you could apply to. WVU, Maryland, UNC just to name a couple. To spend 1-2 years taking pre-reqs, and studying for the DAT just so that you get an interview to one school which then gives you about a 30% shot of acceptance is madness. Just don’t be shocked if it takes you multiple cycles to get in. Start hammering in MOM clinics and working with the underserved. But ultimately know, vibes are going to determine whether or not you get in. Good luck, rooting for you and other career changers.

this may be a dumb question - what is a MOM clinic?

 

[WolfsBane]

As @predent2151 said it would be asinine to pin your hopes of becoming a dentist on one school. Additionally post-bacc costs money and if you are worried about debt think about that. Honestly its a crapshoot, and there is a small chance that if you apply you will get accepted unless you have a 25+ dat imo. You have to be so confident in your app that you can apply to one school and get accepted, which is something that I would not bank on happening, not by a long shot. I dont get why you would waste a year? On the off-shot they will review your app and give you an interview? imo that makes no sense. I really think you can become a great dentist, I just don't see why it must be VCU. Another thing I thought of is if you are so focused on saving money, why not try to get into a school in Canada?

 

[predent2151]

this may be a dumb question - what is a MOM clinic?

Missions of mercy, clinics that serve the underprivileged. Popular in NC and VA, you should do every one available from now till you apply if VCU is your only choice

 

[Dio Ether]

Yes I did apply to med schools. Would I need to disclose this information?

I think some schools ask if you applied to different professional programs, so you would probably need to disclose that information

 

[simply.me]

As @predent2151 said it would be asinine to pin your hopes of becoming a dentist on one school. Additionally post-bacc costs money and if you are worried about debt think about that. Honestly its a crapshoot, and there is a small chance that if you apply you will get accepted unless you have a 25+ dat imo. You have to be so confident in your app that you can apply to one school and get accepted, which is something that I would not bank on happening, not by a long shot. I dont get why you would waste a year? On the off-shot they will review your app and give you an interview? imo that makes no sense. I really think you can become a great dentist, I just don't see why it must be VCU. Another thing I thought of is if you are so focused on saving money, why not try to get into a school in Canada?

The reason I think VCU is my only chance because that is the closest school to my home, where I can live with my husband. If I decide to attend a dental school away from home, it will be an uphill battle for my marriage. However, I understand what you are saying, and if I have my spouse's support, I may end up applying to other schools as well. Canada is also not an option because of again... my husband.

However, do you also mean that post-bacc is a waste of time and money? The reason I thought of post-bacc was because my GPA is kinda low (~3.3), and I graduated from my undergrad in 2012. So it's been more than 5 years since I studied the pre-med sciences, plus it's a good way to boost up my GPA. Would you recommend me to apply to dental school without post-bacc (considering I'm canadian/international)?

Missions of mercy, clinics that serve the underprivileged. Popular in NC and VA, you should do every one available from now till you apply if VCU is your only choice

Okay thank you for the suggestion. I will definitely look into it!

 

[torque]

1. My husband is not supportive (This is a huge red flag. Preparation for dental school is NOT easy. Getting thru dental school is NOT easy. You CANNOT do it without your husband's support. I suggest you have a long and hard conversation to make sure he is on board with you doing this before you jump in to the water) of me pursuing dental school because of the debt we'll accrue, my income that we'll lose for next 5/6 years, delay in having kids (he wants to have kids in next 2/3 years), and the time we'll lose during this time (as it would be hard to go on vacations, or have an active social life). My questions:
1a. Is it possible to work while studying for post-bacc? Yes
1b. Are there any post-bac programs offered online, and are they worth it? No
1c. Are there any post-bac programs offered part-time/night-time while I work during the day in Virginia? Not sure
1d. Is post bacc at GMU a good program? It doesn't offer linkage to any dental school, so is it worth it? VCU would be expensive for me to attend as I'll have to rent an apartment (& convince my husband which is next to impossible) but it guarantees a review after a certain GPA/DAT score, which I think is great. Are there any rankings of post-bac programs? Does it matter which program we attend? Which program to attend doesn't significantly matter unless the program GUARANTEES a spot (I think Creighton has one). What is more important is doing really really well in the program.

2. Are there any female dental students (or do you know of any) who have had kids BEFORE starting dental school? If yes, is it doable? I realize it's going to be extremely hard, but I'm not sure if I'm able to juggle studies & parenting. Yes. It is doable. But then again, you will need the support from your husband.

3. If everything goes well and I do well on my post-bacc and DAT, I plan to start dental school by fall 2020, by which time I will be 31. Am I too old for dental school? Will I be too old to make friends and make study groups in my dental classes? I will graduate by the age of 35. Is that an acceptable age to start a career? No, you are not too old for dental school.

4. If anyone is in my situation with an unsupporitve spouse and still pursued dental school, how did you manage your relationship? I dearly love my husband but him being unsupportive is making me question my relationship which is a very sad feeling. I don't know if I should give up or continue convincing him. Once you are committed to a marriage, "unfortunately" you cannot make a life-changing decision all by yourself. Have a long and hard conversation with him.

5. Being a canadian citizen, is it even possible for me to get in a dental school in US? I would love to go to VCU (as it is the only dental school in Virginia) but is it canadian friendly? My undergrad GPA is ~3.3, and my graduate MPH GPA is ~3.6. I have two publications, good research experience, and tons of volunteer work. If I do well in post-bac and in DAT, do I even stand a chance? or will I not be considered at all because I'm not a US citizen. Unfortunately, I cannot move away from Virginia as my husband works here, so VCU is kinda my only shot. Yes. It is possible for a canadian citizen to get in a US dental school. Private schools will probably care less about your citizenship than public schools.

6. When I was in undergrad, I also wrote MCAT because med school was on my mind back then but I never took it seriously. I scored quite low. If I apply to dental schools, will they ever know that I had written MCAT exam and scored low on it? Or Am I required to disclose this particular information? Maybe.

 

[321931]

The biggest obstacle I foresee is your relationship with your husband. Dental School is a hard endeavor. You will be up doing lab work, and cases all day long for four long years. When you graduate you will accumulate debt that only YOU can pay off. Can your husband pay for it? Does he make 200k a year? Does he make 100k a year? Does he make 50k a year? The only way to pay off your debt load is either if he makes a ton of money as a whatever job or YOU pay it off. But...you will have kids and start a family. If you need to service your debt and in order to do that, work full time or start a practice (which is as time-consuming as having a kid), will he be willing to stay at home and take care of the kids? What happens if you decide to stay at home and start a family...can you service your debt on your husbands income while working part time?