Optimizing dental school entry chances

[groundhog]

I've touched on this before, but I've concluded that all else being equal, the best service you can do yourself if you want to go to dental school is to enroll in Brigham Young University as early as posssible in your undergrad career. I got this inside info from two folks that I know very well and who are in dental school(neither one attended BYU).

BYU flat out prepares its pre-dents to be exceptional dental school candidates and successful first year dental students. The main reason for this is that dentistry is viewed by many Mormons to be a very family friendly health care profession in which to be engaged (it allows one wage earner to provide a comfortable living for the entire family while working daytime hours between Monday and Friday). Consequently, BYU being rightfully ammenable to the feelings of its core constituency and benefactors, has developed a strong, and I mean STRONG, pre-dent undergrad program.

Remember I said "all else being equal" Great candidates are prepared for entry to dental school by hundreds of universities across the nation. And it is the student not the university who still has to do all the hard work.

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[ItsGavinC]

groundhog,

Yes, BYU does prepare its students well, however the curriculum for pre-dental and pre-med students is the same (as most schools). Why do you suppose BYU pre-meds students don't do as well with acceptances? The pre-meds have acceptances well about the national average, but nothing compared with the 75-80% acceptance rate of pre-dental students. I don't have a direct answer for this, so I'm just throwing the question out there.

I agree that BYU grads do seem to have an upper hand at many schools. For example, here are the schools/BYU matriculants for the entering class of 1999:
Case Western 22, Ohio State 17, Marquette 17, UoP 15, Louisville 13, Creighton 10, Temple 9, USC 9...etc.

By the way, when I tell my fellow classmates that I'm applying to dental school (and *not* medical school), the majority of them give me a crazy look. In science classes, my pre-dent buds and I are looked down upon. BYU in no way pushes its students towards the dentistry. There are many careers that Mormon students find satisfying and interesting. As a side note, doesn't everybody, religion aside, want to work Monday-Friday (or less!?). BYU currently has an enrollement of 30,000 students -- yet only 120-140 apply to dental school each year. Those numbers don't in any way signify a "pre-dental machine".

All in all, I'm still torn as to why the undergrads from BYU are so successful in dental school. We have only one class specifically designed to teach dental school techniques (carving, etc.). I appreciate what groundhog has pointed out -- it seems BYU is doing something right. But most importantly, as he stated, the students put forth the effort. Good luck to everybody currently playing the waiting game! My turn will come next year!

 

[groundhog]

ItsGavinC,
Oh, I don't believe BYU pushes its students to be anything other than what they themselves want to be. All I was saying is that dentistry is a health care profession that appeals to many Mormons who feel they have a calling to serve their fellow man in the healing arena because the requirements of the profession fall in line with their value system regarding work and family life. I have the upmost respect for such a value system. Thus, I believe that BYU has strived to develop an excellent pre-dent undergrad curriculum in a commendable effort to provide best value to its consituency. I have nothing but praise for such a customer focused strategic goal on the part of BYU. I was merely suggesting that folks who are considering the dental field out there might want to take a close look at BYU for their undergrad preparation. Or better yet, maybe some of the other universities in the nation could enhance their own curriculum by studying the BYU model.