Ortho chances

[ElPedorro]

Hi everyone,
I am a rising fourth year and am very torn with where I go from here. I have been tailoring my application to apply for pediatrics, but if I'm being totally honest with myself I am drawn toward orthodontics for many reasons. Unfortunately my grades are only mediocre (19/90) and I have really nothing on my application that relates to orthdontics. No research either. So the cards are stacked against me and I'm also concerned about the very high price of residencies and the "Ortho doom and gloom" people post here and on dental town. Has anyone been in a similar spot? Can anyone offer advice?

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[845302]

Ortho is already competitive and my advisors say the competitiveness is only rising. If your GPA/grades aren't good (I would guess a 3.8+ at least to be a competitive applicant), I'm not sure if the time and effort would be worth it... Hope someone else can give you some advise, but this is just my personal opinion...

-Fyz

 

[Str82th]

With your class rank, your odds of getting into a low tuition,26 month program are very low.

You should limit your application to three year, tuition programs or the ortho mills (class size above 10, usually located in north Florida, Atlanta, Colorado).

You could also consider applying for internships. You usually pay a tuition for those and sometimes have a greater chance of matriculating into that program.

 

[Sidrap]

I would definitely commit to it. Don't listen to what other dental students will tell you - they dont know any more than you do about getting into a residency. What i DO know is that many many people get into ALL residency programs with all kinds of academic backgrounds. Even people from the bottom of their class can matriculate into an ortho program if they work hard and maybe take more time/money to get there than others. It wont be an easy road, but dont waver and commit to doing an internship w/tuition. Be friendly and communicate with programs you like and be persistent - ace the ADAT, do an internship if you need to, participate in research with that program's faculty DURING your internship, put in overtime hours and always work hard. You will eventually get to where you want to be!

 

[845302]

I would definitely commit to it. Don't listen to what other dental students will tell you - they dont know any more than you do about getting into a residency. What i DO know is that many many people get into ALL residency programs with all kinds of academic backgrounds. Even people from the bottom of their class can matriculate into an ortho program if they work hard and maybe take more time/money to get there than others. It wont be an easy road, but dont waver and commit to doing an internship w/tuition. Be friendly and communicate with programs you like and be persistent - ace the ADAT, do an internship if you need to, participate in research with that program's faculty DURING your internship, put in overtime hours and always work hard. You will eventually get to where you want to be!

Yes... I probably worded my response badly - what I said to say is referring to applying this cycle not later ones. Never give up on your dreams!

-Fyz

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

If a dream is going to put you over $750,000 in debt, it's a dream you might not want to chase. When all is said and done, it may feel more like a nightmare.

Big Hoss

 

[Str82th]

I would definitely commit to it. Don't listen to what other dental students will tell you - they dont know any more than you do about getting into a residency. What i DO know is that many many people get into ALL residency programs with all kinds of academic backgrounds. Even people from the bottom of their class can matriculate into an ortho program if they work hard and maybe take more time/money to get there than others. It wont be an easy road, but dont waver and commit to doing an internship w/tuition. Be friendly and communicate with programs you like and be persistent - ace the ADAT, do an internship if you need to, participate in research with that program's faculty DURING your internship, put in overtime hours and always work hard. You will eventually get to where you want to be!

There is very little that will get OP into a quality program, except for putting time and experience between graduation and matriculation. Some programs like applicants with experience. If the OP is set on applying this cycle, I would advise asking your programs of interest to spend half a day with them. It won't make up for rank, at some programs, but it will hopefully leave a good impression. The quality of the program may not matter to OP, but maybe cost does. Quality and cost are usually inversely related.

Best of luck, OP.

 

[Sidrap]

There is very little that will get OP into a quality program, except for putting time and experience between graduation and matriculation. Some programs like applicants with experience. If the OP is set on applying this cycle, I would advise asking your programs of interest to spend half a day with them. It won't make up for rank, at some programs, but it will hopefully leave a good impression. The quality of the program may not matter to OP, but maybe cost does. Quality and cost are usually inversely related.

Best of luck, OP.

Exactly