to retake NDBE part1 or not?

From what I've seen, 90s these days are damn good. Your 90 is prob as good as 95 in the old days. If you think you can improve, then you should re-take. But if I remember correctly, you already re-took once. I'm sure you put in a lot more effort this time. I think the admision people know how much a 90 is worth these days. IMO, getting in a specialty has more to do with other things than just a good boards score. You just took your part I, so I assume you're prob D2 now. If you haven't done already, I think you should spend time to get involved, volunteer, research, get known... Letters with lots of thoughts put in mean a lot more than a higher score. Good luck!

 

Honestly, Unless you really have something else going for you, I don't think a 90 is good enough for ortho. Are you #1, Proffit's grandson, with multiple published articles? I don't think a 90 will cut it...not for ortho right now.

 

do you think a 90 by itself is good enough for omfs?

 

I think the same is true - you will hear of 'some classmate/some buddy of mine' that got into (insert specialty omfs/ortho) with a (insert slightly above average score)... but these are the exception rather than the rule.
So - can it be done/yes, can you bank on it/no.

 

OMFS might be slightly easier to get into (with a 90) than Ortho...sheerly due to the number of surgery programs out there!
If you've done a couple of internships, have a reasonably high class rank, and are willing to go ANYWHERE for OMFS - I say it CAN totally be done with a 90. Just spoke to some OMFS guys at my school and they said that applications have actually been on the decline for the past 2 years. So that might help too.
Ortho on the other hand...well...most places won't even bat an eyelid for applicants with a 90...unless you're #1,#2, or #3 in your class.

 

There seems to be a lot of confusion in the way the ADA is scoring the new NDBE I format. I think it will be a while before programs start to realize this. A 90 on the new format is very respectable, but you will be submitting scores with people who took the old format this app cycle. It will be interesting to see how the PDs will differentiate this.

 

Is there some reason you think the new format is harder? Isn't your score still based on how everybody does and not just on how well you personally do?

 

Ortho? Yes retake it. Too many 93+ people applying to ortho. You could slightly neutralize the need to retake part I by applying to every ortho program in the country, doing research, and being the top 3-5 dental students in your class if your class is over 100 students. The more selective you are about where you do ortho or any specialty, requires just that much higher scores and better CV....being desperate and accepting any place that will take you (kind of like I was when I applied for OMFS) opens all kinds of doors/opportunities! You can get lucky, find a diamond in the rough if you are not stuck on a specific program or a specific region in the country...