Transfer to Dental School

[kimjw18]

I'm a high school student, and I'm going to be attend in 2 yrs college

is it possible to transfer to any dental school??

thx for reading and reply

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[DatRat86]

No, most if not all dental schools require a bachelor's degree. Along with that degree you have to take 1 year biology, 1 year physics, 2 years chemistry, and labs that go along with those courses. Not only do you have to get this done you have to take the DAT and score well on it. Dental school is getting harder to gain admissions to each year so you will have to maintain a 3.4 GPA or above to have a good chance of getting in.

 

[DatRat86]

P.S. I hope you were just kidding about having someone just transferring into any dental school!

 

[HollyJolly]

I'm a high school student, and I'm going to be attend in 2 yrs college

is it possible to transfer to any dental school??

thx for reading and reply

Here's the breakdown of how it is 'supposed' to go:

After high school you will attend college. Take the required pre-requisites to get into dental. You will apply your junior year (summer before senior year). After you graduate with your bachelor's degree, you will attend dental school for four years. After dental school, you can specialize (orthodontist, oral surgeon, etc) or you can do a residency. All of these things require you to get good grades and do well on tests like the SAT and DAT (dental admission test for dental school).

 

[liriano]

NOt necessarily true. I know an oral surgeon who went to Georgetown Dental School without his bachelors (left after his junior or sophomore year). He is doing pretty well too.

 

[DatRat86]

true, but I think it is more competitive then it was back then, these days you have to compete with the applicants with their bachelors and masters degrees, which this includes most all of the applicants.

 

[Impulse155]

NOt necessarily true. I know an oral surgeon who went to Georgetown Dental School without his bachelors (left after his junior or sophomore year). He is doing pretty well too.

How long ago was this though?

 

[laundry]

correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there a couple of 6 year programs (2 undergrad then D school) or 3+3 (maybe pacific)?

I can be making it up, but I swear I heard something like that somewhere...

 

[Predoctalk]

Pretty sure there are programs that you enter out of high school. I think they are 7 years and your last year of undergrad is combined with your first year of dental school.

 

[DrDDSman]

There are combined BS(BA)/DDS(DMD) programs, but theyre good if you already know you want to do dentistry. These programs have their pros and cons, pros being that you get the benefit of not having to stress about what pretty much everyone on this forum is going through or will go through.

The downsides, however, are that you might be "stuck" in a particular location for 7+ years. These programs also require you to maintain certain GPAs and DAT score and may or may not give you the freedom to take courses you would want to take.

If you are interested in these programs, start with dental schools you would be interested in attending and look into their accelerated program. Many state schools offer this, as well as dental schools that are apart of a university with an undergraduate college, ie UoP.

Otherwise, the traditional route would be to enter college, complete the prequisites, and apply to enter dental school upon completion of your bachelors degree.

 

[lekso]

The more traditional way to get into dental school, like someone mentioned above, is to go to a 4 year university and complete your pre-requisites and get a bachelors degree. It is still possible to get in after 3 years, but it's definitely harder than it used to be.
In your case, it seems like you want to go to a community college before transferring to a 4 year university. That's is acceptable but I would look into the dental schools you have in mind because there are a couple of schools that don't accept community college credits for the pre-requisite classes. Most of them do though.
Regarding the accelerated programs, I wish I would have done that lol.
Good luck!

 

[liriano]

How long ago was this though?

Most likely in the early 90s. The guy has a photographic memory as well, so I'm sure the transition wasn't that tough for him. He got a 98 on the NBDE I. Really bright guy.

 

[nuartywayne]

Dental School in many foreign countries is a Bachelor Degree...

 

[chrslbrt]

Thank god this guy found this forum before he went to college. Imagine his heartbreak when he realized that you can't just walk into dental school.