What dental school is the easiest to get into?

[Bigned]

Well here I am. I turned 47 years old recently, my child graduated and I have been a Registered nurse for approximately 15 years. I have a B.S. degree. I have NOT taken the 2 years of chemistry and 1 year of physics that I understand are required for admission to dental school (is that required for all U.S. dental schools?).
Not wanting to pull any punches, this is my scenario. I feel like I have not reached my full potential career wise and know that I can do much better. I am wondering if I should go back and take these prerequisites and then apply to dental school.
Would someone my age have any chance of admission?? I certainly would not want to go back for 2 years of prerequisites if I have virtually no chance of acceptance.
I'm very interested in dentistry and have the funds to cover the education. I just need to find a way into dental school. I am wanting to practice in the U.S.
Please give me your honest opinion.
Thanks kindly!

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[Epictetus21]

Hello Bigned, and welcome to SDN. You would certainly have a chance at getting in to most dental schools in the U.S. Every year there are a few non-traditional applicants who matriculate (I remember seeing one that was 60 years old). You are right, you will need to go back and take 1 year of basic biology, 1 year of general chemistry, 1 year of organic chemistry, and 1 year of physics in order to apply to most dental schools. There are two things that will weigh in heavily in determining if you (specifically in your situation) get in or not.

1. You will have to explain to the admissions committees (in your personal statement that is included with your application) why you decided to change careers. Make sure you talk about the positives of dentistry, and what attracts you to this field, rather than the negatives of your past profession. You do not need to make excuses for being a non-traditional applicant, but they will be very interested to know what motivated you to change fields.

2. The admissions committees will look at your entire academic history. This means that they will see your grades from your freshman year of college to the present. If you had strong grades in your nursing program and you follow those up with a solid two years of prerequisite work, then you stand a decent chance of getting in. If your GPA was on the low side (below 3.2 or so) then you will need to get excellent grades in your two years of pre-reqs in order to be competetive. Also, a solid DAT (19 or better) will greatly increase your chances of getting in.

To see how your current GPA (from college) stacks up to specific dental schools, I would recommend visiting predents.com . That site can be one of your best resources for comparing grades and DAT scores to determine which schools you should apply to. Since you have extensive life experience and experience in the health care field, use those to your advantage and give dental schools a killer personal statement. That, combined with good grades and DAT scores, will likely lead to admission to dental school. Good luck!

 

[Oracle DMD]

there are no easy schools to get into and you would need to take all the pre-recs but if you did well, you would have a great shot to get in. there are people your age getting in all over the country. put in the work, score well on the DAT and apply. i think that private schools might be a bit easier to get into considering that in state schools tend to be a bit less expensive and are great schools as well. where ever you take the classes, go find the pre-dental club there and they can make sure you are heading in the right direction. if you ever get stuck, hit me up and i'll help out the best i can! good luck!

 

[dentistin2011]

in your case, i think you can set yourself apart from other young candidates with other application credentials rather than academic credentials such as GPA and DAT score.
Do well on prereq. classes though b/c admission offices invite applicants with them.
i hope you write an excellent personal statement.
Good luck.

 

[blankguy]

Well here I am. I turned 47 years old recently, my child graduated and I have been a Registered nurse for approximately 15 years. I have a B.S. degree. I have NOT taken the 2 years of chemistry and 1 year of physics that I understand are required for admission to dental school (is that required for all U.S. dental schools?).
Not wanting to pull any punches, this is my scenario. I feel like I have not reached my full potential career wise and know that I can do much better. I am wondering if I should go back and take these prerequisites and then apply to dental school.
Would someone my age have any chance of admission?? I certainly would not want to go back for 2 years of prerequisites if I have virtually no chance of acceptance.
I'm very interested in dentistry and have the funds to cover the education. I just need to find a way into dental school. I am wanting to practice in the U.S.
Please give me your honest opinion.
Thanks kindly!

I am a nontraditional student. I went into this thinking that I can do better with my life. If you haven't taken any prereqs then you should take them because it is required. I think nursing from what I've seen do take some chemistry having dealt with nursing students but their chem course may be different and not accepted by dental schools. In a way being older can be a tremendous advantage, I know of a dentist who was 34 and had 2 kids when she started dental school and excelled graduating among the top of her class. Adcoms know that older students tend to be more mature and serious in their studies. I will be starting my studies about 10 years later than most students but a faculty member told me not to worry that is of no consequence. Your chances of acceptance is yours to make, do well and you will have a good shot. They count your old grades but reading between the lines do you think they are going to hold your old undergrad in the same way as somebody fresh out of undergrad? I doubt it. They may take your more recent courses and hold that as a better reflection of who you are now. This could mean that they put more weight into your recent grades despite having an overall GPA weighing your old grades the same by AADSAS. I think Tufts weighs your newer grades more than the old grades.

 

[doc toothache]

Starting ds at 50 is going to be a quite a challenge not only because you have been out of academics for a long time but also because some adcoms certainly will wonder why it took you so long to decide on a career change. The good news is that for the entering class in 2007 the oldest enrollee was 56 at NYU with Puerto Rico at 52 and Arizona a distant 49. First it would be advisable to complete your pre reqs and see how rusty your cortex actually is and then contact the schools that you may be interested in and ask for some guidance. In the meantime you can get yourself a copy of the 2008 ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools and scope out the stats on range of age.

https://access.adea.org/adeassa/ecs...st_id=&p_order_serno=&p_promo_cd=&p_price_cd=

 

[klutzy1987]

If you are a minority, you should have no problem getting into meharry or howard. If not then yah gotta do well on the DAT's

 

[dreaming2k5]

I'd definitely take doc toothache's advise and get the official guide with stats on entering class. In my class, the number of people over the age of 30 is probably less than 5 and traditionally ~ BU is one of the easier schools to get into alongside of NYU. But according to your post ~ you got the money and the time to spend, so why not take those pre-reqs for fun? You'd enrich your brain, ward off Alzheimer, and be able to teach your grandkids physics and chemistry! 👍

 

[blankguy]

Starting ds at 50 is going to be a quite a challenge not only because you have been out of academics for a long time but also because some adcoms certainly will wonder why it took you so long to decide on a career change. The good news is that for the entering class in 2007 the oldest enrollee was 56 at NYU with Puerto Rico at 52 and Arizona a distant 49. First it would be advisable to complete your pre reqs and see how rusty your cortex actually is and then contact the schools that you may be interested in and ask for some guidance. In the meantime you can get yourself a copy of the 2008 ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools and scope out the stats on range of age.

https://access.adea.org/adeassa/ecs...st_id=&p_order_serno=&p_promo_cd=&p_price_cd=

Definitely but at least he will be wiser about his new career. While I was attending undergrad I heard of a woman in her 70's applying to med school. At least she won't be accused of being in it for the money. 👍

I think depending on how rusty he is, he could take one or two courses that are not prereq related for fun before diving into the requirements just to get back into academic mode. If he takes him an extra year it won't make much more of a difference. I don't think him being asked why the career change is going to be much more different than somebody in his/her 30's wanting to change to dentistry.

 

[blankguy]

If you are a minority, you should have no problem getting into meharry or howard. If not then yah gotta do well on the DAT's

Admissions is not a given even if schools favor certain ethnicities. It's a bit rash to say this especially without knowing where the applicant stands in terms of GPA and DAT scores.

 

[blankguy]

And here's the fun thing about being a minority. You're only a minority if you're black, native american, or hispanic. That's it. Everyone else falls ever so neatly into the "white" category.

It seems like you are using the term minority as a synonym for disadvantaged.

 

[DrReo]

Did you apply?

 

[hopefuldentalst]

I wanted to ask everyones opinion on what the best course of action for me is. As of right now I graduated undergrad with a Bachelors degree in Biology but my GPA is far too low to get into Dental School. I went through a lot of personal problems during mid undergrad and I switched schools doing poorly when I first entered my harder new school. My undergrad school only calculated classes taken at their institution as part of your official gpa so that hurt me a lot and I graduated with a very low GPA. I did adequate on my DATS receiving (20s and 21s in everything). Not knowing what to do ive also taken the GRE (mids 1200 overall). What is the best route that I can do to provide a bridge between a bachelors degree and Dental school? Should I try to obtain an associates in Dental Hygiene before applying to Dental School or is there a better route to go? Depending on what I end up doing should I retake the DAT or GRE? Your suggestions would be much appreciated

Thank you,

John

 

[OMFS08]

If you are a minority, you should have no problem getting into meharry or howard. If not then yah gotta do well on the DAT's

Wow. If I had a penny for every time I heard this garbage. People like you ought not become professionals, from your previous posts you have not displayed the propensity to act professional let alone be professional. If you were intelligent enough to actually come to Howard University, you would notice that the majority of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 classes are not minorities. But ignorance is bliss and I refuse to allow it to get inculcated in my character as it has, yours. Go to Stony Brook, since it can be assumed that you were not minority enough to get a free pass into Howard and Meharry as you implicitly vocalized. Go Stony Brook! The epitome of higher learning!

 

[winchetkidJR]

hey OMFS08, the majority of Howard and Meharry actually are minorities. where areyou getting htis information from. you are just to sensitive. its a known fact minorities have a better chance of getting in. klutzy is not saying that all minorities are not qualified enough, its just that in this sad sad world we live in today, it is much easier to get in if you are a minority.
Praise the LORD ALLAH, may he guide you all to the promise land. ALLAH lives.
ONE

 

[Sajitude]

Well here I am. I turned 47 years old recently, my child graduated and I have been a Registered nurse for approximately 15 years. I have a B.S. degree. I have NOT taken the 2 years of chemistry and 1 year of physics that I understand are required for admission to dental school (is that required for all U.S. dental schools?).
Not wanting to pull any punches, this is my scenario. I feel like I have not reached my full potential career wise and know that I can do much better. I am wondering if I should go back and take these prerequisites and then apply to dental school.
Would someone my age have any chance of admission?? I certainly would not want to go back for 2 years of prerequisites if I have virtually no chance of acceptance.
I'm very interested in dentistry and have the funds to cover the education. I just need to find a way into dental school. I am wanting to practice in the U.S.
Please give me your honest opinion.
Thanks kindly!

I applaud your interest in dentistry, and there is a student in my class who is in his early 40's and he is going strong. Unfortunately you may have to take almost 2 years of classes because I believe the classes you took longer than 5 years ago cannot help you meet your prereq requirement. Also the DATs are not that fun, but where there is a will there is a way. I guarantee you experience as a nurse will significantly help you application

 

[OMFS08]

hey OMFS08, the majority of Howard and Meharry actually are minorities. where areyou getting htis information from. you are just to sensitive. its a known fact minorities have a better chance of getting in. klutzy is not saying that all minorities are not qualified enough, its just that in this sad sad world we live in today, it is much easier to get in if you are a minority.
Praise the LORD ALLAH, may he guide you all to the promise land. ALLAH lives.
ONE

Incase you have not yet come to the realization sir, I am an entering dental student at Howard University, I completed my undergraduate degree at Howard University, I also work in the Howard University Hospital, and currently live on campus at Howard University. So, I think these minor specifics warrant me knowing just a minute detail about Howard University. I specifically highlighted that the 2007, 2008 and 2009 (my class) entering classes were/are not majority minorities. So you need to tell that to someone who is ignorant of the truth. My friend I tell you, I am not that person.

I will refrain from indulging in this conversation any further. Bigned, if you truly want to go to dental school, follow your dreams and it will all work out. Good Luck!

 

[dentalmama]

OK: I'm 43 years old, and I have been back in school to complete my prerequisites over these past 2 years to apply to dental school, and have a very similar motivation to become a dentist! YES, I can officially say, you have a chance of getting into dental school at your age! I will be starting DS in the fall and have been accepted to the schools which I applied. Looking back at the past 2 years, here is my advice: 1) You have to take it very seriously and pretty much keep your gpa at 4.0, (shouldn't be that hard to do if you focus and are as determined as me), 2) you have to get into a research lab to get some research experience (professors will like you, since they will have an affinity for you given your age, so this shouldn't be too hard if you impress them with your story and your aptitude - talk to them at office hours), 3) you have to shadow a dentist, so start looking into that, 4) you have to volunteer some time to a free clinic, or something like that (you should find a worthy clinic and start volunteering a few hours a week)... it won't be easy, but you CAN do it. It should take about 2 - 21/2 years, but you will know if you'll get in after you take the DAT. If you do what I say, get 20's on your DAT, you should have NO problem!!! Let me know if you have ANY questions - I just conquered this monster, and I've been successful at it - so I'm happy to be a resource. Good luck, and I know what you mean about finding a career that fulfills you!!!

 

[Talisa3636]

I have to also cosign with OMFS08 and state that Howard University dental school as well as medical school is not majority "minority" and its a HBCU. There is a healthy mix of people of all backgrounds and races which is the way it should be. BTW I go to Howard University. There are "minorities" in this world that are applying to dental school that get in and don't get in due to many factors. We live in a world where race is a factor but we all have to work hard to succeed; get over it and keep pushing to get where you need to be regardless of race 🙂

 

[austinsanity]

No dental school is "easy" to get into and each and every one of them will offer you a good dental education. End of story.