Hi,
I am a Pre-dental student and I'm planning on doing my masters before dental school. My main problem is the lack of a good GPA - hence the masters. I've gotten into a few schools and I've narrowed it down to two - NE school and SE school.
At NE school, the MPH concentration is Occupational Safety and Health. I also have connections to dental school in the Northeast. The professor that I know there has also offered me a research position.
At the SE school, the MPH concentration is epidemiology. I don't have any connections but I'm sure I could still get some research position if I tried.
I am having difficulty choosing because:
1. Masters is just a stepping stone for me to dental school, and I don't want to spend too much money for the masters. NE school is about $10,000 more than SE school (I'll be paying out-of-state tuition for both).
2. After talking to several advisors, they've made it clear that there is no wrong choice, because for dental schools it doesn't matter which school you go to or the major you do it in - all they look for is a good GPA. But I did have an advisor tell me that even though the program at NE school isn't as great as epidemiology, it's still really good because it's from a known institution.
3. Regardless of what I've been advised, I feel like having a strong science background (aka epidemiology) would give me a better chance into dental schools. But again, every advisor I have talked to said it doesn't matter, and this is just my feeling.
4. NE school has more opportunities for me, but it's expensive. Also, one of the advisors did say that they haven't seen many students with Occup. Safety and Health, but it's still a good program.
So , to conclude I'm asking those out there that could offer some other pointers that could help me make this decision. If there is any more information I could provide to help you understand my situation, let me know!!
Thank you!!
Disclaimer, I'm not in dental school, but am on the medical side of things and am replying based on the information you provided.
You mention numerous connections in the NE, including one through the same school in which you'd get an MPH. One of these connections, as you mention, can also help with getting you a research position. Everything in your post points in the direction of the NE school except two things - the extra $10k and the specific focus (i.e. Occ/health as opposed to epi).
In the grand scheme of things when you consider any possible debt you already have, will accrue through a masters, and will accrue through dental school, $10k is really not that much. As for the specific focus, schools will look at the GPA more so than the specific focus, and neither will necessarily be more helpful than the other as its only a couple of classes difference (from what I know of regarding various MPH's) being that many courses will still be the same/overlap.
I would personally consider where you have more connection and a possible research position (that could potentially pay to mitigate some costs and stand out in its own right assuming you don't have the same opportunity at the SE school).
If cost was the same, would that influence you more toward the NE school? What if you didn't have the connections.. would that influence you more toward the SE school? If those two factors were taken out, do you see yourself in one program or the other?
Again, with your situation, and how it reads from this side of the computer, I'd consider the already-offered research position to mitigate cost, and the connections you already have to two schools (one through the same institution, and the other nearby).
This is just my 0.02 though.
