What would you recommend? Dental Path

[shawerma90]

Hello SDN, This is my first post and I would greatly appreciate any advice I can receive. I am a Senior in my final semester, and with all the rejection letters, it's pretty obvious I will not be going to Dental School this year. I have applied to two SMP (Midwestern & Boston University). While they sound terrific, and what they offer is appealing I would love to hear other opinions. My GPA is 3.54 (science GPA 3.2) and the trend has been improving. I have taken Histology, Biochemistry, Human Physiology, Neuro and have attained A's. Chemistry classes have screwed me over several times. Back to the topic. My DAT AA was 16 and I know this must be improved. So my question to you all is: If accepted should I do a SMP or should I simply take 3 months and study for the DAT to the best of my ability and apply again? Thank you very much!

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[jslo85]

Definitely try and focus on the DAT imo. A score of a 20+ and applying early/broadly should net you some positive responses. Your sGPA is concerning but the upward trend and the As in the upper division sciences (histo, biochem, physio, etc) should provide decent support for your application.

SMPs are usually regarded more for those with a far more problematic GPA than yours to prove themselves through a rigorous medical/dental course regiment which I believe you don't need. For the record, dental oriented SMPs would be BU's oral dental track, NSU MBS, Midwestern MBS/MA, UMDNJ MBS, possibly Tufts (don't remember) and Barry MBS. Definitely focus on the DAT instead though.

 

[shawerma90]

To Jslo85:

Thank you very much for the feedback! I might consider taking the DAT around Mid-July and then if accepted do a SMP for a year; and follow that hopefully with a acceptance letter to Dental School.

Once again, thank you for the great response and your opinion.

 

[jslo85]

Yeah it'd be practical to enhance your application if you have time as it is. I'd recommend looking into NSU's MBS program if you don't mind their tuition rates. You take classes with the dental students and I believe a 90% or above in any of those classes will allow you to transfer credit should you matriculate into their dental school. I have talked to several students who went through their program in the past and most if not virtually all usually do get accepted into one of NSU's professional programs (DO/Dental).

 

[shawerma90]

I recall reading about Barry University and their affiliation with Nova. Never heard much about the Nova Program so I'll most certainly look into it ASAP. Im aware of their Dental program but not the MBS. Thanks for the facts.

 

[thatflyingpan]

Thanks for the great info jslo85. I'm actually looking into smp's as well. Are there any other programs than those you listed that are good for the Dental track? also why are those better suited than other smp's? Thanks.

 

[jslo85]

Thanks for the great info jslo85. I'm actually looking into smp's as well. Are there any other programs than those you listed that are good for the Dental track? also why are those better suited than other smp's? Thanks.

Mmm.. those are the ones that I know of that have some sort of substantial dental affiliation to them.

Well for NSU, they do have a dental school and they have had a history of strongly accepting their MBS students back into their professional programs. The class size is 20-25 or so if memory serves me right and you take the same classes of the DO/dental students there. An advantage to Nova would be that they allow the credits to be transferred and that itself is not particularly common for many SMPs.

There are others that allow you to take dental classes like UMDNJ-newark and BU's oral dental track for their GSBS (I believe, you can double check) which would also reflect positively on your application. Many programs offer graduate courses and some offer courses with the medical students but I find that it's more rare to be able to take classes with the dental class.

AZCOM's MA/MBS programs might also be something worth looking into. I think I've seen some success stories of pre-dent students going through that and moving on into their dental school. Barry is just one that I added in with some afterthought due to their strong but unofficial relationship with Nova Southeastern.

Things for you to probably consider besides the usual stuff (tuition, location, etc) would be whether the program itself is at an institution with a dental program and whether the program has had a history of linking their students back in. Another would be whether the courses offered would be with the dental students etc. etc. Just my 2 cents

 

[patientbaldy]

What do you guys think about the tulane one year masters? it accepts people with dat scores as well