Will a Master's Program Help Increase Chance of Acceptance??

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calikid88

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Hey everyone,

I'm new to this website so bear with me please...
I just completed my bachelors at UCIrvine in Public Health Sciences (almost similar to a Bio degree in terms of lower division courses but with the absence of physics which I took anyways). My gpa was not great at UCI (3.02 overall, and a little lower for science gpa). I am considering applying to a Master's program to increase my chances for getting in to dental school.
I have narrowed my Masters concentrations down to either: Oral Biology or Biotechnology.
I wanted to know which of these programs might increase my chances and looks better for getting into dental school. I have heard great things about the Biotech program at JHU, but I have also researched that Oral Biology looks good as well.

If anyone could please give me some input as to which program is the better option for increasing my chances of acceptance for dental school, I would be very grateful.

Thanks in advance!
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This should be posted in the Postbac Programs section. I did a Masters to improve my D school app, though, so I can offer you some feedback.

If I were you, I'd just do a postbac. Masters programs are good because you can take upper level bio classes - if you can do this at your undergrad it will be significantly cheaper and accomplish the same thing you're trying to prove to adcoms: you can handle the dental school curriculum. Take a heavy course load for a year and you'll be golden.

If you still want to do a masters, I'd shop around a little so you know what your options are. No matter what, make sure your program has classes like Physio/pathophysio, biochem, microbio, anatomy, histo, pharm. Feel free to PM if you want. Best of luck.
 
Thanks for the response kaDa.

I was thinking the Masters program would be best for me because if I don't end up getting accepted to dental school then I would still have a MS degree at the end of the day as opposed to the post bac route.

Since you mentioned you went the Masters route, could you please fill me in on what MS degree you went for and also if it ended up helping you for acceptance to dental school? Any regrets if any?

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it!
 
I wondered the same thing as you and for the same reasons (getting another degree, keeping options open, etc), I did a masters. I'm finishing up (2 years later), and am applying this cycle. My impressions of doing the masters is that it probably depends on the school how they value the degree vs a post bac, but so far in the one interview I had the interviewers said that was the way to go. But again, that was one school. I did mine in a thesis based microbiology research project out of a faculty of med, the idea behind that was I found research that interested me vs doing one in dental sciences just because. If you go for a research degree, make sure you are interested! In the end I think it helped my application.
 
If you're thinking of a 2 yr Masters program with research and/or thesis component, then yes you're right in that it would open more doors for you if D school didn't work out. These would be good because during your app cycle (2nd year of the program), you'll be kept busy academically for a smoother transition to D school. I was told by a few admissions counselors that the primary thing they looked at was the courseload in upper level bio classes that were similar to those seen in D school. I guess I wanted you to know a post-bac was an option since obviously a Masters is more expensive and both could potentially solve your D school admissions dilemma. If you feel like a scene change and want a bit more challenge, then yea go for a Masters, I think it's a better option in terms of a life choice 👍!

I personally looked into programs that were 1 year long and narrowed my options down to UMDNJ, Barry, and Tulane. All these programs were not only a year long, but the cost/year was a lot less than other, similar programs. I also have a lot of research xp from undergrad and didn't want to do that anymore 🙄. There was a heavy science course load that was similar to the first year of D school in all these programs. I ended up going to Tulane's CMB program (graduated in May) and haven't gotten in to D school yet, but I have 5 interviews so far so I think it worked out (check out my predents profile). I chose Tulane because it was cheap, in NOLA 😀, and had a small program size. Absolutely no regrets - everyone in the program is applying to professional school (almost everyone MD, I was 1 of 2 predents) and the faculty really want you to succeed. They help you out if you want to do research, too. Only thing I didn't like was it wasn't very organized, but I'm kind of a go getter so I didn't mind.

I suggest you call a few of your top choice schools to get a feel for what they think would be best for you. Each non-trad applicant is so case by case it's hard to give generic advice. I did this and that's why I decided to not go for a more established program...I was told again and again the school rep or program completed itself didn't matter as much as the right coursework taken and grades received. My DAT and EC's are pretty beastly though so that may be why I was advised this way. Try contacting a few Masters programs, too. They see a lot of applicants who want to go on afterwards so they might be able to showcase some of their strengths and you can make a more insightful choice. Once you decide, don't look back...just work hard play hard 😉. D school will come all the quicker that way!
 
Depending on the Master's it will cost more money.. often in a research setting you will get a stipend for living expenses, etc. I would explore the various options you have, especially if you want to do research. A course based masters obviously will be more expensive over the 2 years, because there is no option for stipend. Unless you have TAing opportunities? For September 2012 it isn't too late to figure out what you need to do. Don't you have to write the GRE in the US for master's programs? Anyway, good luck!
 
I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to help me out with this issue.
All of your input is much appreciated and it is really helping me with my decisions.
As of now, having weighed all of my options, I think I will go ahead and look into obtaining my Masters degree.

I wish everyone luck in their Dental school career goals! 🙂
 
Current assessment... no. I will update you in 4 months.
 
calikid88 said:
Hey everyone,

I'm new to this website so bear with me please...
I just completed my bachelors at UCIrvine in Public Health Sciences (almost similar to a Bio degree in terms of lower division courses but with the absence of physics which I took anyways). My gpa was not great at UCI (3.02 overall, and a little lower for science gpa). I am considering applying to a Master's program to increase my chances for getting in to dental school.
I have narrowed my Masters concentrations down to either: Oral Biology or Biotechnology.
I wanted to know which of these programs might increase my chances and looks better for getting into dental school. I have heard great things about the Biotech program at JHU, but I have also researched that Oral Biology looks good as well.

If anyone could please give me some input as to which program is the better option for increasing my chances of acceptance for dental school, I would be very grateful.

Thanks in advance!
user_online.gif
Click to expand...

Don't do JHU Biotech program, I work at SOM and I know several people did that program. The only plus is that you don't have to attend classes and all ten courses will be done online. Cons-way too expensive and won't able to finish all the courses in 1 year because 3 is the maximum number of courses you can take per semester and they won't allow anything more than 3 courses.
 
sorry to steal this thread...but I have a question...

you guys mentioned that the main goal is to show adcoms that you can handle heavy upperlevel biology courseload. My situation is that I couldn't get into any classes at my local cal state and UCIrvine extension only allows me to take up to 2 classes. Assuming this whole cali budget crisis remain the same for the coming quarter/semester and the situation will be the same (no classes at cal state, 2 classes max at UCI), what will be my options then? Currently I'm shadowing a dentist who is a good friend of the prof at UCLA dental school and I'm going to attend his monthly study club. I also have a part time job. I plan on asking to volunteer at a free public dental clinic for underpriviledged. Will these help me in some nonacademic way for this quarter or the quarters to come if only 2 classes are what I can manage to get?

Thanks
 
for me getting my masters made a huge difference... my masters GPA raised my overall GPA and made me a more competitive applicant, and i personally feel like it has helped me be better prepared and more successful IN dental school


i would look at a variety of programs, particularly look for schools that have a dental school (it always helps to build up those connections and letters of rec from professors associated in one way or another to the dental school is always good) also look for schools that offer stipends or tuition remission for being a graduate assistant (try not to go into more debt before starting dental school, you really dont want loans accruing interest on a degree that isnt your primary focus when dental school is already so expensive)

Good luck!!!!
 
KaDa

I am looking for a Master program to enhance my under 3.0 GPA. Can you tell me know more Tulane's program ? how hard it is to get in ?
 
I know a pretty lucrative and cheap program (hasn't been around very long) that has a decent success rate. People who go by the books here usually won't be disappointed. It's 1 year and tuition+ living expense isn't much more than just tuition alone in some other SMPs like Johns Hopkins or Georgetown etc. PM is you want to know. It's in the Northeast region.
 
I also think a post bac is better than a masters because you are able to raise your science GPA, something a masters cannot because it has its own separate GPA. Correct me if im wrong.
 
Last edited:
With excellent scores (All A's), it can't hurt your chances.
 
sahmadentist said:
I also think a post bac is better than a masters because you are able to raise your science GPA, something a masters cannot because it has its own separate GPA. Correct me if im wrong.
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure you are mistaken. You do get a separate GPA for Masters, but your graduate courses also get included in your overall GPA and Sci GPA.

Correct me me if i am wrong !
 
JHU Biotech program is not the best program. I work at Hopkins Med. campus. Ask any questions about the program. I did a MS program at a public university and relatively cheap.
 
MAdental said:
I am pretty sure you are mistaken. You do get a separate GPA for Masters, but your graduate courses also get included in your overall GPA and Sci GPA.

Correct me me if i am wrong !
Click to expand...

You're correct the other poster made a mistake.
 
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