Would getting a Master's degree be helpful?

[polf]

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How much does having a MS in biology rather just a BS help in landing research spots with professors in dental school? or for getting externships? would the additional year of hard sciences come in use in dental school?

I would rather stay in school for another year than work during my year off, but not sure if there's enough justification in another $30,000 of loans...

 

[Tooth]

There are several advantages to having your masters before going to dental school but also some disadvantages.

Advantages
-Obviously more competitive to get into dental school.
-Not many people have masters degrees when starting school so you will be positioned for easy acceptance by peers to become the class president which will make you more competitive for specialties.
-The first two years of dental school will be academically easier for you.
-Not only will it help you get into dental school but again if you decide to specialize.

Disadvantages
-extra debt
-some education you will not use
-It's likely you will get into dental school without it, and will somewhat be wasting your time if you're not planning on specializing.
-Two extra years of schooling=Two years of not practicing= Loss of nearly $200K+

I'd only do a masters if I was planning on specializing, which is difficult to know when you haven't even started dental school yet.

 

[polf]

thanks for the reply.

I'm looking to go to a 1yr Master's program in cell biology and I would only be losing out on 30k, as I'm a senior and didn't apply this cycle so I would be going to dental school a year later anyways. The question is would it better to get a MS or just work for a year?

 

[taylort]

this is not meant to be offensive, but if you are PAYING tuition to get a masters, then you might want to look at other universities who would pay YOU to get a masters.

for $30K, i don't think the pros outweigh the cons.

thanks for the reply.

I'm looking to go to a 1yr Master's program in cell biology and I would only be losing out on 30k, as I'm a senior and didn't apply this cycle so I would be going to dental school a year later anyways. The question is would it better to get a MS or just work for a year?

 

[polf]

this is not meant to be offensive, but if you are PAYING tuition to get a masters, then you might want to look at other universities who would pay YOU to get a masters.

for $30K, i don't think the pros outweigh the cons.

I doubt there's any school that offer stipend + tuition remission for master's students. those are usually only for phDs.

and I would say $30k is cheap if it means the difference between specializing or staying a general dentist.

 

[Tooth]

Getting a masters in one year is very tempting. But it will still cost you $30k. I'm tempted to say again that it will only be worth it if you're going to specialize, but just getting any old job for a year is going to look bad on your resume for dental school. Yah, if you can do it in one year, go for it.👍

 

[DIRTIE]

How much does having a MS in biology rather just a BS help in landing research spots with professors in dental school? or for getting externships? would the additional year of hard sciences come in use in dental school?

I would rather stay in school for another year than work during my year off, but not sure if there's enough justification in another $30,000 of loans...

A waste of money, way to expensive, and it won't make much diference in specializing, if any at all

 

[Tooth]

it won't make much diference in specializing, if any at all

Just curious, why did you say that?

 

[DIRTIE]

Just curious, why did you say that?

Because from what I have seen and heard, it is more on board scores, class rank, leadership, experience, etc that land you a spot in a specialty, not a masters degree before you went to dental school, they want to see how you performed in dental school and what you did while you were there, of course it might be something to talk about in an interview, and it could help, but that is 30K. Seems like I could find better ways to spend that kind of money. Just me I guess

 

[BuckeyeDent]

this is not meant to be offensive, but if you are PAYING tuition to get a masters, then you might want to look at other universities who would pay YOU to get a masters.

for $30K, i don't think the pros outweigh the cons.

What a smartass comment.

One of my classmates was rejected from dental school in the first go-around, got a masters in Bioethics from Case (1 yr.) and was accepted to two schools the second time. And they didn't pay him to get his masters.