Orthodontics!!!

[tabbycattia]

I fear that I am not properly researching the programs I should...this is my main interest....where should I go/apply/visit/talk to? I'll take anyone's advice!

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[Literati81]

How about [talking to] an orthodontist?

 

[aphistis]

How about [talking to] an orthodontist?

How about getting into dental school first?

 

[calbear14]

How about getting into dental school first?

good advice

 

[River13]

Pick a dental school with good research opportunities, one that has a grad ortho program, one that has a high yearly class average on Part I of the dental board exam, and one that offers a concurrant master's degree track that can be completed during dental school...and one that produces lots of graduates that specialize.

And get into dental school, but only once you're POSITIVE you would be happy as a general dentist.

 

[aphistis]

Pick a dental school with good research opportunities, one that has a grad ortho program, one that has a high yearly class average on Part I of the dental board exam, and one that offers a concurrant master's degree track that can be completed during dental school...and one that produces lots of graduates that specialize.

And get into dental school, but only once your POSITIVE you would be happy as a general dentist.

More sage advice--especially the last part.

 

[DDSSlave]

Pick a dental school with good research opportunities, one that has a grad ortho program, one that has a high yearly class average on Part I of the dental board exam, and one that offers a concurrant master's degree track that can be completed during dental school...and one that produces lots of graduates that specialize.

And get into dental school, but only once your POSITIVE you would be happy as a general dentist.

I wouldn't worry about the the concurrant master's degree in dental school (I assume you mean public health, biomaterials etc) but everything else is good advice.

 

[Jone]

hey, i'm wondering too, why you say a concurrent MS/DDS degree is important or beneificial. can you explain?

Pick a dental school with good research opportunities, one that has a grad ortho program, one that has a high yearly class average on Part I of the dental board exam, and one that offers a concurrant master's degree track that can be completed during dental school...and one that produces lots of graduates that specialize.

And get into dental school, but only once your POSITIVE you would be happy as a general dentist.

 

[ItsGavinC]

hey, i'm wondering too, why you say a concurrent MS/DDS degree is important or beneificial. can you explain?

It's just another item to bolster your application and set you apart from the other applicants.

 

[toothcaries]

How about getting into dental school first?

word.

 

[River13]

Gavin got it. It is another item that will set you apart from all the other ortho applicants, like one in oral biology. From the experience I had at my school (Louisville), if there were two guys ranked 12th and 13th, the one in 13th had done the masters while the 12th guy hadn't, the guy 13th got 5 interviews, while the guy 12th got none. A couple of my classmates reported it was the reason they were told they got the interviews from the programs they applied to. Those of us who wanted to specialize at my school used it as our "fall-back" plan. If after 2nd year d-school our class rank/boards weren't quite where we wanted it, we'd do the masters 3rd and 4th year...those of us who had high enough numbers didn't bother...but it made the difference for several.

An example is Louisville's Ortho program. The way they hand out interviews is determined by a point system...5 points for top 5% class rank, 2 points top 10%, 5 points >95 boards, 2 points <95 boards, 5 points for GPR, 5 points for masters degree, etc. Those with the highest total points got the interview. As you can see, there's is one of many programs where a masters goes a long ways to get you where you want to go.

 

[adamlc18]

Do you actually have enough time to do a Master's concurrently with your 3rd and 4th years?

 

[River13]

Do you actually have enough time to do a Master's concurrently with your 3rd and 4th years?

At least at my d-school, most of the hard classes were finished first and second years...it still means more lost weekends and late evenings to finish up the extra master's classes. It all depends on what your priorities are.

 

[ItsGavinC]

An example is Louisville's Ortho program. The way they hand out interviews is determined by a point system...5 points for top 5% class rank, 2 points top 10%, 5 points >95 boards, 2 points <95 boards, 5 points for GPR, 5 points for masters degree, etc. Those with the highest total points got the interview. As you can see, there's is one of many programs where a masters goes a long ways to get you where you want to go.

Wow, a masters and a GPR can really set an applicant up if they aren't top 5 and have a mediocre board score!

 

[Jone]

awesome, thanks for info.

Gavin got it. It is another item that will set you apart from all the other ortho applicants, like one in oral biology. From the experience I had at my school (Louisville), if there were two guys ranked 12th and 13th, the one in 13th had done the masters while the 12th guy hadn't, the guy 13th got 5 interviews, while the guy 12th got none. A couple of my classmates reported it was the reason they were told they got the interviews from the programs they applied to. Those of us who wanted to specialize at my school used it as our "fall-back" plan. If after 2nd year d-school our class rank/boards weren't quite where we wanted it, we'd do the masters 3rd and 4th year...those of us who had high enough numbers didn't bother...but it made the difference for several.

An example is Louisville's Ortho program. The way they hand out interviews is determined by a point system...5 points for top 5% class rank, 2 points top 10%, 5 points >95 boards, 2 points <95 boards, 5 points for GPR, 5 points for masters degree, etc. Those with the highest total points got the interview. As you can see, there's is one of many programs where a masters goes a long ways to get you where you want to go.