your thoughts

[RDH]

I am 31 with BS in dental hygiene, I have been interested in reapplying to dental school but since I have started a family I feel it maybe alittle harder now. I applied in 2001 to my alma mata (was not married then nor did I have a child) got an interview and got wait listed because I scored 16 on DAT ( at the time I just walked in and took it w/o any preperation which was stupid) I honestly do not think I could pull that again since i have been away from school for 6 years. I am working about 64hrs a week making excellent money but at the end of the day I feel something is missing. I feel that I should be doing more. dont get me wrong dental hygiene is great but at some points it could be frustrating since your hands are tied down, eventhough you have the appropriate education and experience to do much more.
do you think I should keep working and save as much as I can so I can go through dental school without any debt , or do not waist time and apply next cycle after I work on improving my DAT score.

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[mymouthsmells]

RDH, although it is 'never' too old to start dental school, I think you should attempt to improve your DAT scores ASAP and apply. It seems as though you are hungry in wanting to become a dentist.

 

[RDH2DDS]

Don't waist any more time!!! Reapply as soon as possible. I am 30 years old and a dental hygienist of eight years. I don't think putting off what you know deep down you want to do has any benefit what so ever. The time away from work and money will be returned to you ten fold. AND at the end of the day, you will have the peace you are talking about. The patients' diagnosis and dental restoration will be in your hands as will their well-being.

 

[RDH2DDS]

got wait listed because I scored 16 on DAT ( at the time I just walked in and took it w/o any preperation which was stupid)

I retook Chem I and II and then took Organic I and II over the summer(I never had this prereq). I reviewed Biology on my own and did OK on the DAT. You could start these courses now, take the DAT this winter and apply next year. An OK score on the DAT will be OK with all of your experience and dedication to the profession. Is you GPA up there? That will be important too. You would definitely have a shot!!!

 

[RDH]

I live in Dallas my GPA was calculated by the texas medical dental appl service at 3.3 overall and 3.3 science but baylor calculated it at 3.3 overall and 3.4 science. I have all my orgs prereqs but its been over five years. I should have a higher GPA but Baylors grading alittle tough 83 is a c+ 92 is a B+ and so on. so I am thinking about retaking all my prereqs but first I will call the schools and ask if that is necessary.

 

[laelialudisia]

have you taken all of the prerequisites?

if yes, i would go ahead and start studying NOW. i started studying in feb. of last year (took the kaplan online course-which i highly recommend esp. for someone who is working b/c then completing the course is on your time). the course is 1K.

so, i would:
1) take the kaplan online course
2) get 2 books Chem the Easy Way and Bio the Easy Way, with the chem book i raised my gen chem score 5 points in ONE week reading that book, and i scored a 23 on bio w/ NO help from kaplan
3) take the 3 practice tests on DAT achiever $50 the final week of studying

the kaplan course prepares you well for the QR and RC sections but isn't so great for the subject specific portions or for the PAT. the books i recommended will help with bio and gen.chem and you might be able to find a similar one for o.chem. dat achiever will help you prep for the PAT.

good luck---start studying
t

 

[RDH]

Yes, in order to get into hygiene school you need the same science prereqs but not all require org or physics

 

[RDH]

If I keep working like this I can save 100k easy in 2yrs, my spouse does not work nor will be able to work while i am in school so that is what I am worried about I know loans are out there but I think you have to consider age into the equation and as a hygienist i know very well that not all dentists are making the big bucks especially in the first few years and even some do not make alot do to various reason so my interest is truely not the money it is more the profession. I took kaplan corse last year thinking I would apply for this cycle but we had a baby insted ha ha which was the best thing that ever happened no regrets but I always smiled when some ot the students said that they are in it for the money. truely if that is the case some will do real good but not all and as you know (RDH2DDS) dentistry is alittle different when you are practicing it than observing it because some days are good some are tough but at the end of the day it is a profession that (for some) will make you feel good about your self no matter what kind of day you had.

 

[laelialudisia]

so, have you taken 2 semesters of o.chem AND of physics?

if you think you can keep up that work schedule AND still put in good study time on the DAT---go for it, but if you can't spend a lot of time studying, you may have to cut back on your hours while you study. it will take you over a year from when you apply to when you start, so you will have like from May '08 to June/Aug. '09 to work while you interview and wait on a decision.

 

[McSexyDDS]

I hope you do decide to apply,
make you a nice list of pros and cons, i don't think i would retake anything! if you want to raise your gpa i would take more upper division science courses, like biochemistry.

i'm also an RDH with BS, small world i'm 27 i've been a hygienist for 5 1/2 years, and this summer i'll be applying to dental school

good luck to you!

 

[reapply2007]

I agree - most of the interviews I've been on have included bumping into dental students with families. It clearly can be done, with some effort. Just get the best numbers you can on the DAT, refresh by taking some upper level coursework to show you can still do it, and apply early. You might also want to talk to the spouse before you do any of this.

 

[elbee]

Go for it without hesitation!!

 

[RDH]

[YOUTUBE]

so, have you taken 2 semesters of o.chem AND of physics?

laelialudisia: yes I do have all my prereqs also I had to take many upper division courses to recieve my B.S. degree, such as, Microbiology anotomy, physiology, histology(both gen and oral), pathology(both gen and oral), dental anatomy, radiology, biochemestry,dental materials, pharmacology...

as i have mentioned its been over five years since I have taken these clases and almost ten years since I have taken Bio Chem Phys do you guys think that I should retake them(basic prereqs) or would you try to improve the DAT scores and try to apply with what I have.

I will visit with the schools when I am ready to ask the aformentioned Qs but I feel before I do that I need to improve my DAT first to show how serious I am about becoming a DDS would you guys agree?

 

[shamrock2006]

I am 31 with BS in dental hygiene, I have been interested in reapplying to dental school but since I have started a family I feel it maybe alittle harder now. I applied in 2001 to my alma mata (was not married then nor did I have a child) got an interview and got wait listed because I scored 16 on DAT ( at the time I just walked in and took it w/o any preperation which was stupid) I honestly do not think I could pull that again since i have been away from school for 6 years. I am working about 64hrs a week making excellent money but at the end of the day I feel something is missing. I feel that I should be doing more. dont get me wrong dental hygiene is great but at some points it could be frustrating since your hands are tied down, eventhough you have the appropriate education and experience to do much more.
do you think I should keep working and save as much as I can so I can go through dental school without any debt , or do not waist time and apply next cycle after I work on improving my DAT score.

going through dental school without any debt is pretty much impossible unless you go military (like I plan to). And dont forget..the DAT is not an easy test, if you can just walk in and pull a 16 you can easily pull a 20 if you prepare for it..and when that happens, you're in! I say if you're serious about it, go for it and do whatever you can to make your application stronger. Dont worry about trying to save up all that money to pay for it, worry about getting in first..the financial aspect comes later...it's being accepted thats the difficult part. All you need is to bring up that DAT, have a decent GPA and you're good. All that time as a hygeinist gives you a crazy amount of experience that a school would love to see, clearly you know as much if not more about the profession as anyone else applying. If you want it go for it. Many people go back late. I interviewed at Marquette and my tour guide told me they had someone start who was 38..and I just looked at my UDM stuff that said last year their age range was from 20-51...51!!! So keep on it and you'll be in dental school before you know it!..good luck

 

[SugarNaCl]

I am 31 with BS in dental hygiene, I have been interested in reapplying to dental school but since I have started a family I feel it maybe alittle harder now. I applied in 2001 to my alma mata (was not married then nor did I have a child) got an interview and got wait listed because I scored 16 on DAT ( at the time I just walked in and took it w/o any preperation which was stupid) I honestly do not think I could pull that again since i have been away from school for 6 years. I am working about 64hrs a week making excellent money but at the end of the day I feel something is missing. I feel that I should be doing more. dont get me wrong dental hygiene is great but at some points it could be frustrating since your hands are tied down, eventhough you have the appropriate education and experience to do much more.
do you think I should keep working and save as much as I can so I can go through dental school without any debt , or do not waist time and apply next cycle after I work on improving my DAT score.

I havent gone through all the other posts bc I'm a little busy so excuse me if I repeat something. My perhaps unworthy suggestion. A. Apply for next cycle even if you will have debt. Dentists make approx. double what hygienists make from what I hear. So say you make 50K. Working another 3 yrs will end up costing you 150K. You will still have to pay out a similar amount of money. If you take out full tuition, you may owe 60K in addition to the cost of dental school (in interest) after the loan is up...but that still leaves you plus 90K if you act now. You may want to bring up the DAT scores. If you can start learning in dental school, I'm sure you can relearn the basic science material to at least score an 18. It is getting more competitive all the time. First time around I got 16 with little studying and didn't get in anywhere (but I did apply in Nov) even with research experience and a 3.6 in a Masters program. Finally, don't worry about the family aspect. I know of 3 dentists offhand that had children in school. One that I observed had an 11 month old when she started, and the other 2 had children while they were in school. They did say it was pretty hard though. They all went to SUNY-Buffalo and one said she would drive in at 7AM to put the kids in day care. Spend the day at school, pick the child(ren) up, spend time with them from 5:30-8 when they went to bed, waited for them to fall asleep, sleep for 5 hours and wake up 2am to study until the cycle happened all over again. None of the 3 regretted the decision to go to dental school. They are all pretty successful. Good luck. I'm sure you will be a good dentist in 5 years

 

[RDH]

thank youfor your feedback. I truely appreiciate your input.

 

[eddyRDH]

I am to a dental hygienist. Just got rejected today!!!!!!!
I saw the Dean at the dental school he basically told me that I didn't have enough science courses and my DAT score sucked!!!!!!
Here are my stats:
Science: 3.78
Non Science: 3.66
DAT: Total 18 /14 PAT
Dental Asst. for 3 yrs
RDH for 4 yrs
Gen Bio I and II A/A
Gen Chem I B Gen Chem II A
Org Chem I B Lab A Org Chem A Lab II A
Physics B Lab A Physics II currently taking !!!!!

He literally took out other applications and showed them to me so that I could see the difference between what he is looking for. Basically, I am missing Genetics, Biochem, Immunology, Histology, you now all the classes you take when you are a bio or chem major!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He told me that my major in DENTAL HYGIENE DOES NOT PREPARE FOR DENTAL SCHOOL. Oh yeah and I also just have the bare min.!!!!!!!

Yeap. He pretty much dogged me for wanting to go on for a DDS. Sucks to be me!!!! I feel like such a loser. All my hard work down the drain!!!!
Oh yeah, he also recmended that I do a post bacc program .

 

[SugarNaCl]

I am to a dental hygienist. Just got rejected today!!!!!!!
I saw the Dean at the dental school he basically told me that I didn't have enough science courses and my DAT score sucked!!!!!!
Here are my stats:
Science: 3.78
Non Science: 3.66
DAT: Total 18 /14 PAT
Dental Asst. for 3 yrs
RDH for 4 yrs
Gen Bio I and II A/A
Gen Chem I B Gen Chem II A
Org Chem I B Lab A Org Chem A Lab II A
Physics B Lab A Physics II currently taking !!!!!

He literally took out other applications and showed them to me so that I could see the difference between what he is looking for. Basically, I am missing Genetics, Biochem, Immunology, Histology, you now all the classes you take when you are a bio or chem major!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He told me that my major in DENTAL HYGIENE DOES NOT PREPARE FOR DENTAL SCHOOL. Oh yeah and I also just have the bare min.!!!!!!!

Yeap. He pretty much dogged me for wanting to go on for a DDS. Sucks to be me!!!! I feel like such a loser. All my hard work down the drain!!!!
Oh yeah, he also recmended that I do a post bacc program .

I'm sorry to hear that, but if you want to be a dentist, do what you need to do. I did a masters program after undergrad and have been working for 2 years while I built up my DAT and research experience. Stick with it and good things will come even if it seems depressing right now. What is meant to be will be and when things are meant to work out, they will work out. have faith.

 

[RDH]

Yeap. He pretty much dogged me for wanting to go on for a DDS. Sucks to be me!!!! I feel like such a loser. All my hard work down the drain!!!!
Oh yeah, he also recmended that I do a post bacc program .[/QUOTE

Do not let anyone discourage you. You maybe lacking on some upper division courses but that doent mean that you cannot be accepted because of that. I see it over and over where people major in business or art and take their prereqs and do well on their DAT and get in.

did you apply to more than one school b/c thats one mistake I made(applied to one)? if you did you need to call those schools and ask to speak to the dean of admissions and articulate to him/her your subjective qualities, such as, your work experience and familiarity with the profession. you need to stess how pationate you are about becoming a DDS.

if all that doent work then go back and do upper division courses and do decent on them B and above and I garantee youll get in somewher just dont give up.

did you have a BS or an associates in DH, and if associates have you gotten your bachelors and in what.

 

[SugarNaCl]

You are your own self limiting factor

 

[4thQtrDreams]

...i have been away from school for 6 years. ..

Im not sure but i believe many school have a limitation as to how long your Pre-reqs are valid.. If i remember it may be 5 years.. I would check into that before you put off applying any longer.

still, dont let that discourage you but plan accordingly.. I know an 37 year old applicant who spent the last 2 years doing pre-reqs and got an acceptance this cycle..

....if you can just walk in and pull a 16 you can easily pull a 20 if you prepare for it..and when that happens, you're in!

I think this is a bit of false information.. a 20 these days is NOT a guaranteed acceptance..

 

[SugarNaCl]

Some schools may have prereq time limits but most should be fine. I graduated from undergrad in 2002, so my prereqs were mostly taken in 1999-2000. No one said anything about it when I applied and got in this year.

 

[McSexyDDS]

I am to a dental hygienist. Just got rejected today!!!!!!!
I saw the Dean at the dental school he basically told me that I didn't have enough science courses and my DAT score sucked!!!!!!
Here are my stats:
Science: 3.78
Non Science: 3.66
DAT: Total 18 /14 PAT
Dental Asst. for 3 yrs
RDH for 4 yrs
Gen Bio I and II A/A
Gen Chem I B Gen Chem II A
Org Chem I B Lab A Org Chem A Lab II A
Physics B Lab A Physics II currently taking !!!!!

He literally took out other applications and showed them to me so that I could see the difference between what he is looking for. Basically, I am missing Genetics, Biochem, Immunology, Histology, you now all the classes you take when you are a bio or chem major!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He told me that my major in DENTAL HYGIENE DOES NOT PREPARE FOR DENTAL SCHOOL. Oh yeah and I also just have the bare min.!!!!!!!

Yeap. He pretty much dogged me for wanting to go on for a DDS. Sucks to be me!!!! I feel like such a loser. All my hard work down the drain!!!!
Oh yeah, he also recmended that I do a post bacc program .

wow are you kidding me? i was counting on being a hygienist actually helping me? has he not looked at the hygiene school curriculum since 1907? i was just thinking about so many things that being a hygienist puts in our favor, having been through and accepted into an accredited program, passing a national and state board exams, manual dexterity, our knowledge of dentistry, ok the list can go on! it's like one of the reasons i want to be a dentist in the first place, cause not enough of them respect our profession...ok yeah thats me on my soap box...i'll chill maybe he's not hating on hygiene, it's obvious out of your nice perfect scores there that he didnt' like your PAT score???

what school was this...so i can stay far far far away?

 

[eddyRDH]

Thanks to everyone for there comments. I won't let this stop me. If I have to get a Master's so be it.

I love dentistry. I have practically played mostly every role you could imagine in this field. I have been the patient (yup, endo,extractions,perio scales, tons of fillings and ortho), the assistant, the RDH, and worked up front. I can't see myself doing anything else!

As for the question about which school, I don't want to mention it. I don't want to offend anyone or discourage anyone from applying from this school.

As for my scores, yeah my PAT sucked but he told me that the 18 was not the cream of the crop either. He had said the "times have changed". Dental school is not what it used to be, it is an extremely competetive program. In the past, the norm for the DAT students that he would accept would have been 16/17. He also said that in this particular cycle the scores have gone up and that most successful apps apply with 19/20.

I also thought that my experience would help me and the tough courses in a b.s. progam in hygiene( histology, anatomy, clinical, perio courses etc) would help. Even the two DDS's that I work for were really shocked! One admitted a low 3.0 with a 17 DAT score! Of course though, that was ummm 10 yrs ago

I don't want to deter any RDH from applying!!!!!!! Every school is different. This one in particular is looking for stellar preformance in upper division courses or 19/20. I am sure that an RDH would be a great asset to any dental school.

 

[eddyRDH]

.

 

[eddyRDH]

Sorry my post was sooo long. I have been a wreck all day! I don't know how in the world I have three postings!!!! See what rejection does your brain!!!!!

 

[Blitzdt]

I am to a dental hygienist. Just got rejected today!!!!!!!
I saw the Dean at the dental school he basically told me that I didn't have enough science courses and my DAT score sucked!!!!!!
Here are my stats:
Science: 3.78
Non Science: 3.66
DAT: Total 18 /14 PAT
Dental Asst. for 3 yrs
RDH for 4 yrs
Gen Bio I and II A/A
Gen Chem I B Gen Chem II A
Org Chem I B Lab A Org Chem A Lab II A
Physics B Lab A Physics II currently taking !!!!!

He literally took out other applications and showed them to me so that I could see the difference between what he is looking for. Basically, I am missing Genetics, Biochem, Immunology, Histology, you now all the classes you take when you are a bio or chem major!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He told me that my major in DENTAL HYGIENE DOES NOT PREPARE FOR DENTAL SCHOOL. Oh yeah and I also just have the bare min.!!!!!!!

Yeap. He pretty much dogged me for wanting to go on for a DDS. Sucks to be me!!!! I feel like such a loser. All my hard work down the drain!!!!
Oh yeah, he also recmended that I do a post bacc program .

That's strange....I had none of that when I applied and I did okay. Make sure you apply to schools that doesn't emphasize a lot on those courses. Yah, keep trying...I think you will turn out just fine

 

[RDH]

As for the question about which school, I don't want to mention it. I don't want to offend anyone or discourage anyone from applying from this school.

As far as discouraging RDHs from applying I dont think thats going to happen. I am sorry to say this but I feel that there is something missing in your application or you just applied to one school. I have heared of many students with less GPA than you've listed and with same DAT scores that have gotten in. you either (sorry) did not do well with the interview even though you may have not gotten an offecial one but your visit with that dean was an interview by itself or something is missing in your stats or application because truely you should not have a problem. your bigest problem is your 14 on PAT and all they can tell you is retake DAT.

you did not ansewer if you have applied to more than one school...

and (sorry) but it makes no sense saying that you would not say what school you applied to because you may discourage us (RDHs), again believe me you will not dicourage not one of us.

good luck