I’ll flip that around. Why would you waste someone’s time at a dental school when you yourself said you have no idea what the job really entails NOW.
I think you have this backwards.
First, volunteer or shadow to see if you like it. Do not only observe the dentist… you may realize you would be just as fulfilled as a hygienist, which could be your backup plan if you find out dental school is not a realistic option or you do not want to invest the time and money dental school requires.
3 Likes
“Dear Benjamin. Thank you for your interest in BUGSDM. To answer your question, please note that we do not accept any Science credit done online, the only exception being courses taken in 2020 and only if you had no option but to take the courses online. All Science coursework must be done in a traditional classroom setting for us to grant you the credit. Also, please note that our Masters’ of Oral Health Sciences program has a similar policy and does not accept transfer credits.”
1 Like
Well…there you go.
Lots of Plan B options.
3 Likes
I’m going to call them tomorrow… cause not sure what “Masters program does not accept transfer credits” means. Does that mean you need your undergrad from BU?
It likely means that the masters program will not accept masters transfer courses from another college.
But call and ask.
Clearly…you need a different plan than attending this program at BU. Not sure why you need to call them…but go ahead.
1 Like
Every Masters program, that I know of, requires a Bachelor’s degree. A Masters program is not a choice of “either or” between going for a Bachelors or Masters.
There is a progression of the educational hierarchy:
* High School or equivalent
then
* College or university for a BA/BS, 4 yrs. (or 2 years of CC which can transfer into university for BA/BS)
then
* Masters, if desired, and accepted, requiring entrance admissions tests: GRE (Graduate Record exam), LSAT (Law School Admissions Test), GMAT Graduate Management Admission Test), and MCAT, (Medical College Admissions Test). and interviews, as well as experience in the field with specific research or talents.
then
[b]* PhD. MD
if necessary or desired.
@BenKlesc the real take away for you should be…BU won’t take your online courses at all for the program you wish to enter.
Not sure what else you need to know.
6 Likes
No. It means you can apply to the Master’s program once you have an undergraduate degree (from anywhere) that meets their requirements, which for them means no online science courses. I suppose you could probably also apply to them with your undergraduate from your current college, as long as you re-take the required science courses as in person courses elsewhere. If this is of interest to you, you could ask abou that.
It also means that you can’t start a master’s program somewhere else and transfer those master-level credits to the master’s program that you inquired about.
6 Likes
No. It means you can apply to the Master’s program once you have an undergraduate degree (from anywhere) that meets their requirements, which for them means no online science courses. I suppose you could probably also apply to them with your undergraduate from your current college, as long as you re-take the required science courses as in person courses elsewhere. If this is of interest to you, you could ask abou that. It also means that you can’t start a master’s program somewhere else and transfer those master-level credits to the master’s program that you inquired about.
Awesome. My confusion is cleared and over. Next on the agenda is to setup a meeting with UMASS Lowell (my undergrad school of choice), and send my transcripts.
The reality of the situation is this. I have not taken any science courses at SNHU yet. I still need all of the prereqs which are not apart of my current major.
Regardless of what career path I end up choosing, I may end up kicking myself in the foot if I stay at an online schools. I’d much rather graduate from a physical college.
1 Like
"In my D1 class (90ish kids) there are like 5ish “masters program” kids that basically take all the same courses, minus the operative and lab stuff. I believe they are guaranteed an interview If they get straight As. That is no small feat though. Straight As is hard. And that’s one year and I don’t know how much money wasted if you don’t do well.
But if you do get accepted, then D1 year is super easy, because literally took the classes the year before."
“Was reading your pre-dent discussion and wanted to let you know that it’s pretty common for community college courses to be accepted at dental schools. I personally did most of my courses at community college and was accepted into several dental schools. Many of my classmates are a similar story.”
I’m not sure where you got your quote from, but a quick Google search brought up this article that claims to show the acceptance rate at various dental schools around the US. I don’t get the feeling that they’re hard up for applicants, so whatever you do, I’d try to be competitive. Definitely return to let us know what you did and where you ended up!
Much like the MSAR that AMCAS produces for med school admission, the ADEA publishes an annual Official Guide to Dental Schools that includes a wealth of the admission data for every US and Canadian dental program. number of applicants broken down by gender, ethnicity, in state vs OOS; lists the 10th and 90th percentile for GPA, DAT and each DAT subsection, list percentage of applicants and enrollee with advanced degrees, application timeline, advice for reapplicants, gap year advice and how to choose a good post bacc program.
https://www.adea.org/Publications/Official-Guide/
Cost $35
Never assume that anecdotes you read on the internet are accurate. Always go to original sources.
Also check out this chart that list the required and recommended pre-reqs for every dental school in the US:
Remember that just like for med school admissions, recommended = required if you want to be considered a strong applicant.
4 Likes
It’s great that you’re continuing your research. Would you please cite your sources or provide links? That would be helpful for other readers who may be in a similar situation.
I’m very glad to hear you plan to meet with an advisor.
I simply asked the Reddit dental school community, and got a lot of responses from dental students and their experiences. I was very curious.
Someone responded and claimed that they had a D1 friend at Tufts who took about half her courses at a community college in California. It looks like Boston U is one of the dental schools that don’t accept credits from community colleges, but not all schools are like that. I don’t believe many accept from online schools if any though.
Keeping an upward trend of your GPA at a four year university, as well as focusing on the DAT, will give a decent chance at being accepted into dental school. It was recommended to me that if I follow through with this, then I should apply after getting my bachelors.
If… I’m not accepted I have the option of pursuing the various masters/certificate programs that are designed to enhance applications into med or dental for lower performing undergrads.
UPDATE… I am meeting with UMASS Lowell in person on Thursday or Friday. They told me to bring unofficial transcripts with me to look over.
4 Likes
UMASS Lowell admissions emailed and said…
“During your appointment (virtual or in-person), we can do a quick review of your transcripts, but we aren’t able to do a full credit evaluation. To see how your courses will transfer, you should use our Transfer Dictionary for the majors you are interested in.”
So they want me to apply before they will evaluate my credits. I’m going to pursue environmental science undergrad. Will report back with an update next time.
Go to UMass Lowell for your appointment…with ALL of your transcripts in had…and see what they say. The email they sent you suggested you also look at their Transfer Dictionary…so do that as well.
If possible, look for the course descriptions of the courses you have already taken. Very often, colleges look at these when determining whether or not courses will transfer and/or apply towards a major for transfer students.
After your meeting with Lowell, you will have a better idea of what’s what.
Right now….you don’t.
1 Like
It’s not uncommon that schools won’t do an in-depth transfer analysis until the student has been admitted.
Separately, I agree with your plan to finish your degree at a physical college and encourage you to also consider SNHU’s physical campus…I expect you won’t have a transfer credit issue there. And, it looks like SNHU’s OOS COA would be similar to UM-Lowell’s in-state COA (unless you are commuting from your parents’ home to UML?)
I live in Lowell and currently commuting. SNHU’s campus is in Manchester. Living with parents.
This is a great list I found of dental schools that will or will not accept community college credits. On the red list is Tufts, BU, Creighton, and Indiana.
My meeting with the college is on March 3rd. I will prepare questions.
Ideally because of perfect location, I would want to go to Tufts or BU.