Pre Dental Fast Track Programs (bachelor's, degrees, dental school, graduates)

[samiruu1982]

Hi,
I am interested in applying for a dental school in U.S., I am in my early 30s, have recently moved to U.S. (permanent resident) with a Master's and Bachelor's degree in Information Technology. I need to know if there is a fast track program I can take to pass all the pre-requisites and get ready for the DAT exam. I know that all the pre-requisites have to be taken in U.S and I won't be able to transfer any (not to mention with my background in IT I wouldn't be able to transfer anything anyways!) but the pre-requisite courses are too many and it might take over 2 years to pass all of them, and since I already have university degrees and of course I am getting too old, I don't have any extra time to spend, so I prefer to finish the pre-requisites fast and apply for a dental school ASAP. Is it possible to take care of the pre-dental requirements in 1 year?
What would be the fastest way to take care of the requirements? Community College or University?
Thank you.

[joe from dayton]

Doing some quick research on the internet, it appears that each dental school sets up its own pre reqs so, without knowing exactly what you are looking at, it is hard to say. From what I have seen, it looks like you can do it if you take a large class load and/or pick up some Summer classes.

Speaking in huge generalities, CCs are not considered to have the same academic rigor as universities, so you would probably be better served by taking your classes at a university.

[Katarina Witt]

The University of Colorado has this program: https://conted.colorado.edu/programs...h-professions/

It is likely other schools have such programs as well.

[kyle19125]

You might consider becoming a Dental Hygienist versus a Dentist given the fact that when you get out of school in around 6-7 years and start a practice as a Dentist you're liable to be around 200K in debt from Dental School. The national average salary for a Hygienist is around 75K with big demand and much higher salaries for in-demand/urban areas, and with specialization such as Periodontics or Pediatrics salaries in the 90K-100K range are fairly normal.

[Leonarcarrington]

It depends on you that what you are looking for and according to that you have to make a selection that you have to go with college or dental university. Because both of them have a unique individual features according to your requirements.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

You might consider becoming a Dental Hygienist versus a Dentist given the fact that when you get out of school in around 6-7 years and start a practice as a Dentist you're liable to be around 200K in debt from Dental School. The national average salary for a Hygienist is around 75K with big demand and much higher salaries for in-demand/urban areas, and with specialization such as Periodontics or Pediatrics salaries in the 90K-100K range are fairly normal.

The average dental student graduates with a debt of $241K (See Dental Student Debt ). My daughter got a $340K HPSP scholarship http://www.airforce.com/pdf/hpsp_scholarship.pdf . It pays her $2100 a month for living expenses, medical, and dental plus all of her books, fees, and tuition. She is getting by on that income.

She already has a job because in return, she will be a dentist in the Air Force. As a compromise, her wages are lower: $75K, $75K, and $95K for her three year obligation. Her total debt will be $73K to me as we paid for the 1st year of dental school. I want that all back in three years while she is in the military. While her income will be lower, avoiding debt allows her to dodge about $16,000 of interest which is not deductible. That's because graduate degree debt has an interest rate of 6.8 or 7.2%. It takes about $25K of income to service that $16,000 in interest. So going the military route actually is close to the real take-home wages of someone starting in private practice (no insurance needs to be paid either). Dental students usually didn't take enough finance classes and therefore are not interested in the HPSP options. So there are ways to avoid the debt but very few students want to be inconvenienced.

The other advantage is that the military will pay for specialized schooling (with more years of service required). Normally only the top students can specialize which can triple a dentists income. But the military needs specialists. So if you go the military route and you are an average dental student (which still is brutal competition), you have a fast-lane to get >>$400K a year income as a specialized dentist. After you re-enter in private practice of course.