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Choosing Between Offers: Dentistry

sjj

Member
Home state: New Zealand
Offer 1:
Griffith Dent
Offer 2: Latrobe Dent
Any scholarships offered: No
Any accommodation secured:
No accomodation yet
Internship location preference:
Other important information:
Better teaching environment, good facilities.. ( I am aware that Griffith Dent is a lot more expensive because of Master but how much more? I can't decide between these two!!
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Home state: New Zealand
Offer 1:
Griffith Dent
Offer 2: Latrobe Dent
Any scholarships offered: No
Any accommodation secured:
No accomodation yet
Internship location preference:
Other important information:
Better teaching environment, good facilities.. ( I am aware that Griffith Dent is a lot more expensive because of Master but how much more? I can't decide between these two!!

This thread has some stuff you could read through, plus this info put together a while ago by Mana.

Plus anything Unluckydude and Cal can add.

"By request here is a similar list of Australian dental schools for a year 12. Note that there is no internship requirement for dental graduates so the state you graduate doesn't determine the state you work in once you do. All the undergrad dentistry is 5 years also, so less need to worry about duration (provisional of course is longer.)

1. Whatever is the most CSP (basically - CSP is better than CSP + FFP like Griffith which is better than completely FFP)... other than provisional courses - more on this soon
2. Whatever is in your current city if applicable
3. Whichever is not provisional/non-guaranteed (UMelb/USyd/UWA are provisional)
4. University of Queensland
5. University of Adelaide
6. Charles Sturt University
7. La Trobe University
8. James Cook University
9. Griffith University
10. University of Sydney provisional
11. University of Melbourne provisional
12. University of Western Australia

The reason I have placed Griffith over the provisional courses is because 5 years of fees there comes out to around 150k and then you get two years of dental salary (around 80k/yr - you'd already have almost broken even after tax) whereas 7 years of fees at a provisional pathway comes out to roughly 80k in debt and no full time income yet.

Conversely, a graduate entry dental student's preferences list would strongly preference the 4 year graduate entry courses over the 5 year undergraduate ones."
 

sjj

Member
Hey guys, I got into Griffith dent and Latrobe dent but I actually want to get into UQ dent. Do you think I should reject Griffith(1st preference) to be considered for UQ dent(2nd preference) second round? My UCAT is bad but my GPA is 7. Do I have a chance of UQ dent? I want to study in Gold Coast but Griffith is quite costly. Thanks !
 

tksm

Member
Hey guys, I got into Griffith dent and Latrobe dent but I actually want to get into UQ dent. Do you think I should reject Griffith(1st preference) to be considered for UQ dent(2nd preference) second round? My UCAT is bad but my GPA is 7. Do I have a chance of UQ dent? I want to study in Gold Coast but Griffith is quite costly. Thanks !
You don't need to reject your griffith offer - you can shuffle the UQ one to first preference and wait it out for the next offer round. If you leave it in 2nd place then you won't be considered for it (as you already received your first pref).

(on a side note, if you decide you 100% don't want to go to Griffith, pls decline your offer... I would really appreciate a top-up spot :3)
 

Unluckydude

Regular Member
Home state: New Zealand
Offer 1:
Griffith Dent
Offer 2: Latrobe Dent
Any scholarships offered: No
Any accommodation secured:
No accomodation yet
Internship location preference:
Other important information:
Better teaching environment, good facilities.. ( I am aware that Griffith Dent is a lot more expensive because of Master but how much more? I can't decide between these two!!
Congratulations. Am I correct in saying that you guys can get CSP but not HECS? Is there a similar NZ loan scheme you can apply for to cover your tuition fee in Australia?

CSP (first 3 years) Griffith dent is about 100K more expensive than Latrobe dent. But if were from a third state/country, I would choose Griffith mainly because Griffith has their own dental hospital whereas Latrobe sends their students to some very small public clinics in some of the most rural places in Victoria for clinical placements. Gold coast is also a much better place to live. It's a medium-sized city (population = 540,000) with good whether and attractive tourist sites. Griffith also has a relatively big campus (21,000 students) in Gold coast. Latrobe Bendigo is a much smaller campus (4000 students) in a much smaller town (120,000 residents). The CBD is like the commercial district of an urban suburb where you can drive through the whole CBD in 5 mins. If you can, visit both places and you'll understand what I mean. Additionally, it is easier to find a dent job in Queensland and the salary is likely going to be higher than that in Vic.




 
Hello! I was just wondering if anyone had any insights that could help me in making a decision. I received offers for dentistry at Adelaide and for medicine at UNE (BMP). I'm a bit torn choosing between these, as I'm really interested in studying medicine, but with the BMP as three years of working in a rural area seems like a long time. I also find dentistry a great industry to be working in, but since I'm from Sydney, I'm not sure how likely it would be to find a placement in Sydney after graduating from Adelaide. I'd appreciate any advice! Thanks!
 

Unluckydude

Regular Member
I received offers for dentistry at Adelaide and for medicine at UNE (BMP). I'm a bit torn choosing between these, as I'm really interested in studying medicine, but with the BMP as three years of working in a rural area seems like a long time.
Doing dentistry is not a good way to stay away from rural areas. Most dental graduates will have to either work in rural areas for 1-3 years or work several part-time jobs before they can find full-time employment in capital cities unless they have good industry connections. This is especially true for Sydney and Melbourne.

I'm not sure how likely it would be to find a placement in Sydney after graduating from Adelaide. I'd appreciate any advice! Thanks!
You will complete your placements while you're studying. For medicine, you find internship not placement after graduating from medical school. For dentistry, you become a fully qualified independent general dental practitioner upon graduation even though your employer may offer you mentorship (not legally required). The dental school you go to has little impact on your chance of getting a job in Sydney, most employers will look at your experience, additional qualifications, skills, personality and etc.

I also find dentistry a great industry to be working in
Dentistry and medicine are two different careers. It is true that dentistry has some similarities to surgical sub-specialities, but you
you should avoid picking dentistry if you're into the diagnostic/physician side of medicine or you don't want to narrow your field to practice to one organ (oral cavity). The career pathway of dentistry after graduation is also very different to medicine.
 

Jaguar115

Lurker
Hey, I got offered for dental at CSU Orange (Bachelor of Dental Science) and La Trobe Bendigo (Bachelor of Health Science/Master of Dentistry). I am having trouble deciding which uni is better for me. Does anyone have any insight into what uni is better or if anyone has been to the uni's what is the pros and cons of both? Also their course names are different so do they have different qualifications in the end, or will one be easier to get accredited by Dental College of Australia?
Hey can I ask if what gpa and ucat u got? Just wondering what I’d need to get into csu
 

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Hi everyone! I'm someone who has been raised in Sydney and moved to Brisbane in 2020 to attend university. I received my Griffith dent offer in January and believed that was offer I will be embarking on for 2021 at the Gold Coast. I've completed most the administration involved like professional practice requirements, applying for prior credits and getting my uni life sorted out. However, I received an abrupt offer to study the BDS at the Uni of Adelaide, which I now need to consider if the move is worth it. Apparently semester has already began there (yesterday) so I will be needing to respond soon and catch up what I missed if UoA is the uni I choose.

The main tugging force to attend Griffith Uni is that I already established 1 year of familiarity of the South QLD area, the fact that uni hasn't began yet so I can prepare well for the semester, I have gained credits to study 2nd yr courses for the first semester (but doesn't accelerate when I will graduate - still 2025), but most importantly I found work as a "dental assistant" in the Brisbane area - which was definitely quite difficult to sought out! Having early clinical exposure and experience in the professional field was what I most desired, so I planned to do 2-3 yrs of assisting at the clinic and move down to the gold coast in which finding another DA job would be much easier.

The main tugging force to attend Uni of Adelaide is the greater perceived funding and reputation compared to Griffith, but most importantly, the fact that I will save around $100k due to the course being fully CSP (as Griffith is CSP + FFP).

I really am not sure about the difference in the cost of living between Brisbane & Gold Coast vs Adelaide so I haven't considered that atm.

I was mostly wondering about how important it having dental assisting experience is. Will it be of really that much help in getting hired as a qualified dentist if you've already done 2-3yrs of assisting experience, compared to potentially do 0yrs (as if I move to Adelaide - I can't guarantee I will found work experience as a DA there). Are there many opportunities in getting a DA job, as someone with 0 prior work experience, in Adelaide (I had to try quite hard in Brisbane and got like maybe 3 offers out of 15 that I had applied for)? And to wrap up all that, even if I don't get a DA job in Adelaide, is the $100k lower loan still make it worth to move to Adelaide now?

I have until very soon to respond to the Uni of Adelaide BDS offer so would love to get any sort of feedback on my situation as early as possible. Thanks so much to the community of MSO - I'm sure this is just another case for you guys to show your wisdom!
 

Cal

vibe
Moderator
Hi everyone! I'm someone who has been raised in Sydney and moved to Brisbane in 2020 to attend university. I received my Griffith dent offer in January and believed that was offer I will be embarking on for 2021 at the Gold Coast. I've completed most the administration involved like professional practice requirements, applying for prior credits and getting my uni life sorted out. However, I received an abrupt offer to study the BDS at the Uni of Adelaide, which I now need to consider if the move is worth it. Apparently semester has already began there (yesterday) so I will be needing to respond soon and catch up what I missed if UoA is the uni I choose.

The main tugging force to attend Griffith Uni is that I already established 1 year of familiarity of the South QLD area, the fact that uni hasn't began yet so I can prepare well for the semester, I have gained credits to study 2nd yr courses for the first semester (but doesn't accelerate when I will graduate - still 2025), but most importantly I found work as a "dental assistant" in the Brisbane area - which was definitely quite difficult to sought out! Having early clinical exposure and experience in the professional field was what I most desired, so I planned to do 2-3 yrs of assisting at the clinic and move down to the gold coast in which finding another DA job would be much easier.

The main tugging force to attend Uni of Adelaide is the greater perceived funding and reputation compared to Griffith, but most importantly, the fact that I will save around $100k due to the course being fully CSP (as Griffith is CSP + FFP).

I really am not sure about the difference in the cost of living between Brisbane & Gold Coast vs Adelaide so I haven't considered that atm.

I was mostly wondering about how important it having dental assisting experience is. Will it be of really that much help in getting hired as a qualified dentist if you've already done 2-3yrs of assisting experience, compared to potentially do 0yrs (as if I move to Adelaide - I can't guarantee I will found work experience as a DA there). Are there many opportunities in getting a DA job, as someone with 0 prior work experience, in Adelaide (I had to try quite hard in Brisbane and got like maybe 3 offers out of 15 that I had applied for)? And to wrap up all that, even if I don't get a DA job in Adelaide, is the $100k lower loan still make it worth to move to Adelaide now?

I have until very soon to respond to the Uni of Adelaide BDS offer so would love to get any sort of feedback on my situation as early as possible. Thanks so much to the community of MSO - I'm sure this is just another case for you guys to show your wisdom!
From a Purely financial it would make sense to choose Adelaide, as it will save you lots in the future, but honestly all the dental schools have similar levels of reputation and teaching is by and large the same, so I wouldn't let that determine which uni you go to. You seem like you have a cozy plan set up I. Qld with the dental assisting and living there for a year before, so I guess it just depends if you would feel more comfortable fronting that bill, but having a comfier life or you would rather save 100k and be uncomfortable for a while until you settle. Also keep in mind accommodation will probably cost a good 10-15k a year in Adelaide as well, unless you are paying as well in Qld. No one can ever give you the right answer tbh, so I just hope you find your way! Good luck and congratulations on the offers!!
 
From a Purely financial it would make sense to choose Adelaide, as it will save you lots in the future, but honestly all the dental schools have similar levels of reputation and teaching is by and large the same, so I wouldn't let that determine which uni you go to. You seem like you have a cozy plan set up I. Qld with the dental assisting and living there for a year before, so I guess it just depends if you would feel more comfortable fronting that bill, but having a comfier life or you would rather save 100k and be uncomfortable for a while until you settle. Also keep in mind accommodation will probably cost a good 10-15k a year in Adelaide as well, unless you are paying as well in Qld. No one can ever give you the right answer tbh, so I just hope you find your way! Good luck and congratulations on the offers!!
I am also paying rent in Qld and it amounts to around $10-15k, so financially I guess that's even more of a reason to head to Adelaide. But thank you for your prompt response, I will make sure I'll pick the one I would be least regretting of :))
 

laerla

Member
Hi everyone! I'm someone who has been raised in Sydney and moved to Brisbane in 2020 to attend university. I received my Griffith dent offer in January and believed that was offer I will be embarking on for 2021 at the Gold Coast. I've completed most the administration involved like professional practice requirements, applying for prior credits and getting my uni life sorted out. However, I received an abrupt offer to study the BDS at the Uni of Adelaide, which I now need to consider if the move is worth it. Apparently semester has already began there (yesterday) so I will be needing to respond soon and catch up what I missed if UoA is the uni I choose.

The main tugging force to attend Griffith Uni is that I already established 1 year of familiarity of the South QLD area, the fact that uni hasn't began yet so I can prepare well for the semester, I have gained credits to study 2nd yr courses for the first semester (but doesn't accelerate when I will graduate - still 2025), but most importantly I found work as a "dental assistant" in the Brisbane area - which was definitely quite difficult to sought out! Having early clinical exposure and experience in the professional field was what I most desired, so I planned to do 2-3 yrs of assisting at the clinic and move down to the gold coast in which finding another DA job would be much easier.

The main tugging force to attend Uni of Adelaide is the greater perceived funding and reputation compared to Griffith, but most importantly, the fact that I will save around $100k due to the course being fully CSP (as Griffith is CSP + FFP).

I really am not sure about the difference in the cost of living between Brisbane & Gold Coast vs Adelaide so I haven't considered that atm.

I was mostly wondering about how important it having dental assisting experience is. Will it be of really that much help in getting hired as a qualified dentist if you've already done 2-3yrs of assisting experience, compared to potentially do 0yrs (as if I move to Adelaide - I can't guarantee I will found work experience as a DA there). Are there many opportunities in getting a DA job, as someone with 0 prior work experience, in Adelaide (I had to try quite hard in Brisbane and got like maybe 3 offers out of 15 that I had applied for)? And to wrap up all that, even if I don't get a DA job in Adelaide, is the $100k lower loan still make it worth to move to Adelaide now?

I have until very soon to respond to the Uni of Adelaide BDS offer so would love to get any sort of feedback on my situation as early as possible. Thanks so much to the community of MSO - I'm sure this is just another case for you guys to show your wisdom!
Congrats on your offer. I can only answer questions that I know the answer to. At this stage, it doesn't really matter which uni you graduate from, you're as likely to get a job if you graduated from griffith as well as adelaide.
With regards to DA experience in getting a dentist job, that does not matter either. What may get you a job easier, is, for example, if you were doing DA in your 5th year, and you're about to graduate. If you're doing a good job and the boss likes you, they may offer you a job. That's about it, otherwise having previous DA experience does not really affect your chance of getting a job as a dentist.
 

vibkha

Lurker
Hey guys, need some advice. So I got an offer for mid year entry at unimelb for biomed/dent guaranteed entry as long as I maintain 80 wam in undergrad. If I get below 80 its converted to a full fee place which I cant afford. I am going to try and defer the offer until next year and attempt ucat so I can still try to get into a 5 yr course since I dont want to deal with the uncertainty of wam because I've never been uni and dont know how hard it is. From reading online it seems that its pretty difficult. But I just wanted to know something about unimelb. How do they guarantee the graduate degree. Like what happens if they offer more guaranteed places than the actual number of places. Especially with chancellors scholars, graduate degree packages (the offer I received) and guaranteed entry schemes how can they manage to include all these people plus graduate entry with gamsat. If they over offer is graduate entry just not going to be available in that year or are applicants ranked against each other. And if theres still too many people what happens to the people that were offered a guaranteed place, do they just not get a chance to get into postgrad dent. I think I read somewhere that they rank you and pick according to the available places depending on the date of enrolment but I dont know if this applies only to the guaranteed entry scheme or both the guaranteed entry and graduate degree package.


Also with VTAC offers, I called unimelb today about deferring but biomedicine is not guaranteed since you need a really good reason, however science/dent can be deferred without reason. I can only start in 2023, so I changed my preferences in VTAC for science/dentistry for the next offer round and I will try accepting and deferring science/dent instead. I would still prefer to get into a 5 year course since it finishes earlier and I am guaranteed to do dentistry with no wam requirement. But if I do end up going unimelb, would science be a better option especially with the uncertainty of wam. I know I have to pretty much do most of the biomed subjects anyways for prereqs, but apparently biomed is more competitive and harder to get a higher wam. Of course with hard work it is achievable but which one would be ‘easier’ and provide more of a safety net if I don't manage to get the wam. I dont want to be left with a useless degree. I could possibly major in comp sci or psychology in science if I change my mind but those majors are probably harder to get a higher wam. Any advice? I think if I cant defer any offers should I just accept it and go to melbourne next month or wait it out, apply everywhere, lose the melbourne offer and risk not getting into dentistry. I think after UCAT which is in about 2 weeks it will become a bit more clear depending on my score.

Also with LaTrobe dentistry, I still need to do the bio prereq via Unilearn to be eligible to apply. Is it even worth going to Latrobe since I have until September 30 to complete the bio course but it's recommended to take 18+ weeks. Even if I try really hard and get it done, along with interview prep would it really be worth it just to be eligible for one uni. The only good thing about latrobe is that they only look at atar so I may have a better chance of getting an offer if my ucat or interview doesnt go to well for the other unis, but at the same time I would still have my unimelb offer. So unimelb or latrobe?

Thanks in advance!
 

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