Urgent help needed

So i missed out on the grades for my dentistry offer at queen mary but they have given me the offer to choose if i want to do a 3 year course of Dental Materials, Biomedical engineering or Biomaterials and i am thinking of doing this and then doing postgrad dentistry (4 years) or retaking the year and applying to dentistry next year (6 years altogether). What shall i do?? what is the better option?

Hi there, so I just finished doing Dental Materials at QMUL and will now start Dentistry in September. Firstly, this sort of decision is a very personal one. A main thing to consider however, is how far off the grades you required were you. Also funding is an important consideration, yes if you get into a 4 year Dentistry course you will get some funding towards tuition fees, however, for 5 year dentistry courses (as a second degree) you will not.

Graduate entry is not guaranteed but it is possible. You do become more resilient, determined and knowledgeable as a result of doing another degree.

If you want any further info on what studying at QMUL is like, feel free to drop me a message.

I got Bbb when the requirements was AAA. How many people from the dental materials course had gotten into dentistry? And is the post graduate entry more difficult than under graduate entry?

I was in a similar position.

I'll give you the pros and cons of the course from my opinion:

Pros:
-It got me into Dentistry
-It has given me a type of knowledge that I wouldn't have otherwise and has given me something that sets me apart from other post grads.
-I got to work on a very interesting project in my final year
-It combines all the sciences. The 2 more biological based modules out of the 8 that you do each year were particularly interesting, such as bioengineering modules, med physiology and the dental materials module in final year.
-You come out with a Bachelors of Engineering, which sets you up for any career you may want to go into should you not be successful in a Dentistry application.
-Relatively small lecture groups
-A lot of Group project work, PBLs

Cons:
-It is an engineering degree, so expect Maths and Physics. Since it is a materials science degree.
-There isn't a major focus on Dentistry until your final year (one completely focused dental materials module and your final year project)
- you may not be considered as competitive as other applicants (I was told this by a uni), mainly for the 4 year grad courses, saying that a friend of mine did get onto one.
- A fair amount of coursework, especially in first year, but that's good and bad I guess

So in terms of my cohort, we had 10 people doing dental materials ( although most our lectures are with general materials science students or bioengineers, normally around 40 in a lecture), 6 of us applied and 5 of us got offers, which was pretty impressive. However, this doesn't mean that each year this happens, since in previous years in may be less or more.

Post graduate dentistry is competitive, however, with a good UKCAT score, you would put yourself in a good position. Mine wasn't that high so I got 3 rejections before I got an interview for my next uni.

Did you enjoy the course or did it feel more like a chore so you could get into dentistry? And how much work experience did you do during the degree, if you can help me get some work exp i'll be very grateful or any idea where to apply and when.

Hi there, so I just finished doing Dental Materials at QMUL and will now start Dentistry in September. Firstly, this sort of decision is a very personal one. A main thing to consider however, is how far off the grades you required were you. Also funding is an important consideration, yes if you get into a 4 year Dentistry course you will get some funding towards tuition fees, however, for 5 year dentistry courses (as a second degree) you will not.

Graduate entry is not guaranteed but it is possible. You do become more resilient, determined and knowledgeable as a result of doing another degree.

If you want any further info on what studying at QMUL is like, feel free to drop me a message.

did you do the 3 or 4 year programme may i ask?

I also did dental materials a few years back and am now going into my fourth year year of dentistry this september. I personally hated the first year and regretted it so much, but then after that I actually really enjoyed it once I had sort of accepted the fact that I had to do it as a means to an end. I agree with pretty much everything on the pros/cons list above but would also say that the fact that you are doing an engineering degree makes you stand out against other applicants when it comes down to applying. In my year I think the majority of people that applied are now studying dentistry so there is quite a good chance of getting in. Some universities can be a little bit odd about the course, saying there might not be enough biology in it (I know Kings said that to some people, yet me and one other still got interviews), but I dont know if the course has changed since I was on it in terms of content.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Hi there,

May i ask what you got for you Alevels? Ive looked on the Queen Mary's Grad Entry requirements and they require AAA but i achieved AAC.
However if i was to meet other requirements and get a high ukcat for example would i have a chance of getting in? Ive heard Kings dont look at A levels as much.
Also how long ago did you study your dental materials degree?

Many thanks