dentistry gap year or not?

so I didn't get my offers back yay and I'm setting myself up for a gap year but my entire family are really against gap years. they see it as a waste of a year and 'once u get out of education for that long it's hard to get back in', but I think this is the only way for me to get into dentistry which is my dream. my parents said to apply to pharmacy through clearing because there's no guarantee I'll get dentistry next year if I didn't this year and that's true I guess but I don't want to do pharmacy I want to do dentistry.
But also I'm stressed about going through the application process again and being behind all of my friends when they move on to university etc. I thought my application this year was really good and this was even confirmed through the rejection emails as they said the only issue was 'competition'. surely there'll be competition next year as well so I might still be rejected and then I'll have wasted a whole year for nothing?
I don't know, it's all a bit stressful. my thought was to apply to 3 dental schools and 2 pharmacy but I don't even know if I can do that to be honest. someone please help!

You could still go on a pharmacy course and then ask whether it is possible in year 2 to switch to another course (dentistry)/ or if it is possible to apply to another university for dentistry as someone applying as a current y1 pharmacy student. Its worth checking out what transfers are available for y1 pharmacy students.

But that's only if you want to do a year of pharmacy. If not then don't and wait for next year but the reality is there is no guarantee you'll get on a dentistry course next year and will end up in the same position - in that case you could have wasted a year.

A possible solution is maybe undertaking a dentistry internship/work experience placement in this gap year to strengthen your new application to dentistry which would increase your chances of getting in.

What are your stats? Did you apply strategically?
As above, unfortunately a gap year is your only realistic change of getting into dentistry provided you’re stats are strong.
- Do not do a degree your parents choose for you, it won’t end well
- Do not do another degree with the aim of graduate entry dentistry because it’s much more competitive
- Do not do another degree with the aim of transferring because the chance of being successful is almost 0

9999988887 2610 B2 and A*A*AA
I applied to plymouth (low ucat), queen marys (high ucas tariff), cardiff (high GCSEs) and kings which was my aspirational to be fair
People say to use the gap year for work experience but I already have NHS general dentist experience and experience with an endodontist in Pakistan- I thought this would give me a unique stand out point but clearly not haha
I really thought I had a chance with these but the competition was just way too high. Thanks for the advice, in my gap year I'll definitely focus on my UCAT and get even more experience

im currently on gap year, feel like its been a waste, interviews gone okay just like last year so now im preparing to go to czech. Oh well

so I didn't get my offers back yay and I'm setting myself up for a gap year but my entire family are really against gap years. they see it as a waste of a year and 'once u get out of education for that long it's hard to get back in', but I think this is the only way for me to get into dentistry which is my dream. my parents said to apply to pharmacy through clearing because there's no guarantee I'll get dentistry next year if I didn't this year and that's true I guess but I don't want to do pharmacy I want to do dentistry.
But also I'm stressed about going through the application process again and being behind all of my friends when they move on to university etc. I thought my application this year was really good and this was even confirmed through the rejection emails as they said the only issue was 'competition'. surely there'll be competition next year as well so I might still be rejected and then I'll have wasted a whole year for nothing?
I don't know, it's all a bit stressful. my thought was to apply to 3 dental schools and 2 pharmacy but I don't even know if I can do that to be honest. someone please help!

As everyone else said, 100% do not do pharmacy. I won't repeat the reasons because everyone else has already stated them but I'm currently on a gap year and am working as a dental nurse so it is actually a really great opportunity to learn more about dentistry and strengthen your application for next year. All the dentists at my practice have told me so much that what I'm doing will help so much at uni because I won't be going in with zero knowledge. I have only been working for a month now and I have already learned SO much, so honestly don't be disheartened by not getting in this year because it is actually a really good opportunity! Obviously, there are other options other than dental nursing but I found this to be the best option for me and I highly recommend it

was there a specific org u did the dental nursing with?

There are two options - the apprenticeship or doing a private course. You can qualify A LOT quicker with the private course (usually as quickly as you like depending on how quickly you get through the content but it’s usually meant to be 12 months) but you would have to self fund it whereas the apprenticeship takes 15-18 months minimum but it is fully funded by the government. It is completely up to you which option you choose and mainly depends on whether you want to qualify quickly/at all or not you may be able to earn a few more pounds an hour if you’re on a private course but that completely depends on the practice and isn’t necessarily guaranteed.

I’m actually on both at the moment funnily enough 😂 just because I started off thinking I didn’t want to spend money on the course when I’m only using it for my gap year but @DrSmile is so much smarter than me 😂 and when she explained her reasons for doing the private course I decided to join a private course so I can qualify early and work as a locum nurse at uni I’m only staying on the apprenticeship course so my boss doesn’t lose the funding though. Idk if that’s the question you were asking though? 😅 if it’s not, let me know and I’ll do my best to answer properly 😂

As everyone else said, 100% do not do pharmacy. I won't repeat the reasons because everyone else has already stated them but I'm currently on a gap year and am working as a dental nurse so it is actually a really great opportunity to learn more about dentistry and strengthen your application for next year. All the dentists at my practice have told me so much that what I'm doing will help so much at uni because I won't be going in with zero knowledge. I have only been working for a month now and I have already learned SO much, so honestly don't be disheartened by not getting in this year because it is actually a really good opportunity! Obviously, there are other options other than dental nursing but I found this to be the best option for me and I highly recommend it

I do dental nursing and I nursed today with a dentist who teaches at a dental school in the UK. They told me they’ll prep me next year for my interviews and that they do the admissions for said dental school too. If that isn’t enough of a reason to nurse, I don’t know what is haha. The dental field is small. EVERYONE KNOWS EACH OTHER TOO.

I thought you got an offer in the last few days? Anyway if you didn't that will be an amazing help. I really wish I could pay someone in charge of admissions for some sort of coaching lol, they are clearly looking for sonething specific in the interviews.

What?!

???

I do dental nursing and I nursed today with a dentist who teaches at a dental school in the UK. They told me they’ll prep me next year for my interviews and that they do the admissions for said dental school too. If that isn’t enough of a reason to nurse, I don’t know what is haha. The dental field is small. EVERYONE KNOWS EACH OTHER TOO.

I don’t know what you’re on about with me having an offer..haha. I wish it was true (: