The following are Frequently Asked Questions about the Dental Hygiene Degree Program’s Degree Completion option. If you have a question that is not answered here, please contact the Dental Hygiene Admissions office.
I meet all the requirements and am ready to apply. Where do I apply?
The application is online. Please check our website in December for updated application information and deadline dates.
How do I know if my school was accredited at the time of graduation and if it wasn’t can I still apply to the Degree Completion option?
You can always look at the Commission on Dental Accreditation website for a list of currently accredited schools. If you are still unsure of your school’s accreditation status at the time of your graduation you will need to contact your school and/or the commission. If your school wasn’t accredited at the time you graduated you will not be eligible for the Degree Completion option.
Is there a time limit on the required prerequisites?
No, there is no time limit on the required prerequisites.
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I clicked on “Apply Online,” but the links from that site just kept going back to the admissions information. How do I get to the actual application?
After you click on “Apply Online,” you will be walked through the various requirements. Read the requirement information thoroughly, and then always select the link at the very bottom that says “Proceed to…” After you have read through the requirements and clicked “Proceed to…,” you will reach the Application Instructions page. At the bottom, click on “begin a new application.”
I already applied online through the you.ubc.ca website and selected Dental Hygiene as my first ‘choice’, but the UBC Dentistry website says the online application isn’t available yet. Have I applied correctly and if not where do I actually apply?
Prospective students applying to our Degree Completion Options should only apply through our online application service, which is dealt with exclusively by our faculty.
Do not apply via the you.ubc.ca website and make Dental Hygiene one of your admissions ‘choices’. If you have already applied through the you.ubc.ca website, you have mistakenly applied to our four year program for non-dental hygienists and will still need to apply to our online application service once it’s available. Applying via the you.ubc.ca website is only relevant if you want to apply to other programs at UBC.
I am applying to the Dental Hygiene Degree Program’s Degree Completion option. Which application should I choose?
Be sure to choose the ‘Dental Hygiene Degree Completion Admission Option’
I was already a student in the Dental Hygiene Degree Completion Program, I haven’t taken classes for over a year, but I would like to complete my degree. What do I do now?
Former students, who have lost their registration eligibility, by not taking the minimum 3 credits per academic year, will need to re-apply to the program and compete with prospective students for a space in the program.
I forgot to write down my Web ID when I completed the online application. Can you help me?
Yes, please contact the admissions office with your name as it appears on your application. We will be able to look up your Web ID.
The website mentions a “personal essay,” but there aren’t any instructions for the personal essay on the website. What is it supposed to be about?
The personal essay is the final question in the online application. You should submit the essay with your online application. You may copy the question, log out of the application, then log back into the application when you’re comfortable with submitting it.
The last name I am using on my application is different from the last name on some of my transcripts or other documents. What should I do?
The name on all of your documents must be exactly the same as the name on your application. If there is a discrepancy, an official document must be submitted to account for the name change. For example, if your name changed due to marriage, you must submit your marriage certificate (original or notarized copy). We will return the original to you once it has been processed.
I submitted the online application and sent in all my documents. How do I know that they’ve been received?
Approximately two weeks after you submit your online application, you will be able to log back in using the Web ID you were given when you applied. A checklist will be available for you to see what documents we have received. Please note that we update checklists as often as possible, but as we receive a high volume of mail it often takes two weeks for mail to be processed once received.
I ordered my transcripts weeks ago and they still aren’t checked off on the online checklist. What’s going on?
Most institutions have a one to two week transcript processing period. When you order your transcripts they may not be mailed for two weeks, and they will take another week to reach us. We update checklists as often as possible, but since we receive a high volume of mail it often takes an additional week for received mail to be processed and checked off on your online checklist.
If it has been over four weeks since your documents were mailed and they still aren’t checked off, please ensure that they were sent to the correct address. Transcripts must be sent to the Faculty of Dentistry’s exact address. Do not request that your transcripts be sent to “UBC;” they will not reach us.
I have an old copy of my transcript at home. Can I send this instead of ordering a transcript?
We require official transcripts mailed or emailed directly from the issuing institution to our office.
Can I email my transcript or other official documents to you?
They must be official transcripts sent directly from the issuing institution to our office. Please direct your institution to send transcripts to the Faculty of Dentistry’s exact address. Do not request that your transcripts be sent to “UBC;” they will not reach us.
We will accept electronic transcripts received by our office directly from the institution’s email address. Please direct your institution to send electronic transcripts to our Admissions Office: admissions@dentistry.ubc.ca.
How do I know whether or not the university level courses for Category 1 admission that I’ve completed are transferable to UBC?
We cannot know with complete certainty whether or not your courses are transferable, or to what courses at UBC they’re transferable to, before you apply and before your application is processed. One way to assess that is to look at the BC Transfer Guide. Another way is to compare course descriptions at your school to course descriptions for comparable courses at UBC at the UBC academic calendar.
Regardless of whether or not your school is covered by the BC Transfer Guide you should know that most college level general arts and science courses taken at accredited institutions are transferable between Canadian institutions.
I took Anatomy & Physiology and/or Psychology as part of my diploma program. Can this count as a prerequisite course for Category 1?
No. The 30 credits of first year prerequisite courses must be taken separately from your diploma program. If you do not have all 30 credits, you will be eligible for Category 2.
My diploma program allowed me to take Sociology or another arts course instead of taking first year English. Is this sufficient to fulfill the Category 1 English prerequisite?
The Category 1 prerequisite courses must be fulfilled exactly as listed. We do require 6 credits of first year English. Other courses are not acceptable to fulfill the English requirement.
I took first year Biology, but not Anatomy & Physiology; or, I took 3 credits of Anatomy/Physiology and 3 credits of another kind of Biology. Does this fulfill the requirement?
No. The six credits of Biology must be Anatomy & Physiology (or “Human Biology”). The course should cover “the principles of biology with particular reference to the human body (anatomy and physiology).”
What is a “credit?” What is a three credit or six credit course? What is an academic year?
Different schools have different ways of counting credits. At UBC, a one-term course is generally worth three credits. One term is September to December, January to April, or May to August. An academic year consists of all three terms from September to August. A six credit course would occur over two terms, typically beginning in September and ending in April. If you need six credits of Biology as a prerequisite course, then you need to have typically taken Biology from September to April. Occasionally a course will be offered in a shorter period of time, such as from May to August; if a six credit course is offered over four months, it would involve double the amount of work.
How much time is involved in taking an online course?
Every student has a unique learning style, but on average it is recommended that distance education students allow 10 – 15 hours per week per three credit course.
How do online courses work? Do I have to go somewhere to take exams? What about group work?
UBC’s Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology has great information about how online studies work. Exams are all taken online from home. Group work is done through email, chats, message boards, and conference calls.
Can you mail me an application or information package?
As part of our efforts to reduce paper use on campus, we provide detailed admissions procedures and requirements on our website, and the application itself is online only.
Where should I send my documents?
All Degree Completion application materials must be mailed to the Faculty of Dentistry Admissions Office – Dental Hygiene
Official transcripts must be mailed or emailed to the above address directly by the issuing institution. When ordering your transcripts, please specify the above address. Transcripts sent to the general UBC admissions address will not reach us.
I have applied to the Dental Hygiene Degree Program. When will I hear back about admission?
The Dental Hygiene Admissions Committee meets to review applications once a year in May. Offer letters will be sent to successful applicants by the middle of May. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified by the end of May.
I missed the application deadline. Can I apply now or do I have to wait until
next year?
The application deadlines are firm. Please apply next year.
I want to begin the program in January. When should I apply?
All Dental Hygiene Degree Program options admit new students for September only.
How much does the Degree Completion option cost?
Financial information is available on our website for Category 1 and Category 2 and International.
Do you accept students from outside BC to the Degree Completion option?
Yes, any dental hygienist from an accredited Canadian or American (USA) diploma program may apply to Degree Completion.
What kinds of courses do Degree Completion students take?
Courses are detailed on our website for Category 1 and Category 2 and International.
Some courses on your course list don’t have the computer icon beside them; does that mean you have to come to campus to take them?
All of the core courses can be completed online. Enough of the electives to fulfill your elective requirements can be done online. Hence, it is possible to complete your degree without ever setting foot on the UBC campus.
I want to complete my elective courses before I’m granted entry into the program. Is this possible?
This is possible; however you will need to successfully get into the Dental Hygiene Degree Program before we are able to access whether or not we your electives can be approved if they aren’t from our list of pre-approved electives for Category 1 and Category 2. You will need to apply to general UBC admissions by going to the you.ubc.ca website, noting the deadline for the term you are applying to and following general admissions requirements. You will also have to keep in mind that you won’t be able to take any Dental Hygiene courses before you are granted entry into the Faculty of Dentistry and you will need to keep in mind that you will need to have the pre-requisites for the courses you want to take. You should also keep in mind that being offered admission to UBC does not guarantee you will be offered admission to the Dental Hygiene Degree Program.
How many applicants are accepted to Degree Completion?
Since the program is available online, it allows us some flexibility. The number of students we accept depends on the number of eligible applicants and the amount of spaces we have available in the program. Although eligibility does not guarantee admission, the Faculty of Dentistry does seek to provide advanced education opportunities to as many dental hygiene professionals as possible. Typically there are more applicants than available spaces, so meeting the minimum entry requirement of 70% does not guarantee admission. You should also note that the admissions process is broad based; hence we take into account non-GPA factors when conducting admission. We do not release the average successful applicants have received in past years for Degree Completion, nor do we release our admissions formula.
I want to become a dentist. Will the Dental Hygiene Degree Program prepare me for the Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) Program?
The dental hygiene and the DMD programs in dentistry are separate professions. Our Dental Hygiene Degree Program prepares outstanding dental hygienists, and is not a route to the DMD Program with prepares dentists.
If you’re interested in becoming a dentist, you should look at our DMD Program. Admission to the DMD Program requires 90 credits of undergraduate courses, including many prerequisite courses. The Dental Hygiene Degree Program does not cover the DMD prerequisites.
I am an internationally-trained dentist. How can I apply to the Dental Hygiene Degree Program?
The dental hygiene and the DMD programs in dentistry are separate professions. The information covered in our Dental Hygiene Degree Program is very different from that in a DMD or DDS program.
Admitted applicants to the four-year Dental Hygiene Degree Program’s Entry-to- Practice option all start the program in year one.