The Master’s in Oral Health Sciences (OHS) program at Boston University, affiliated with BU Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (BUGSDM), is a branch of Graduate Medical Sciences located within the Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine. The program was initiated in 2005 to serve as a pathway for students from underrepresented groups to enhance their academic credentials and gain admission to dental school. Taking previous studies into account, this investigation aimed to (1) determine whether working during the undergraduate degree program impacted undergraduate performance, as measured by the student’s cumulative grade point average (GPA); (2) determine whether performance improved during OHS, a program during which a student is assumed to not work due to the program’s academic rigor, as measured by the student’s OHS GPA; and (3) determine whether specific academic factors (e.g. subsection scores on the Dental Admission Test [DAT], certain undergraduate courses such as upper-level biology or upper-level math courses, etc.) were associated with success in coursework and thus could serve as positive predictors for admissions and future success in dental school. Data was obtained using (a) available deidentified applications to the OHS program and (b) available deidentified American Dental Education Association Associated American Dental Schools Application Service applications to BUGSDM for five OHS class years: 2016-2020. Analysis of variance was used to determine if statistically significant relationships existed between academic parameters. It was found that significant relationships existed between OHS GPA and (1) the following DAT subsection scores: perceptual ability, quantitative reasoning, biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, total science, and academic average and (2) the following undergraduate courses: Biology I, Biology II, and General Chemistry I. Those students earning a B or better in Biology I, Biology II, and General Chemistry I courses were found to have a graduate (OHS program) GPA 0.03-0.04 points higher than the mean. Additionally, those students earning lower DAT scores in the BI (17), GC (18), and OC (18) subsections earned a lower overall OHS GPA. Students earning higher DAT scores in the BI (19), GC (20), and OC (19) subsections earned a higher overall OHS GPA. These relationships were found to be statistically significant. The implications of this study can extend to other U.S. pre-dental post-baccalaureate programs and dental programs and be used as positive predictors for academic success and in admissions.

Thesis (M.A.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Digital Rhetoric & Professional Writing, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Aug. 4, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-130). Also issued in print.

The Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program is a U.S. Department of Education TRIO Program, funded at 152 institutions across the United States and Puerto Rico. In 2013, total funding reached over $35 million--of which, Portland State University received approximately $211,000 (US Department of Education, 2013). The program's goal is to introduce first-generation, low-income, under-represented group college students to effective strategies for succeeding in doctoral programs so they may become professors and create a more supportive environment for future non-traditional students. One way to explore program effectiveness beyond completion of the McNair Program is to ask the McNair Scholars themselves about program impact. This comparative interview study explores McNair graduates' understandings of issues they face in adjusting to graduate school and how participation in the McNair Program prepared them to address these issues. Typically, McNair program evaluations emphasize the collection and analysis of quantitative data - e.g. graduate school enrollment and degree attainment. However, little qualitative research has been conducted on graduate's perceptions of the impact of program participation on their graduate school experiences. This study, which uses Bourdieu's Theory of Social Reproduction, along with the sociology-based ideas of role-as-resource, role mastery, and expertise development, explores students' perceptions of the McNair Program's effectiveness in regards to helping them understand the "graduate student" role and use that role to succeed in graduate school and beyond.

While a great deal of psychological research is conducted on college students, less has been done on their adaptation to college. These young adults, as they develop ego identity and differentiate themselves from parents and families, must adjust to the social and academic environment of college. Psychosocial adjustment predicts college retention better than academic predictors do. First generation college students face greater than typical challenges adapting to college. The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program exists to aid first generation, lower income undergraduate student who wish to pursue a doctoral degree. Self-definition scored from thematic apperceptive technique stories reflects an individual’s relative freedom from social role constraint. This study examined the role of self-definition and familial understanding and acceptance in this population as predictors of successful adaptation to college. While neither was found to be a significant predictor, family understanding and acceptance was found to be a more defining characteristic of this sample than was self-definition. This suggests that when social support is sufficient, individuals do not need to rely on self-definition.