My own efforts got me into dental school. I did also apply as a WICHE applicant. In my state (AZ), it's just filling out a form to prove residency. Just that form alone will boost your chances of interviewing at the schools that participate. You have to be competitive for those schools, of course, and know how to interview. Even if they're not your favorite schools, they make for good 'safety' schools because you have better odds of interviewing. I'm baffled that I still see some AZ residents not just filling out the form! No strings attached unless you accept funding (if you're even selected to receive it).
As far as getting the funding, you have to be accepted to one of the WICHE schools and be selected to receive funding. That's the part that's mysterious. Selection varies by state and schools and they will never tell you how applicants are ranked. Example: MWU ranks their accepted WICHE applicants. The AZ WICHE office ranks all AZ applicants who applied for WICHE. The mother WICHE ship in CO magically generates a ranked list based on the two lists and sends it back to your state. In AZ, the state's budget determines how many students they will accept for funding from that ranked list. When you're selected, you get funding for all 4 years (3 for UoP). AZ is a 'contract state'. If I accept the funding for 4 years, I have to practice in AZ for 4 years (in any capacity I want). Two years if I go rural. If I land some better gig out-of-state, the payback is better than a federal loan. So, yes, I think it's a good gig. Luckily, I got the funding (~$25K off tuition per year). I don't know which state you're from, but some states are a take-your-word-for-it state. So you can, in theory, take the money and ditch the state when you're done.
I assume stats play a role in the magical rankings, but depending on your state, it could be easier (AZ sends the most dental students of any WICHE sending state...so it's competitive). I was a 3.9/19 applicants. I know. 19. That still hurts my pride three years later. But whatever. I applied to 9 schools. I attended 4 of the 5 interviews at WICHE schools and got into 2 of those (Western, MWU-AZ) and 2 other non-WICHE schools (MWU-IL and Temple).
