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If you are wondering "What Schools Should I Apply To?" or "What Are My Chances?" you've come to the right place!
There's no reason to have a ton of individual threads about this in the forum, and since we don't have a subforum for this, everyone, you just need to educate yourselves with the wealth of information that is already out there. If you're on these boards, you're an intelligent person; this stuff isn't rocket science, you can figure it out.
Start by going to www.PreDents.com, and go to Ranking > Sort Schools By > xxxxx
You can arrange them by GPA, DAT, or more importantly, % Out-of-State students; the higher the better. If the Out-of-State (OOS) percentage is lower than 30%, generally it would be a waste to apply to those places (note that NYU, Western, and Midwestern are mistakenly 0%, because there is no current data for those schools; these schools are OOS friendly. Kentucky may be the exception to the 30% rule). Some percentages can be deceiving though: Washington's OOS and OHSU's OOS is almost entirely WICHE, UMKC's OOS is almost entirely Kansas residents, Minnesota's OOS is entirely regional and Wisconsin residents, UMDNJ's and WVU's OOS numbers are deceptively high, Colorado's OOS is entirely regional, Tennessee's OOS is mostly Arkansas residents, and Alabama's OOS is entirely Georgia and regional residents. Also, unless you are URM (African-American, Latino/a, Native American), ignore all data for Howard and Meharry, although Howard does accept a good number of Asians.
Obviously, if you have an In-State public school (and your scores are within a reasonable range), apply there. However, eliminating OOS unfriendly state schools (as well as Howard/Meharry), you end up with the following schools to choose from (number of OOS seats in parenthesis, based on 2009 ADEA figures):
1. NYU (168)
2. Tufts (121+52, they are gradually adding 52 additional seats by 2011 as part of the Vertical Expansion Initiative.)
3. Temple (98)
4. Boston University (91)
5. Midwestern AZ(82)
6. Creighton (79)
7. Louisville (76, they added 35 more OOS seats this year)
8. Pittsburgh (72)
9. Western (64 total)
10. Maryland (57)
11. USC (55)
12. Case Western (50)
13. Buffalo (48)
14. Virginia Commonwealth (45)
15. Nova (43)
16. Michigan (42)
17. Marquette (40)
18. Indiana (30)
19. Detroit Mercy (27)
20. Midwestern IL(Unknown)
21. UConn (19, Has very few seats, and tends to accept OOS students with higher stats than their average would indicate)
22. Kentucky (17, I consider this school to be OOS friendly based on anecdotal evidence. I will remove it if that evidence is refuted.)
23. UNLV (33, This is a school that will give you a chance OOS only if you apply early.)
24. ASDOH (46, Do you have hundreds of hours of community service and volunteering? If so, you should apply here.)
25. Loma Linda (44, Are you heavily religiously inclined? More specifically, are you of the Seventh-day Adventist Church? They will ask you about it in the secondary application, and it is very difficult to get in if you're not SDA.)
The following schools have a DAT average of 21 or higher, thus if you have a 19 DAT forget it, if you have a 20 DAT you perhaps have an outside chance of getting in, and if you have 21+ DAT, these schools might be for you. (UCLA, UW, and Stony Brook are in this category but were eliminated for not being OOS Friendly).
26. Penn (48)
27. University of Pacific (46)
28. Columbia (44)
29. Harvard (35)
30. UCSF (25)
I have no information about the new or proposed dental schools of Eastern Carolina University, University of New England in Maine, the University of Southern Nevada in Utah, and the University of Utah. I would assume that being new schools with no reputation and no accreditation that these may be less competitive schools to get into, so if your GPA and DAT is on the lower side these are definitely schools to research and consider. I would also assume that the Utah schools would have a strong preference for LDS students, but I may be wrong. If anyone has any information on these schools, especially if they accept mainly in-state or are private institutions, feel free to post them.
So essentially, if you do not have an in-state public school and are not URM, you have these 30 schools to choose from when applying, 30 out of 58 total schools. If you're too lazy to read the rest of the guide in detail, and you have average or reasonably competitive stats, you could apply to the first 20-23 schools I listed as well as your state schools and you might be alright, though I recommend against this...
The next thing you want to do is to read Doc Toothache's 2010 Ranking of DAT/Other Selection Criteria by US DShttp://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=657139 (which is more accurate than PreDents.com): http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t= 657139
(This is last year's guide from Doc Toothache) Doc Toothache's 09 Ranking of Dental Schools Based on DAT/GPA : http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=602109
Also, make sure you check out Fodog's Every Statistic About Every Dental School, a guide based on the figures from the 2010 ADEA Guide To Dental Schools and the 2008-2009 Survey of Dental Education, compiled by Fodog (02-08-2010). It's amazing, very useful, I highly recommend using it: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=700459
Here's the working link for the ADA Survey of Dental Education: Tuition, Admission, and Attrition (link provided by peanutb123) ADA Survey of Dental Education: Tuition, Admission, and Attrition
Based on your GPA/DAT, choose schools that fit your range of scores. If you're not sure if you are competitive, you could use the modified UTHSCSA formula by plugging your numbers into: Science GPA x ([DAT AA/30]x4 + Overall GPA, and compare your values with the values in Doc Toothaches chart for UTHSCSA formula. For example, if you had a 3.5 GPA, 3.4 Science GPA, and 19 AA, you would calculate: 3.4 x ([19/30]x4 + 3.5 = 12.11, which is your UTHSCSA value, and says that you are competitive for schools that are below this value (if these are your scores, there are 15 schools within your range, not including Howard-Meharry-Puerto Rico, and prior to eliminating public schools which you are out-of-state). The formula does neglect the PAT score (check PreDents for that), and does not take into account individual sections (which many schools have a cut-off of 17 for each individual section). The formula itself has no real validity or meaning, but it is a tool to help you choose schools that are within your range. Generally, you want to apply to schools that have DAT averages of less than 1 point over your DAT, and at most 0.2 GPA points from your overall GPA and Science GPA (not a hard and set rule, just some parameters to consider).
[The following charts were compiled by Doc Toothache] For DAT/GPA, you can also look at the DAT-GPA trends and Range of DAT scores. Also, different schools value different DAT/GPA/other selection criteria. In general, schools tend to look the most heavily for AA/TS/RC/scienceGPA/overallGPA/Interview, and not so much on QR & non-scienceGPA, with half the schools looking specifically for high PAT and good LORs. If your undergrad GPA is low, consider an SMP (Special Masters Program), a 1 year Masters with no thesis (Barry University in Miami offers an SMP, there are others.. you can often use your DAT to apply in lieu of a GRE), and many schools favor an applicant with a Masters Degree. If you are wondering how much your Race plays into particular schools (as well as choice of Major and Gender), check out these charts on the Affirmative Action Myth and Minority Acceptance in Dental Schools. As you can see, some schools are almost all white (06 Data: Louisville-85%, Marquette-85%, Indiana-84%, Buffalo-80%, Pitt-76%), and some schools accept very few Asians (06 Data: UConn: 1/211 Asian applicants accepted, Marquette:1/179 Asian applicants accepted, Louisville:1/151 Asian applicants accepted). If you're wondering about how much Age plays a factor, over 200 older "Non-Traditional" applicants were accepted last year. Also, the number of Shadowing Hours Required by Schools is different. In general, you want at least 30 Hours, with 100 Hours being ideal. Applying early is so important. Take a look at the Acceptances with Pre and Post Dec. Interviews 2009.
Another thing to consider is the course requirements (Pre-Reqs). Some schools require 1 year of English, others, 1 semester. Some schools require 1 year of Calculus, others, 1 semester. Statistics, Psychology, Sociology, Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry II, Microbiology, Physiology, and Anatomy are also courses that some schools may require and others may not; check the school's websites or consult the ADEA 2010 Official Guide to Dental Schools for this information. If you are applying as a college Junior, you may be able to take these school-specific required courses during your second semester Senior year, after finding out what school you are going to after December 1st (hopefully). As long as you finish these school-specific required courses before attending that dental school, you'll be fine. Also, keep in mind that some schools DO NOT accept Pre-Reqs from Community College, such as Tufts, NYU, BU, and Temple. In fact, Tufts won't accept any CC credits, so you can effectively remove it from your list if you went to CC before you went to a 4-year institution.
So at this point you know which schools are Out-of-State friendly, know which schools match your stats and would give you the maximum chance at acceptance, and know which schools you can't apply to because of school-specific required courses. Your list still might be over 20 schools at this point, and you want to narrow it down more. Consider things like: Location (Urban, Suburban, Rural), Region (Northeast, South, West, Midwest), Cost (Buffalo is one of the best values), Facilities (Maryland and Detroit-Mercy have some of the best facilities), Overall Reputation (do you care if it's an Ivy League or UC?), Clinical Reputation for producing the best General Dentists (GPs) (UoP, Temple, Tufts, Detroit-Mercy, UIC), Best Chances to SPECIALIZE(Harvard, Columbia, UPenn, UCLA, UCSF, Stony Brook), class size (NYU, Tufts, and USC have the largest classes), PBL curriculum (USC, Indiana, Case, Harvard, soon-to-be UIC), possible religious undertones (Loma Linda, Marquette, Creighton), racial diversity (Midwestern AZ, Marquette, and Louisville are known for their lack thereof), research opportunities (UConn, Michigan, Harvard, UPenn, Columbia, Maryland, Pittsburgh, UCSF), safety of the area (Temple, Detroit, Case), proximity to home and family, ect. ect… Ultimately it is up to you to decide what factors are most important, and to choose your schools based on that.
You can disregard the most important consideration, Cost, if you are getting the scholarship for National Health Service Corps (NHSC) or the US Military's Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP). The full scholarship pays for all of your tuition and living expenses, and for the HPSP, gives you a $1,900 monthly stipend and a $20,000 signing bonus as well. Each requires a pay-back period of 4 years if you take the full scholarship, meaning that you will serve as a military dentist for 4 years with HPSP, or serving a high-need area such as a prison or Indian reservation with NHSC. For the military HPSP, you can join Army, Navy, or Air Force, with the Air Force being the most competitive (Read the following guide for the HPSP). If you have a 3.5 GPA and 20 DAT, you automatically qualify if there are still scholarships available (apply early), but if your scores are lower you can still apply. The NHSC is competitive as well. These are especially popular options for those going to expensive private schools such as NYU, USC, Tufts, or Penn. Another option, if you like laboratory research, is a fully funded 7 or 8 year DMD/PhD program, which will pay for some or all of your dental school tuition, as well as provide a stipend. I do not have a list of these programs, but I do know of 7-year programs at UConn and Michigan. They are highly competitive; my friend who got into the UConn program had a 21 AA, 22 TS, and over a 4.0 GPA.
One more thing to consider about Cost is a repayment plan called Income Based Repayment. President Obama passed this into law in 2009, and it is a fairly new repayment option. Essentially, you commit to paying the federal government 15% of your salary for 25 years, and after 25 years you pay the taxes on the remaining balance and the rest will be absolved. This is a great deal for those who are going to an expensive private school like Tufts or NYU and if you don't plan on making over $200,000 per year (most of us won't). If you plan on owning and running a multi-million dollar chain of practices, obviously 15% is not a good deal for you. Also, starting next year I believe (correct me if I'm wrong), the incoming class of dental students will only have to pay back 10% of income earned after 20 years, an even better deal! So while I used to be worried about the size of my Tufts loans, I am not anymore because of IBR. Makes me feel better about choosing an expensive private school over my state school haha.
For the Canadian/International applicant, your choice of schools is very limited. For the most part, you will bank on the large expensive private schools (or should I say, they will bank on you, zing!). This list is not comprehensive, but to my knowledge, the schools that are Canadian applicant friendly are: NYU, Tufts, BU, USC, UoP, Temple, Buffalo, Detroit Mercy, Pitt, Penn, Case, Nova, Columbia, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Michigan, and Midwestern AZ (no information on the new schools Western and Midwestern IL is available). If you are a Canadian applicant, I'd recommend further investigation into these particular institutions. Also, if you have only taken the Canadian DAT, check with each school individually to see which schools will only accept the American DAT.
Thanks to Doc Toothache and PDizzle for compiling so much information for the benefit of dental school applicants on SDN. Let me know (by PM) if any of this information is outdated and I will update it.
Good luck this cycle everyone!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I get a chance I'll add a DAT section, to complete my magnum opus
[under construction...]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After You Get Interviews:
Make sure you read Burton117's ***Official: Can you answer these questions about your dental school?*** thread, it provides some deeper insight on the inner workings of each school.
Also, before your interview you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO READ SDN INTERVIEW FEEDBACK!!!
It presents the most common interview questions from the schools you are interviewing at to help you prepare, and also presents some useful data.
New SDN Interview Feedback: http://www.studentdoctor.net/schools/
Old SDN Interview Feedback: http://more.studentdoctor.net/schoollist.php?type=3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: I am not, nor do I claim to be, an expert on dental school admissions. Take any advice you hear, from anyone, with a grain of salt. Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see. Ultimately, you'll have to trust your instincts
There's no reason to have a ton of individual threads about this in the forum, and since we don't have a subforum for this, everyone, you just need to educate yourselves with the wealth of information that is already out there. If you're on these boards, you're an intelligent person; this stuff isn't rocket science, you can figure it out.
Start by going to www.PreDents.com, and go to Ranking > Sort Schools By > xxxxx
You can arrange them by GPA, DAT, or more importantly, % Out-of-State students; the higher the better. If the Out-of-State (OOS) percentage is lower than 30%, generally it would be a waste to apply to those places (note that NYU, Western, and Midwestern are mistakenly 0%, because there is no current data for those schools; these schools are OOS friendly. Kentucky may be the exception to the 30% rule). Some percentages can be deceiving though: Washington's OOS and OHSU's OOS is almost entirely WICHE, UMKC's OOS is almost entirely Kansas residents, Minnesota's OOS is entirely regional and Wisconsin residents, UMDNJ's and WVU's OOS numbers are deceptively high, Colorado's OOS is entirely regional, Tennessee's OOS is mostly Arkansas residents, and Alabama's OOS is entirely Georgia and regional residents. Also, unless you are URM (African-American, Latino/a, Native American), ignore all data for Howard and Meharry, although Howard does accept a good number of Asians.
Obviously, if you have an In-State public school (and your scores are within a reasonable range), apply there. However, eliminating OOS unfriendly state schools (as well as Howard/Meharry), you end up with the following schools to choose from (number of OOS seats in parenthesis, based on 2009 ADEA figures):
1. NYU (168)
2. Tufts (121+52, they are gradually adding 52 additional seats by 2011 as part of the Vertical Expansion Initiative.)
3. Temple (98)
4. Boston University (91)
5. Midwestern AZ(82)
6. Creighton (79)
7. Louisville (76, they added 35 more OOS seats this year)
8. Pittsburgh (72)
9. Western (64 total)
10. Maryland (57)
11. USC (55)
12. Case Western (50)
13. Buffalo (48)
14. Virginia Commonwealth (45)
15. Nova (43)
16. Michigan (42)
17. Marquette (40)
18. Indiana (30)
19. Detroit Mercy (27)
20. Midwestern IL(Unknown)
21. UConn (19, Has very few seats, and tends to accept OOS students with higher stats than their average would indicate)
22. Kentucky (17, I consider this school to be OOS friendly based on anecdotal evidence. I will remove it if that evidence is refuted.)
23. UNLV (33, This is a school that will give you a chance OOS only if you apply early.)
24. ASDOH (46, Do you have hundreds of hours of community service and volunteering? If so, you should apply here.)
25. Loma Linda (44, Are you heavily religiously inclined? More specifically, are you of the Seventh-day Adventist Church? They will ask you about it in the secondary application, and it is very difficult to get in if you're not SDA.)
The following schools have a DAT average of 21 or higher, thus if you have a 19 DAT forget it, if you have a 20 DAT you perhaps have an outside chance of getting in, and if you have 21+ DAT, these schools might be for you. (UCLA, UW, and Stony Brook are in this category but were eliminated for not being OOS Friendly).
26. Penn (48)
27. University of Pacific (46)
28. Columbia (44)
29. Harvard (35)
30. UCSF (25)
I have no information about the new or proposed dental schools of Eastern Carolina University, University of New England in Maine, the University of Southern Nevada in Utah, and the University of Utah. I would assume that being new schools with no reputation and no accreditation that these may be less competitive schools to get into, so if your GPA and DAT is on the lower side these are definitely schools to research and consider. I would also assume that the Utah schools would have a strong preference for LDS students, but I may be wrong. If anyone has any information on these schools, especially if they accept mainly in-state or are private institutions, feel free to post them.
So essentially, if you do not have an in-state public school and are not URM, you have these 30 schools to choose from when applying, 30 out of 58 total schools. If you're too lazy to read the rest of the guide in detail, and you have average or reasonably competitive stats, you could apply to the first 20-23 schools I listed as well as your state schools and you might be alright, though I recommend against this...
The next thing you want to do is to read Doc Toothache's 2010 Ranking of DAT/Other Selection Criteria by US DShttp://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=657139 (which is more accurate than PreDents.com): http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t= 657139
(This is last year's guide from Doc Toothache) Doc Toothache's 09 Ranking of Dental Schools Based on DAT/GPA : http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=602109
Also, make sure you check out Fodog's Every Statistic About Every Dental School, a guide based on the figures from the 2010 ADEA Guide To Dental Schools and the 2008-2009 Survey of Dental Education, compiled by Fodog (02-08-2010). It's amazing, very useful, I highly recommend using it: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=700459
Here's the working link for the ADA Survey of Dental Education: Tuition, Admission, and Attrition (link provided by peanutb123) ADA Survey of Dental Education: Tuition, Admission, and Attrition
Based on your GPA/DAT, choose schools that fit your range of scores. If you're not sure if you are competitive, you could use the modified UTHSCSA formula by plugging your numbers into: Science GPA x ([DAT AA/30]x4 + Overall GPA, and compare your values with the values in Doc Toothaches chart for UTHSCSA formula. For example, if you had a 3.5 GPA, 3.4 Science GPA, and 19 AA, you would calculate: 3.4 x ([19/30]x4 + 3.5 = 12.11, which is your UTHSCSA value, and says that you are competitive for schools that are below this value (if these are your scores, there are 15 schools within your range, not including Howard-Meharry-Puerto Rico, and prior to eliminating public schools which you are out-of-state). The formula does neglect the PAT score (check PreDents for that), and does not take into account individual sections (which many schools have a cut-off of 17 for each individual section). The formula itself has no real validity or meaning, but it is a tool to help you choose schools that are within your range. Generally, you want to apply to schools that have DAT averages of less than 1 point over your DAT, and at most 0.2 GPA points from your overall GPA and Science GPA (not a hard and set rule, just some parameters to consider).
[The following charts were compiled by Doc Toothache] For DAT/GPA, you can also look at the DAT-GPA trends and Range of DAT scores. Also, different schools value different DAT/GPA/other selection criteria. In general, schools tend to look the most heavily for AA/TS/RC/scienceGPA/overallGPA/Interview, and not so much on QR & non-scienceGPA, with half the schools looking specifically for high PAT and good LORs. If your undergrad GPA is low, consider an SMP (Special Masters Program), a 1 year Masters with no thesis (Barry University in Miami offers an SMP, there are others.. you can often use your DAT to apply in lieu of a GRE), and many schools favor an applicant with a Masters Degree. If you are wondering how much your Race plays into particular schools (as well as choice of Major and Gender), check out these charts on the Affirmative Action Myth and Minority Acceptance in Dental Schools. As you can see, some schools are almost all white (06 Data: Louisville-85%, Marquette-85%, Indiana-84%, Buffalo-80%, Pitt-76%), and some schools accept very few Asians (06 Data: UConn: 1/211 Asian applicants accepted, Marquette:1/179 Asian applicants accepted, Louisville:1/151 Asian applicants accepted). If you're wondering about how much Age plays a factor, over 200 older "Non-Traditional" applicants were accepted last year. Also, the number of Shadowing Hours Required by Schools is different. In general, you want at least 30 Hours, with 100 Hours being ideal. Applying early is so important. Take a look at the Acceptances with Pre and Post Dec. Interviews 2009.
Another thing to consider is the course requirements (Pre-Reqs). Some schools require 1 year of English, others, 1 semester. Some schools require 1 year of Calculus, others, 1 semester. Statistics, Psychology, Sociology, Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry II, Microbiology, Physiology, and Anatomy are also courses that some schools may require and others may not; check the school's websites or consult the ADEA 2010 Official Guide to Dental Schools for this information. If you are applying as a college Junior, you may be able to take these school-specific required courses during your second semester Senior year, after finding out what school you are going to after December 1st (hopefully). As long as you finish these school-specific required courses before attending that dental school, you'll be fine. Also, keep in mind that some schools DO NOT accept Pre-Reqs from Community College, such as Tufts, NYU, BU, and Temple. In fact, Tufts won't accept any CC credits, so you can effectively remove it from your list if you went to CC before you went to a 4-year institution.
So at this point you know which schools are Out-of-State friendly, know which schools match your stats and would give you the maximum chance at acceptance, and know which schools you can't apply to because of school-specific required courses. Your list still might be over 20 schools at this point, and you want to narrow it down more. Consider things like: Location (Urban, Suburban, Rural), Region (Northeast, South, West, Midwest), Cost (Buffalo is one of the best values), Facilities (Maryland and Detroit-Mercy have some of the best facilities), Overall Reputation (do you care if it's an Ivy League or UC?), Clinical Reputation for producing the best General Dentists (GPs) (UoP, Temple, Tufts, Detroit-Mercy, UIC), Best Chances to SPECIALIZE(Harvard, Columbia, UPenn, UCLA, UCSF, Stony Brook), class size (NYU, Tufts, and USC have the largest classes), PBL curriculum (USC, Indiana, Case, Harvard, soon-to-be UIC), possible religious undertones (Loma Linda, Marquette, Creighton), racial diversity (Midwestern AZ, Marquette, and Louisville are known for their lack thereof), research opportunities (UConn, Michigan, Harvard, UPenn, Columbia, Maryland, Pittsburgh, UCSF), safety of the area (Temple, Detroit, Case), proximity to home and family, ect. ect… Ultimately it is up to you to decide what factors are most important, and to choose your schools based on that.
You can disregard the most important consideration, Cost, if you are getting the scholarship for National Health Service Corps (NHSC) or the US Military's Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP). The full scholarship pays for all of your tuition and living expenses, and for the HPSP, gives you a $1,900 monthly stipend and a $20,000 signing bonus as well. Each requires a pay-back period of 4 years if you take the full scholarship, meaning that you will serve as a military dentist for 4 years with HPSP, or serving a high-need area such as a prison or Indian reservation with NHSC. For the military HPSP, you can join Army, Navy, or Air Force, with the Air Force being the most competitive (Read the following guide for the HPSP). If you have a 3.5 GPA and 20 DAT, you automatically qualify if there are still scholarships available (apply early), but if your scores are lower you can still apply. The NHSC is competitive as well. These are especially popular options for those going to expensive private schools such as NYU, USC, Tufts, or Penn. Another option, if you like laboratory research, is a fully funded 7 or 8 year DMD/PhD program, which will pay for some or all of your dental school tuition, as well as provide a stipend. I do not have a list of these programs, but I do know of 7-year programs at UConn and Michigan. They are highly competitive; my friend who got into the UConn program had a 21 AA, 22 TS, and over a 4.0 GPA.
One more thing to consider about Cost is a repayment plan called Income Based Repayment. President Obama passed this into law in 2009, and it is a fairly new repayment option. Essentially, you commit to paying the federal government 15% of your salary for 25 years, and after 25 years you pay the taxes on the remaining balance and the rest will be absolved. This is a great deal for those who are going to an expensive private school like Tufts or NYU and if you don't plan on making over $200,000 per year (most of us won't). If you plan on owning and running a multi-million dollar chain of practices, obviously 15% is not a good deal for you. Also, starting next year I believe (correct me if I'm wrong), the incoming class of dental students will only have to pay back 10% of income earned after 20 years, an even better deal! So while I used to be worried about the size of my Tufts loans, I am not anymore because of IBR. Makes me feel better about choosing an expensive private school over my state school haha.
For the Canadian/International applicant, your choice of schools is very limited. For the most part, you will bank on the large expensive private schools (or should I say, they will bank on you, zing!). This list is not comprehensive, but to my knowledge, the schools that are Canadian applicant friendly are: NYU, Tufts, BU, USC, UoP, Temple, Buffalo, Detroit Mercy, Pitt, Penn, Case, Nova, Columbia, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Michigan, and Midwestern AZ (no information on the new schools Western and Midwestern IL is available). If you are a Canadian applicant, I'd recommend further investigation into these particular institutions. Also, if you have only taken the Canadian DAT, check with each school individually to see which schools will only accept the American DAT.
Thanks to Doc Toothache and PDizzle for compiling so much information for the benefit of dental school applicants on SDN. Let me know (by PM) if any of this information is outdated and I will update it.
Good luck this cycle everyone!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I get a chance I'll add a DAT section, to complete my magnum opus
[under construction...]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After You Get Interviews:
Make sure you read Burton117's ***Official: Can you answer these questions about your dental school?*** thread, it provides some deeper insight on the inner workings of each school.
Also, before your interview you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO READ SDN INTERVIEW FEEDBACK!!!
It presents the most common interview questions from the schools you are interviewing at to help you prepare, and also presents some useful data.
New SDN Interview Feedback: http://www.studentdoctor.net/schools/
Old SDN Interview Feedback: http://more.studentdoctor.net/schoollist.php?type=3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: I am not, nor do I claim to be, an expert on dental school admissions. Take any advice you hear, from anyone, with a grain of salt. Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see. Ultimately, you'll have to trust your instincts
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