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Do you believe it is pivotal for a dental school applicant to apply to several "safety" schools that will most likely accept them, even though the schools may not be an applicant's best interest?
Poll on applying to safety schools
- Thread starter DentistDMD
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N
NAVY DDS 2010
My thoughts: only apply to schools you are willing to attend should you get accepted. If a school is not in your best interest, then why apply to it unless you would go against your best interest and attend the school. Every year, you read here on SDN, threads by people who get accepted to 'X' school but they really don't know if they want to go there because it costs too much or it is too far away or ...... If that is the case, why did you apply there in the first place. Applying to d-schools is an expensive process. You shouldn't just apply to a school to see if you could get in there if you aren't 100% willing to attend that school even if it is not your ideal school. If your only school you get accepted to will put you $400,000 in debt due to the amount of loans you need to take out, are you willing to accept that school without questioning? If you cannot say you would accept your only offer because of the cost, then don't apply in the first place. You wasted your time, your money and the school's time.
Just curious, what schools are considered "safety"? Only schools that come to mind are schools that accept mostly or only in-state.
I think it's important to apply to a safety, if you don't want to wait another year and don't mind ending up going there. However, I don't see a point of being miserable because you definitely don't want to go to a certain school but accepted it.
I think it's important to apply to a safety, if you don't want to wait another year and don't mind ending up going there. However, I don't see a point of being miserable because you definitely don't want to go to a certain school but accepted it.
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I would say that a lot of factors go into this...
Depends on how competitive you are as an applicant and if you are very competitive then you are allowed to be more picky.
Also, don't forget about that guy who turned down his 1 acceptance offer and then didn't get in for another three cycles.
Going to a dental school isn't the final decision in your life... it is an important one but you will be there for 4 years. Think about it... you slaved through 13 years of kindergarden ~> highschool. Wasn't that a miserable time?! This is only a fraction of it!
Last but not least, how do you know whether or not you will enjoy your time there or be utterly miserable? You won't truly know until you have attended there for 4 years. We all judge a book by its cover. We all have first impressions of different types of foods... but has there ever been ONE TIME where you think everything was CRAP but after you've tried/tasted it, it was actually good?
Depends on how competitive you are as an applicant and if you are very competitive then you are allowed to be more picky.
Also, don't forget about that guy who turned down his 1 acceptance offer and then didn't get in for another three cycles.
Going to a dental school isn't the final decision in your life... it is an important one but you will be there for 4 years. Think about it... you slaved through 13 years of kindergarden ~> highschool. Wasn't that a miserable time?! This is only a fraction of it!
Last but not least, how do you know whether or not you will enjoy your time there or be utterly miserable? You won't truly know until you have attended there for 4 years. We all judge a book by its cover. We all have first impressions of different types of foods... but has there ever been ONE TIME where you think everything was CRAP but after you've tried/tasted it, it was actually good?
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It seems it is indeed critical to apply to multiple safety schools.
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I think one would be foolish and arrogant not to apply to safety schools.
A better poll might be: How many safety schools are you applying to?
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I would suggest applying to approximately 3 schools "below" your stats, 2-5 within your stats, and 3 above your stats. Assuming that you apply early, I would assume that you would get at least 4-6 interviews, hopefully some being from the reach schools. That, in my opinion, is the best way to go about applying to dental schools. If you're stats are better, you could get by with a 2 low 2 average and 2 high combo, or if you're a bit on the weak end, you could do a 5, 5 ,5 type deal. That's my opinion.
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My question is what exactly is meant by "best interest?" It's vague and can be interpreted by many differently. I, for one, would apply to safety schools but NOT if they are in an area I wouldn't want to live and whatnot.
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What if dream schools are excessively expensive? Then your safety school may become your desired school at the right price. Apply to the schools which accept people from your state of residence, with your CC credits/letter of recommendations/coursework, etc. If you fit the general bill, worry about the finances and other logistics later. A school may give you a great impression on an interview.
