Academics vs. Getting Involved

[experiment626]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Suppose a dental student was interested in possibly specializing. Who would the school rather pick? A student who has flawless grades (4.0), but little to no involvement with extracurricular activities, or a student with fairly descent/good grades (~3.4ish), but is really involved with the school (research, student government, sports, clubs, community service, etc.)?

 

[Hawkteeth]

You need to be at the near the top of your class AND have extras.

 

[cmF]

You need to be at the near the top of your class AND have extras.

This is true. Your best bet is to have both. Correct me if I'm wrong, but typically the research oriented schools want the high marks while the clinical oriented schools want the ECs.

 

[dantemac]

You need to have it all.

 

[experiment626]

Well I'm not surprised. I have a friend who went into dental school with the intention of specializing in oral surgery. When I asked him how that's going, he just laughs and says he's not so sure anymore since specializing is so competitive. I think UOP said you to be in the top 5% if you want to be an orthodontist. Maybe it's best to just go in as a blank slate and with an open mind. Are you guys thinking of specializing?

 

[chickensoupdr]

I have the exact same questions. I'm wondering how important is it to be at the top of your class? Would it be better to go a school where you would be in the top 5% versus a more prestigious school and be that the top 20%?

 

[experiment626]

I have the exact same questions. I'm wondering how important is it to be at the top of your class? Would it be better to go a school where you would be in the top 5% versus a more prestigious school and be that the top 20%?

When I spoke to a faculty member at UoP, he said it varies depending on the specialty we are interested in. I think they wanted something like top 5-10% for oral surgery or ortho, top 10-20% for endo, and 30% for pedo. I don't remember the exact numbers so please correct me if I'm wrong.

Hmm I don't see why the school should matter. Either way, we would still have to be somewhere near the top.