So as far as the 3 in TX (if she got into all 3) I'd say scrap Houston if you don't have roots/family there because all they basically have to offer is a new building and SA has a new fancy building too and are much better clinically/educationally. It's also in a more sketchy part of town while SA is in a really beautiful part and not sketchy at all. Houston also tends to have a lack of patients for some reason.
Now between Dallas and SA, it's a tough choice. From what I have gathered from talking to professors in Dallas (we have a few family friends that teach there, so they tend to give their honest opinion), it's gone downhill ever since A&M bought out Baylor. Less funding, less research, and less financial aid and other resources overall. They also have the oldest building of the 3 and it can feel a little claustrophobic. It's just one building, all for dental students, for 4 years. SA has a campus (older) and a clinic (which is new). However, the way their campus is set up, you have opportunities to interact more with other healthcare students, get out more, and breathe a little fresh air. Also a lot of green and trees and bigger space. To me, the environment I'm going to be in is important so this is a big factor. There's also a gym on campus which is nice. In Dallas, not so much. It's just a single building downtown and not pretty by any means in the slightest. It's also not in a great part of town. So there's that. Environment/building/atmosphere goes to SA by a mile.
Educationally, it goes to SA also. So this next year, class of 2021, is the first year to get the new curriculum from SA. Its supposed to be a great new curriculum that does a much better job in teaching the information in a more "big picture/how this relates to the human body/dentistry" kind of way. Like, for example, instead of having a course dedicated completely to BioChem, that information will be integrated within the body system that we are learning at the time. It'll also cut out some of the fluff that's unnecessary for dentistry (this is what they claim, but again we will be first so there's really no one to talk to to see how this works in practice). Either way, I think it'll be a much better way of teaching info that sticks and making it relevant. SA also has a dedicated class for studying for the boards, which is great and something only they do.
Clinically, I think it's a tie or slightly in Baylor's favor. However, Baylor makes the students do their own lab work, which has its own pros and cons (I'm actually not super sure if they still do this for ALL lab work, but definitely more than SA). Both schools have great patient pools, but Dallas has obviously more patients although I've never heard of there being a lack in either school. SA has more Hispanic patients (great for me because I speak Spanish)
Also price wise, they're both the same, although housing in SA is cheaper I believe.
The only reason I would choose Dallas over SA would be for some reason outside of which school is better. In my mind, SA is a better school overall. My reason for wanting to go to Dallas initially was cost. It would cost me much less to go to Dallas because I would most likely have lived at home.
