Ask Me Anything! - D4 at UTHealth School of Dentistry at Houston

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Tus Ojitis said:
What made you choose UTSD over other Texas schools that gave you offers when you were in the interview cycle? Knowing what you know now, what would make you consider an alternate path?
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Houston's the only Texas school I got into lol, works out since it was my top choice anyway. I know that A&M and UTHSCSA have a more efficient clinic since they dont make their students call/schedule their own patients. Houston students do the entire patient treatment from start to end and you are stuck with that patient until you complete their entire tx plan. Whereas I've heard at the other Texas schools if you wanted to do a crown prep next week, you can, the school would organize it for you.
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Typical Average Student said:
Houston's the only Texas school I got into lol, works out since it was my top choice anyway. I know that A&M and UTHSCSA have a more efficient clinic since they dont make their students call/schedule their own patients. Houston students do the entire patient treatment from start to end and you are stuck with that patient until you complete their entire tx plan. Whereas I've heard at the other Texas schools if you wanted to do a crown prep next week, you can, the school would organize it for you.
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I am attempting to parse out some of the differences between both UT schools. I have interviewed at both but there appears to be a lot of "recent developments" regarding the schools (SA and A&M changing to the systems curriculum). How prepared do you feel coming out of Houston at the end of the year? What do you think about the systems curriculum?
 
Typical Average Student said:
Attrition rate is around ~2 students per class (some classes more than others), most being held back due to not being able to pass boards. Very rarely will someone be held back due to clinic or doing poorly in a class. We have resources such as board prep classes, mock boards, etc. If you are open about your situation to the class, we're more than happy to help you, but if you tend to be quiet and keep to yourself about things you are struggling in, it won't help your situation.
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How many students were held back from your class?
 
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Tus Ojitis said:
I am attempting to parse out some of the differences between both UT schools. I have interviewed at both but there appears to be a lot of "recent developments" regarding the schools (SA and A&M changing to the systems curriculum). How prepared do you feel coming out of Houston at the end of the year? What do you think about the systems curriculum?
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I feel like I'm well prepared. Once you finish your requirements you have a lot of time to pick and choose what cases you want to focus more on. I mentioned the curriculum and clinic requirements somewhere in this thread above
 
Happy Thanksgiving btw! haha What did you think about the systems approach though?
 
Hey! I just got accepted to Houston! Loved my interview down there! Dr. Cooley is the man!
few questions... How many procedures on average would you say a typical graduating student finishes with? (I.e crowns) does that depend somewhat on what group you are in?
hope is scheduling your own patients? I’ve talked with a few students there and they said that this is the biggest con of the school. Would you agree?
Also, do you start in the sim lab in your second semester? I have a D1 friend there right now and I don’t think he has touched a hand piece yet.
 
EcclesYaBoi said:
Hey! I just got accepted to Houston! Loved my interview down there! Dr. Cooley is the man!
few questions... How many procedures on average would you say a typical graduating student finishes with? (I.e crowns) does that depend somewhat on what group you are in?
hope is scheduling your own patients? I’ve talked with a few students there and they said that this is the biggest con of the school. Would you agree?
Also, do you start in the sim lab in your second semester? I have a D1 friend there right now and I don’t think he has touched a hand piece yet.
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Congrats! 😀
You can find the requirements for graduation on the first page of this thread. Most of the time students finish early (around March or April, some even earlier) depending on how many rotations you have and how productive you are. Yes 8 would say that is the biggest con, having to schedule for yourself.
Yes, 2nd semester is when you start with hand pieces, 1st semester is wax lab, 2nd semester is wax lab plus operative
 
How has the school been handling the current pandemic?
 
Whats it like for you and your friends trying to find a job now?
 
rectangle said:
How has the school been handling the current pandemic?
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The school has sorted things out pretty quick compared to other schools. Mostly from pressure from our 3 Texas student bodies joining together to get our word out asap. There are some accommodations and they heavily take the students considerations into account when making decisions.
 
monkeykey said:
Whats it like for you and your friends trying to find a job now?
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I'm in a little different boat but overall my friends are so far having a little trouble finding a job especially if you havent been looking pre- covid times, everyone who has been diligent with finding jobs during the entire 4th yr pretty much had a job. Anyone who decided to wait last minute are having slight trouble but its expected since with the new TSBDE decision for WREB, our licensing is delayed for a bit.
 
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wysdoc said:
How many OOS schools should an average Joe (Texan) applicant GPA 3.5 DAT 21 apply to?
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Apply to as many as you would like. I recommend at least 2 "safety" schools (newer ones), 2-4 "average" schools, and 1-2 reach schools cuz why not. Just make sure you have a chance at those schools before you even apply (some schools prefer in state applicants)
 
What are your opinions on the new Texas Tech school opening up in El Paso? I'm always curious to hear how current students feel about it. I'm applying there this cycle, but I have no idea what the school is like, or what to expect if I were to attend. Do you know much about being a dental student at a new school?
Also, any tips for interviewing at UTSD?
 
TheBookCookout said:
What are your opinions on the new Texas Tech school opening up in El Paso? I'm always curious to hear how current students feel about it. I'm applying there this cycle, but I have no idea what the school is like, or what to expect if I were to attend. Do you know much about being a dental student at a new school?
Also, any tips for interviewing at UTSD?
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Personally, I think the Texas Tech school is good if they can try to accept applicants that really want to stay in the area. The goal is to not further saturate the other heavily populated cities like Houston, Dallas, and SA/Austin. As long as they can do that, great.
 
TheBookCookout said:
What are your opinions on the new Texas Tech school opening up in El Paso? I'm always curious to hear how current students feel about it. I'm applying there this cycle, but I have no idea what the school is like, or what to expect if I were to attend. Do you know much about being a dental student at a new school?
Also, any tips for interviewing at UTSD?
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I dont know much about attending a new school but the general goal of any dental school is making sure you're properly trained to do any basic procedure and pass your boards.
Interview tips: less talking the better, sometimes you'll get lucky and get an interviewer that loves talking about themselves (lol), they'll eat that up same goes for any school. I think I spoke no more than 3 lines in my 45 minute Pittsburgh interview and got accepted
 
Hi 🙂 I'm back with another question related to my previous replies. I know I said I was going to apply for the DH program (application due Jan 2020) but I decided to apply for the dual program my community college DH program offers with TWU so I had to take some more classes and now wait to apply in 2021. I'm taking my last 4 prereq classes this fall, however, in July I'll be retaking A&P2 because I didn't do so well in the course last fall (I was taking microbiology and another course at the same time so I was struggling). The course is for about 5 weeks Mon-Thur so it's pretty short and it might be hybrid due to the pandemic according to my community college. This brings me to my question: would it possible to ask my lecture/lab professor to fill out a reference form for my application in this situation? This is my last science course and I know that it's best to ask for a LOC or reference form from a course related to my major. I barely interacted with any of my 3 previous science course professors so that's out of the question. What is your advice?? ( and also I said last time I was looking for offices to do observation hours but luckily I was able to ask my personal dentist and he said yes, so I'll most likely start this summer! )
 
ag01 said:
Hi 🙂 I'm back with another question related to my previous replies. I know I said I was going to apply for the DH program (application due Jan 2020) but I decided to apply for the dual program my community college DH program offers with TWU so I had to take some more classes and now wait to apply in 2021. I'm taking my last 4 prereq classes this fall, however, in July I'll be retaking A&P2 because I didn't do so well in the course last fall (I was taking microbiology and another course at the same time so I was struggling). The course is for about 5 weeks Mon-Thur so it's pretty short and it might be hybrid due to the pandemic according to my community college. This brings me to my question: would it possible to ask my lecture/lab professor to fill out a reference form for my application in this situation? This is my last science course and I know that it's best to ask for a LOC or reference form from a course related to my major. I barely interacted with any of my 3 previous science course professors so that's out of the question. What is your advice?? ( and also I said last time I was looking for offices to do observation hours but luckily I was able to ask my personal dentist and he said yes, so I'll most likely start this summer! )
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At the end of the day, if it's your last resort, you're going to have to bite the bullet and ask for the letter of rec. I would at the least try to make yourself stand out from the rest by actively participating in lectures if there are any, and ask them questions for clarification. And of course, do well in the exams.
 
Typical Average Student said:
At the end of the day, if it's your last resort, you're going to have to bite the bullet and ask for the letter of rec. I would at the least try to make yourself stand out from the rest by actively participating in lectures if there are any, and ask them questions for clarification. And of course, do well in the exams.
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Thanks, I will try if there are any in-person class days !
 
Not sure if this question has been asked. How many people per year fail a class? And which class do people fail most often?
 
saydental said:
Not sure if this question has been asked. How many people per year fail a class? And which class do people fail most often?
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Average seems to be 1-2 ppl fail per year. Most people either fail 1st year because they're unable to adapt to the fast pace of dental school or are held back due to lack of clinical requirements. There is also some people that take a leave of absence due to medical emergencies and such.
 
In your four years there, how many people per average got off the waitlist?
I understand that there's no set formula but asking for a friend lol 🙁
 
I am coming from california and would love to get into a texas dental school... but I know how competitive they are for OOS. What kind of stats and experience does an OOS matriculant have. Anything they value that makes a student stand out?
 
rishi3 said:
I am coming from california and would love to get into a texas dental school... but I know how competitive they are for OOS. What kind of stats and experience does an OOS matriculant have. Anything they value that makes a student stand out?
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When I interviewed a year ago the mean for OOS matriculants was 3.88/24AA according to the power point
 
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