CWRU vs UNC (IS)

[adental35]

Hello! I am a high school senior that is trying to decide where to go for undergrad. My situation is a bit unusual, so here's some extra context:
I recently finished my college application process, where I was lucky enough to have been accepted to UNC (IS) and Case Western's 7-year dental program (3 undergrad, 4 dental school). I would like to specialize in OMFS after dental school. I was also accepted to other schools like NC State and Duke, but none of them are cheaper than UNC.

School 1: Case Western Reserve University
Pros:

• Guaranteed admission to dental school as long as I keep above a 3.5 GPA and score a 19AA on the DAT.
• Only 3 years of undergrad
• Undergrad grading does not have +/-, so a 91 is essentially the same as a 96.
• Don't have to complete a bachelor's degree, only have to get the prereqs done.
• I can apply to other dental schools after my 3rd year, so I am not bound to CWRU (but I probably won't get in).

Cons:

• Their website says that the estimated COA for dental school would be around $100k/year.
• CWRU's SoDM is not as highly ranked as UNC.
• Undergrad is double that at UNC.

School 2: UNC (IS)
Pros:

• Instate tuition for undergrad
• Instate tuition for dental school (their website says $40k/year)
• Predental students say that they were very well prepared for the DAT

Cons:

• No guaranteed acceptance (and UNC dental school is very difficult to get into)
• STEM grade deflation (Chem 102)
• One year longer

Summary:
I would really appreciate any advice as I'm the first in my family to go into any medical profession. I also don't know a lot about how to efficiently research different dental schools because I've never done it before, so if anyone has any advice on that I'd really appreciate it! I'm having a lot of trouble finding information like class profile and class size for UNC and CWRU dental schools. I also think that one of my biggest mistakes in this college application process was not weighing fit as strongly, so I don't want to make the same mistake when searching for dental schools. If anyone has any general tips about paying for dental school, please let me know as well! Thank you!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[2thPirate🦷]

Think I already replied to your thread on Reddit lol. Only new thing to say is that the rank of the school really doesn’t matter, it’s all about what you make of your time at the dental school. As for class sizes and profiles, get the ADEA Dental School explorer so you can check every school even beyond these two! Also, CHEM102 does kinda blow, but it really depends on the professor you get lol

 

[adental35]

Think I already replied to your thread on Reddit lol. Only new thing to say is that the rank of the school really doesn’t matter, it’s all about what you make of your time at the dental school. As for class sizes and profiles, get the ADEA Dental School explorer so you can check every school even beyond these two! Also, CHEM102 does kinda blow, but it really depends on the professor you get lol

Haha yeah probably! I just found out about this forum and figured it couldn't hurt to get more opinions! Thank you again!

 

[zToothinator]

The extra $$$ is no joke. UNC SOD is about $50-60k a year so you’re looking at 200-240k when it’s all set in done. 400k is a ton more especially factoring in compounding interest over another 4-6 years for OMFS.

Having guaranteed admission definitely makes college more relaxing and I see the appeal to it. However, if you’re a good enough applicant to get into Case Western’s 7 year program, I’m sure you’ll be able to get in to UNC or ECU. Both are great programs and will be fine for specializing. As far as not needing to stress about volunteering and shadowing dentists if guaranteed admission, I’d still highly recommend doing those over the next 3-4 years. Dentistry is a commitment and be sure this is really what you want to do for the rest of your life.

Happy to answer any other questions or give additional thoughts