Do D-schools consider grade deflation and/or the caliber of your undergrad?

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CalDent

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I am currently a senior at UC Berkeley, and by graduation my cumulative GPA will be a 3.38 - 3.4, with a science GPA of ~3.2. I am planning on taking the DAT in the next month, and hoping for at least higher than 20 averages.

Now, I know that a better GPA would boost my chances and make my life easier getting into D-schools. But do D-schools take into consideration the caliber of your undergrad institution at all? Also Berkeley is somewhat known for its grade deflation, so would dental schools consider that when looking at my ok-ish GPA?



And finally, with a cum. GPA of 3.4, science of 3.2, and 20-21 avg. DAT (hopefully), what are my chances into some cali schools such as UoP and USC, etc.?


Thanks in advance for your help!

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A lot of schools like UC grads. I've seen plenty of UCI and UCLA grads at my interviews. With a 20 DAT and your GPA, you'll get some interviews for sure. UC degree should help you slightly, and any slight help could be huge.
 
My school is the same way- they pride theirselves on grade deflation. They sent out a little thing about it with my transcripts (or so I am told) but that didn't help me out at all any schools except BU. BU is near my school and they know how competitive it is and the quality of students that come out of it. Thank goodness for that :)
 
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Thanks for the replies fellas. Any others?
 
I think that since Cal is such a well-known school, especially since you're gunning for schools in California, you wont have a problem with the GPA thing. Cal's reputation definitely precedes it, so I think adcoms will definitely cut you a little slack.
 
When our predental club toured our dental school we were told that both the med and dental school adcoms have a system for ranking undergrad institutions. So a GPA from a higher caliber (aka harder) school would be inflated to even it out with other applicants.
 
Prestige mainly hurts the people from random ass liberal art colleges, not really the ones that are fairly similar in prestige.

3.4 Cal < 3.5 UCSD
 
Prestige mainly hurts the people from random ass liberal art colleges, not really the ones that are fairly similar in prestige.

3.4 Cal < 3.5 UCSD

3.4 Cal < 3.5 any UC

3.4 Cal > 3.5 CSU

3.4 Cal < 3.6 CSU

(my opinion of course, absolutely no basis to this :p)
 
Despite being ranked as the top public university, Cal is still seen as a second tier school. It helps, but not a whole lot. Cal, UCLA, and UCSD also rank as the top UC's. So:

3.4 in these schools > 3.4 in other UC's

Just do well on your DAT and it will definately make your gpa look a lot better.
 
Having been to both, I'd actually say:

3.4 any UC > 3.8 any CSU

Words can't express the difference in the quality of the competition between the two systems. Where I had to try to get 3.6 at a UC, I was rocking 4.0s with absolutely no effort at a CSU (comparing upper div courses at both).

As far as whether or not d-schools show a preference towards certain schools, that depends on which dental school you're talking about. USC told me they don't really look at it (unless went to USC for undergrad, it seems... Trojans looks out for Trojans... there were a lot of USC undergrads when I interviewed there). Columbia, on the other hand, really looks at where you went. When I interviewed there, it seemed like a who's who of top 50 universities... there were a number of UC people (Cal, UCLA, UCD and UCI). Other people named off Brown, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, etc. The interviewer and Dr. Davis (the dean of the school) even commented on how good the UC system is, particularly UC Davis (Dr. Davis was partial to the name... go figure ;) )
 
Words can't express the difference in the quality of the competition between the two systems. Where I had to try to get 3.6 at a UC, I was rocking 4.0s with absolutely no effort at a CSU (comparing upper div courses at both).

Agreed. :thumbup:

Although I was trying harder in the CSU to overcome my UC shortcomings, I always felt as if I was playing in the minors and away from the real competition.
 
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Despite being ranked as the top public university, Cal is still seen as a second tier school. It helps, but not a whole lot. Cal, UCLA, and UCSD also rank as the top UC's. So:

3.4 in these schools > 3.4 in other UC's

Just do well on your DAT and it will definately make your gpa look a lot better.

Cal is a Tier 1 school. Ranked #21 in the Nation (Tier 1 score of 77/100)

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-search

Not that I really give a crap since no matter how you rank schools, you're gonna find a flaw in it somehow. Plus, school is what you make of it.

But, Cal is a tier 1 school and also has a better name than a lot of the schools above it on that list, IMO.

I'm a little biased since I did go there tho :laugh:
 
Yes they do. I have been to a few dental school's information night at my school at UC Davis. Many of the dental schools' admission staff say they do weigh your undergrad's difficulty to your GPA. So from UC Berkeley, you are in luck! Though having that said, a committee member from UCSF did say some application reviewers do not take that into account. Regardless, a 3.4 gpa + a 20+ DAT will get you at least a school
 
Wow, why is everyone hating on Cal...everyone coming out with all these statistics made up on the spot.

To the OP: Your gpa is great, no one on here knows how hard a 3.4 at Cal is. They are just speculating.
 
Cal is a Tier 1 school. Ranked #21 in the Nation (Tier 1 score of 77/100)

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-search

Not that I really give a crap since no matter how you rank schools, you're gonna find a flaw in it somehow. Plus, school is what you make of it.

But, Cal is a tier 1 school and also has a better name than a lot of the schools above it on that list, IMO.

I'm a little biased since I did go there tho :laugh:

That's nice to know PDizzle since I went to Cal too :thumbup:. I was refering to an article I read a while back about how med school adcoms rank undergraduate institutions and how they placed Cal as a second tier... but since I can't seem to find that article, I'm probably just BSing :p
 
lets all be honest here,

UCLA and Cal are in a league of their own.

It should go:

Cal > UCLA >>>>>> UCSD >>>> Other UCs >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> CSUs

Believe me, a 3.4 from UCLA or Cal will get you much further than a 3.8 from Fresno State. hahahaha.
 
I know that most state schools naturally give first preference to their resident applicants. While other schools do not accept any out of staters. e.g. Medical College of Georgia.

However, some still accept a few out of staters.
Which California schools accept out of staters? Thanks for your help:)
 
good thing we have this thing called the DATs
 
I know that most state schools naturally give first preference to their resident applicants. While other schools do not accept any out of staters. e.g. Medical College of Georgia.

However, some still accept a few out of staters.
Which California schools accept out of staters? Thanks for your help:)

They all accept out of staters. UCSF and UCLA give preferences to California residents because they are states schools, but competitive applicants should still be able to get in. The other 4 dental schools are private institutions and don't seem to have any special preferences for in-staters.
 
good thing we have this thing called the DATs

I'd agree, but sadly I've seen the difference first hand. I think smaller schools (i.e. Harvard) will consider difficulty of education more than a state school.
 
cal 3.5> ucd 3.8

i am just saying this cuz my gpa dropped to 3.4 from 3.8 when i transferred from ucdavis to cal. and I actually put wayyyy more time and effort studying for exams and hw at cal than at davis.

3.8 ucd (w/o going to classes) -> 3.4 ucb (i actually went to classes...)
overall uc gpa 3.57 :(

i def dont regret it, got into all my dream schools. even though i took only 10-12 unit course every semester (+4 units of research p/np), d-schools thought highly of my cal degree, especially the ones on east coast. interviewers told me "you are a cal engineering grad, your coursework must be tough. good job..." not just from one school!!! buff, unlv, upenn and nyu.




btw, i remember that a ucsf ex- adcom member telling predental students that a gpa is a gpa regardless what school you come from. (at the impression outreach conference.)
 
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I think going to a small liberal arts college might have hurt me in the application process. Most of the schools I applied to likely haven't heard of my undergrad. Way back in the day of applying to colleges, I had also gotten into Rutgers and almost went there, but I opted to mooch off my parents as long as possible and commute to the smaller school from home. My school was relatively small (only about 100 bio majors in my graduating class) and tough. I am pretty sure my 3.6 would have been more like a 3.8 at Rutgers and that, too, may have helped me in addition to having gone to an undergrad d-schools had actually heard of.

UMDNJ has heard of my school and knows its reputation. Most of the kids who go into dentistry from my undergrad go to UMDNJ, although pre-dents were few and far between. At Temple, my interviewer and a few profs we talked to in the hallways were from my area (one of the profs we ran into even used to have a practice a few blocks away from my undergrad), so they had heard of my school as well. But obviously schools farther away haven't heard of my small school. What added to that, I think, is that the school's name changed like .. twelve years ago ... and for some reason AADSAS still considers it under the old name. (My friends who applied to grad school found that grad school apps still considered it the old name, too, so it's not just dentistry.) The reputation of the school has improved quite a bit since the name change. It is now the "top rated public institution in the northern region." :cool:

At Stony, my interviewer directly told me that they consider the quality of your undergrad institution in deciding your fate. I didn't really ask nor was I told at my other interviews whether or not it plays a factor.
 
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