Does Undergrad school choice matter

[ManicMonday]

Does which university you go to matter for getting into dental school?
Or is it irrelevant and grades more important for an applicant?
I know schools usually only accept a certain amount of CC credits, so I'm planning to go straight to a university to avoid headache and complications when applying.
I'm looking at which universities are cheapest in my area and found one but I'm concerned if it will single me out as "oh you went to XYZ ".
With Dental School tuition expensive and increasing I'm trying my best to minimize where I can.

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[bananaboatsunblock]

From what I've seen, I don't think undergrad university matters (unless, ofc, if you go to a tip top school like an ivy for undergrad)

 

[NJ_Doc]

doesn't matter

 

[deleted1070139]

Some schools don’t accept ANY credits from CC if the courses taken are prerequisites for said dental schools, such as BostonU and Tufts

 

[artist2022]

Doesn't matter. Go to a CSU and keep your GPA high, get involved in as many extracurriculars as you can handle, and score well on the DAT. Save your money and put it toward dental school when the time comes.

 

[bracketbuster68]

Go to a cheap school and keep your debt low

 

[ManicMonday]

Doesn't matter. Go to a CSU and keep your GPA high, get involved in as many extracurriculars as you can handle, and score well on the DAT. Save your money and put it toward dental school when the time comes.

Why CSU specifically?

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

GPA>Undergrad name


A 4.0 from UT El Paso puts you at better odds than a 3.6 from your state’s flagship.

 

[Like_Groceries]

GPA>Undergrad name


A 4.0 from UT El Paso puts you at better odds than a 3.6 from your state’s flagship.

Where is Joe Mama's College of Dentistry so I can apply?

 

[artist2022]

Why CSU specifically?

No reason, your profile says CA and CSUs are probably the cheapest 4yr universities we have, unless you're getting a scholarship somewhere else! Def go to your cheapest option and just keep your application as competitive as possible.

 

[doc toothache]

With ~2.5K 4 year institutions in the US, it is unlikely that any ds would rank the universities in terms of rigor.

 

[odontogenesis]

I agree with all of the above ^

however, there are schools like UAB that prefer in state kids that went to schools in Alabama.

 

[pookey123]

going to a private school with a dental school just for that slight boost is not worth it. go to the best public school you can and do well. doing well is more important than where you do it

 

[Ivy.ch]

I went to an IvyPlus school and made sure I had great grades. I think it impressed dental schools, at least they pretended to be really impressed during interviews. I’m now in a dental class with people who got full rides to state schools and made sure they got great grades. I guess that impressed dental schools. See the common denominator here?

Dental schools don’t care which 4-year school you go to. They want to see great grades and high DAT scores. You’d be a fool spending extra money thinking that it will boost your application enough to compensate for lower grades.

This also ignores a giant hypothetical: What if you don’t make it to dental school? I never doubt someone’s motivation or perseverance; I just want to stress that 4-years is a lot of time. Your interests may change, your financial situation could crash, you may find a partner and need to adjust course. Don’t make a school choice without considering the fact that you may not end up going to dental school.

 

[Dr.Deadpool97]

Well some schools release their pre dent stats. My school is the best in my state and still has a chance of acceptance similar to the national average. The only reason that i choose this school was because its the only school in my state that offers my favorite major and minor. Other than that i dont see any reason to get in a prestige school to only impress the admission. Admission gets more impressed if u keep your gpa 4.0 than the name of the school.

 

[the5]

GPA in school matters more than school choice.
I went to a very small school and even had about 8 credits of CC.