*Final* Where should I apply thread?

[Illfavor]

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Howdy there SDN. I've finally taken my DAT and I'm looking for a little bit of advice. I really don't want to apply to more than 3 non-Texas schools, and like everyone else I'm worried about the costs of applying, interviewing, etc and the school itself. I'm looking to stay in the southwest, or as close to it as possible, while considering schools that are OOS friendly with decent tuition or good scholarship opportunities.

My academic stats are below.
I have just under 400 hours of community service in diverse areas (dentistry, music, education)
110 hours of shadowing general dentists
1.5 years of research experience combining music and medicine

So my list is essentially: Baylor, San Antonio, Houston, OU, Creighton and Meharry.

I am an "underrepresented minority" 🙄 and I have heard that UDM offers scholarships for "disadvantaged" students, but I was in no way disadvantaged growing up and wouldn't ever make such a claim. I also know UOP and UPenn offer very good scholarships, but I'm not sure how much I want to apply to $400,000 schools on the chance I'd get a scholarship to make it reasonable.

I'm applying to OU because it's 15 minutes from my childhood home, my alma mater, and while I'm no longer instate there, it's pretty ideal for me. Creighton and Meharry were pretty much the only remotely close, reasonably priced schools I found.

Any final insights? I'll be submitting my application this week.

 

[HSorathia92]

Howdy there SDN. I've finally taken my DAT and I'm looking for a little bit of advice. I really don't want to apply to more than 3 non-Texas schools, and like everyone else I'm worried about the costs of applying, interviewing, etc and the school itself. I'm looking to stay in the southwest, or as close to it as possible, while considering schools that are OOS friendly with decent tuition or good scholarship opportunities.

My academic stats are below.
I have just under 400 hours of community service in diverse areas (dentistry, music, education)
110 hours of shadowing general dentists
1.5 years of research experience combining music and medicine

So my list is essentially: Baylor, San Antonio, Houston, OU, Creighton and Meharry.

I am an "underrepresented minority" 🙄 and I have heard that UDM offers scholarships for "disadvantaged" students, but I was in no way disadvantaged growing up and wouldn't ever make such a claim. I also know UOP and UPenn offer very good scholarships, but I'm not sure how much I want to apply to $400,000 schools on the chance I'd get a scholarship to make it reasonable.

I'm applying to OU because it's 15 minutes from my childhood home, my alma mater, and while I'm no longer instate there, it's pretty ideal for me. Creighton and Meharry were pretty much the only remotely close, reasonably priced schools I found.

Any final insights? I'll be submitting my application this week.

With your stats I would say that the only thing that could keep you from a Texas acceptance is the apocalypse.

 

[Ionz]

With your stats I would say that the only thing that could keep you from a Texas acceptance is the apocalypse.

Even then..

OP, I think you are wise not to waste too much money on OOS application. Your stats are just incredible.

 

[Illfavor]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I think I may cut it down to 5 schools.

 

[Troyvdg]

Great stats, you'll have no problem getting interviews...as for UPENN and UOP, if on the off chance you did get a scholarship, it wouldn't make a substantial difference, I think UPENNS dean's scholarship is 45k per year and UOP's max is 30k per year. Still quite a bit of debt, but then again, I don't know your financial situation. Good Luck with Apps!

 

[Glimmer1991]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I think I may cut it down to 5 schools.

My Dad, who knows almost nothing about DS admissions, was *convinced* that 4 was my lucky number. Or maybe that was his Discover card talking. 😉

Don't waste your money applying to tons of schools, especially if you wouldn't really consider attending them.

 

[Koalafied]

With those credentials, you're probably safe applying exclusively instate and getting into all of them by this December. That is all.

 

[LaughingGas]

With that stat, I would apply 6 schools total. And I would choose the schools based on their tuition lol.

 

[Illfavor]

My Dad, who knows almost nothing about DS admissions, was *convinced* that 4 was my lucky number. Or maybe that was his Discover card talking. 😉

Don't waste your money applying to tons of schools, especially if you wouldn't really consider attending them.

Yea, OU is my "pet" school and I think I'll be cutting one of the other two. It's just hard to find a school for under 300K that's OOS friendly. I want that 300K for my first practice, not years 2-4. 😀

With those credentials, you're probably safe applying exclusively instate and getting into all of them by this December. That is all.

While it's true I have a strong chance in state, I want to have my bases covered. I have the money to apply a bit more broadly now, so I figure I might as well. At worst I can just schedule my interviews for after December 1. 🙄

With that stat, I would apply 6 schools total. And I would choose the schools based on their tuition lol.

Cost of Attendance and clinical reputation are my two biggest concerns.

Great stats, you'll have no problem getting interviews...as for UPENN and UOP, if on the off chance you did get a scholarship, it wouldn't make a substantial difference, I think UPENNS dean's scholarship is 45k per year and UOP's max is 30k per year. Still quite a bit of debt, but then again, I don't know your financial situation. Good Luck with Apps!

Very good points. I wasn't actively considering them, but to know that their scholarships are still less than Texas tuition is clinching.

 

[sacapuntas]

I would consider a school other than Creighton for your 'safety' school. From my experience, and talking to lots of other applicants over the last cycle, they really are unpredictable there. People that were very competitive seemed like they would apply to 10 schools, get 9 interviews and the 1 they didn't get would be Creighton. Now, with your stats, you don't have much to worry about but just a bit of advice🙂

 

[gn4]

Your list is good. You should be able to get accepted into one of the Texas schools. I see that you added Meharry. I hear not so many good things about that school. If you didn't get accepted anywhere else, would you go there? I guess my question is why do you like the school and why you applying there?

Just asking because I thought about applying there as my backup since they are big on URMs and whatnot, but I've just heard many interesting stories about the place.

 

[Illfavor]

I would consider a school other than Creighton for your 'safety' school. From my experience, and talking to lots of other applicants over the last cycle, they really are unpredictable there. People that were very competitive seemed like they would apply to 10 schools, get 9 interviews and the 1 they didn't get would be Creighton. Now, with your stats, you don't have much to worry about but just a bit of advice🙂

Any tips on other "safety" schools? Cost is pretty much my #1 concern. I'm sorta choosing between Creighton and Meharry in this regard since they are both relatively inexpensive (my wife covers our living expenses) and near the southwest.

Your list is good. You should be able to get accepted into one of the Texas schools. I see that you added Meharry. I hear not so many good things about that school. If you didn't get accepted anywhere else, would you go there? I guess my question is why do you like the school and why you applying there?

Just asking because I thought about applying there as my backup since they are big on URMs and whatnot, but I've just heard many interesting stories about the place.

Care to elaborate? PM if you feel like you need to. I haven't really heard all that much about them, I'm really just cost-oriented at this point.

 

[gn4]

Care to elaborate? PM if you feel like you need to. I haven't really heard all that much about them, I'm really just cost-oriented at this point.

I've heard from different dentists who say they have seen work from people who graduated from the school and most have said it was a terrible job. The first dentist who told me this went to Tennessee, so I thought maybe he was just biased.

The next dentist from Columbia also told me the same thing when he asked me where I was thinking of applying and I mentioned Meharry.

So I was just wanting somebody to give me a good reason to apply to Meharry. Nashville is a beautiful city, so I thought about applying there as well.