Help Cutting Down List of Dental Schools Please? (California resident)

[thestylishgeek]

Sorry for having the same question as another fellow Cali applicant. Also wondering if I am applying to too many/the wrong places. My closer friends all are applying to 20 ish schools, but I've read forums that say it's too many? Thank you very much for the help in advance!

My stats are:
cGPA: 3.88
sGPA: 3.93
AA: 23
PA 24/ QR 25/ RC 22/ TS 22 (Bio 22/ Chem 21/ OChem 23)
Shadowing Hours: ~120 hours
Community Service Hours: ~400 hours
Research: 2 publications
LORS: 1 science, 1 dentist, 1 employer
(I'm trying to get 1 more science letter but I'm not sure if it'll come through. I'm really scared about schools with strict lor requirements)

Schools (23)

Tufts
OHSU (Oregon)
MQT (Marquette)
MWU-IL (Midwestern Illinois)
UOP
Roseman
Lecom
Indiana
Louisville
UCSF
USC
UCLA
WESTU (Western)
CONN (Connecticut)
MYD (Maryland)
VCU (Virginia Commonwealth)
Kentucky
Boston University
Creighton
Case Western Reserve
Touro
Midwestern
Ohio State

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[Big Time Hoosier]

Drop USC and all others that will leave you with almost $600,000 in student loans. Paying that off in 20 years will require you to come up with $55,000/year. And, that's after tax money. Which means you'll need to earn almost $70,000/year just for your student loans.

Regardless of where you apply, go to the cheapest school you get into.

Big Hoss

 

[thestylishgeek]

Drop USC and all others that will leave you with almost $600,000 in student loans. Paying that off in 20 years will require you to come up with $55,000/year. And, that's after tax money. Which means you'll need to earn almost $70,000/year just for your student loans.

Regardless of where you apply, go to the cheapest school you get into.

Big Hoss

Thanks for the advice, yeah USC and Western tuition is ridiculous

 

[doktorinprogres]

Add:
UNLV

If you feel strongly about specializing add the Ivies

Remove: Tufts, USC, BU

LECOM and Touro may not take your app seriously considering where you live and how strong an applicant you are. (They'll assume you have better options)

Start thinking about how you'll answer the interview question: "Why did you apply to our school"
-for any given school, if you can't think of or research and find anything that sounds good to you that might be a way you can narrow down your list

 

[artist2022]

Waaaaay too many schools. I was a Cali applicant and while I had slightly higher stats, I applied to about 14 schools because I applied in August. I wish I had only applied to 8-10 though! So, I think 10 max is what you should aim for.
As to the schools you should take off, take the crazy expensive schools off, and also any schools you wouldn't enjoy attending/cities you wouldn't enjoy living in. Like if you want to stay on West coast, take schools like UMD, Case, OSU, Uconn, etc off. If you don't mind where you end up, then only pick the schools that you would like to attend, based on your career aspirations-- whether or not you want to specialize mostly.
Also, if you don't mind where you end up, then I'd pick the schools where you can get in-state tuition after a year, so mostly state schools (in this case, keep OSU, UMD, etc). Up to you! I'd only keep 10 schools max though Good luck!

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

If you feel strongly about specializing add the Ivies

Ignore this completely. You can specialize from any dental school. The idea that the name of your school is some golden ticket to any residency is simply ridiculous. You are going to have to jump through all the same hoops as everyone else, and every school will provide you with the opportunities you’ll need. SDN gunners need to stop obsessing over the Ivy League. You need to be obsessing over the debt you’re facing. Your loan burden is going to have a much, much greater impact on your quality of life than the “prestige” of your academic pedigree.

Don’t forget, many dental residencies charge tuition. Going to an expensive dental school, the Ivies included here, and then on to a tuition based residency may leave you $700,000+ in the hole. Don’t believe me? Ask Dr. Meru.

Big Hoss