I desperately need some direction. I was accepted to the 3 dental schools in Texas. San Antonio was not for me, but I really liked both UT-houston and Baylor. If any of you are students at either of these two schools, I would REALLY appreciate any insight. What do you like/dislike? Why did you choose your school?, etc... thank you so much.
Help from Dental Students at UT-Houston or Baylor
- Thread starter JenniferD
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I desperately need some direction. I was accepted to the 3 dental schools in Texas. San Antonio was not for me, but I really liked both UT-houston and Baylor. If any of you are students at either of these two schools, I would REALLY appreciate any insight. What do you like/dislike? Why did you choose your school?, etc... thank you so much.
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Jennifer D, Im in a very similar position. I have not heard anything from san antonio but I got into both Baylor and Houston - both of which were my top choice. My plan is to go visit both schools again over winter break then choose one. If I gain any insight Ill pass it on lol. Good luck!
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The best thing you can do is try to remember where it was that you felt most comfortable. I was in a similar situation as you and chose UT-Houston because it was very family friendly and most everyone was kicked back. I am a second year and it has been an awesome experience so far. I don't think I could have picked a better school.
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Houston. Duh! 
I got accepted to both as well, but Houston is right for me. My family is in Houston and thats the main deciding factor for me. However, if I were singe I might go to baylor beacuse #1- they offered me a $5000 scholarship and #2- I got a really good vibe from the faculty and students there #3 their tuition is cheaper, #4 - I think their facilities are better including cafeteria. But, Im going to Houston, mainly because I feel more comfortable there, I like the faculty/students there, and my family is here and I don't want to relocate.
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I chose UTDB and I couldn't have made a better choice! Faculty members are very sincere and caring while students are very supportive! Overall I enjoy being here and have met people that I will see myself keeping in touch with for the next 20 years or more! As expected, there will be tough times but then you won't feel like you are in this alone since everyone else will assure you that you all are in this together. One downside is that there really isn't a cafeteria in UTDB but then BCM is right across the street and Commons is right next to the school. Also, there are a lot of restaurants in TMC or Rice Village. It is just a nice place to be in. Congrats in gaining admission, good luck in everything and hopefully you will enjoy it regardless of where you end up choosing! =)
Thank you guys so much. Academically, how do you think UTDB and Baylor measure up? I can't find anything about board scores on the internet. Do you guys know anything about the relative scores of these 2 schools? Do you think one school prepares better clinicians than the other? Thanks again.
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All 3 schools in Texas are relatively similar as far as board scores. Keep in mind that board scores are not so much a reflection of the school (they are to an extent) but they are more a reflection of the students and their study habits.
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i can tell you that san antonio was great. all 3 are good, really. but my only experience was at SA and i could not have asked for a better place to learn.
just curious, what made you not want to consider it? i can shed some light if you want.
just curious, what made you not want to consider it? i can shed some light if you want.
before reading this remember that I can only speak about my school and the others are just rumors, but I try to back up what I know by actually get first hand knowlege so here it goes-
This was originally an email to a friend who also got into all three schools and she is deciding between Baylor and UTSA
Congrats on getting in to all three schools! Good choice on eliminating Houston I agree with all of your reasons (IMHO). They are getting a new building soon but not soon enough to give them any advantage over San Antonio or Baylor. I worked for a doctor and every time (EVERY) I spoke to another doctor at open houses they told me to go to SA or Baylor-not a single one even told me to consider Houston- I spoke with about 15 doctors so that is a pretty good indicator in my opinion. But to counter that I have a friend at Houston that like it, but take into consideration that nationally and in texas the general feeling is that Baylor and SA are better than Houston (but any texas school would be better than most East Coast schools-there is a reason NY has to do a 5th year!) So here is what i think about your questions
Why did you choose Baylor and are you still happy with your choice?
Ummm I think Baylor will make anyone a terrific dentist-if you are thinking about specializing at all then Baylor is a great place to go because the name means alot. If I had to make the choice again I would still choose Baylor, but alot of my reasons depend on things other than the actual school (mainly location-Dallas). Looking back I think that San Antonio may have been a better school for me to attend but being in dallas was the right choice for me.
How are the professors?
We have a few amazing professors and then some not so great ones (and a few terrible ones) it can be really annoying but not sure it is any better at any other school. I do get very frustrated with the adminstration about policies and such but I think it might be a public school vs private school thing---but TAMHSC is still figuring things out it seems- (ex. we just got Blackboard and our teachers are just learning to use it) and I think the UT system is better established.
Is it competitive?
Yes it is competitive. I am doing very well-but i have very little free time. My life is consumed with school. The girl I study with works very hard and is barely passing. Our grading system is makes is very hard (92 is a B+ and very few schools are like that) But a better way to explain it is that it is very competive to do very well (say top ten people) but not very competitive for say the middle 50 spots. Also it is not competitive in the sense that people try to sabatoge other people everyone helps everyone else out, but it is competitive because there are so many smart talented people here.
I know Baylor requires students to make more crowns, bridges, etc., do you think it's worth the extra work?
No absolutely not. I really think it is a waste of time. Especially as the profession moves twords more technology most of the things we do especially in the second year are very quickly becoming obsolete. This is my main complaint about Baylor. I agree with doing something a few times to know how to do it, but it is NOT necessary to do all of our lab work. (some schools do none-but that is just as bad too I think) So San Antonio gets points on this point.
Why didn't you choose UT San Antonio? It is very hard to explain-Logically I should have gone to San Antonio-I am very big on pro/con lists and everything pointed to going San Antonio. What changed that was (well this is hard to explain) I had a weird feeling in my stomach. I just had a feeling that Baylor was where I was supposed to go. I had prayed about it and just followed my gut. It ended up being the right choice because I had to be in Dallas due to family health issues, but it was a very very hard decision at the time. The only big negative I know about San Antonio is the view of dental students by the other other professional students. The dental students are considered inferior which I did not like.
How do you feel about their textbooks being on the computers? I think it is a wonderful idea and I wish that Baylor had it. For most of your main science classes you will get a huge binder with all of the class notes and you will use that. I only used my textbooks for reference so it would have been so much easier to seach and find using them the computer. It would also have eliminated carrying all of the heavy textbooks or waiting for someone to finish using one in the library. Also random- San Antonio gets bonus points for places to study their library tops Baylors without doubt. If you don't like studying at home then plan on studying at SMU because baylor really has no place to study most of the time.
Finally, if you had trouble making a decision, how did you decide?
Pray about it, consider all the pros and con-talk to students at the school. If you get a chance i know San Antonion will let you shadow a student for a day so you can get a real feel of the school and you can come hang out with me for a full day if you want to get the full school feel of Baylor. Things to consider is school schedule (Baylor fills our schedule with classes-compare it to SA to see if they have less-I don't know), compare grading scales-we are not pass/fail see if SA is ) If you are interested in research at all see what SA has to offer and I can tell you my experience at Baylor (great!), compare cities-I have friends that love going to school at UTSA med school but do not really like SA, I love being in dallas but that might not be an important factor for you. Find out how subjective SA is (ask students about teacher grading etc) most things at Baylor are VERY subjective in grading- one teacher will give you a c and the other would give you an a for the same project. As about how many requirements at SA vs Baylor- make sure SA is digital and has a sim-lab both a very important to learning. Also if San Antonio has gone to Case based learning (Integrated) than go there without a doubt-if not (which I think they haven't yet) then it doesnt matter, ask to look at test schedules- Baylor give WAY to many tests in my opinion first year we had like 3 or 4 tests a week. Random plus-SA gives more time off to study for Boards but it will not matter to you much because your boards will be Pass/Fail so you will not have to study that much, dress code at SA is better they are allowed to wear jeans- we have to be in scrubs or Buis. nice. ask about attendance policy- we had required attendance that was stupid you waste so much time in pointless class- so no attendance policy is a plus. Those are some of the things to consider between schools--
Overall both schools are great- you cannot do poorly going to either one. If you like the competition or love dallas and are willing to work your butt off, then I would recommend Baylor. If you have no problem going to San Antonio then I would prob recommend going there, less stress, more of a chance to have a life- still hard but not quite as much pointless work. If there is a significant other to consider- go where you can be with them-
From the rumor mill-Houston is also less stress and few requirments (whether that is worth the trade off of being a little better experienced when you get out from Baylor is up to you to decide)
Please take this as only one persons opinion-and remember you will have your DDS no matter where you go. And in my opinion the place (city) a school is in matters alot! try living in a place you hate for one year-the idea of doing it for four would be alot harded than going to a school you didn't love.
Good luck deciding! if you have any other questions about Baylor message me!
This was originally an email to a friend who also got into all three schools and she is deciding between Baylor and UTSA
Congrats on getting in to all three schools! Good choice on eliminating Houston I agree with all of your reasons (IMHO). They are getting a new building soon but not soon enough to give them any advantage over San Antonio or Baylor. I worked for a doctor and every time (EVERY) I spoke to another doctor at open houses they told me to go to SA or Baylor-not a single one even told me to consider Houston- I spoke with about 15 doctors so that is a pretty good indicator in my opinion. But to counter that I have a friend at Houston that like it, but take into consideration that nationally and in texas the general feeling is that Baylor and SA are better than Houston (but any texas school would be better than most East Coast schools-there is a reason NY has to do a 5th year!) So here is what i think about your questions
Why did you choose Baylor and are you still happy with your choice?
Ummm I think Baylor will make anyone a terrific dentist-if you are thinking about specializing at all then Baylor is a great place to go because the name means alot. If I had to make the choice again I would still choose Baylor, but alot of my reasons depend on things other than the actual school (mainly location-Dallas). Looking back I think that San Antonio may have been a better school for me to attend but being in dallas was the right choice for me.
How are the professors?
We have a few amazing professors and then some not so great ones (and a few terrible ones) it can be really annoying but not sure it is any better at any other school. I do get very frustrated with the adminstration about policies and such but I think it might be a public school vs private school thing---but TAMHSC is still figuring things out it seems- (ex. we just got Blackboard and our teachers are just learning to use it) and I think the UT system is better established.
Is it competitive?
Yes it is competitive. I am doing very well-but i have very little free time. My life is consumed with school. The girl I study with works very hard and is barely passing. Our grading system is makes is very hard (92 is a B+ and very few schools are like that) But a better way to explain it is that it is very competive to do very well (say top ten people) but not very competitive for say the middle 50 spots. Also it is not competitive in the sense that people try to sabatoge other people everyone helps everyone else out, but it is competitive because there are so many smart talented people here.
I know Baylor requires students to make more crowns, bridges, etc., do you think it's worth the extra work?
No absolutely not. I really think it is a waste of time. Especially as the profession moves twords more technology most of the things we do especially in the second year are very quickly becoming obsolete. This is my main complaint about Baylor. I agree with doing something a few times to know how to do it, but it is NOT necessary to do all of our lab work. (some schools do none-but that is just as bad too I think) So San Antonio gets points on this point.
Why didn't you choose UT San Antonio? It is very hard to explain-Logically I should have gone to San Antonio-I am very big on pro/con lists and everything pointed to going San Antonio. What changed that was (well this is hard to explain) I had a weird feeling in my stomach. I just had a feeling that Baylor was where I was supposed to go. I had prayed about it and just followed my gut. It ended up being the right choice because I had to be in Dallas due to family health issues, but it was a very very hard decision at the time. The only big negative I know about San Antonio is the view of dental students by the other other professional students. The dental students are considered inferior which I did not like.
How do you feel about their textbooks being on the computers? I think it is a wonderful idea and I wish that Baylor had it. For most of your main science classes you will get a huge binder with all of the class notes and you will use that. I only used my textbooks for reference so it would have been so much easier to seach and find using them the computer. It would also have eliminated carrying all of the heavy textbooks or waiting for someone to finish using one in the library. Also random- San Antonio gets bonus points for places to study their library tops Baylors without doubt. If you don't like studying at home then plan on studying at SMU because baylor really has no place to study most of the time.
Finally, if you had trouble making a decision, how did you decide?
Pray about it, consider all the pros and con-talk to students at the school. If you get a chance i know San Antonion will let you shadow a student for a day so you can get a real feel of the school and you can come hang out with me for a full day if you want to get the full school feel of Baylor. Things to consider is school schedule (Baylor fills our schedule with classes-compare it to SA to see if they have less-I don't know), compare grading scales-we are not pass/fail see if SA is ) If you are interested in research at all see what SA has to offer and I can tell you my experience at Baylor (great!), compare cities-I have friends that love going to school at UTSA med school but do not really like SA, I love being in dallas but that might not be an important factor for you. Find out how subjective SA is (ask students about teacher grading etc) most things at Baylor are VERY subjective in grading- one teacher will give you a c and the other would give you an a for the same project. As about how many requirements at SA vs Baylor- make sure SA is digital and has a sim-lab both a very important to learning. Also if San Antonio has gone to Case based learning (Integrated) than go there without a doubt-if not (which I think they haven't yet) then it doesnt matter, ask to look at test schedules- Baylor give WAY to many tests in my opinion first year we had like 3 or 4 tests a week. Random plus-SA gives more time off to study for Boards but it will not matter to you much because your boards will be Pass/Fail so you will not have to study that much, dress code at SA is better they are allowed to wear jeans- we have to be in scrubs or Buis. nice. ask about attendance policy- we had required attendance that was stupid you waste so much time in pointless class- so no attendance policy is a plus. Those are some of the things to consider between schools--
Overall both schools are great- you cannot do poorly going to either one. If you like the competition or love dallas and are willing to work your butt off, then I would recommend Baylor. If you have no problem going to San Antonio then I would prob recommend going there, less stress, more of a chance to have a life- still hard but not quite as much pointless work. If there is a significant other to consider- go where you can be with them-
From the rumor mill-Houston is also less stress and few requirments (whether that is worth the trade off of being a little better experienced when you get out from Baylor is up to you to decide)
Please take this as only one persons opinion-and remember you will have your DDS no matter where you go. And in my opinion the place (city) a school is in matters alot! try living in a place you hate for one year-the idea of doing it for four would be alot harded than going to a school you didn't love.
Good luck deciding! if you have any other questions about Baylor message me!
