Thank you, everyone! However, cost is a HUGE consideration for me. I am also not all that enamored with prestige. I went to a prestigious undergrad and quickly found out it just wasn't the best fit for me; I transferred very quickly to an almost entirely "unknown" undergrad and am completely happy with my decision. Even if my current school doesn't have the rep of my old one, I know that I have been 100% prepared for this next step in my life. I'm not saying that the prestigious schools are bad by ANY means, but my smaller institution is so much better for me. I'm the involved type who likes to ask questions, know my professors, etc.
No matter my dental school, I have full faith that I'll be prepared to be a dentist. Like I said earlier, so much of it just depends on how much you involve yourself!
I agree with you completely. I think don't think that prestige is all it's cracked up to be...it's more about fit and how much you involve yourself. I went to a prestigious undergrad and had the worst time until I decided I needed to suck it up and get more involved or transfer. Luckily that worked out for me.
If you're taking on debt, cost should 100% be the #1 consideration IMO. Everything else is secondary/can be worked on.
Location is usually what people talk about re: why I don't want to attend a certain school. My attitude: don't like the place the school is located? Move after you're done.
I'll probably end up at a private school due to my GPA. I've talked to the adcom from my state school (it's not even our state school, but a small # of people from my state get in-state tuition) and he said my GPA was not really what they look for because competition is super high, but it is what it is. I'll do my best and see what I get.
During my reading of the 2013 ADEA guide the past few days, and online research, I'm pretty sure UCLA and Univ. of Kentucky give out all sorts of scholarships, both before school and during. Have you purchased this year's ADEA guide?
Where are you finding this scholarship info? I'm having trouble using my ADEA manual.
Then again, I have the 2012 version. I doubt it's worth it to purchase the 2013 version.
With that sexy DAT, you can send your personal statement to my inbox any day. All jokes aside, I am proof reading for two people at the moment. PM me if you'd like some edits. I've edited approximately close to 40 personal statements lol.
Ooo, I will definitely send my statement your way after I get done writing it. It'll be a hot mess and need some TLC.
Hopefully, nothing weird will happen to me as I never had any major grade issues and I think I have a decent balance between stats and ECs.
How does one know whether he/she has decent EC's or not?
I feel like mine are okay, but I really don't know what to expect.
I really do need to do more shadowing, though. I only have like 50 hours so far.
On the topic of tuition, what does everyone think about DDS/PhD?
Have you done research? How much? Do you like research? How much?
I was heavily involved in a research lab last year and it made me realize that I didn't want to do just a PhD. Up until that point I had been confused. I would say that even if you really love research, get as involved with research as humanly possible and then you will know whether it's for you or not. I don't know too much about professional degree + PhD programs, but I have been told by a friend (who is going to leave his PhD program early with just a master's at the end of this semester) that 50% of people starting out PhD's don't finish. It's really not for everyone.
