How did you start and narrow down your choices of schools to apply to?

[SexyMariGal]

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Especially when it comes to narrowing down choices by location. How did you know where you would want to live without having spent any time in the city or on campus of the school you were applying to? Location is one factor that seems like it plays a bigger role in the grand scheme of things, since housing and extracurriculars would be affected, as well as cost of living and tuition.

Another aspect I was thinking about might be how much clinical emphasis is placed on the curriculum, but that's not something you can readily find information about, and even then, all schools will teach you the bare bones basics of becoming a dentist, so it might end up being a wash anyhow. I doubt that a school that is tougher in the clinical aspect will really give a graduating student that much of an edge over a school that doesn't focus as much on the clinical aspects. It's not like one school's clinical curriculum is like a GPR/AEGD residency when compared to another school.

I'll take a closer look at my ADEA guide later, but I'm guessing the majority of the information will just be stats related of incoming students like GPA, DAT, in-state, out-of-state, etc., which are things I'm not wholly interested in. Anyway, how did you start to compile a list of schools that you wanted to go to?

 

[herkulease]

Its probably best to put some sort of ranking by location/tuition at the end following all the other criteria such as GPA and DAT, in state/out state. those things are far more important than location in choosing which schools to apply.

If you don't have the GPA/DAT numbers you're throwing time and money away.

If they are not out of state friendly you have a very good chance of also throwing time and money away or if they are in state only then you are definitely throwing time and money away.

Location/Tuition can come later maybe once you get offers. Plus as you noted you can't really rate a location until you've been there even if briefly for an interview. Its not that they are unimportant just that in terms of applying. they shouldn't be priority if you have no chance of being accepted at said school.

 

[Duriel]

I looked at % of out of state students and what schools were in my range of GPA/DAT.

 

[Bis-GMA111]

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[dantemac]

I would say here are the most important things to consider:


BEFORE APPLYING:
1) **Does the school take out of state students if I am from out of state?
2) Is the school Ivy League, very selective, or just simply too damn competitive (i.e. Nova)? Do I stand a chance with those?
3) Location: Can you afford to travel there if invited. Can you see yourself living there?
4) Finally, credentials. Is my DAT and GPA acceptable? Most likely, if you pick a good mix of out of state friendly schools, public or private, you won't have to worry too much about this. Most schools are looking for the same thing (3.2+ GPA, 19-20+ DAT score). If your GPA and DAT are on the lower side, do more research and do some tinkering.

From my experience, my #1 consideration was location and out of state friendliness. It worked for me.

AFTER ACCEPTANCE:
1) Price of attendance. Don't let this get in the way of your initial choices. Even if on paper the price gives you a cardiac, you may love the school or be forced to go there.
2) Impression of the school/location: Could you see yourself in their class living in that location? You may know this about a school or two before applying, but now it is time to consider.

 

[Bis-GMA111]

you know, it's weird. i was looking at the pre-dents stats for nova, and not all people that beasted the bio (or the dat in general for that matter) were offered an interview. it really makes me wonder what they're looking for

like i would love to go to NOVA and all (if i don't get into a school in this cycle), but i feel that a big part of the process is just random luck.

 

[ataha]

Number wise NOVA seems to be really competitive but I've been told that its one of the easier schools to get accepted into? Could it be because of preference to Florida residents? (its like 60% in state -40% out of state)

 

[MentalFloss2012]

you know, it's weird. i was looking at the pre-dents stats for nova, and not all people that beasted the bio (or the dat in general for that matter) were offered an interview. it really makes me wonder what they're looking for

like i would love to go to NOVA and all (if i don't get into a school in this cycle), but i feel that a big part of the process is just random luck.

Nova seems to prefer a higher GPA over DAT score especially for OOS.
The nice thing about Nova is that they reject you immediately (no phantom wait list) if you don't meet their initial cut-off numbers.
Many of my pre-dent friends (and I) with high DATs and from top tier undergrad schools applied there last cycle & this cycle and got immediate rejections by snail mail. Yet we got multiple interviews/multiple acceptances from many other competitive schools.

Keep in mind some schools have preferred feeder schools based on their past experiences. Maybe that plays a small role in their selection process too.

Plus: there's always a touch of randomness in the selection process when there are 1000's of applicants to choose from for so few seats.

 

[Baker2010]

Especially when it comes to narrowing down choices by location. How did you know where you would want to live without having spent any time in the city or on campus of the school you were applying to? Location is one factor that seems like it plays a bigger role in the grand scheme of things, since housing and extracurriculars would be affected, as well as cost of living and tuition.

Another aspect I was thinking about might be how much clinical emphasis is placed on the curriculum, but that's not something you can readily find information about, and even then, all schools will teach you the bare bones basics of becoming a dentist, so it might end up being a wash anyhow. I doubt that a school that is tougher in the clinical aspect will really give a graduating student that much of an edge over a school that doesn't focus as much on the clinical aspects. It's not like one school's clinical curriculum is like a GPR/AEGD residency when compared to another school.

I'll take a closer look at my ADEA guide later, but I'm guessing the majority of the information will just be stats related of incoming students like GPA, DAT, in-state, out-of-state, etc., which are things I'm not wholly interested in. Anyway, how did you start to compile a list of schools that you wanted to go to?

When I applied last cycle, I first decided what are the things that I want in a school in general.
For me some of them where
1. Good Clinical Skills
2. Students Performing well on their boards (now its P/F soo...)
3. Current Students perceptions of the school itself (good vs bad experience)
4. Being in a great city.
5. Where I felt I would be the most happy
6. Cost

note: These things were the most important to me but you also have to consider if what you have to bring to the table is what the school desires in applicants. For example, I wouldn't apply to Columbia with a average/ low DAT score.

Ultimately, I think its a matter of finding out what you want and what the schools want so that everyones happy and not wasting money/ time.

Good luck this cycle!

 

[organoDDS]

I started by looking at the ADEA guide, looking at their acceptance stats for people from my state. (I'm from Cali) Then I looked at their prerequisite requirements. (required courses, taking CC vs Univ courses, LOR's, shadowing hours) From there, I looked at their acceptance rates for older applicants. This pretty much eliminated close to 35 schools off the list.

Then I started trolling SDN for more info: school environment, Didactic/PBL, clinical reputation, accreditation problems, etc.

Result: 11 schools on the short-list. (UPenn, UCSF, Harvard, Columbia, UMinn, Pitt, UOP, Creighton, UDM, Nova, UNC)

Personally, I like how systematic and unbiased this method was in determining which schools would take my current qualifications. That way I'm sure I'm not wasting my money applying to schools where I'm not likely to get in because I don't meet the minimum requirements on their checklist.

 

[Baker2010]

I started by looking at the ADEA guide, looking at their acceptance stats for people from my state. (I'm from Cali) Then I looked at their prerequisite requirements. (required courses, taking CC vs Univ courses, LOR's, shadowing hours) From there, I looked at their acceptance rates for older applicants. This pretty much eliminated close to 35 schools off the list.

Then I started trolling SDN for more info: school environment, Didactic/PBL, clinical reputation, accreditation problems, etc.

Result: 11 schools on the short-list. (UPenn, UCSF, Harvard, Columbia, UMinn, Pitt, UOP, Creighton, UDM, Nova, UNC)

Personally, I like how systematic and unbiased this method was in determining which schools would take my current qualifications. That way I'm sure I'm not wasting my money applying to schools where I'm not likely to get in because I don't meet the minimum requirements on their checklist.

👍

 

[iralex801]

I looked at % of out of state students and what schools were in my range of GPA/DAT.

👍. Yep same. I didn't really bother seeing if I would go to a particular school or not before applying. My reason is I didn't want to get attached to a school before I got accepted. After acceptances, I looked more into the schools.

Every school I applied to, I would've gone to if it was my only acceptance though. So if you know you absolutely would rather apply another cycle than go to the only school you accepted to, you should leave that school out.