How important is undergraduate school prestige?

[Greenvneck]

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[Kentuckylover]

Obviously, if you have high stats from a competitive school, then it's a plus. But not a big deal even if you don't. Trust me. Your school's prestige won't matter at all. I have seen many people who transferred from a community college and still got into very nice dental schools.

Just keep your GPAs and do well on your DAT. Then, you should be fine.
Don't worry about your school's prestige and focus on your DAT

Good luck!

 

[periopocket]

Sorry to take this thread on a tangent, but for applicants applying with masters degrees, how important is the masters programs prestige? Is it much greater?

 

[Double Bonded]

I go to a small, relatively unknown Tier 1 undergraduate school, but one that is at the very bottom of this ranking (in the 100's). I am currently studying for the DAT and was just wondering if you have credentials (high DAT and GPA, along with extra circular research, volunteering, leadership, etc.)- how important is the "prestige" of your undergraduate degree to top notch schools?

I went to a Top 20 school. It didn't help in my opinion. Get in because of your GPA and DAT scores, not the circlejerk that is "school prestige".

Also:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=882730
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=855990
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=799836
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=773187

 

[qkchen]

Sorry to take this thread on a tangent, but for applicants applying with masters degrees, how important is the masters programs prestige? Is it much greater?

I did my masters from a liberal arts college, and things went fine when I was applying, although I did undergrad at an internationally well-known school in Canada. I think school prestige only matters so much; obviously, having great grades from a great school is just like a bonus, but that's about it.

 

[dentalprodigy]

Doesn't matter...I go to school in Camden. Got multiple acceptances & interviewied alongside kids from ivy league schools


Don't worry. What matters is what YOU do at the school.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk

 

[MrLowKey]

Not important at all ... I am graduating from a state school in the Northeast and was got a seat in a top program... As long as you have the credentials it doesnt matter

 

[DentalJedi]

I would be shocked it my school was in the top 200 (fire up chips!) but I still did ok.

 

[wired202808]

majority of the time it wont matter

 

[Shadownght12]

Definitely agree with everyone else.
It shouldn't make a big difference at all.
I went to a very small private school.
I interviewed with a ton of Ivy-league students.
I think your GPA is the most important and then your DAT scores.
Just keep those high, get involved, and you should be golden.

 

[periopocket]

MS programs with spring enrollment are for the most part only offered by state schools, while most SMP's usually only begin in the fall. Would you all recommend to stay in a masters offered by a state school If one has been quite successful academically, or transfer to a more prestigious MS program in the fall, in order to enhance ones application. Is undergrad school prestige less important than graduate school prestige? Sorry If this is a silly question, or is going off topic again, I think this is an interesting topic.

 

[UBDent19]

I've heard that, in the past, our admissions department used to multiply an applicant's overall score by a factor related to the school they graduated from (e.g. Harvard would have a higher multiplication factor than an unknown community college).

They have since dropped that component of the process, making a 3.5 GPA from a community college equal to a 3.5 GPA from Harvard. It was done after recognizing that, when trying to predict success in dental school, where applicants came from mattered less than how well they performed wherever they were.

 

[doc toothache]

I've heard that, in the past, our admissions department used to multiply an applicant's overall score by a factor related to the school they graduated from (e.g. Harvard would have a higher multiplication factor than an unknown community college).

You "heard", no doubt, from reliable sources.

 

[433439]

I've heard that, in the past, our admissions department used to multiply an applicant's overall score by a factor related to the school they graduated from (e.g. Harvard would have a higher multiplication factor than an unknown community college).

They have since dropped that component of the process, making a 3.5 GPA from a community college equal to a 3.5 GPA from Harvard. It was done after recognizing that, when trying to predict success in dental school, where applicants came from mattered less than how well they performed wherever they were.

I don't think it's that dramatic, admissions committees see a C in Organic Chemistry II from Yale University compared to a C in Organic Chemistry II from Podunk Community College; there's a difference.

 

[NOLAdentist2016]

I think that Adcoms look more into how you did at your school compared to the average students at your school. For instance, some universities make it much harder to get a high GPA, whereas others really inflate their GPA. If you have a 3.5 at the former, than that would be looked at very highly. However, that same 3.5 from the later might be judged differently. Obviously they don't know these stats from every school, but I'm sure that schools that come up over and over in the files surely show trends.
I know that I went to a very well-known competitive private high school and the college advising office always sent along a "fact sheet" with class statistics to college adcoms so they could see how we stacked up amongst our classmates. Our school was notorious for grade-deflation (class GPA's for the school were only in the very small range of 81.0-93.5 out of 100, even though we had many people with perfect to near perfect SAT's). We still sent an average of 10 students to each Ivy League a year.

 

[UCLAzy]

I think that Adcoms look more into how you did at your school compared to the average students at your school. For instance, some universities make it much harder to get a high GPA, whereas others really inflate their GPA. If you have a 3.5 at the former, than that would be looked at very highly. However, that same 3.5 from the later might be judged differently. Obviously they don't know these stats from every school, but I'm sure that schools that come up over and over in the files surely show trends.
I know that I went to a very well-known competitive private high school and the college advising office always sent along a "fact sheet" with class statistics to college adcoms so they could see how we stacked up amongst our classmates. Our school was notorious for grade-deflation (class GPA's for the school were only in the very small range of 81.0-93.5 out of 100, even though we had many people with perfect to near perfect SAT's). We still sent an average of 10 students to each Ivy League a year.

only 10? try harder