How many schools is too many?

[dienepredent]

x

narrowed down list significantly. please delete post.

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[bpoore19]

Your GPA and DAT scores are too good for you to consider applying to 25 schools! I would definitely cut your list down to 10 or less and save some $.

 

[stomatology]

I think 25 is too many to apply to, unless someone has really bad stats, but even at that point it's probably better for them to do a year or two of postbacc and wait to apply. It's a waste of money to apply to so many schools. Just to apply to that many schools without the secondary fees is slightly under $2500 (I forget how much secondaries cost...I think they're around 75-100$, but if I estimate $80 per secondary that's an additional $2000 for 25 schools), whereas if you applied to 10 the cost would be slightly over $1000 (plus 800 if secondaries are estimated at $80 per secondary). Not to mention the cost of flights/hotels/etc if you attend interviews at a whole bunch of these schools.

I agree with bpoore19 that your stats are too good for you to apply to that many schools. 8-10 well-picked schools should suffice. At the end of the day, you can only attend one school anyway.

 

[dienepredent]

Each one on that list has something unique to offer that appeals to me :/ I don't know how to narrow it down such a significant amount D:

 

[HaverfoodsDDS]

I had very similar numbers to you (21AA/22TS/17PAT ; 4.07 oGPA, 4.01sGPA) and definitely regret applying to even 18 schools. I understand the idea of just wanting to be safe and maximize your chances, but believe me 10 would have been more than enough, and 12 at the absolute most. Applying to 25 schools is just throwing money down the drain (think of the additional expenses to attend interviews on top of simply the AADSAS fees), especially because when you really think about it, I'm sure you could knock off ~10 schools just based on their locations.

 

[bpoore19]

Honestly, do you see yourself moving from Florida to California?

 

[stomatology]

You're going to have to narrow the list at some point, whether it's sooner or later. As I've said, you can only attend one school anyway. The advantage to narrowing the list sooner is that it allows you to save a lot of money you would otherwise be wasting.

I have lower stats than you and a disciplinary action to report, and even I'm not applying to 25 schools. Do your research and figure out which schools could potentially be "safety" schools, which ones are matches, and which ones would be reach schools. Limit yourself to a reasonable number of schools (as I said, I think for you that number would be 8-10 but push it up to 12 if you'd REALLY like), and break it down into categories. I'm personally planning on doing 1/3 "safeties," 1/3 matches, 1/3 reaches. I think I've got a good combination for myself, personally.

Additionally, cost of dental education is a really important factor that can help you weed out some schools that you may not want to attend due to the financial burden that would be placed upon you if you were to go there. I think everyone on this forum agrees that cost is one of the most important factors to consider when applying to dental school and deciding which school to ultimately attend.

 

[sjv]

With your stats, I would apply to no more than 15 schools. As said above, the cost will really add up and with your numbers, you'll likely get multiple interviews regardless.