How to choose between Baylor and San Antonio? Really confused! Please help.

[dentalstud2016]

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Hey everyone.

So I'm trying to decide between Baylor and San Antonio. I'm really confused as neither of them were my top choice and I wasn't expecting to have to make this decision. I was hoping to go to Houston all along but sadly haven't heard anything from them.

So I know that no matter where you go, dental school will be tough. But some schools emphasize different things than others so I'm hoping for a bit of guidance on this issue. Many of my reasons are not school related- they are more personal.

Reasons for Baylor:

1) A lot of my relatives live in Dallas so it would be nice to have someone around should I run into an emergency.

2) First year students at Baylor take 42 or 46 credits a year whereas those at San Antonio take 56. This is a huge jump from my max of 16 credits per semester (32 per year) in undergrad. I am really scared about this- don’t wan’t to make straight C’s or flunk out if I have to take 28 credits a semester at San Antonio.

3) Though San Antonio is a great school too, I would feel really cool having a degree from Baylor.

4) I like Dallas- just the environment. It’s closer to how Houston is from what I can tell.

Reasons not to choose Baylor- I don't know anyone who goes to the school and am scared of starting dental school without having a sort of mentor or a friend that I have known from before. I know sometimes schools have a mentoring program set up, but extra friends will definitely help. I will also be moving out of the house for the first time (I lived at home in undergrad) so the idea of being alone is freaking me out. Also, the extra lab work- I learned as a little pre-dental freshman in college that this was something that was really tough at Baylor.

Reasons for San Antonio:

1) I know a few people who went to my undergrad school and were in the pre-dental group I am a part of and now attend dental school at San Antonio. They’re pretty close to me and would be very good mentors. They would be able to show me the ropes- what to focus on, where to go should I run into a problem, the best way to solve a problem, housing questions etc. This would take care of the whole “aloneness” fear that is haunting me.

Reasons not to choose San Antonio- Again, the 56 credit hours. I don’t want to be making straight C’s.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a very hard worker and have amazing stats. But I figure dental school is going to be so tough as it is, if there is something that I can do to make it a little bit easier, why wouldn’t I do it. With that being said, if you were in my position and thinking about the above mentioned reasons, what would you choose? Big things to consider- 1) Having a guide/close mentor 2) 56 credits at San Antonio vs extra lab work at Baylor.

Input anyone?

 

[AwesomeTeeth]

Reasons not to choose Baylor- I don't know anyone who goes to the school and am scared of starting dental school without having a sort of mentor or a friend that I have known from before. I know sometimes schools have a mentoring program set up, but extra friends will definitely help. I will also be moving out of the house for the first time (I lived at home in undergrad) so the idea of being alone is freaking me out. Also, the extra lab work- I learned as a little pre-dental freshman in college that this was something that was really tough at Baylor.

1) Having a guide/close mentor 2) 56 credits at San Antonio vs extra lab work at Baylor.

Input anyone?

Honestly, I would choose Baylor. It's an amazing school and type of education/clinical experience is hard to beat. I'm probably going to sound bias towards Baylor because it's somewhere I always wanted to go and never got a chance to. I'm sure someone who goes to San Antonio is going to say the same thing.

Firstly, you got accepted to San Antonio AND Baylor. That means they think you're smart enough to make it there. Stop worrying about the number of credits you're taking. You're not going to flunk out. You're going to make it. There's enough second chances and things like that at both school where unless you are completely unmotivated and lazy and don't try at all, you're not going to flunk out. You might get C's and stuff if you don't try hard, but I'm sure at this point you know how to motivate yourself to study. Relax, you'll be fine at either school.

I'm going to address a few of your cons at Baylor. First, you hit it on the head, there is a pretty good mentoring system at Baylor. They match you up with a D2 and that person will help you a lot. They'll answer questions, organize your bench with you, have lunch with you, be there to answer any questions, etc. Secondly, you're going to become REALLY close with your whole dental class. Maybe not everyone, but you're going to form your own little support group in there. It's completely different from undergrad where there's a million people with different agendas and groups. Here, everyone is there to become a dentist. You're go through the toughest times of your life together but also have some of the most fun. They'll become almost like family to you. Trust me, don't worry about not having a support group. It'll be there for you and more.

You're not alone! If you choose Baylor, join the fb group and you can start searching for roommates if you want one. I would recommend one because you can look out for each other and help study together. You're not going to get stuck with a crazy person as a roommate like undergrad. They're all like you and worked really hard to get here.

Yes Baylor will make you do a lot of lab work that no one else will make you do. But the way I see it, it'll make you a better dentist in the end. You'll know how to fix something instead of being forced to send it back to the lab just for adjustments. You can't ever have enough knowledge so I think it's worth it. Yes, it's a completely pain in the ass sometimes from everyone I talk to at Baylor, but I would pick it over not doing it at all. The more you learn in dental school, the better off you'll be when you graduate.

And you should move out and see a different city! You only have a few chances in your life to move away to see something new. Dallas is amazing. There's always tons of stuff to do. I think it would be totally worth it to move here and go to Baylor. That would have been the perfect dream for me last year

Anyway, that's my two cents. You can PM me if you have any more questions and I'll ask some friends of mine that go there. There's a bunch of Baylor people here on SDN but they're probably studying for finals right now.


Just saw that you wanted to go to Houston. Put down the deposit for Baylor/SA (it's really cheap, you're lucky they're Texas schools), and wait for Houston. Houston always does things pretty late. People are still getting interviews for that school. So they'll be sending out acceptances still. SA and Baylor are pretty much filled up after January but Houston rolls on for awhile.

 

[Saddleshoes]

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[WKhan]

great input AwesomeTeeth.

Anyone from San Antonio?

 

[HoustonDAT]

Reasons not to choose San Antonio- Again, the 56 credit hours. I don't want to be making straight C's.

Not sure where you got 56 from. (http://dental.uthscsa.edu/educprograms/DS1.pdf)

Our first semester had 4 "real" classes: Gross, Histo, Biochem, Dental Anatomy

Gross and Histo took up 90% of my time.

A biochem exam doesn't need more than a week to study for.
A dental anatomy exam doesn't need more than 2 days to study for. (class avg was high B)

The rest of the courses are all fluff. They are not semester long courses. Some start early in the semester and end within a few weeks. Some start late in the semester and end within a few weeks. Histo ended before Thanksgiving, which freed up tons of time for gross.

I'm in the high B/low A range. I study a few hours everyday, and I've gone out almost every other weekend.

 

[crew09]

They're pretty close to me and would be very good mentors

Based on your background, and preferences, I'd go to San Antonio. I know students who've graduated from both and I've lived in SA and Dallas.

Your reasons for going to SA are significantly stronger than Baylor.

AwesomeTeeth's post is very specific to his/her experience at Baylor...

Congratulations though, you'll do great at either school it's obvious your smart and hardworking.