Quality of undergrad attended

[Rezdawg]

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How much of an impact does this have on the application procedure? Do schools really care about this or can going to an ivy league help your chances if your grades are lower than average?

If schools do care about the college you attended, how do they factor this into the equation? Do they have a process to equalize the gpa's? For instance, if someone from Columbia had a 3.3 and someone from North Dakota State had a 3.5, with everything else being equal, who do they take?

I ask this because I somehow slipped passed the admissions committee and made it into a top 10 university. I know my grades would have been better had I attended a less competitive school. There are many times when I regret not going to a state school because I feel that I may have had a better chance to enter dental school.

 

[ecdoesit]

This is a good question.
Though I have faith in accredited colleges,
their quality should be similar.

Also, isnt that where DAT comes into place? If you have gone through a "harder" school, should you be more prepared for that test?

 

[Rezdawg]

I agree that the DAT is considered the "equalizer".

However, here is something...taking general chemistry my freshman year has little or no impact on how I do on the DAT 4 years later. Sure, I worked my butt off during that freshman year, but I cant say that it helped me when I took the DAT. In studying for the DAT, I just used some review book. I was long past my college prerequisites. If I had taken the DAT after my college courses, Im confident my score would have been much better.

Also, going to a less competitive school does not mean you arent getting a good education. I believe that all schools can do a very credible job of preparing students in the sciences. However, going to a less competitive school may help you reach a higher grade because, for the most part, your competition is not as intense compared to people who go to Yale or Stanford.

 

[groundhog]

But for one exception (BYU), I've not come across any evidence on this forum which would indicate that the university one attends as an undergrad is a factor in getting accepted to dental school.

 

[gryffindor]

I only know how it works at our dental school.

The pre-doc admissions committee has this formula where they assign points to different parts of a student's application. They add the points up to see what the student's overall number is to help make their decision of whether or not the candidate is competitive. One aspect of this points assignment is which undergrad school the student attended. I think Barron's publishes a list of universities according to how "competitive" it is. The highest category is a "6" which is schools like the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Amherst, etc. My small Jesuit college falls in the "4" category. The lowest category is a 1. They take the number of the category your undergrad falls in and double it. That number is then added to the points you earn from your GPA, DAT, essay, state resident (b/c we are a NY state school), etc.

So yes, you do get some points if you go to an insane undergrad. But it is very small compared to what they weigh the DAT & GPA. I don't know how much those components are worth, but from what I understand, they are much more important than the points you earn from your undergrad institution.

Of course, if there is a proud alumnus of your school on the adcom, I'm sure you'd get some "brownie points" from that member in support of your application.

 

[Supernumerary]

Originally posted by groundhog
But for one exception (BYU), I've not come across any evidence on this forum which would indicate that the university one attends as an undergrad is a factor in getting accepted to dental school.

And even that's not so much a reflection of the adcoms favoring a specific school as it is a reflection of the types of students that choose BYU. Mormon guys tend to be married by the time they apply to dental school, often have children, have spent ~2 yrs. in volunteer service, speak foreign languages, are very active in their communities/churches, and usually choose to go to BYU.

I don't think the adcoms necessarily say, "oooh BYU, let's keep an eye on this one." It's just that the Mormon applicants tend to be somewhat mature and have considerable life experience for their age; the fact that they all attended BYU is more coincidental than anything else. 🙂

All in all, I don't think the school attended will be much of a factor unless you are truly borderline. They are more interested in numbers and the type of person you are.

 

[Comet208]

The point system is i belive used when they need to make distiction between very similar candidates, but what makes the FIRST cut in the admission process are your grades and DAT scores. if those are good, you are given a chance to interview. if not... your IVY school cannot help you. I wish if i knew this 5 years ago and taken all those hard weed out cources at an easier college. i think most 4 year state or private colleges carry the same number of pints.

Comet