You'll hear that from everyone, that their class is a "family". During interviews at both schools, that's both schools' main selling point for some reason, and you'll hear everyone say that it's what separates SA from Hou (or vice versa).
Really, you should decide on the following factors, in no particular order of importance:
1) Where do you live?
The closer the school, the better. If you're from SA or surrounding area, better to attend SA as you'll save a truckload of money on rent, furniture, utilities, etc. (same if you're from HOU)
2) Do you want to specialize?
May want to look into stats such as a.how many chose to specialize each year? b.how many people matched into the residency of choice c.what % of those that applied actually matched? d.does the school give preference to those applicants from its own school? e.strength of class- harder to do well (relatively speaking) in a class full of gunners f. reputation of school- how reputable is the school nationally?
3) Want to do research?
If you know what your interests are, may want to look into which school is researching what, and what opportunities will be available to you as a student. Yes, both schools encourage students to do research, but both don't focus on all the same areas of research.
4) Do you prefer an urban or a suburban setting?
HOU is in an urban setting, SA in the 'burbs.
5) Want to be competent by graduation time?
How much experience will the average student have by the time he/she graduates, i.e., how many root canals, bridges, fillings, extractions, etc.? How is the patient flow, will there be any down time or any need to recruit patients? Do students have their own operatories, or do they share, rotate, etc?
It'd be great to hear perspectives from students and graduates of both schools.
I am a 2011 grad from San Antonio, so take my input for what it's worth.
First off, I agree with what has been said about living arrangements. Do keep in mind though, that San Antonio is one of the cheapest large cities to live in. Cost of living in the medical center is really pretty reasonable. I have heard that comparable apartments/homes seem to be much more expensive in Houston and Dallas. Apartments in San Antonio in and near the medical center can range anywhere from $450/mo for a small efficiency, up to $1000+ for 1BR/1BA. It really just depends on how nice you want to live. Also consider having a roommate or roommates to save money.
Specializing is not dependent on the school, it is dependent on the person. If you want to be at the top of your class, by all means you are going to work hard to do so no matter what school you go to. As someone already mentioned, you get out, what you put in.
There are ample research opportunities at San Antonio. Most people do research between first and second year, but we also had some students working on research projects during the school year too.
As far as urban vs. suburban-- Houston and Dallas are definitely urban, and San Antonio is more suburban (relative to where the school is located). I still think you will find ample opportunity to do many of the same activities in all 3 cities (restaurants, clubs, bars, sporting events, movies, concerts, symphony, etc) You will have more access to good hiking and biking trails in San Antonio with the hill country not far away at all. There are also a number of great vineyards in the hill country if wine tasting is your thing.
As far as being a competent, prepared clinician when you're done-- I am a firm believer that you can be an excellent clinician upon graduation from San Antonio, Houston, or Baylor. I honestly do not think there is a "best" school when comparing the 3. It's no secret that the last time dental schools were ranked, San Antonio was #1. The last time dental schools were ranked was in 1998 or 1999 by U.S. News and World Report, and the rankings were not really based on strengths of the programs, but more on research and funding/grants for research.
As far as facilities are concerned, all three schools have the necessary technology and equipment to make you a skilled clinician upon graduation. All three schools have simulation labs. And I am pretty sure all three schools have digital x-rays and electronic records (correct me if I am wrong). San Antonio uses Axium as their electronic records system.
Graduation requirements-- there are always going to be students who go above and beyond, and those who do the bare minimum. Whether you are the former or the latter, can also depend on your patient pool or patient family. At San Antonio, there is a good patient pool, but I can't always say that patients are distributed fairly or evenly among the students and the general practice groups. You do get patients assigned to you, but many students also recruit their own patients to fulfill requirements, especially when patients aren't very dependable-- and trust me, everyone will experience patients who are not dependable at one time or another. From my personal experience, the biggest hurdle in meeting requirements is finding patients who can afford treatment. Most patients can afford the perio and operative, but when you get to crown and bridge, patients don't have the money.
It is no secret that Baylor has more crown and bridge requirements than Houston and San Antonio. This does not mean that you cannot be a good clinician if you go to San Antonio or Houston. Although I do not know, as I only attended one school (San Antonio), but I would venture to say that Baylor has a patient pool that wants and can afford crowns. Case acceptance for crowns is probably better at Baylor than Houston and San Antonio, but that does not mean you won't be prepared if you go to San Antonio or Houston. No, I did not cut 45+ crowns at San Antonio (like many students at Baylor do), but you know what, I still felt 100% prepared to enter private practice.
I cannot speak for the opportunities available at Baylor and Houston, but at San Antonio has a number of electives you can take in addition to required rotations.
Required Rotations:
Oral Surgery -- 4 weeks third year, 2 weeks fourth year, OMS clinic at school and downtown hospital, no absolute requirement for # of extractions needed to graduate, most students would agree that we get excellent oral surgery training, I did two full mouth extractions, mandibular tori removal, alveoplasty, ridge preservation, a handful of surgical extractions, and tons of simple (non-surgical extractions), the only thing in oral surgery that I wish I would have been more comfortable with coming out of school is suturing techniques, and that is dependent on how many extractions you do that need suturing or you don't get the experience, I have my go-to techniques that I use for all extractions that need it
Pedo -- 2 weeks third year, 2 weeks fourth year, pedo clinic at school and community clinics in San Antonio, students must do a competency exam for a new patient or recall exam, infant exam/1st dental home, and then an operative competency, there was not stainless steel crown competency exam, but most students do 1-2 SSCs, so they have some experience before getting into private practice
Perio -- 3 days during third year, grad perio clinic (observe and assist residents)
Geriatrics -- 3 days during third year in geriatric clinic and VA hospital (provide care to elderly, medically-compromised patients)
Hospital -- 1 week senior year, observe and assist OMS residents in surgical suite and OR, I got to see a lot of cool stuff
South Texas -- 2 weeks senior year, Harlingen or Laredo community clinics, lots of experience, get to work with an assistant, etc.
Oral Medicine -- 1 week senior year, exam and diagnose weird lesions, system diseases, you might get to do a biospy, great experience to see the things that aren't normal, good review of oral pathology
Emergency clinic -- roughly 1 day every other week senior year, usually extractions, but can be endo or operative
There are some other rotations, but these are the main ones.
Electives
Implant placement -- 8 to 10 rising senior students selected via application and interview process, get to place implants, most students in the elective placed 3-5 implants, but one guy in my class placed something like 15
Crown lengthening
Molar endo -- must take elective to do molar root canals, this is what most students feel most un-prepared to do upon graduation, a lot of it is because the case has to be PERFECT for it not to be referred to grad endo, and then the patient has to be able to pay for it, which wasn't always easy to find patients who were willing to pay for the endo and then the buildup/crown. So as of right now, students do not have to complete a molar root canal to graduate. Some students will, but you have to do the elective.
Mobile Van elective
Teaching elective
Here is a complete list:
http://dental.uthscsa.edu/educprograms/selectives.pdf
Requirements change somewhat year-to year,
but here is what I did to graduate (and this was not by any means the most in the class or the least, and it was more than the bare minimum)
Everything is based on points. You get points for certain procedures, and need something like 5600 points senior year and I think it was maybe 2100 or something junior year, but I don't remember exactly. Certain procedures are worth more points like crowns, bridges, dentures, etc. vs. low point procedures like sealants, prophy, etc.
Crowns -- 33, this includes 5 implants restored
FPD -- 1 (have to do one to graduate and this all most people do)
Operative -- based on points, must do 1600 points junior year-- kinda confusing because you get more points/surface restored junior year than senior year, but senior year you need 500 points minimum at 5 pts/surface for 100 surfaces restored, and I did around 700 points worth senior year-- this does not include any of the operative that is completed on South Texas rotation or pedo rotation, these points are just in clinic with your family of patients
Removable -- 8 arches complete dentures, 4 arches RPD, 2 flippers
Endo -- 2 canines and 2 premolars for a total of 5 canals
Anywho... I hope this helps for those who are trying to make a decision. I enjoyed my experience at San Antonio and I feel that my clinical training was excellent. I did not do an AEGD and I have felt more than prepared in private practice. With that being said, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the schools in Texas. Go where you think you will be the happiest-- how you felt on your interview. I wouldn't necessarily base it on clinical requirements, because all three schools will prepare you for real-world dentistry.
. As a DS1 you can join any number of research projects.
