SIU QUESTION (regarding D1 and D2 curriculum)

[bigcheeser]

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I know a lot of schools (i.e. Marquette, Case Western, Midwestern) have preclinical lab simulations for D1 and D2 students. This, in my opinion, is an important component to dental school.

I've looked on the SIU website to see if there are any opportunities that give D1 and D2 students hands-on dental related experience, such as preclinical simulations, volunteer sealant programs, etc. I didn't find anything that implied such, so I was wondering if anyone is aware of these types of opportunities and whether they are integrated in the curriculum.

Thanks in advance and good luck to err1 with upcoming interviews!

 

[duckdds]

Good question, I'll try to get you an answer when I'm down there.
When's your interview?

 

[bigcheeser]

I have it next wed. (Oct. 26th) and I'm scheduled to begin at 1:00. How about you?

 

[duckdds]

Same time but in November. Are you instate? Are you driving there? Staying overnight?

 

[bigcheeser]

Yea im from IL (chicagoland area). I'm driving down there early on tuesday to get there at a decent hour and im spending the night in a hotel close to campus. I'm looking forward to it despite the long drive lol

 

[duckdds]

Yea im from IL (chicagoland area). I'm driving down there early on tuesday to get there at a decent hour and im spending the night in a hotel close to campus. I'm looking forward to it despite the long drive lol

Yeah me too. I was thinking of just driving from Chicago really early in the morning (like 5:30ish) and get there sometime late-morning. Is that a good idea? I really don't want to spend money to stay there for 2 days considering that we will only be on campus for an hour total.

I was also considering the Amtrak..
Which school do you go to?

 

[bigcheeser]

Yeah me too. I was thinking of just driving from Chicago really early in the morning (like 5:30ish) and get there sometime late-morning. Is that a good idea? I really don't want to spend money to stay there for 2 days considering that we will only be on campus for an hour total.

I was also considering the Amtrak..
Which school do you go to?

I actually considered driving at first but after giving it some thought I decided to stay the night for several reasons. First, this is my most important interview thus far and I want to be in a good, rested mental state so I dont say nething stupid during the interview lol. Between the 6+ hrs of driving and waking up extremely early I would probably be like a zombie during my time at SIU. But if you could get someone to give you a ride (mom, dad, brother, etc.) then you could sleep on the way down which probably wouldnt be a bad idea.
Also, i'm just paying for a single night at the hotel. I'll check out at 11:00 or whenever my checkout time is and probably just chill until my interview. The way I look at it is that ive already dropped about $2k towards dental school from the app fee, travel, and processing fees; so an extra 70 bucks wont put too much of a dent in my total expenses. I havent looked into the Amtrak so cant really help u out with that one lol.
I go to UW-Madison. So that's an extra 2.5 hr drive from chicago to SIU. (Another reason i'm stayin the night). What about you? Is SIU one of ur top choices?

 

[duckdds]

I actually considered driving at first but after giving it some thought I decided to stay the night for several reasons. First, this is my most important interview thus far and I want to be in a good, rested mental state so I dont say nething stupid during the interview lol. Between the 6+ hrs of driving and waking up extremely early I would probably be like a zombie during my time at SIU. But if you could get someone to give you a ride (mom, dad, brother, etc.) then you could sleep on the way down which probably wouldnt be a bad idea.
Also, i'm just paying for a single night at the hotel. I'll check out at 11:00 or whenever my checkout time is and probably just chill until my interview. The way I look at it is that ive already dropped about $2k towards dental school from the app fee, travel, and processing fees; so an extra 70 bucks wont put too much of a dent in my total expenses. I havent looked into the Amtrak so cant really help u out with that one lol.
I go to UW-Madison. So that's an extra 2.5 hr drive from chicago to SIU. (Another reason i'm stayin the night). What about you? Is SIU one of ur top choices?

Yeah I'm more inclined towards Amtrak now since the station is only a few minutes walking from the campus.
I'm a UIC student, and I'd be really happy going to either SIU or UIC. Haven't heard back from UIC for some reason and I think they are done sending out interviews so SIU is up there. Is SIU your top choice? Which other schools are you interviewing?

 

[bigcheeser]

Yeah I'm more inclined towards Amtrak now since the station is only a few minutes walking from the campus.
I'm a UIC student, and I'd be really happy going to either SIU or UIC. Haven't heard back from UIC for some reason and I think they are done sending out interviews so SIU is up there. Is SIU your top choice? Which other schools are you interviewing?

Yea UIC was one of my top choices but I havent heard from them either 🙁
Hopefully they invite a few more of us before december. I recently had one at Mid-IL and have a couple more at Indiana and Mich, which is weird because I would have expected to hear from UIC before both of those schools.

 

[kaDa]

You guys should def use amtrak...I'm interviewing there the 25th and the cost for the round trip ticket alone would just cover gas if I drove...don't have to concentrate on the train so no brainer in my book 👍.

You guys haven't heard from UIC either? I was hoping to hear from them as well...I actually called to check the status of my app since their track record with the app process so far hasn't been stellar...still just complete status 😴.

 

[shiftypoptart]

if you are able to get a job or shadowing oppoturnity at a dental lab this will help out TONS. I'm good at all the didactic classes but when it comes to waxxing up a partial it took me a while before i was able to do it well. Definitely get practice of what a lab dental tech does cause this will be the main part of your D1 and D2 years.

 

[duckdds]

You guys should def use amtrak...I'm interviewing there the 25th and the cost for the round trip ticket alone would just cover gas if I drove...don't have to concentrate on the train so no brainer in my book 👍.

You guys haven't heard from UIC either? I was hoping to hear from them as well...I actually called to check the status of my app since their track record with the app process so far hasn't been stellar...still just complete status 😴.

Are you going from Union Station? How much of a gap was between your arrival at Alton and your interview time?
I'm most likely going to be taking Amtrak as well.

And I donno what's going on with UIC. I'm just wondering if they are still sending pre-Dec invites. Too bad their admissions are hard to get a hold of 👎