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Southern IL
Started by Dr2BSoon
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I've applied and haven't heard anything yet. From what I've heard it is a good school. Its in a very small town whose only claim to fame is that its the birthplace of James Earl Ray and (I can't remember the first name) Wadlow (the tallest person ever or something like that). The school has a clinic on campus and another one in East St. Louis. They take around 50 students each year with about 45 of them coming from IL. Rent is very cheap, and supposedly their board scores are very good. It seems like their facilities might be in need of some modernization. What I mean is that touring UT memphis with all digital x-rays and virtual reality sim labs and then touring SIU, its a bit different. Hope that helps.
I am not an expert, but I did visit SIU like the previous poster mentioned doing. One thing I have heard is that they are trying to limit out of staters. Something a faculty member in restorative told me about the process is if you havent heard by now, they like to make decisions in March. I dont know why this is nor did he say why/why not...he said its just the way it is. I think it has to do with the fact that unlike most schools which have to send out somewhere between 1.5 and 2 times as many acceptances out to fill a class, schools like UIC and SIU do not have to do that and in fact only have to send out MAYBE 10-20 more acceptances (ex: UIC sent out 79 acceptances and the class has 69 spots) than spots that they have to fill a class and realize they can do things more slowly as many accepted will not turn down their spot (unlike say NYU). In any case, I thought it was nice, yeah a little different than most schools that have 1 building containing the entire dental school as it has many, but nonetheless solid overall. One thing that concerns me is being in Alton, IL (yes I do know St. Louis is 15-20 mins away and SIU is only dental school close to that area) is clinic experience and dealing with patients (one student mentioned it was a problem). Other than that, I really was left with a rather neutral experience...its hard to put my finger on what the school is really like. What I do know is within 5-6 weeks or so things should start happening.
