Undergraduate school

[eagleboy123]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Does doing your undergrad at same university as the dental school increase your chances of getting accepted at that dental school.

 

[ADentalHopeful]

ummmm


no.

 

[doc3232]

Somewhat. and by that I mean a negligible amount. If it is your dream D-school that your talking about then I would suggest you go there unless it causes discomfort.

GOOD LUCK

 

[cherr1pop]

It probably differs from school to school but I believe that for my school it does help to get into dental school.. Like we have a pre-dental club in the undergraduate school and if you become a qualified member (I think one year of meeting the requirements like certain # of volunteer projects, attending socials, etc.) your name goes to the dental school in a list...

 

[La Dentista]

Depends on the dental school. Some do and some don't.

 

[caffeinehigh]

It can't hurt, but I wouldn't pick where I went to undergrad just based on this logic....

 

[SHC1984]

Does doing your undergrad at same university as the dental school increase your chances of getting accepted at that dental school.

Depends, I think in order to increase your chances you have to make yourself well known to the dental school...I know a girl that got into UNC last year and she went to UNC undergrad, but I think what really helped her was the fact that she worked at the dental school too. She knew everyone there, including some of the admission's committee members! So I guess if you really want you can try to get a job at the dental school...

 

[Sawmoo]

It's true for UCONN Dental. Especially if you are a CT resident and even more a UCONN undergrad. 50% of all their incoming class are UCONN students.

 

[My3kGT]

Does doing your undergrad at same university as the dental school increase your chances of getting accepted at that dental school.

I would say"Yes, but..."

My son has wanted to be a dentist since junior high school. When it came time to pick a college he chose his college because he wanted to go to their dental school. He joined the pre-dental group and hung around the dental school as much as possible. Also, a friend of his got accepted so he had the chance to talk to a lot of the students and faculty before applying. I believe there is a big advantage if the admissions committee actually knows who you are instead of just making an evaluation based on an application and a picture. I must also add (warning, parental bragging rights ahead) that he majored in biology, finished with a 3.4+ and a DAT (I forget the exact number) in the 88th percentile. He probably would have made the cut anyway, but he got a fast acceptance and had a secured spot before Xmas of his senior year. But I firmly believe the schmoozing did not hurt one bit.

So will going choosing your college as an entry to dental school help? I would say yes, but you have to put the effort into your grades AND getting to know the players at the dental school. And for those other posters on this board who are worried, “Does college X have a weak biology program? Etc.”, well if you school is weak or strong in a particular area most like the dental school knows about it. So if your school is known for a tough science curriculum that will likely carry some weight with the dental admissions committee IF you do well. It never hurts to have a LOR from a prof at the same school either. So I would say “Yes”, going to the same undergrad and graduate school can increase your chances as long as you produce.

Of course, it is a double-edged sword; if you find you didn’t like the undergraduate experience you probably won’t like the graduate experience either. But at least you’ll know before you sign up for all those loans.

 

[bigstix808]

Does doing your undergrad at same university as the dental school increase your chances of getting accepted at that dental school.

i think it varies per school. i know SHC1984 mentioned about her friend going to UNC for undergrad and then getting into their dental school, but like she said, her friend worked there which prob helped a ton. I also know at UNC, they like students that did NOT go to UNC for undergraduate only because it shows that the students can step out of their comfort zone and try something new, such as coming from a different university. i know that is why i chose App State over UNC for undergraduate although i got into both. i'm not sure how other dschools look at that, but i'm sure its similar to UNC at a lot of them.

i guess it doesn't matter now that im in GA 😎 (still gonna shoot for UNC though 😀)

 

[La Dentista]

I know I already posted on this a while ago but to dive deeper into why I said it depends is because:

For example, you have schools like UF. Look at who they accepted into dental school... that's all I will say about that.

But my top choice, I asked a few dental students who go there and even one of the head admissions people (but not so blunt as this) about if I went to their undergrad school would it increase my chances and they all said "not one bit" -- but that was a particular school.

Those who say yes are saying yes because they know of schools that do, those who say no, say no because they know of schools that don't. I say it depends because it really does. Things factor in too, if you get to know the people in the dental school while going to the undergrad, of course that can help you... but alone, without knowing them and attending the undergrad, it depends on the school.