Hi, I'm deciding between colleges right now. I have been accepted to Brown University, U of Penn, and NYU (combined dental program). I know I want to go to Dental school after college but I'm not sure where to go to school. I have always wanted to go to Brown. It's my dream school. But their grading system is A B C without +/- . Also, there are so many top students there. My question, is it worth going to such a great school and coming out with most likely a weaker GPA than from not such a tough school? Everyone keeps telling me it's all about the GPA and DAT scores. The NYU dental program is three years in their undergrad and four years at their grad school. I've heard so many different things about NYU dental. I definitely wouldn't mind going to NYU for dental school, but I want to spend my undergraduate experience somewhere else other than NYC. I want to go and do a normal undergrad but Isn't "premed" such a hard track? I believe I will be majoring in something other than sciences. Will it hurt me if I don't have too many science classes other than the requirements? Brown has also no core requirements which means I can take whatever classes I want. What do you think about my choices? I barely mentioned Penn and I've heard the undergrad is extremely compeititve. I didn't get acceptance into their combined degree program with the dental school. Is there a major advantage to having a grad school next to the undergrad? Thanks!
Undergraduate
- Thread starter ra2000a
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ra2000a said:
Choose the school that YOU want to go to. If brown is your dream school then go to brown. Don't choose NYU just because of the combined program.
You must be bright if you got into three prestigious schools, therefore don't sweat the GPA. Your GPA is what you make of it. I have a hard time believing that going to one school over another will guarentee you a higher GPA. Smoke college like you did high school, do well on the DAT, and you can go to ANY dental school you choose.
Good luck.
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Go to brown.ra2000a said:
M
mynameistino
if u get an A- then it becomes an A
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ra2000a said:
First Congrats on getting into these outstanding colleges. I know every year it's harder and harder to get into competitive college, so you must have done very well in high school. so good job!
Second, you are young so ENJOY LIFE! You said you don't want to live in NY right now, so don't go NYU. If you like Rhode Island and like the atmosphere at Brown, go there. The happier you are at any school, the better you will do academically. College is time for exploration and experimentation (oh, those college days!). So go to the school you see yourself at, where do you fit in? Go there!
Dental school is so far away for you right now. What if you start taking religion classes or art classes and decide to change your career path? What if you find more interest in medicine or business? My point is that you have a lot of time, so enjoy it. Go to the school you want to go to, take the classes you want to take (and if you are still interested in dent. make sure to take all the needed pre reqs). Plus, if you want to speed up the process, you can do well and apply to University of Pacific (in San Fran), this dental school is 3 years.
And don't worry about the +/-, very very very minor detail. Like the other post said, think positively, a A- is going to be a 4.0 for you.
Good luck.
Im graduating from Brown this may and attending dental school in september. Sure the classes are hard and your competing with many top students. However, take Organic Chemistry, for example, one of the toughest classes at Brown. I would say that it isn't that hard to get a B. It is pretty difficult to get an A and I think it is even pretty difficult to get a C. The standard deviation in those classes are so big that a B is like a 40 point range. So, it depends on what expectations you have and how hard you want to work. If you are satisfied with getting Bs then it shouldn't be too difficult. Getting a A in that class certainly isn't impossible, just requires a lot more studying. I think the curriculum is great. First of all, if you never want to take a history class, you never have to! It allows you to experiment and take classes outside your major, while having the option of taking them pass/fail. I wouldn't recommend taking any of your premed classes or major requirements pass/fail, but when you have a tough semester it allows you to take a fourth class that is slightly easier or more interesting. I have talked to many deans and they say that the admissions office at graduate schools know that you are coming from a competitive school, they know Browns curriculum, and would take into consideration a slightly lower GPA. Although, I have also realized that it doesn't matter what school you go to. People get into dental school from every college, as long as they have a high GPA and good DAT scores. However, if you were to graduate from Brown with a 3.0 lets say, which may be considered low for applying to dental school, they would look at your 3.0 GPA verses someone else's because of Brown's reputation. I think the DATs are exceptionally important because it is a standardized test that allows them to compare two students from different schools, with different curriculums, with similar GPAs. If you have any other questions about Brown I would be happy to answer them. I say chose the school that you really want to go to! I personally think that my GPA suffered slightly,but I look at it this way, think about all of the students that graduate with a GPA close to a 4.0 There are many schools where that wouldn't be very difficult to achieve, but there are not too many students that graduate from ivy league schools each year that apply to dental school, only a handful, that alone makes your application stand out.
