What are the easiest/hardest dental schools to get into?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
P

phenolic

New Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2016
Messages
6
Reaction score
1
I'm going to be applying in June, and I'm trying to figure out which schools to apply to.

What are the easiest/hardest dental schools to get into? Thanks!
Members don't see this ad.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Stony brook is easily the hardest school to get into (even more for OOS)
 
Once people start giving real answers, some people are going to be offended. It's all pretty subjective.
 
It's blatantly true that some schools are harder to get into than others. That's all I will say. Follow the advice given to you from @fogorvostan
 
Private schools tend to be easier to get into than public. Because of the price difference and not preferring state residents.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
smurfeyD said:
Private schools tend to be easier to get into than public. Because of the price difference and not preferring state residents.
Click to expand...

Private schools also received 3x the number of applications than public schools for the same limited number of seats, so private schools aren't easy to get into at all.

Some would say UCSF and UoP are one of the hardest to get into, but their average GPA is only a 3.4
while private schools like Harvard, Columbia, Penn, Detroit, Case, Nova etc have averages at 3.6+.
Other private schools like Loma Linda and Creighton favor applicants of a certain religion, which make them even more difficult to get into.

There is no real trend on what school is harder to get into, just apply to where you would imagine yourself spending the next 4 years of your life.
 
Easier ones to gain acceptance into are NYU, Tufts, and USC because of the price and large class size. Loma Linda if you are Seventh -Day Adventist.
 
dentovermed said:
Stony brook is easily the hardest school to get into (even more for OOS)
Click to expand...
Lol you are obsessed with Stonybrook. Calm it down.
If you want to know the truly hardest schools for OOS, see if ECU and Mississippi have accepted any non-residents in the past few years 😉
 
Last edited:
No need to bash on another's dental school. OP: apply to your in state school and the oos schools in cities you wouldn't mind living / are a competitive applicant for. I had to cross off a bunch of schools bc I have no research experience and only two professor LORs (some require three). Also, consider cost before applying to each school.
 
postpitadh said:
No need to bash on another's dental school. OP: apply to your in state school and the oos schools in cities you wouldn't mind living / are a competitive applicant for. I had to cross off a bunch of schools bc I have no research experience and only two professor LORs (some require three). Also, consider cost before applying to each school.
Click to expand...
Omg a reply that actually is well thought out and makes sense.

Thank you.
 
Just take the MCATs and apply to med school to be honest... That is 10x easier than getting into dental school.
 
Scumbag_Steve said:
Idk man they interview 10% of their OOS applicants and take 92% of those interviewed according to the guidebook.
Click to expand...

Considering that logic, UCLA accepts 100% of OOS applicants interviewed. But I agree with your point, even though we know that many drop Case because of its price tag and location, so adcom needs to send more offers of admissions. It doesn't necessarily mean that they are less selective considering the available stats of admitted students. 3.6 GPA, 20/20 DAT average. It's not UCLA or Harvard, but also consider that ~2300 applicants fight for 70-75 seats at Case. So the chance of an applicant being enrolled is less than 3%
 
i D M D said:
Considering that logic, UCLA accepts 100% of OOS applicants interviewed. But I agree with your point, even though we know that many drop Case because of its price tag and location, so adcom needs to send more offers of admissions. It doesn't necessarily mean that they are less selective considering the available stats of admitted students. 3.6 GPA, 20/20 DAT average. It's not UCLA or Harvard, but also consider that ~2300 applicants fight for 70-75 seats at Case. So the chance of an applicant being enrolled is less than 3%
Click to expand...

I think all dental schools are around 3 or 4%
 
Scumbag_Steve said:
Idk man they interview 10% of their OOS applicants and take 92% of those interviewed according to the guidebook.
Click to expand...

thats like saying UPenn is easy to get into cause they interview mostly OOS and everyone drops it because of the insane price.
well UPenn is not easy to get into, their average GPA is also a 3.6.
 
UNC is pretty hard to get into as OOS. Several qualified applicants on here, who I thought would be a shoo-in at UNC, didn't get in because of their residency status.

Generally (there are exceptions), the easiest schools to get into would be either your in-state school (if you have one) or the privates.
 
Scumbag_Steve said:
Idk man they interview 10% of their OOS applicants and take 92% of those interviewed according to the guidebook.
Click to expand...

since we're comparing admissions, we can take UConn as an example.

UConn:
GPA = 3.5
DAT = 21
Applications = 1300
Class size = 80
Acceptance rate = 6.2%

Case Western:
GPA = 3.6
DAT = 20
Applications = 2680
Class size = 75
Acceptance rate = 2.8%

not really seeing how private schools are easier.
 
Scumbag_Steve said:
All this means is that their yield is low, if they have to accept a lot more students that end up enrolling. Applicants: enrollees is a terrible metric for measuring competitiveness, for exactly the reasons you described. Applicants: acceptances is a much better metric.
Click to expand...

well if thats the case, lets make a hypothetical scenario in which all 300 that interview at Case are accepted, and all 160 that interview at UConn are accepted.

Even if you accepted everyone that interviews at Case, they would have a 11% acceptance rate.
if you accept everyone that interviews at UConn, they have a 12%.
 
Confused321 said:
since we're comparing admissions, we can take UConn as an example.

UConn:
GPA = 3.5
DAT = 21
Applications = 1300
Class size = 80
Acceptance rate = 6.2%

Case Western:
GPA = 3.6
DAT = 20
Applications = 2680
Class size = 75
Acceptance rate = 2.8%

not really seeing how private schools are easier.
Click to expand...

Case is much more open to people from all states since it is a private school.
 
Last edited:
Incis0r said:
UConn's applicant pool is MUCH more self-selecting. They take few people from outside of New England, so many don't even bother applying if they are out of New England.

Case is much more open to people from all states since it is a private school.

So really, you are comparing 1300 applications from ~6 states with 2680 applications from ~50 states.
Click to expand...

is that supposed to mean something? are applicants in New England supposed to be more competitive with better stats than other applicants?
sure UConn is more competitive if you are out of state, I'm talking in overall terms.

with that logic Minnesota is more competitive than Columbia since its hard to get into UMinn from out of state.
 
Last edited:
all schools are hard to get into for different reasons
some have higher GPA (Case), some have higher DAT (UoP), some accept mostly instate (UConn), some accept those with incredible extracurriculars (ASDOH),
some accept based on religion (Loma Linda). We can all leave it at that and realize that all of these schools will give you a GREAT education.
 
Confused321 said:
is that supposed to mean something? are applicants in New England supposed to be more competitive with better stats than other applicants?
Click to expand...

Imagine you have a 3.6 GPA and a 21DAT, and you're from the state of Florida, or any one of the other 43 states outside New England.

Do you think you have a better shot at UConn or at Case?

From UConn's own website: "Typically 50-60% of each class is composed of Connecticut residents, with another 30% from other New England States and the remaining students from other states."
 
Last edited:
Incis0r said:
That is absolutely NOT what I am saying. I don't know where you picked up on me saying that I think applicants from New England are superior to applicants from the rest of the country. That's just not true.

Don't equate "self-selecting" with "competitive"- Self-selecting includes taking into account many other factors, including state of residency, which is very important in the case of public schools like UConn.

The reason I said "1300 applications from ~6 states" is that UConn is the only public dental school in New England, and they give preference to the six New England states over the rest of the country. Sure, you have applicants from other states, but these are much fewer/rarer than New England and CT applicants.

Look at it like this:
Imagine you have a 3.6 GPA and a 21DAT, and you're from the state of Florida, or any one of the other 43 states outside New England.
Do you think you have a better shot at UConn or at Case?

From UConn's own website: "Typically 50-60% of each class is composed of Connecticut residents, with another 30% from other New England States and the remaining students from other states."

THAT'S why I said the applicant pool is more self-selecting. In an environment where you need to pay upwards of $100 for each application, including secondary fees, it is just more cost-effective to not apply to a state school like UConn if you are outside of New England (unless you have super amazing stats).

And since you want to talk in overall terms, I'll gladly make a bet that if UConn DID treat all OOS applicants equally (same preference whether you're from RI/ME/NH/VT or from OH/FL/CA), more people would apply to UConn, and it would definitely be harder to get into than Case.
Click to expand...

Lol okay dude i respect your opinion.
 
I've gotten the feeling from reading this forum that LECOM is one of the easier schools to be accepted to. However it has its pitfalls to compensate like opportunity to specialize and PBL.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
97e445820aa0ded1d819901fa07fa227.jpg
 
Private schools usually tend to be easier to get into than public schools, unless its a public school that favors your place of residence... Your comparison of Uconn and Case doesn't work because there are wayyyyyy more applications to Case than Uconn due to it being private. People from all 50 states can apply to case. Only a few states around Connecticut will apply there with a few exceptions..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Will I get into Dental School/Get interviews?
Replies
5
Views
671
macsak
M
S
SDN Article: Steps to get into Dental School
Replies
0
Views
860
Student Doctor Network
S
Mr.Smile12
Revised guide: how to get into dental school
Replies
0
Views
1K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
T
What are the best SMP programs to help get into dental school?
Replies
1
Views
756
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
L
Getting INTO Dental School Part 1: Beginning with Good Grades and Finding Meaningful Extracurriculars + Super Useful links that could help!
Replies
2
Views
1K
Lev2001
L
Top