I just got my rejection letter from them and I visited the school recently as I'm out of state. My DAT score was well above the 18s people are saying they are accepting.
Now I don't know about everyone here but for me Phoenix was nothing to write home about. It has some cool places near Tempe and Arizona State but for the most part it's extremely dry, desert, and everything is pretty spread out. Lots of brown so if you like plants and greenery, this isn't the place for you.
I had mix feelings about the school. Again the school is located on a plot of desert and there isn't much to their facility. I think they had maybe 4 lecture halls and most of the faculty is made up of local dentists who rotate in and out. They told me they cover gross anatomy in 3 weeks where most schools have a whole semestar of gross. It's kinda cool in that you are only taught and tested on what you need to know for the boards but it also seems really fast paced and I can't imagine not having long standing professors who can help you throughout your entire schooling.
As for everything being state of the art....I've been to about 5 schools now and ATSU does have a new building and a nice sim lab. However, most of the school's I've been to have a sim lab at this point too. They also require the laptop but that doesn't make a school high tech IMO. They also don't have the resources a lot of dental school have that are located near an umbrella medical school. Overall it seemed you would be placed in your own little dental world without a lot of other outside connections to the school itself (it's pretty isolate from the city as well).
This isn't meant to bash the school because I got a rejection letter. I was pretty sure I wasn't going to interview out there after my visit anyways. But if some of you are discouraged and have not checked out ATSU out for yourself, don't feel too bad. They are obviously looking for something specific in their students and if you have a good GPA and DAT and got rejected, I think it's their loss unless they know something about you that might mean otherwise. Just my 2 cents
Bluesdeluxe,
I would say that our opinions are the same in some aspects but in others I feel you couldn't be farther from the truth. They are indeed a high tech school. I have been to my fair share of dental schools and I would say that ASDOH is one of the most, if not the, high tech schools. I could list 20 things but don't really care too. If you have been there then you know what I 'm talking about.
ASDOH does have connections with the outside world. ASDOH participates in externships across Arizona and the U.S. They receive so many opportunites to practice all sorts of procedures (including in the OR). I volunteer at two of the many places where they rotate through (two large
hospitals). I know that they graduate competent dentists who were never short handed of patients or anything else for that matter. As to resources that they lack??? Phoenix has so many hospitals and demand for these student dentists that they are all standing in line in hopes to have the students rotate through them as well. They have great relationships with those (oral surgeons, endo, GP, Perio, Pedo) at the hospitals that are over them (I know this from personal experience).
About their teaching its a lot more than just a couple of local dentists rotating in??...well look it up its been discussed here before. IMOH I think its a great idea.
Phoenix is brown and yes for some it seems that the school is all by itself. Phoenix is spread out like most western cities are. The facilities are new and up to date. Not much of a library bc its all on your DVD that you buy (which is a plus in my book). They do have several buildings being built and in planning though if you do have the need to feel like you are at some big school (which seems like a priority to some).
I just thought somebody who has interviewed there and is familiar with the school should say something...
I don't think your bashing just expressing your opinions (as I have mine).
Good luck with your other interviews
for the next few days. But what can you do? Its a great school with few seats. It was a slim chance in the first place.
