I've been looking through these forums a lot and it seems like this question comes up a lot. I see a lot of advice that says to go to the school that will give you the best grades.
I thought I would just share some experience from the other side of the story. I would highly highly highly suggest that any high school student interested in dentistry go to an ivy league school or another highly prestigious institution if they are accepted. First, you get an amazing education and all ivy league schools offer tremendous financial aid. I go to school almost for free. Second, you will have a much higher chance of acceptance to a good dental school without needing the stats that other applicants have.
Admissions officers WILL be impressed if you go to a top university, and yes, it is often enough to slide by with mediocre GPAs and DAT scores. Where I go to school, all pre-dental students applying in the cycle are brought together for a pre-dental meeting. The pre-health advisors tell us straight up that if our GPAs are above a 3.0 (science and overall) and if we get 18 or above on every section of the DAT (which is about average) then we will have absolutely no trouble getting in. In the history of our school, anyone with stats like I listed above have been accepted. A 3.0 GPA at a hard university with grade deflation looks way better than a 3.8 at most other colleges. Admissions officers know this. Lots of people on this forum try to deny it. It is never an accident that someone was accepted by such a competitive university and this trumps the DAT - which makes sense, since it is almost ridiculous that ONE exam holds so much weight.
Even more important, having higher stats are almost a guaranteed acceptance at your top choice. A vast majority of our students go to their top choice universities. We were told a 3.4 GPA and a DAT of 21(AA) solidifies the application. Usually 15-20 students apply each cycle, and 80% are accepted and choose to attend Columbia, Harvard, or Penn. The rest usually choose their state school. Again, it is super rare to not get accepted.
If you have the opportunity to go to an ivy league, do not pass it up because you are worried about a low GPA. The school can only help you. You will have an amazing educational experience and still get into dental school.
I thought I would just share some experience from the other side of the story. I would highly highly highly suggest that any high school student interested in dentistry go to an ivy league school or another highly prestigious institution if they are accepted. First, you get an amazing education and all ivy league schools offer tremendous financial aid. I go to school almost for free. Second, you will have a much higher chance of acceptance to a good dental school without needing the stats that other applicants have.
Admissions officers WILL be impressed if you go to a top university, and yes, it is often enough to slide by with mediocre GPAs and DAT scores. Where I go to school, all pre-dental students applying in the cycle are brought together for a pre-dental meeting. The pre-health advisors tell us straight up that if our GPAs are above a 3.0 (science and overall) and if we get 18 or above on every section of the DAT (which is about average) then we will have absolutely no trouble getting in. In the history of our school, anyone with stats like I listed above have been accepted. A 3.0 GPA at a hard university with grade deflation looks way better than a 3.8 at most other colleges. Admissions officers know this. Lots of people on this forum try to deny it. It is never an accident that someone was accepted by such a competitive university and this trumps the DAT - which makes sense, since it is almost ridiculous that ONE exam holds so much weight.
Even more important, having higher stats are almost a guaranteed acceptance at your top choice. A vast majority of our students go to their top choice universities. We were told a 3.4 GPA and a DAT of 21(AA) solidifies the application. Usually 15-20 students apply each cycle, and 80% are accepted and choose to attend Columbia, Harvard, or Penn. The rest usually choose their state school. Again, it is super rare to not get accepted.
If you have the opportunity to go to an ivy league, do not pass it up because you are worried about a low GPA. The school can only help you. You will have an amazing educational experience and still get into dental school.
