Where Should I Apply to Dental School?

"Where should I apply to dental school?," seems to be a question on every pre-dental student's lips. If you've found this blog, maybe you're wondering it yourself. Unfortunately this is often a very difficult question to answer for a number of reasons, and the only person who really knows the answer is you. I know right now you're probably thinking, "now what kind of advice is that?," but it really is a question that no one but you can answer.

There are currently 65 accredited dental schools in 36 different states, the District of Colombia, and Puerto Rico, all of which American pre-dental students are welcome to apply to. In theory you could apply to all 65 schools, however this would be an incredibly wasteful process that is likely to jeopardize your chances of acceptance altogether. By applying to too many schools, not only will it be very expensive (over $6000 in application fees to apply to all of them, not to mention flying all around the country for interviews), but completing all of those secondary applications and interviews will likely demand more than a full time job. This will likely lead to sloppy work on your part; not a trait that dental schools are looking for. However, perhaps most importantly, you will likely be applying to a lot of schools which are just not the right fit for you.

"So where should you begin narrowing down the potential list?," I hear you asking. Well, the first place to start is by determining which schools are a good fit for you. This makes perfect sense because you want to make sure that you will be attending a school that will support you through your journey to become a dentist. As such, you want to determine which dental schools best fit your personality, beliefs, learning styles, and the like. Unfortunately, there is no objective way to do this. Setting aside some time to peruse dental school websites is likely the best approach. Is there anything that stands out to you about a particular school? Is there something that makes you feel that you wouldn't thrive in a particular dental school environment? Is this school clinically focused, or research driven? These are all the important kind of questions to ask and are all relevant. I suggest compiling a spreadsheet of all the dental schools in the country and assigning each with a rating from 1 to 5 of how well the school fits you personally. This alone will likely narrow down your list considerably.

Location is another important aspect to consider. Are you just leaving college and happy to live anywhere in the country? Or do you have a family and think it will be difficult to relocate? Either way, the location of a dental school should be a part of deciding where to apply, however it should not be the only factor. It would be foolish to apply only to schools in your state just because you can get in-state tuition, however, you might not be able to afford to attend dental school without it. These are all very personal questions to ponder.

Finally, one of the other big influencing factors for many people is the cost of tuition. It is generally thought that state schools are more affordable than private schools, however, at times this may be a sort of false economy. While state schools do generally have lower up-front tuition, there may be other benefits that will level the playing field. The University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry, for example, is a very expensive private school to attend in San Francisco, a very expensive town. However, its three year DDS program will mean that you will finish a year earlier, opening up an extra year for you to practice dentistry. According to U.S. News, the median salary for dentists in 2013 was $146,340. If you take this into account, the University of the Pacific is now actually a more cost effective option than most other American dental schools.

Cost of dental school pie chart courtesy of The Curious Dentist.

In summary, there are many different options for where to attend dental school and it is only up to you to determine where you should apply. There are also a myriad of other factors that might influence you decision and the American Dental Education Association's Official Guide to Dental Schools is a perfect place to get all of this information.

Title photo courtesy of NCAA Logos on Pinterest.