<p>Well I want to be a dentist when I grow up, so my major would be something like Biology or Chemistry. As you can tell from my username, I really want to go to UVA, but there is that chance that I just might not make the cut. What should be my second and third choices? I want to have fun, but in the end that's not really important to me. It is critical that I get into grad school. When I entered high school, nobody told me I needed near perfect grades to get into a college that I really wanted to. When I get to college, I now know from the first day that if I get anything less than an A, I'm going to really need to step it up! So what are your opinions on the top science colleges in VA? I'm staying away from out of state because my parents don't have any money, and people keep telling me that it's really not worth it since VA schools are fine. Let me know! Thanks.</p>
<p>Probably Va Tech would be #2.</p>
<p>There are none including UVa.</p>
<p>A high school buddy (Va. public high school near DC, but not technically NOVA) is a very successful dentist in Richmond. He went to James Madison for undergrad – majored in chem. He was very happy then at school and is very happy now.</p>
<p>Barrons, how did I know you’d posted in this thread? :)</p>
<p>Sweet Briar has the best science reputation among the VA LACs.</p>
<p>Just a fact. Need to include MD, then you have one.</p>
<p>Don’t really know what you mean by best. And I don’t really know what barrons means by his comment, either. There is no institution in VA on a par with MIT, CalTech, UMich, Berkeley, JHU, etc., for sciences, certainly. So if you want a Nobel Prize someday, who knows? But if you want to go to dental school, you’ll do pretty well placement-wise with a good GPA from UVA, W & M, V Tech, or JMU. Silly as they may be (guess they should have run it past barrons first), W & M admissions staff persist in telling kids that they have fine science departments, as well as the best med school placement rate among the VA colleges.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. When I say best I mean whatever gives me the best chance of getting into dental school. What’s everyone’s opinion on the VCU Honors College - Guaranteed Admission into Dental School?</p>
<p>
On a purely cynical note, of course they would say that. Would you expect admissions officers anywhere to admit that they have weak science programs?</p>
<p>Guess not. My point was that, in referring to their strong science offerings, adcoms at W & M offer as evidence the high medical school acceptance rates for graduates. Sometimes adcoms are fibbing, but I don’t think they are in this case.</p>
<p>You don’t have to be a science major to go to med school. My roommate majored in Indian Studies and went to the Uminn Med School. Also given that W&M gets top students it is pretty easy to see why they also do well when they apply to med school. Has little to do with the actual science depts. So if you just want to take the needed classes to apply to med school, you can go anywhere. It helps to be a good test taker as the MCat gets heavy weighting.</p>
<p>I think both the VCU guaranteed med-school/guaranteed dental school programs are a good way to pursue a profession, but if UVa (and UVa-like schools) are really your dream as your username says, I’d recommend you visit VCU before even considering applying for those programs … the urban environment of VCU is very different than any other Virginia state school.</p>