I’ve narrowed down my college choices to the University of Delaware and JMU, but that’s about as far as I’ve gotten. The most important decision factor, aside from the cost of attendance, is the strength of the school in my department of study. I’m in-state for UD and out-of-state for JMU and have been accepted to both schools as a biology major. I really want to be on the pre-dental track because I’ve always dreamed of becoming a dentist. What school is better in regards to what I want to do? I want to go to a school that offers me the best education possible and prepares me to score high on the DATs and excel in dental school. And of course, I want to go to a school that I love so that I can work towards achieving my dream career while enjoying my time as an undergrad.
Both UD and JMU have excellent pre-professional programs and send students to dental school. Trying to definitively say one is better than the other would be difficult to substantiate. The most important things to get into dental schools are a student’s GPA (especially in science classes) and the DAT (as you are probably are aware of already). There are a variety of other lesser factors that sometimes can be significant when comparing two students from different universities with similar GPAs and DAT scores. One would be the overall academic ranking of the respective universities. UD is a Flagship State University that is commonly included in most listings as being a “Public Ivy”. IMHO, with other things being equal, this could be a positive competitive factor. UD also has an agreement with the Temple University School of Dentistry (DIDER agreement) with guarantees 5-6 UD grads who are Delaware residents admission to the Dental School (as long as they meet minimal entrance requirements). You might want to check this out on UD’s website. Also if you plan on going to Dental School I feel you would want to have as minimal debt as possible accumulated as an undergrad. Best wishes to you.
@Mwallenmd You always have the most helpful and informative answers! Everything you said has definitely been swaying me towards UD. DIDER especially looks good to me because I’ve shadowed a general dentist who graduated from there and loved the school and I’ve talked to an orthodontist who sent his children to Temple for dental school as well. One thing that I want to bring up are the resources that UD has to offer to students who may need help in a certain subject. While science has always been a strong subject of mine, I want to make sure that I keep my grades high enough so that dental schools consider them competitive. If I end up struggling in a particular subject, what resources does UD offer that will help me? Which of these sources are “free” (possibly paid with my tuition) and which sources will I need to pay for out of pocket? As of right now, I’m planning on going to the April 10th JMU CHOICES day as well as UD’s Decision Day on the 18th. Hopefully these visits will clarify where I want to go so that I can FINALLY pay my deposit. Thank you so much again for being such a big help!
UD offers a wide variety of academic support for students. Check out the “Office of Academic Enhancement” on UD’s website for extensive details. Group counseling in over 30 courses (math, science, and business) is free. Individual tutoring is available at a rate of around $12.00 an hour (cheap IMHO) in most all subject areas. Unfortunately most students don’t avail themselves of these services out of vanity but they can be really helpful, especially for freshman students, even if they don’t feel they are having academic difficulties. Our D (Nursing major) went to some of these things in her freshman year and she felt they really helped her with getting the excellent grades she obtained (which no doubt helped her subsequently gain admission to Penn for grad school to become a Nurse Practitioner-although she decided to go South to Univ. of Miami). UD also has a “University Writing Center” which can provide individual (it was free when our D was there) and group tutoring to help students write papers. Good luck in making your decision.
@Mwallenmd This is really helpful. Thank you so much!
What is the acronym JMU? I
@rgr717 JMU stands for James Madison University. It’s in Harrisonburg,Virginia.
James Madison University in Virginia