University of Oregon for pre-dental?

College Search & Selection
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<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am a senior in Oregon. After doing some research, thinking, and job shadows, I've pretty much decided that I want to go into dentistry, and orthodontics if possible. Before I decided this, I never really thought I would go to any sort of graduate/professional school, so money was not a huge issue. However, looking at the cost of attending dental school, I'm now trying to find a university that will save me some money but still get me into dental school.</p>

<p>I have been thinking about going to the University of Oregon (possibly the honors college). . . Does anyone know how good U of O would be for this purpose? I realize that Oregon State is generally more sciencey, but I'm not very interested in OSU (Eugene and U of O seem like a better fit personality-wise for me). I'm under the impression that dental schools are mostly concerned with GPA, DAT scores, and experience and less concerned with how well-ranked one's undergrad was. Is this true, or would U of O hold be back in admissions?</p>

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<p>No flagship will hold you back in admissions to dental, med, etc schools (well, I can think of one that might…but typically any Flagship is fine).</p>

<p>Are you instate for Oregon? If not, then that’s an expensive school to go to OOS. And the Honors College has a higher tuition.</p>

<p>What are your stats? </p>

<p>What state are you in? </p>

<p>How much will your family pay each year? </p>

<p>Are you trying to save “family money/college funds” for dental school? That’s a wise decision.</p>

<p>edited to add…I see that you’re a NMSF (and in Oregon)…congrats…there are schools that would give you BIG scholarships for that.</p>

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<p>Oh good, thank you! I just wasn’t sure whether it really would be a big factor or not in admissions. . . it would really suck if a state dental school wouldn’t admit any state school students, and I suppose it wouldn’t really make sense.</p>

<p>Yes, as you have found out, I am an Oregon resident, which is why I am looking at U of O specifically. Here are my stats:</p>

<p>SAT: 750 reading, 720 math, 650 (ouch) writing (2120 total)
GPA: 4.0, hoping to not to lose it this year!
Extra curriculars: Not so great, just run of the mill stuff. 3 years in Japanese Club (a lot more work than it sounds, surprisingly!), 3 years in FBLA (2 years as treasurer), 3 years in NHS (1 year as VP), 3 years varsity cross country. Also, yeah, NMSF right now :)</p>

<p>Yes, I am trying to save my money/college fund for dental school! :slight_smile: My family can pay about 30k a year. We have some money saved up, but mostly this is coming from my parents directly, as we have no debt right now (house, cars, etc. all paid off). Going somewhere cheaper than 30k/year would mean that I would have more saved up for dental school. </p>

<p>As far as the NMS stuff goes, UO only gives out 2k/year, which isn’t really that great, I realize. However, I haven’t really found anywhere that gives out a lot of NMS money that is also somewhere I’d like to attend. I’ve looked through the lists of full-tuition scholarships, but none of them really look like places where I would like to be. I’m looking a bit more into what UF has, though. Hopefully, I can get a bit of merit money from U of O, but I’m not really counting on it. . .</p>

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<p>* I’m looking a bit more into what UF has, *</p>

<p>Florida? Don’t think it gives much.</p>

<p>Tell us what you like about OU, so that we can figure out what else might work for you.</p>

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<p>Yeah that is what I found out :confused: </p>

<p>Anyways, as far as Oregon goes, I really like the rainy weather, Eugene seems like it’d be fun, and I have a few friends who are already there. I have a few friends there and some planning on going. It looks like there are lots of outdoorsy things to do there, which is a plus for me. I’m really into running (not that I’m good at it!) and I’d like to get into cycling too. Also, I like how close it is to where I live (not that close, though - I’m in Eastern Oregon). I’d really like to stay on the west coast. Overall, though it might not be the most academically challenging school, it seems like it’d be a nice place to be for four years that would also be fairly cheap.</p>

<p>Also, for what it’s worth, I have about a year’s worth of CC credits that, I assume, would transfer well, since they are from an Oregon CC. I got my CC credits for free, though, so it’s not a huge deal if they do or don’t transfer. If they did, though, I guess it’d save some money.</p>

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<p>Your CC credits won’t likely save you much because pre-med/pre-dental students really need to go all 4 years for undergrad.</p>

<p>I think you’re under-estimating how hard pre-health classes are…those are weeder courses and can be brutal…not easy at any flagship.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I’m not counting on them too much - just some electives and gen ed stuff that I got for free because my mom works at our local CC.</p>

<p>I think you are right. It’s just sort of easy for me to underestimate things because I know some people at UO who are. . . not very concerned with academics. They aren’t in any pre-health classes, though. If they’ll be like my cousin’s pre-health classes at UW, then you are right, they will be tough!</p>

<p>Thanks a bunch for helping me out, by the way. It’s hard to get help at my school; the counselors and stuff are friendly but they don’t offer a whole lot of actual advice.</p>