Which seems like my best option?

College Search & Selection
1

I haven’t visited any colleges yet, but I was not sure how to approach this. Currently, I am a junior in HS. I was thinking about going to one of these universities, but I needed some advise on what I can do. I might add some colleges if I find them interesting.

University of Virginia
College of William and Mary
Virginia Commonwealth University

Heres the thing. I want to go to dental school for grad school. There is only one dental school in Virginia which is at VCU. VCU also has a guaranteed admission option which I can do if I go to VCU’s honors college. If I take this guaranteed admission route, I will have to spend 8 years total in college to become a dentist. If I do standard admission and graduate with bachelors in 3 years, I can become a dentist in 7 years. I can attend any university if I take the standard admission route.

Keeping those things in mind, what advise can you give me? How can I approach this? Is dental school hard to get into or would it be less stressful and worth it to spend an extra year at VCU?

2

bump…

3

If you are pretty sure you want to be a dentist, the guaranteed option may be a good way to go. Dental school admissions are competitive. If you are not sure and may want to switch career paths, UVA or William and Mary may be better, and they have more prestige. These three schools are quite different, as you know. UVA and VCU are fairly large, while W&M is significantly smaller and more residential. VCU is more urban. Try to visit while the schools are in session.