<p>Does where you go for your undergrad really matter? I want be a dentist specifically an orthodontist. I do not have a high gpa only a 3.4 and a 1720 sat but I do have really good EC's and a good essay. Probably will only get into one uc, uc riverside and some cal state. Do dental schools look at if you went to a UC or Cal State? Would it look better to go to ucr over csun since it is a UC? Do Dental schools judge where you went or is the admission process for a uc and cal state the same? Basically, would going to csun affect my selection process for graduate school?
Feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you!</p>
<p>Although I am a high school student, multiple (reliable) sources that I have read say, to an extent,it does not matter where you go to college (as long as it isn’t community college). Through rigorous research, I have learnt that a high GPA is one of the most important aspects to have in your application to dental school. Most dental students that I have talked to say to keep above a 3.5 GPA to stay safe (3.7 for top notch dental schools). Of course GPA isn’t always a guarantee, a good DAT score is also very important as well as job shadowing, volunteering, etc. For high school students such as us, it is important to get our priorities straight, and learn from other peoples mistakes. Most students will not get into dental schools because of low GPA. Your GPA is a 3.4 (I don’t know how difficult your high school classes were) which is good, but is not a safe GPA to keep in college to get into Dental school. If you truly want to go to dental school, work harder and bring up a GPA which is safe for the Dental schools you want to go to. Do not procrastinate, which you will probably do, but do it LESS. Get things done faster like job shadowing and volunteering. If you can do all these things, you will have a very high chance to get into Dental school no matter what undergraduate college you went to. This is a review of everything I have learned from researching this profession, please forgive me if I have said anything wrong (even though I’m pretty sure I’m right ;)).</p>
The undergraduate school that you attend does not matter. The most important thing is your GPA which you will want to have around 3.5 or higher. Next in importance is your DAT score in which it is best if you can score at least 19 or 20 AA and have no sections under 17. Then you will need to meet the shadowing requirements, volunteer in a dental capacity if you can and be involved in activities at school, especially leadership roles if possible, to be a well rounded applicant. Some of the schools look favorably upon experience in research also.