Appalachian State University

Date: Apr 13 2011
Major: Biology (This Major's Salary over time)
Thanks in large part to my experience to Appalachian, I was accepted to a very competitive out of state public dental school after only three years of prerequisites. This is not common as most people have four years. A lot of this was because of how well I did on the standardized entrance exam (DAT). I believe standardized test like the DAT are a great predictor or how well the undergraduate experience prepares a student.

People may think that because ASU is in a small town in the mountains of NC that it is not a competitive school…I will tell you…the people that go there love going there and most importantly the teachers who teach there seem to love living there and teaching there. This results in an excellent educational environment.

If you're choosing schools based upon how many bars they have locally, then first of all, you might as well not apply because you're just wasting your time and your parents' money. If you have any interest outside of drinking (you can do that anywhere, anytime…what a waste of life) then you can probably find it there…you have the Blue Ridge parkway, hiking, kayaking, basically anything outdoors right there.

Also the fact that it is not close to anywhere and that freshman are required to live on campus means that there is an actual community there, not just a bunch of commuters who suck the life out of the school.

Just like at any school, you get out what you put in, so I'm sure part of my success would have been the same story at any school…however, I cannot recommend this school highly enough. It changed my life in such a positive way and gave me the tools to walk right into professional school and lack nothing with any of the other students who had gone to much bigger schools.