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The simple answer: to finally get the chance to attend an ivy league institution.
For the the grand majority of Penn Dental's first year class, the University of Pennsylvania (UPENN) will be the first ivy league institution they had the opportunity to attend. Approximately only 10 out of the 120 student class would have attended an ivy league institution prior, over half of which attended UPENN as undergraduates themselves.
Because there is no clear documented numerical ranking for dental schools as there is for medical and other graduate programs such as Law, many assume that the Ivy league schools must be the better institutions. Only three ivy league institutions have dental programs: Harvard, Columbia and UPENN. Of the three Harvard has the most world wide recognition, but is extremely difficult to get into because of its small class size, and because it is extremely selective, only interviewing and accepting the creme de la creme of pre-dental applicants. Columbia, while not a big a name as Harvard globally, still has great notoriety, especially due to its location in one of the most exciting cities on earth, New York City. Columbia like Harvard is also very selective, only choosing the students with the highest science GPA's and DAT scores. Of the three ivy dental institutions, UPENN has the largest class size and is the least selective of the three. Most Penn students applied and were not accepted to Harvard and Columbia, leaving UPENN as their only ivy league option, a secret most UPENN students will not admit to, and is the reason most attend. Its the only ivy school they could get into.
The funny thing is, until researching schools for dental school, the grand majority of these students did not even know what UPENN was, and were even more shocked to know that it is an ivy league institution. UPENN is a HUGE name in the city of Philadelphia because it is the largest employer of the city of Philadelphia. However outside of the Philadelphia community, most people get it mixed up with Pennsylvania State University where the majority of college educated native Pennsylvanians attended, much to the annoyance and chagrin of UPENN dental students who pay over $100,000 a year in tuition only have their name mixed up with a "lowly" "state" school.....even though many attended state schools as undergraduates themselves.
It also seems as though many students abandon the school pride of their former undergraduate institutions upon attending. You will rarely see a Tufts University Sweater or a Sacred Heart University Sweatpants past the first couple weeks of the semester. A rat race soon ensues to buy and wear the most Penn dental merchandise possible from sweatshirts and sweatpants to scrubs and beanies as if to announce to the entire UPENN campus (which is shared by both the undergrad and all grad schools) "HEY! I GO TO UPENN TOO!" It is a funny sight to see an entire class of first year dental students decked from head to toe in penn dental apparel in a lecture hall. They have more Penn pride than a 4th year senior about to graduate. I guess if you pay over a $100,000 a year in tuition, you must have a lot/justify your school pride!
Now one would think that with students paying $100,000 in tuition a semester that UPENN's dental school would have the nicest facilities of all the american dental schools, but it does not. Whilst The Robert Schattner center or main entrance of the school is a new and modern space that houses the admissions office, the billing office where patients check in and check out, as well as the faculty clinics and OS department, the rest of the school, where students spend the majority of their time are old and average at best. Like moles, students spend the grand majority of their time underground in the school's basement in windowless lecture halls, or the schools dentistry lab which is often described as a dungeon due to the untidy and dilapidated work space. The basement is also notorious for its leaky pipes, and the rotten egg smell coming from the drains.
So if the facilities are not the greatest, does the school make this up with an awesome faculty? While you have a small handful of really great professors, the rest are just average, and then you have some which are just straight a**holes. The worst are the foreign dentists who teach the general restorative lab course where first and second year dental student learn and hone their dental skills. Often hailing from the eastern Europe or South East Asia, these foreign dentists teach or rather torture dental students hand skills and techniques. They do not do it for the love of teaching, but rather a pay check as they legally cannot practice dentistry here in the United States. Their criticism is rather corrosive and harsh, and it is not unusual for student to break down in tears during and after lab sessions. One would think this sort of the thing would be frowned down upon by an institution of this caliber, but Penn dental seems to believe this tough love drill sergeant mentality creates better dental students. However it is this exact tough love mentality while Penn Dental has such few alumni donations, because students even decades afterwards are still bitter at what they had to go through to earn their dental degrees.
Many students try to justify the dental schools shortcomings and high price tag thinking upon graduation they will have superior clinical and hand skills than their other dental school counterparts, or are more likely to get into a specialty program of their choice or they will have more patients because they went to a name brand school and are "better" educated. The fact of the matter is the grand majority of patients do not care, and do not even ask where their dentist attend university? How many of you know what University the last dentist you had seen attended? Most people either choose a dentist via a recommendation from a family member, friend or dentist that he/she is highly skilled and capable provider, or they go to a clinic with the most affordable cost of their required procedure or where their insurance will allow. While attending Penn dental will make you attractive to a residency program, you will find that the majority of your residency class is made up of non-penn/ivy dental graduates, and you will learn that it is not as essential as you thought to getting into a resident program as the university would make you believe. Lastly while you enjoyed boasting and bragging to your dental and medical friends that you attended Penn Dental for the last four years receiving all the accolades that came along with it, in the real world outside of the dental bubble no one cares ad recognizes that you went to Penn Dental. No one knows that its a "top" school, or that its ivy league or even heard of its name. The name won't elicit awe them the same way the name Harvard or Columbia would and frankly never will. So if you go to Penn dental, don't be annoyed and angered that you paid half a million dollars to the tuition only for it to be mixed up with a state school.
For the the grand majority of Penn Dental's first year class, the University of Pennsylvania (UPENN) will be the first ivy league institution they had the opportunity to attend. Approximately only 10 out of the 120 student class would have attended an ivy league institution prior, over half of which attended UPENN as undergraduates themselves.
Because there is no clear documented numerical ranking for dental schools as there is for medical and other graduate programs such as Law, many assume that the Ivy league schools must be the better institutions. Only three ivy league institutions have dental programs: Harvard, Columbia and UPENN. Of the three Harvard has the most world wide recognition, but is extremely difficult to get into because of its small class size, and because it is extremely selective, only interviewing and accepting the creme de la creme of pre-dental applicants. Columbia, while not a big a name as Harvard globally, still has great notoriety, especially due to its location in one of the most exciting cities on earth, New York City. Columbia like Harvard is also very selective, only choosing the students with the highest science GPA's and DAT scores. Of the three ivy dental institutions, UPENN has the largest class size and is the least selective of the three. Most Penn students applied and were not accepted to Harvard and Columbia, leaving UPENN as their only ivy league option, a secret most UPENN students will not admit to, and is the reason most attend. Its the only ivy school they could get into.
The funny thing is, until researching schools for dental school, the grand majority of these students did not even know what UPENN was, and were even more shocked to know that it is an ivy league institution. UPENN is a HUGE name in the city of Philadelphia because it is the largest employer of the city of Philadelphia. However outside of the Philadelphia community, most people get it mixed up with Pennsylvania State University where the majority of college educated native Pennsylvanians attended, much to the annoyance and chagrin of UPENN dental students who pay over $100,000 a year in tuition only have their name mixed up with a "lowly" "state" school.....even though many attended state schools as undergraduates themselves.
It also seems as though many students abandon the school pride of their former undergraduate institutions upon attending. You will rarely see a Tufts University Sweater or a Sacred Heart University Sweatpants past the first couple weeks of the semester. A rat race soon ensues to buy and wear the most Penn dental merchandise possible from sweatshirts and sweatpants to scrubs and beanies as if to announce to the entire UPENN campus (which is shared by both the undergrad and all grad schools) "HEY! I GO TO UPENN TOO!" It is a funny sight to see an entire class of first year dental students decked from head to toe in penn dental apparel in a lecture hall. They have more Penn pride than a 4th year senior about to graduate. I guess if you pay over a $100,000 a year in tuition, you must have a lot/justify your school pride!
Now one would think that with students paying $100,000 in tuition a semester that UPENN's dental school would have the nicest facilities of all the american dental schools, but it does not. Whilst The Robert Schattner center or main entrance of the school is a new and modern space that houses the admissions office, the billing office where patients check in and check out, as well as the faculty clinics and OS department, the rest of the school, where students spend the majority of their time are old and average at best. Like moles, students spend the grand majority of their time underground in the school's basement in windowless lecture halls, or the schools dentistry lab which is often described as a dungeon due to the untidy and dilapidated work space. The basement is also notorious for its leaky pipes, and the rotten egg smell coming from the drains.
So if the facilities are not the greatest, does the school make this up with an awesome faculty? While you have a small handful of really great professors, the rest are just average, and then you have some which are just straight a**holes. The worst are the foreign dentists who teach the general restorative lab course where first and second year dental student learn and hone their dental skills. Often hailing from the eastern Europe or South East Asia, these foreign dentists teach or rather torture dental students hand skills and techniques. They do not do it for the love of teaching, but rather a pay check as they legally cannot practice dentistry here in the United States. Their criticism is rather corrosive and harsh, and it is not unusual for student to break down in tears during and after lab sessions. One would think this sort of the thing would be frowned down upon by an institution of this caliber, but Penn dental seems to believe this tough love drill sergeant mentality creates better dental students. However it is this exact tough love mentality while Penn Dental has such few alumni donations, because students even decades afterwards are still bitter at what they had to go through to earn their dental degrees.
Many students try to justify the dental schools shortcomings and high price tag thinking upon graduation they will have superior clinical and hand skills than their other dental school counterparts, or are more likely to get into a specialty program of their choice or they will have more patients because they went to a name brand school and are "better" educated. The fact of the matter is the grand majority of patients do not care, and do not even ask where their dentist attend university? How many of you know what University the last dentist you had seen attended? Most people either choose a dentist via a recommendation from a family member, friend or dentist that he/she is highly skilled and capable provider, or they go to a clinic with the most affordable cost of their required procedure or where their insurance will allow. While attending Penn dental will make you attractive to a residency program, you will find that the majority of your residency class is made up of non-penn/ivy dental graduates, and you will learn that it is not as essential as you thought to getting into a resident program as the university would make you believe. Lastly while you enjoyed boasting and bragging to your dental and medical friends that you attended Penn Dental for the last four years receiving all the accolades that came along with it, in the real world outside of the dental bubble no one cares ad recognizes that you went to Penn Dental. No one knows that its a "top" school, or that its ivy league or even heard of its name. The name won't elicit awe them the same way the name Harvard or Columbia would and frankly never will. So if you go to Penn dental, don't be annoyed and angered that you paid half a million dollars to the tuition only for it to be mixed up with a state school.
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