Harvard vs. UW??

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RENNOZ

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Hey everyone! I'm trying to get some outside opinions about couple of these schools. I got accepted into both Harvard and UW, and now am confused in deciding which one is the right school for me. I do have an interest to specialize; however, I also want to be a good clinician after graduating from dental school. Money is also an issue because I know for sure that I'll be taking loans for the $120,000 4-year student budget at UW or the $270,00 4-year student budget at Harvard. I realize that the decision is ultimately mine to make, but I definitely need some of your insights. Thanks!

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you're in a lucky predicament... if you are die-hard about staying in the pacific northwest after graduation i would choose UW. from what i've heard, it's a great school. patients don't give a **** where you went to school....as long as you're friendly and you provide a great service, they're happy.

on the other hand, harvard is.... harvard :) that's about all i know about them... if you turn them down you may regret that decision your whole life.

i prolly didn't help much...lol... but Congrats!
jb!:)
 
isn't UW supposed to be a really excellent and selective school? i don't think the harvard name is worth an additional $150k in debt.

the undergrad might be worth the difference, as the harvard name there does open up a lot of doors. it's much easier say to get an investment banking or consulting job w/ harvard on your resume.

but with dentistry, where you go to school has less of a bearing to your earning potential afterwards. it's more dependent on how good a dentist and business person you are.
 
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I don't know anything about UW but I've heard a share of things about Harvard, before and after my interview from Harvard alumni.

The Harvard name will only carry you so far. It's a great school that gives you that edge for applying into specialty programs, especially on the East Coast, since names and pedigrees get you further than on the West Coast. So you should think about where you see yourself living after graduating from dental school. It'll be harder to move far away once you've started dental school in my mind.

If you want to be a great clinician, I'd suggest not looking into Harvard, since they're mostly concerned with making you a physician... of the mouth. Sure you'll come out with a LOT of medical knowledge, but you're hand skills aren't probably going to be as good as if you were coming out somewhere else.

Do you like the PBL curriculum? It works for some but for me, I think I'd go nuts. They tell you that what they teach you is 50% right, 50% wrong. There's so much research going on, that they can't always give you a straight answer... which is extremely frustrating in my book.

Don't get me wrong. I don't hate Harvard, it's just that I know it's not a match for me.
 
Congrats on the two admissions. If you don't mind my asking, what are your stats?
 
I've only heard great things about UW.
 
UW will afford you both the option to be an excellent clinician, as well as specialize. They constantly rank amongst the top two or three schools on boards. if you are in-state, the cost of attending is one of the cheapest in the country. but go to harvard:)
 
wow, nice stats.

Ok, this is my opinion. Harvard is Harvard; if you don't go, you'll probably regret it.

I'll share my undergraduate experiece with you. I had excellent stats as a high school student and was accepted to some good schools with partial scholarships, but to my state school with a full scholarship. I picked the state school in the end for financial reasons. Although I am really satisfied here, and have had the opportunity to get into some really cool research that might have gone to someone more competitive than me at a higher-named school, it still bugs me sometimes to know that I turned down better schools (Princeton, Dartmouth). I guess it's an issue of prestige (although temporary can still get to you).

Maybe try it out for a semester, and if you're truly miserable, you could transfer to UW, since it's your homestate and they'll probably accept the transfer, especially when it's from a school like Harvard.

And for people who say Harvard doesn't give you enough hands-on experience, I am sure they turn out great dentists, or else they would lose their prestige. Come on guys, people who say this are probably people who work with someone from Harvard and expect them to never make a single mistake and be super-geniuses who know everything about everything. No one is perfect at everything.
 
i think if you're contemplating enough to post here, then i'd go with Harvard.
 
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my opinion is that there's too much hype with the ivy and especially the harvard name. it's NOT the school making the students, it's the students that make the school! yes harvard is pretty awesome, but so are SO many other institutions out there.

hah, but i guess the grass always looks greener, eh? :D

maybe it's worth that extra $140k just to make sure and have no regrets. but i don't think the harvard cachet is necessarily worth it.

.. unless your parents are korean. hah, then you have no choice, you're going to harvard if that's one of your options. tough luck! :p
 
i find it kind interesting how most of the predents say harvard, but the dental students say uw.

i've only heard good things about uw...wish i would've applied there. i liked harvard too though. i honestly think it comes down to the atmosphere you'd like to be in. they're both great schools, and you can't go wrong with either. both will help you specialize, if that's your final goal. it's the path that gets you there. would you enjoy studying more academics, or would you prefer to get more hands on dentistry? i don't think one's better than the other, just different. so pick the one that suits your learning style the best, because at the end, you will be a specialist from either school.
 
Of all the schools I interviewed at Harvard was one of the least impressive in terms of their facilities, which are ghetto to say the least. At Harvard you are pretty much a med student for the first two years, and you don't get to develop your hand skills as well as you would at UW. One of the students who gave me the tour at Harvard told me that "you have the rest of your career to develop your hand skills" Would you rather graduate with book smarts, or with confidence in your skills?
 
I don't see how a Washington resident could pass on an acceptance to UW... unless you don't like rain (and now snow). Are you from eastern WA? Don't like Seattle? If you don't pick UW, I'm going to take your spot- I've got an interview on Monday! :)
 
go harvard, i'll gladly take your spot at UW:D
 
Harvard

no more question asked
 
150k of debt over 10 years @3.4% is a monthly payment of 1467, that is the EXCESS cost of attending harvard up and over attending UW. pile on top of that the added cost of living in downtown boston vs downtown seattle...and it's a no brainer.

I'd rather have that money than the reputation...also UW is one of the best schools in the country if you ask any dean.

UW hands down
 
Don't know where you're getting 3.4% from, the measure that just passed only affects subsidized loans, and is being phased in over the next 5 years
 
I would personaly go to the one that saves you most money, especially if you are planning to specialize... not all programs offer stipend. I have spoken to few directors of residency programs and they reassured me that name makes no difference to them when looking into the applicants...i come from a small undegrad. school and declined Columbia acceptance to save myself money( and for other reasons, of course). That would be my advice! :)
 
The answer is easy, UW, no questions asked...of course I may be a bit biasised since I currently go there. But actually one of my classmates did go to Harvard Dental for one year before transfering to UW (this is very rare so don't expect for it to happen again). I don't want to go into the details of why she transferred on this site, but feel free to e-mail me or something. Basically one of the major downfalls of Harvard is that you learn with the med students and don't learn the techniques until a few days before you're performing the procedure on pts. So if you're looking to become a better clinician, go for UW. As for post grad, research always looks good and UW ranks #1 in NIH/NIDCR funding and the dental school is #3 among dental schools.
 
i think if you went to UW as an undergrad, then go to Harvard for d-school.

it would be an amazing experience and something that will be with you till your last day. harvard is ALWAYS going to be ooh-la-la-harvard.
it you're thinking of specializng, then applying to the post-doc programs at uw later.
but def. pick harvard.

good luck with your decision:luck:
 
yes, i am. sumluck, are you going into general dentistry?

haven't really decided yet...and I probably won't until I am in school and see what it is that I actually like to do, not just for the money. The money will be there regardless. My goal is to do what I enjoy doing, and then get paid accordingly for what it is I do. That is just my philosophy.
But if you are absolutely positive at this point, before you've even spent one day in dental school, that you want to specialize, go to Harvard...that seems to be their mission, at least in part.
 
Hey everyone! I'm trying to get some outside opinions about couple of these schools. I got accepted into both Harvard and UW, and now am confused in deciding which one is the right school for me. I do have an interest to specialize; however, I also want to be a good clinician after graduating from dental school. Money is also an issue because I know for sure that I'll be taking loans for the $120,000 4-year student budget at UW or the $270,00 4-year student budget at Harvard. I realize that the decision is ultimately mine to make, but I definitely need some of your insights. Thanks!

you've gotta be kidding me. would you rather live in boston and say you go to harvard or some school that nobody cares about.

what an idiotic predicament... maybe you should become a janitor
 
I would have to take UW. It is a great school and I wish I could have gone there. Great school, great sports, cant go wrong.
 
you've gotta be kidding me. would you rather live in boston and say you go to harvard or some school that nobody cares about.

what an idiotic predicament... maybe you should become a janitor


Well idiot, I think you're missing the whole point of my post..
 
Rennoz, I can see why this would be a such hard decision. All bias aside, healthcare & UW go hand in hand. However, you can't just ignore the prestige that Harvard posesses. Two biggest facts that I belive Harvard is worth it, is that it's harder to specialize in the same school as your professional school, and UW has great specialty program, and that living in a complete different environment, and on your own, is something you can only do around our age and situation, and it's priceless in terms of learning and experience. For UW, if you are from here, you must have family and friends who you hopefully:) don't want to leave away from, and that you love rain but you don't want to admit it.:D I guess my opinion is that Harvard may be the better idea at this point, as your friends and family will remain, yet your opportunity for experiencing new facets of life is soon fading away.
 
Rennoz, I can see why this would be a such hard decision. All bias aside, healthcare & UW go hand in hand. However, you can't just ignore the prestige that Harvard posesses. Two biggest facts that I belive Harvard is worth it, is that it's harder to specialize in the same school as your professional school, and UW has great specialty program, and that living in a complete different environment, and on your own, is something you can only do around our age and situation, and it's priceless in terms of learning and experience. For UW, if you are from here, you must have family and friends who you hopefully:) don't want to leave away from, and that you love rain but you don't want to admit it.:D I guess my opinion is that Harvard may be the better idea at this point, as your friends and family will remain, yet your opportunity for experiencing new facets of life is soon fading away.

hey have you been interviewed by UW? if so, when did you interview and were you accepted yet? just curious btw. in your post it says "if you're from here" which I assume means Seattle, or WA....
 
Yea, I'm from around here. I have my interview scheduled, so we'll see what happens. UW is my top choice though, even though I told Renonz that Harvard might be better for him/her. I think everyone has their own reasons why X school is their top. Sumluck, you've been accepted to UW right? Would you mind PMing me your stats/volunteer/what I should do to prep for the interview?
Thank You in advance
 
UW is definitely the correct choice, in no way will going to Harvard offer you any advantages over UW. Most years everyone who applies to specialty programs from UW gets in. If you plan on practicing in the Northwest people will respect the fact that you went to UW dental just as much as Harvard, in fact most people around here don't even know Harvard has a dental school (when I applied there no one believed they had a dental school). When you tell people you go to UW dental it really means something, I am sure that you will find it to be a sufficient ego stroke. As others have said the difference in cost is tremendous and for the price you cant find a better education than is offered at UW. Also, I cant vouch for Harvard but the students at UW are the coolest and we have lots of fun. One thing that I remember considering is class size, both are small enough to offer plenty of individualized training but with 55 rather than 35, UW increases the likelihood just slightly of finding some classmates you really click with. The only reason I can see for going to Harvard would be if you absolutely love Boston and hate Seattle. Well, these are just my two cents, take them with a grain of salt.
 
UW is definitely the correct choice, in no way will going to Harvard offer you any advantages over UW. Most years everyone who applies to specialty programs from UW gets in. If you plan on practicing in the Northwest people will respect the fact that you went to UW dental just as much as Harvard, in fact most people around here don't even know Harvard has a dental school (when I applied there no one believed they had a dental school). When you tell people you go to UW dental it really means something, I am sure that you will find it to be a sufficient ego stroke. As others have said the difference in cost is tremendous and for the price you cant find a better education than is offered at UW. Also, I cant vouch for Harvard but the students at UW are the coolest and we have lots of fun. One thing that I remember considering is class size, both are small enough to offer plenty of individualized training but with 55 rather than 35, UW increases the likelihood just slightly of finding some classmates you really click with. The only reason I can see for going to Harvard would be if you absolutely love Boston and hate Seattle. Well, these are just my two cents, take them with a grain of salt.
Seattle is just too rainy and conservative to go to school at. my 2 cents, call me bs if u want
 
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