How will you choose from this list?

stillincollege said:

Hi Everyone,

Choosing dental school is definitely a very important decision. I would like to hear opinions regarding the following list. I have done research about each school myself and know most of them a decent amount. Please share your ideas on which one you will choose. Thanks.

1. Columbia College of Dental Medicine
2. University of Pittsburgh Dental School
3. New Jersey Dental School
4. NYUCDM
5. UNLV (Las Vegas)
6. Detroit Mercy Dental School

Good luck to everyone this cycle.

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It all depends on how competitive you are for all the schools listed above...like your DAT, GPA, EC ,Shadowing, Research, CS and Leadership etc.

I would just read and reread the following thread to find some more info and compare it with current ADEA Guide to Dental School (one of the best investment you can ever...make)
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=635046

one suggestion: you need to add more schools to your list...but if you are super confident then go for it.

Just to let you know ....I chose three of the above listed plus some more for this application cycle.

stillincollege said:

hi everyone,

Choosing dental school is definitely a very important decision. I would like to hear opinions regarding the following list. I have done research about each school myself and know most of them a decent amount. Please share your ideas on which one you will choose. Thanks.

1. Columbia college of dental medicine
2. University of pittsburgh dental school
3. New jersey dental school
4. Nyucdm
5. Unlv (las vegas)
6. Detroit mercy dental school

good luck to everyone this cycle.

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the cheapest lol

Is there a reason why these schools were chosen? Other than being dental schools, I don't really see a unifying theme.

I value the atmosphere of the school. I'd ask what each school does to make a conducive environment where the students aren't neck and neck with each other. The grading system, the exam schedule, the weekly class schedule, and whether you get summers off or not might show how the school feels about making dental school as less of a sledgehammer as possible. I'd look at how many hours and procedures they require from you for you to graduate. Reputation plays a big deal, at least for me. There's not going to that many instances in my life where I can actually buy a heightened ego or self-worth. It's sad, I know. Cost isn't as much an issue for me anymore. I don't expect or desire to live a lavish lifestyle. "Simplify, simplify, simplify!" Location, however, is important in that I like to appreciate nice weather, decent scenery, and peaceful atmosphere. Extensive dental and cross-disciplinary research opportunities are incredibly important to me. Ultimately, the goal is to be a dentist and any one of those schools will get you there, maybe through routes that are different from one another.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=635046

The only school on your list that I applied to is Columbia. HP/P/F. Reputable. Location. Columbia is not my top choice. Read username.

stillincollege said:

Hi Everyone,

Choosing dental school is definitely a very important decision. I would like to hear opinions regarding the following list. I have done research about each school myself and know most of them a decent amount. Please share your ideas on which one you will choose. Thanks.

1. Columbia College of Dental Medicine
2. University of Pittsburgh Dental School
3. New Jersey Dental School
4. NYUCDM
5. UNLV (Las Vegas)
6. Detroit Mercy Dental School

Good luck to everyone this cycle.

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#1 selection criteria (and the ONLY one that should matter) = tuition, IMO, between 2x schools, if the overall 4 year tution (including living expense) is 50k or more, then go with the cheaper option.

This is a really personal matter. Most people only care about the piece of paper that completing dental school gives you and what that piece of paper allows you to do. Observing dental school as means to an end is perfectly normal. In fact, it's an American social norm for people to measure most things in life with dollar values and making decisions based on the highest return-on-investment. A few other people are somewhat social deviants and do not always use dollars as a measurement of value. Instead they place intangible value on self-actualization and esteem via association with oneself to the reputation of the school or fantasized experiences (research, recreation, or anything else) that they feel might be better available at one school than at another.

stillincollege said:

Thank you everyone for valuable comments. I listed these schools because I received interview from most of them. I don't think all of them will want me but I want to explore more about each school.

I hope to learn more about the quality of dental education, general student life, etc about each school. Basically, I would like to see if people with more experience can share some pros/cons for each school.

For me, I will choose quality education over 50k difference over 4 years. Besides the quality of education (how many seats, how intense schedule is, how good clinic is, how many specialty, etc), I also really value how student's life is. I know it will be hard anywhere but I like to know there are some entertainment available to ease the nerve. Reputation is a plus but not necessary. Location is kinda important to me.

However, feel free to comment without standing in my position. Everyone has a different taste. Any general comments regarding these dental schools is very appreciated. Thanks.

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Being a dental student myself, I will you this: you will NEVER ever ever never ever (again, NEVER) understand the life of a dental student / dental curriculum / dental life / "quality" of education from a 1-day visit where they spend majority of the day trying to impress you. All the students whom give you the tours will be "honest" about how good the school is. Let me tell you this, its the job of the school to impress its applicants during the interview day, its how they get people to apply the following years (remember, every application is worth $50-100 in the school's pocket)

Don't be naive into thinking there is 1 USA dental school that offers "superior" dental education to another, they are all EQUAL (yes SDN, I said it, ALL USA dental schools provide the same end result IN THE SAME RELEVANT FASHION).... The only exception I can think of is UoP (3 vs 4 years)

Some of you are gonna throw the "I wanna enjoy my dental years as much as I can"... well I tell you this, I am a DS2 and I know other DS1s and DS2s and DS-whatever from across the nation and heres a fact: all dental students know how to have fun (ALL), dentistry in itself is a social job, its no surprise that majority of applicants are naturally social people. You will enjoy your dental school years no matter where you go (unless ofc, you have the personality of a door knob, in that case, no school will offer you comfort). Take this advice from someone whos had college loans in the past and is currently a dental student: the only thing that matters is tuition.

All the best

dentalWorks said:

#1 selection criteria (and the ONLY one that should matter) = tuition, IMO, between 2x schools, if the overall 4 year tution (including living expense) is 50k or more, then go with the cheaper option.

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Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't you get into U-Mich? What changed your mind? Because you could live at home making UDM a better price overall?

I've talked with a dozen general dentists, including my mentor, and they've all advised me to attend the cheapest dental school. It's safe for me to assume that opinions like mine are rare and should especially be taken as a grain of salt. Here's another way I see things: I really hope that I get denied from my state school yet accepted from my number one out-of-state school so that I can have a more reasonable excuse for attending the 33.33% more expensive school.

Unfortunately, we can't all attend the cheapest school, go military, etc...

A good general rule to follow is to keep your costs low. Don't go to a significantly more expensive school because you like the weather there or some other nonsense. However, there are many reasons why one might choose a more expensive school (within reason) over another. Say you are in a significant relationship and your partner can easily find a job in city X over city Y.

Keep your costs as low as possible, but don't blindly adhere to any one principle alone when choosing a school.

dentalWorks said:

Take this advice from someone whos had college loans in the past and is currently a dental student: the only thing that matters is tuition.

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Yup.

dentalWorks said:

Let me tell you this, its the job of the school to impress its applicants during the interview day, its how they get people to apply the following years (remember, every application is worth $50-100 in the school's pocket

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But logistically speaking, it costs more than $50-$100 for a school to invest an interview with you. The time of the interviewer because he or she is probably getting paid a large chunk of change the hour or so he/she is one-on-one with you. Then, there is the food (which I understand is cheap for the institution itself). But still I am biased towards an ivy league school like Columbia because it is pass/fail and your diplomia in your office one day will look awesome! LOL I love research too, and it is really research orientated.

qnzbabi91 said:

But logistically speaking, it costs more than $50-$100 for a school to invest an interview with you. The time of the interviewer because he or she is probably getting paid a large chunk of change the hour or so he/she is one-on-one with you. Then, there is the food (which I understand is cheap for the institution itself). But still I am biased towards an ivy league school like Columbia because it is pass/fail and your diplomia in your office one day will look awesome! LOL I love research too, and it is really research orientated.

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Sidebar -

So unimpressed with Columbia after visiting...my interviewer literally called him self 'far more prestigious that some general dentist who went to a state school' because he is a prosthodontist that went to Columbia. He enjoys being a dentist because 'it is prestigious, people respect it, and the income is nice'.

Bleh.

qnzbabi91 said:

But logistically speaking, it costs more than $50-$100 for a school to invest an interview with you. The time of the interviewer because he or she is probably getting paid a large chunk of change the hour or so he/she is one-on-one with you. Then, there is the food (which I understand is cheap for the institution itself). But still I am biased towards an ivy league school like Columbia because it is pass/fail and your diplomia in your office one day will look awesome! LOL I love research too, and it is really research orientated.

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Not every applicant gets an interview. Those secondary fees rack up fast. UoP pulls around 3,000 with a mandatory $75 fee. $250,000 to interview a couple hundred people? And there's no steak for lunch.

As for the original question...how I would choose from that list? I'd wait to see who chose me first.

qnzbabi91 said:

But logistically speaking, it costs more than $50-$100 for a school to invest an interview with you. The time of the interviewer because he or she is probably getting paid a large chunk of change the hour or so he/she is one-on-one with you. Then, there is the food (which I understand is cheap for the institution itself). But still I am biased towards an ivy league school like Columbia because it is pass/fail and your diplomia in your office one day will look awesome! LOL I love research too, and it is really research orientated.

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I fantasize about hanging up a diploma from a prestigious school as well. There's just something about having your name and your identity become associated with an institution that commands selective exclusiveness. If I could not attach my school's name to my name on my office's website or on my office's wall and if no one would ever know what school I attended including my friends, family, and patients, I'd be much more inclined to attend the cheaper school. I'm pretty sure this has to do with my ego. Unfortunately, I have a hard time developing my own self-esteem without needing external sociocultural approval. This is quite strange since I always thought of myself as an existential nihilist.

qnzbabi91 said:

But logistically speaking

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When you say "logistically," I can't help but picture a UPS truck. Did you mean logically?

sacapuntas said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't you get into U-Mich? What changed your mind? Because you could live at home making UDM a better price overall?

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yep. Michigan was cheaper overall (even including living expense) by less than 50k over a 4 year period.

qnzbabi91 said:

But logistically speaking, it costs more than $50-$100 for a school to invest an interview with you. The time of the interviewer because he or she is probably getting paid a large chunk of change the hour or so he/she is one-on-one with you. Then, there is the food (which I understand is cheap for the institution itself). But still I am biased towards an ivy league school like Columbia because it is pass/fail and your diplomia in your office one day will look awesome! LOL I love research too, and it is really research orientated.

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yeh, but the 50-100 fee isn't just for the interviewees, its for everyone. Think of it this way, 2000-4000 people apply to each school, but only 300-500 get invited for interview.

qnzbabi91 said:

But still I am biased towards an ivy league school like Columbia because it is pass/fail and your diplomia in your office one day will look awesome! LOL I love research too, and it is really research orientated.

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Lol, so Columbia is the only school thats research oriented? I've been edumucated. Seriously, most dental schools are affiliated with some of the top notch institutions for research.

sacapuntas said:

Sidebar -

So unimpressed with Columbia after visiting...my interviewer literally called him self 'far more prestigious that some general dentist who went to a state school' because he is a prosthodontist that went to Columbia. He enjoys being a dentist because 'it is prestigious, people respect it, and the income is nice'.

Bleh.

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And you didn't fawn over this how? What's wrong with you!

UCSFx2016 said:

I fantasize about hanging up a diploma from a prestigious school as well. There's just something about having your name and your identity become associated with an institution that commands selective exclusiveness.

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I think everyone can be somewhat vain to varying degrees, but the prestige is not worth the cash on a practical standard.


It matters to me what kind of clinician I will become, and not the institution in which may graduate from. It doesn't help the fact that most ivies will cost at least around 50K if not more, compared to other schools. Real life is about practicality, and not superficiality, cause superficiality doesn't pay the bills. My father is a radiologist, and he drives a Subaru, not a BMW or Benz. Why? Cause it efficiently gets him from point A to point B. He's not any better or less of a doctor because he doesn't drive a fancy car.

I agree, school choice should be mostly about tuition. The tuition that some schools are charging is insane and I would go as far as to say "unethical". The problem is they know they can get it (thanks for federal government). Most expensive schools typically also have lower stat averages, showing that desparate "average" applicants have no other choice.

FIRST POINT - depends on you stats: DAT (critical!), GPA (important also, just maintain a 3.5+), good ECs and LORs (to portray a very diverse, dynamic, and well regarded individual during the interview.

SECOND POINT- depends in the cost and affordability of the school

THIRD POINT- apply to as many schools as you can ( assuming your stats are within the general norms at that school) since at the end of the day for you to choose a school, the school must choose you first. You can not hit second base if you never hit first.

KittySquared said:

he drives a Subaru, not a BMW or Benz. Why? Cause it efficiently gets him from point A to point B. He's not any better or less of a doctor because he doesn't drive a fancy car.

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But he owns a 911 turbo in the garage right?

Dusk said:

But he owns a 911 turbo in the garage right?

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A bicycle is sitting in there lol.