UConn or Stony???

msnonsense · Jan 4, 2004

I have narrowed down my choices to UConn and Stony Brook but I still can't decide between the two. I was wondering if current students from these two schools can give me some advice. I heard Stony Brook is good in preparing its students to becoming general practitioners. UConn is good in preparing students who wants to continue onto postgraduate programs. What's holding me back from choosing Stony is that I heard students there are very competitive toward each other and what's holding me back from UConn is that I kept hearing how demanding and stressful the curriculum is (I really want to know what makes it so overwhelming). I have less than 2 weeks to decide which school I want to attend. I don't want to end up in a school where I'll be unhappy in. Can someone please help me? I would really appreciate it.

tbeaven · Jan 4, 2004

Hey,

Don't know if this will help. I was also accepted at both but my decision came between Maryland and Stony. I accepted with Stony. The feeling I got is that it could be competetive or people help one another out. I just think with a small class size it depends on the nature of the people you get that year. All I can say is my attitude is helping everyone out so we all can better ourselves and properly represent our school. Hope to see you in Stony class of 2008.

hi-speed513 · Jan 4, 2004

If I were in your shoes and a resident of either NY or CT, that would probably factor into my decision (I'm assuming you're not a resident of either state since that would probably make it an easier decision)....also think of whether or not you are really interested in specializing..if you are I would think about Uconn because of their high acceptance rates into specialty programs...i don't know much about Stonybrook but it seems like most of those that graduate from Uconn that want to do general practice complete GPR's...at my Uconn interview I asked my interviewer what the time period between passing the NERB and being able to practice was and she said, "well no one really goes straight into private practice from here, just about everyone either specializes or does a GPR"

wise146 · Jan 5, 2004

tbeaven I look forward to meeting you. I will also be attending Stony Brook in the fall. You sound like a really nice person.

dvsmith · Jan 5, 2004

"UConn is that I kept hearing how demanding and stressful the curriculum is (I really want to know what makes it so overwhelming"

you'll never get an honest answer from current uconn students cause someone (a 1st year student @ uconn) decided to email Dr. Thibodeau all the negative comments on these forums

we were warned that "big brother" is watching :scared:

unfortunately it negates the purpose of these forums

DrJeff · Jan 5, 2004

Feedback that I get from the second year students i my class, is that yes, it's stressfull at times(but then again you're in school to obtain a Doctorate Degree, so don't expect a cakewalk where ever you go). I can tell you though that overall the students that I interact with (2nd, 3rd, and 4th years) have alot lower stress levels than when I was there. And that statement is/was backed up by my co-faculty(a fulltimer at UCONN) who told me point blank that its gotten alot more "user friendly" than when our classes were there(and we're both in the under 10 year alumni club).

I'm quite biased, but if you choose UCONN, you'll end up with an outstanding education, in a greast suburban location, and you'll get to meet a patient of my practice who is going to be a 1st year at UCONN next year😀 :clap:

And to really scare you, you might even end up with me as one of your instructors during your 2nd, 3rd, or 4th years :wow:

🙄

DrJeff · Jan 5, 2004

Originally posted by dvsmith
"UConn is that I kept hearing how demanding and stressful the curriculum is (I really want to know what makes it so overwhelming"

you'll never get an honest answer from current uconn students cause someone (a 1st year student @ uconn) decided to email Dr. Thibodeau all the negative comments on these forums

we were warned that "big brother" is watching

unfortunately it negates the purpose of these forums

I might have to see if I can ask Dr. T about this over a beverage at the UCONN alumni reception at Yankee Dental in a few weeks. That seems a bit unlike him since I've known him to be very pro-student and willing to "go to bat" for just about anyone there.

thisisit · Jan 6, 2004

Every dental school is going to be stressful, don't kid yourself. +pity+

There is no easy way out. UConn or the newly opened UOB in our 51st state (university of Baghdad), makes no difference. Just beware of the bullets in the latter...😀 😀

DrJeff · Jan 6, 2004

Originally posted by thisisit
Every dental school is going to be stressful, don't kid yourself. There is no easy way out. UConn or the newly opened UOB in our 51st state (university of Baghdad), makes no difference. Just beware of the bullets in the latter...😀 😀

My assistant's brother, whose an MP in the Army and is on duty in Baghdad, but is home right now on a 3 week leave(has been over in Baghdad since August), stopped by the office this afternoon with some pictures. :wow:

He was about 100 yards away from the bombing of the Red Cross building a few weeks back and sustained some minor scrapes to his arms and face when the bomb went off :wow:

but he was fine. To see the pictures of car bomb craters 10 to 15 feet across and 10 or so feet deep with some body parts around them was very sobering to say the least.

I have my own personal policy where any person that has gone on active duty in the middle east get all their post tour of duty "catch up" work done free of charge(the most I've done so far is a marine who was in the mountains of Afganistan and was without the use of a toothbrush(let alone of ahower) for 3 months :wow:

2 endos, 3 crowns, an extraction, a 3 unit bridge and about 10 fillings later he's back upto speed orally :clap:

Also, family immediate family of those on active duty get their work free of charge, this can be a big concern since many folks over there are guardsman who were the main income earners before being deployed, so even a routine cleaning for their kids may seem like a big financial burden to the family at home.

I figure if the folks in the military are over protecting my way of life, the least I can do to express my appreciation is take care of their dental needs when they get home!

MsPurtell · Jan 7, 2004

...........I'm a second year here at UConn, and while it is stressful, I am basically very happy with my choice. We are getting a rock solid education at a low price, Farmington is beautiful, the students are great, I like the faculty, we have high board scores (really good if you may want to specialize) and the P/F system means that there is not vicious competition between students.

You probably will work harder at UConn then at other schools (or so my classmates have told me), but you will be super prepared for the boards. I have also felt a lot of the stress drop off in second year. First year was tough for me, but I guess I've learned to deal with things better. Second year is still a challenge, but not overwhelming.

E-mail me if you want to ask me specifics.

Margaret

MsPurtell · Jan 7, 2004

.........while I normally don't mention anyone by name here, I do feel the need to clear up the "big brother" thing that was mentioned.

I don't know what kinds of "negative comments" are being referred to, but if you are talking about how tough the curriculum is here, that is accurate. Dr. T. makes a point of telling interviewees this very fact repeatedly and in the most blunt language. They want students who want this challenging curriculum. They are being sensible in doing this because while many students have the ability to handle the curriculum, they don't want to just end up accepting then losing students who aren't willing to put in the work.

And, take it from Dr. Jeff. Dr. T. is very pro-student.

HardWay · Jul 28, 2006

dvsmith said:
"UConn is that I kept hearing how demanding and stressful the curriculum is (I really want to know what makes it so overwhelming"

you'll never get an honest answer from current uconn students cause someone (a 1st year student @ uconn) decided to email Dr. Thibodeau all the negative comments on these forums

we were warned that "big brother" is watching

unfortunately it negates the purpose of these forums

I can vouch for the truthfullness of the above statement. Big Brother is watching. Remember to look over your shoulder.

PTSD · Jul 29, 2006

big brother is watching. during my third year at uconn, an incoming student randomly e-mailed some dental students asking about the school. students replied with some harsh answers and the incoming student forwarded those e-mails to Dr. T. additionally, Dr. T had been monitoring this site and was not pleased. he was able to identify students who had been e-mailing/posting comments and those students were punished. i'm three thousand miles away from uconn now and still afraid of the administration. if you're going to post, be careful because the truth can hurt.

CatsMeow · Jul 30, 2006

PTSD said:
big brother is watching. during my third year at uconn, an incoming student randomly e-mailed some dental students asking about the school. students replied with some harsh answers and the incoming student forwarded those e-mails to Dr. T. additionally, Dr. T had been monitoring this site and was not pleased. he was able to identify students who had been e-mailing/posting comments and those students were punished. i'm three thousand miles away from uconn now and still afraid of the administration. if you're going to post, be careful be cause the truth can hurt.

they put ppl on probation among other things and almost kicked out a few---it doesn't surprise me that an ex-uconn student chose ptsd (post-traumatic stress disorder :wow:

) as their screen name---goes to show what we mean by the emotional bankruptcy---

drjeff---do u not get now what we mean by sodomy? :scared:

---we are not talking about book learning!

HulkHogan · Jul 31, 2006

UConn is a great school. Sure it is rough at some times but what school isn't? You have great faculty and admin that are there to help you with your education. I actually find our faculty pretty straight forward, helpful, and friendly. Our statistics (board scores, rate of specialty, ect) really speaks for itself.

Dr. T is very pro-student and will go out of his way to help you.

Just my humble opinion. I am sure there are unhappy students at all the schools you are considering but I'd bet there are also happy ones as well.

VPDcurt · Aug 2, 2006

PTSD said:
big brother is watching. during my third year at uconn, an incoming student randomly e-mailed some dental students asking about the school. students replied with some harsh answers and the incoming student forwarded those e-mails to Dr. T. additionally, Dr. T had been monitoring this site and was not pleased. he was able to identify students who had been e-mailing/posting comments and those students were punished. i'm three thousand miles away from uconn now and still afraid of the administration. if you're going to post, be careful because the truth can hurt.

how can they possibly punish students for posting on a message board such as this one? I don't understand that at all. The entire uconn health center has a horrible administration and an even worse reputation as far as clinical care goes. I grew up in a town bordering Farmington, and you've gotta be crazy to go to the UConn Health Center for any kind of healthcare. The school never admits to it, but the fact that it's in Farmington (and not downtown) is a huge disaster that apparently occurred for various political reasons that I cannot recall at this moment. The med school admissions is on the verge of being sued because of discrimination and heavily favoring females. They lie about that as well. I don't know about the dental school too much, but if you were to go to the medical school, you would be getting educated by second- or third-tier physicians in that area. Every physician in the area knows this - there are only a few that are willing to admit to it in public.

UConn or Stony???

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