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I think you should apply to both schools AND other few OOS friendly schools. There is no guarantee that you will get accepted to those schools though I am sure you are a competent candidate 🙂 This shouldn't be your dilemma yet because cycle even hasn't started. Again, things never turn out the way you expect so probably would be the best to apply several schools. Gluck!
 
Would it be better to apply/attend to UIC, state school, or to my other top choices if I have intent on specializing in OMFS? I have read a bit about this dilemma but still have no idea what to do

what are your stats (sci gpa, dat)
 
I think you should apply to both schools AND other few OOS friendly schools. There is no guarantee that you will get accepted to those schools though I am sure you are a competent candidate 🙂 This shouldn't be your dilemma yet because cycle even hasn't started. Again, things never turn out the way you expect so probably would be the best to apply several schools. Gluck!
 
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With those stats you'll get interviews pretty much everywhere. If you are a good interviewer then you have nothing to worry about. I think you're referring to cost (you seem to be drinking the SDN kool-aid), how much is UIC for you?
 
With those stats you'll get interviews pretty much everywhere. If you are a good interviewer then you have nothing to worry about. I think you're referring to cost (you seem to be drinking the SDN kool-aid), how much is UIC for you?
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Projected total is around $260-$270k
Yeah, that's nice. Here's my opinion on specializing: if you want it bad enough then you can get it anywhere as long as you finish within top 10%/top 5 of the class. You seem to be a smart kid judging by your stats, and you should be able to finish at the top of your class at UIC. It'll probably be easier for you to stand out there (strong LORs)... State schools also boast about providing a strong clinical program (take some of these claims with a grain of salt, @wengerin). I don't know much about UIC, but if that's the case then you can leave dental school as a clinically competent and confident, relatively low debt graduate, and still have a great opportunity to specialize (assuming you rank at the top). You have the opportunity to go right out into the workforce and put your skills to work for a few years and return to specialize, or jump right into specialty if you'd like.

Now there's an assumption that some of these other schools that put you in a better place to specialize (Ivies, etc.) are clinically inferior compared to these state schools. I don't know how true that is, but I necessarily don't agree with it for all of these types of schools. I believe that you may need to spend more time in the sim lab/clinic/etc., and you should still be okay, but there is still some uncertainty there... However, specializing out of these schools is cake. Columbia has 40% of their class going into specialties (not GPR/AEGD). Some of these are P/F, and some take advantage of creative ranking systems (Penn only ranks top 10) in order to reduce stress for their students so they can focus on their boards/CBSE/whatever. Another caveat is that you may end up with 100k+ more debt than UIC (Penn is ~480k, woof). So you may end up graduating clinically competent (OR NOT) with some more debt, but you're pretty much guaranteed a specialty.

Another thing is to ask yourself where will you be happy? After your interviews you will know which schools you felt comfortable at for whatever reason, and that will also play a large factor into your selection! As you can see, the decision for choosing a school is quite difficult, at least it was/is for me!
 
3.96 sGPA, 24 AA

if you are dead set on omfs go to columbia, harvard, upenn, or uconn

if you go to columbia you'll basically get into omfs as long as you do well on CBSE (everyone does really good on it from columbia) but you need to also consider about cost
 
if you are dead set on omfs go to columbia, harvard, upenn, or uconn

if you go to columbia you'll basically get into omfs as long as you do well on CBSE (everyone does really good on it from columbia) but you need to also consider about cost
M
 
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How about UCLA stats for OMFS? And Columbia really is that good at gearing people to match for OMFS eh?

yes about columbia and idk about ucla (im from new jersey so i never considered UCLA)

are you from california?
 
Apply to the ivies and other schools with a good specializing reputation and see if you get a merit scholarship. Your stats are definitely good enough to get one and may help bring the cost down closer to the cost of your state school.
 
Apply to the ivies and other schools with a good specializing reputation and see if you get a merit scholarship. Your stats are definitely good enough to get one and may help bring the cost down closer to the cost of your state school.
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Do you think it is worth the money to apply there in hopes of getting the scholarship?

Depends on your priorities. With your stats I wouldn't really apply to more than 10 schools though and that's being generous
 
i would recommend u to apply both IS and OS schools. dont assume with such great score and gpa, u will easily get into ur IS schools. there are some students with 25AA that are still waiting for acceptance. its all about luck and interview performance. Doing well in interview is extremely important. apply in june and ace ur interviews. good luck.
 
How much is Columbia total expenses for 4 years? And what difference between cost would you say it's Better to go to UIC because it's cheaper rather than the difference isn't great enough to warrant passing up an ivy for specialization?

idk how much columbia is off top of my head its a lot you can search it on the columbia dental website

now for columbia vs a school like UIC:
1- at UIC you will need to be at almost top of your class and you will need a high CBSE score --> note at a school like UIC you aren't getting a medical school education which won't prepare you that well for CBSE (CBSE is entry exam for OMFS, its basically step 1 UMSLE)
2- at columbia, you need to just do well on CBSE (which almost everyone does at columbia --> you get medical school education)

i mean the choice is yours regarding omfs:
do you want to pay less to go to a dental school where it will be much harder to become an omfs
or pay more for a dental school where it will will be much easier to become an omfs
 
idk how much columbia is off top of my head its a lot you can search it on the columbia dental website

now for columbia vs a school like UIC:
1- at UIC you will need to be at almost top of your class and you will need a high CBSE score --> note at a school like UIC you aren't getting a medical school education which won't prepare you that well for CBSE (CBSE is entry exam for OMFS, its basically step 1 UMSLE)
2- at columbia, you need to just do well on CBSE (which almost everyone does at columbia --> you get medical school education)

i mean the choice is yours regarding omfs:
do you want to pay less to go to a dental school where it will be much harder to become an omfs
or pay more for a dental school where it will will be much easier to become an omfs
That
 
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That's one of the big things I'm looking at but I also can't help but look at the financials and see there's a chance of being almost 200k less in debt at UIC
But I really love what I have read about the programs at ivys and UCLA
 
That's one of the big things I'm looking at but I also can't help but look at the financials and see there's a chance of being almost 200k less in debt at UIC

I can't blame you for that just letting you know what the deal is between the two. your decision to make
 
take this from some one with well intention. You have a very good stat and will very likely got into OMFS. today is match day so we just found out that two of my classmates (so far) that matched into OMFS. One will be going to Yale and the other one stays at Nova. Although I am sure they are very smart, I don't think rank is important for OMFS ( as oppose to ortho) as the department chair said that he cares less about the rank and more about CBSE and researches. OMFS loveees researches and conferences. So do yourself a favor and apply to the school which has the lowest COA, then pay some of it back during your residency and your life will be much better. If it was me, I wouldn't care about name as long as it has the lowest tuition or a good amount of stipend along with a well-rounded curriculum.
 
D1: $48464
D2: $72129
D3: $72129
D4: $72129
Cost of living is going to be around $1200-1500/mo (rent, utilities, food)
@ $1200/mo, total = $322K without interest.
@ $1500/mo, total = $337K without interest.
true
 
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why do I need to do just well on CBSE at Columbia vs very well at UIC?

2 reasons:
1 - columbia has med school basic science education. OMFS programs find this to be VERY FAVORABLE (only a few amount of dental schools have a similar curriculum)
2- reputation (columbia notoriously sends many students to OMFS programs --> they do very well --> OMFS program directors are aware of this and will look at a columbia applicant more favorably)
 
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2 reasons:
1 - columbia has med school basic science education. OMFS programs find this to be VERY FAVORABLE
2- reputation (columbia notoriously sends many students to OMFS programs --> they do very well --> OMFS program directors are aware of this and will look at a columbia applicant more favorably)
You are making Columbia sound more and more appealing!
 
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