Anyone going to Columbia?

[Dr.BadVibes]

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Good comebacks Benny! 👍

 

[aileen]

Just a minor information regarding NYC...
There are LOTS of undocumented immigrants in NYC that UN cannot count and use for their statistics...

If Dept of Labor were to raid a typical NYC restaurant, they would find more illegal labors than legal...

 

[jk5177]

As I finally return to the Columbia thread after about a week of hiatus, I came upon the disagreements that litters this site. Hence, reminding me why I stop reading these postings here in the first place.
I respect everyone's posting, but it just seems everyone here are so sensitive. (Don't be offended here man, that was a generalized statment. Of course there are exceptions, and you are one them).
This thread is becoming a thread about people bashing, and I don't know how useful it has been for me in understanding and determing if Columbia is a school I like to go to. Is all this necessary? (I know you will answer yes, and that's fine. But I really meant that as a rhetorical question)

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

Just a minor information regarding NYC...
There are LOTS of undocumented immigrants in NYC that UN cannot count and use for their statistics...

If Dept of Labor were to raid a typical NYC restaurant, they would find more illegal labors than legal...

same goes for Toronto my dear. Just check passports/visas at some Spadina Avenue restaurants and Im sure immigration would get a lovely suprise.

I love how Americans seem to forget that there is a big country right above them that was also built on immigrants.

 

[ScorpiORTHO]

same goes for Toronto my dear. Just check passports/visas at some Spadina Avenue restaurants and Im sure immigration would get a lovely suprise.

I love how Americans seem to forget that there is a big country right above them that was also built on immigrants.

Well, i'm sure you're right. But, in NYC it's not just one Spadina Avenue but every street in NYC! 🙂

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

Well, i'm sure you're right. But, in NYC it's not just one Spadina Avenue but every street in NYC! 🙂

Spadina Ave was just an example idiot. And not only is Toronto WAYYYYY cleaner and friendlier than NYC, it is much safer.

How many murders last year in NYC?? over 500.

How many in Toronto??? a record high of 60

OH yah, but Toronto sucks cause its so cold!!! Ill be sure to remember that when I get a tan on the swamplands of the East River in sunny NYC!!

Geez, why do Americans have a hard time accepting that perhaps sometimes, they arent always #1 in everything???

 

[souperman]

Does anyone know exactly when we start school this fall? When do we need to move out to NYU?

 

[pretzeldude66]

As I finally return to the Columbia thread after about a week of hiatus, I came upon the disagreements that litters this site. Hence, reminding me why I stop reading these postings here in the first place.
I respect everyone's posting, but it just seems everyone here are so sensitive. (Don't be offended here man, that was a generalized statment. Of course there are exceptions, and you are one them).
This thread is becoming a thread about people bashing, and I don't know how useful it has been for me in understanding and determing if Columbia is a school I like to go to. Is all this necessary? (I know you will answer yes, and that's fine. But I really meant that as a rhetorical question)

Hey jk5177,
I feel your pain in reading some of the postings on SDN. I look at these forums more for my amusement than for information quality. On the other hand, PMing some of the students at different schools has proven fairly helpful.
Throughout this application process I have learned that the decision of where to attend dental school is a very personal decision and advice from others can only take you so far. If money is a major issue - go somewhere cheap; if you want to stay close to home - why not go to a local school? The truth is that the ADA has found all dental schools to be good enough to produce licensable dentists.
With that said, I am deciding between Columbia and my state school, Medical College of Georgia. I am heavily leaning toward Columbia and am planning on using the military HPSP to pay for it (I have been awarded Navy and am waiting to hear from the Air Force). Here is why I am leaning toward Columbia:

a) I "heart" NYC. My father is from the city and my family has made many trips there over the years. I think I might enjoy a change of pace from life in the south (even though I may come back to this area to practice in the future).

b) Just because I want to be a dentist doesn't mean I don't love medicine! The biomedical curriculum that Columbia offers looks really good to me. I don't care if some of the information I learn is useless in the everyday practice of dentistry; education means more to me than getting by with the minimum amount of knowledge necessary. In addition, its nice to know that I might be able to command respect from doctors who don't feel that dentists are equally intelligent (even if it is in just a friendly manner).

c) While Columbia is not known for their strong clinical program, I have talked to a few students who said that it is getting better. And everyone I talk to at any dental school says that you can take the opportunities to learn more if you want to.

d) Why not? With the military scholarship, the money is there for me to go wherever I want. Because I will be serving for 4 years after d-school, having local contacts from the school might become irrelevant.

I'm sure there are numerous good reasons to pick any school. This is just my personal opinion. I will be visiting both schools again in the near future in order to have one more look before I make my final decision.

From what I understand, it will be difficult wherever you go and there will always be times of regret. However, I have not heard many dentists who truly regret their choice of occupation.

Good luck and PM me (or some actual students at the schools you are looking at) if you don't want to risk being ridiculed or running into overly sensitive people.

 

[egpndoc]

Hey jk5177,
I feel your pain in reading some of the postings on SDN. I look at these forums more for my amusement than for information quality. On the other hand, PMing some of the students at different schools has proven fairly helpful.
Throughout this application process I have learned that the decision of where to attend dental school is a very personal decision and advice from others can only take you so far. If money is a major issue - go somewhere cheap; if you want to stay close to home - why not go to a local school? The truth is that the ADA has found all dental schools to be good enough to produce licensable dentists.
With that said, I am deciding between Columbia and my state school, Medical College of Georgia. I am heavily leaning toward Columbia and am planning on using the military HPSP to pay for it (I have been awarded Navy and am waiting to hear from the Air Force). Here is why I am leaning toward Columbia:

a) I "heart" NYC. My father is from the city and my family has made many trips there over the years. I think I might enjoy a change of pace from life in the south (even though I may come back to this area to practice in the future).

b) Just because I want to be a dentist doesn't mean I don't love medicine! The biomedical curriculum that Columbia offers looks really good to me. I don't care if some of the information I learn is useless in the everyday practice of dentistry; education means more to me than getting by with the minimum amount of knowledge necessary. In addition, its nice to know that I might be able to command respect from doctors who don't feel that dentists are equally intelligent (even if it is in just a friendly manner).

c) While Columbia is not known for their strong clinical program, I have talked to a few students who said that it is getting better. And everyone I talk to at any dental school says that you can take the opportunities to learn more if you want to.

d) Why not? With the military scholarship, the money is there for me to go wherever I want. Because I will be serving for 4 years after d-school, having local contacts from the school might become irrelevant.

I'm sure there are numerous good reasons to pick any school. This is just my personal opinion. I will be visiting both schools again in the near future in order to have one more look before I make my final decision.

From what I understand, it will be difficult wherever you go and there will always be times of regret. However, I have not heard many dentists who truly regret their choice of occupation.

Good luck and PM me (or some actual students at the schools you are looking at) if you don't want to risk being ridiculed or running into overly sensitive people.

Now here is a well thought out, and rational explanation as to why someone is picking a school. Answers like these cannot be bashed or ridiculed because this is a personal decision that everyone needs to make. The decision is never made based on one factor, but a multitude of factors.

 

[Halitosis]

Does anyone know exactly when we start school this fall? When do we need to move out to NYU?

i remember j-mac told me school starts 08/23...a tuesday.

 

[Halitosis]

Actually, According to the United Nations, Toronto is the most culturally diverse city in the world and not NYC like most people think.

i thought the un is all about peace, aid, econ development, human rights. i didn't know they kept track of which city is the most culturally diverse. i searched www.un.org and found nothing about what you said. where did you find that info? the closest i got was a city profile on toronto at http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/habitat/profiles/toronto.asp it did not mention toronto as #1 in cultural diversity however.

acording to http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761576416/New_York_(city).html "New York has been the most ethnically diverse city in the world since the 1640s". there's no similar statement in the city profile of toronto.

IT also has the largest Italian population outside of Italy

no. "The largest Italian community outside Italy is located in Sao Paulo, the wealthiest and biggest city in South America. According to the Italian embassy, more than 3 million Italian immigrants and descendants live in the city."
www.italianancestry.com/Section7.html

As far as biggest city, I believe Mexico City is the largest city in the world.

no. the largest city in the world is not mx city. check these sites out, mx city is not listed as #1 in any of those rankings:
http://www.citymayors.com/features/largest_cities1.html says seoul is #1
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762524.html says shanghai
http://www.worldhistory.com/cities.htm says tokyo
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/bigcities.htm again, it's seoul

Now you know!

not cute

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

i thought the un is all about peace, aid, econ development, human rights. i didn't know they kept track of which city is the most culturally diverse. i searched www.un.org and found nothing about what you said. where did you find that info? the closest i got was a city profile on toronto at http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/habitat/profiles/toronto.asp it did not mention toronto as #1 in cultural diversity however.

acording to http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761576416/New_York_(city).html "New York has been the most ethnically diverse city in the world since the 1640s". there's no similar statement in the city profile of toronto.

Well you thought wrong and know nothing about the UN....havent you heard of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)??? Well it was UNESCO that declared Toronto as the most culturally diverse/multicultural place on Earth.

However, I cant find the report on the UNESCO website (but I only searched for 10 mins, perhaps you can find it), here is an official Canadian government website talking about the report, along with several other non-official websites mentioning the report:

http://www.pch.gc.ca/special/dcforum/info-bg/01_e.cfm

Here is an article from the Canadian Press that mentions it:

http://www.canada.com/national/feat....html?id=9c334062-3f2e-49a4-892b-d9f0890c6da8

and some unofficial websites:

http://www.theatreintoronto.com/features/facts/
http://www.creativeholidays.com.au/...id=67&region=Eastern Canada&subregion=Toronto
http://www.zuji.com.sg/dest/guide/0,1277,ZUJISG|3116|555|1,00.html

There are many more...just do a google search.

no. "The largest Italian community outside Italy is located in Sao Paulo, the wealthiest and biggest city in South America. According to the Italian embassy, more than 3 million Italian immigrants and descendants live in the city."
www.italianancestry.com/Section7.html

Sorry, I was mistaken. Canada has the largest Italian population outside of Italy, not only Toronto. My bad.

http://www.canada.com/national/feat....html?id=9c334062-3f2e-49a4-892b-d9f0890c6da8

no. the largest city in the world is not mx city. check these sites out, mx city is not listed as #1 in any of those rankings:
http://www.citymayors.com/features/largest_cities1.html says seoul is #1
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762524.html says shanghai
http://www.worldhistory.com/cities.htm says tokyo
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/bigcities.htm again, it's seoul

This is debatable as I hear Tokyo, Seoul and Mexico City all the time....but I did say "I believe" as I wasnt sure cause its also debated...Anyways, the point I was trying to make that it WASNT NEW YORK!!!

Anyways, the reason Im saying all of this is that no one knows anything about Toronto, and its always ignored. For instance, everyone thinks that the tallest structure in the world is the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, BUT ITS NOT! THE CN TOWER in TORONTO is the tallest structure in the world.

Toronto also has the second largest Chinatown in North America, second to San Francisco...which means.....that its Chinatown is larger than New York which people will not believe.

Also, Toronto has the third largest theatre district in the world next to New York and London.

Oh yah, did I mention that Toronto is also extremely safe (last year there were 60 homicides compared to New Yorks 500+ homicides 😱 ), and that compared to New York, Toronto is spotless!!!

Clean, safe and everything that New York offers!! And people wonder why I always say that I want to move back to Toronto to practice!! Like Peter Ustinov once said about Toronto, "its New York run by the Swiss"

 

[paolorossifan]

Vancouver, the most beautiful city in Canada and tourist capital of our country. No place in this country compares to it.

 

[dentist_to_be?]

Vancouver, the most beautiful city in Canada and tourist capital of our country. No place in this country compares to it.

I grew up near Toronto, but nothing beats Montreal. Toronto is the business city of Canada, Montreal is definitely the more fun and relaxed city.

Toronto is a pretty cool city, and I personally would have loved to go to Dental school there... its too bad UToronto is soooooooooo hard to get into.

 

[paolorossifan]

I grew up near Toronto, but nothing beats Montreal. Toronto is the business city of Canada, Montreal is definitely the more fun and relaxed city.

Toronto is a pretty cool city, and I personally would have loved to go to Dental school there... its too bad UToronto is soooooooooo hard to get into.

Ever been to beautiful BC? You should come to UBC, they've got lower DAT/gpa scores and its in a great place. Dont know how many non-BC kids they let in. But hey, its worth a shot to live the greatest place on earth.

 

[dentist_to_be?]

Ever been to beautiful BC? You should come to UBC, they've got lower DAT/gpa scores and its in a great place. Dont know how many non-BC kids they let in. But hey, its worth a shot to live the greatest place on earth.

What are their stats to get in?

 

[paolorossifan]

What are their stats to get in?

They have a comprehensive profile of their applicants and enrollees gpa/DATs.
I think its about a 20/20 avg. with a high B+ gpa. I can't tell gpas and percentages apart, when will UNC learn and get out of the stone ages and start grading their students on the A-F scale....

 

[Halitosis]

Well you thought wrong and know nothing about the UN....havent you heard of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)??? Well it was UNESCO that declared Toronto as the most culturally diverse/multicultural place on Earth.

However, I cant find the report on the UNESCO website (but I only searched for 10 mins, perhaps you can find it), here is an official Canadian government website talking about the report, along with several other non-official websites mentioning the report:

http://www.pch.gc.ca/special/dcforum/info-bg/01_e.cfm

this article says nothing about unesco naming Toronto as anything. However, there was this: “At the local level the City of Toronto, which is considered to be the most culturally diverse city in the world, put forth a working definition of cultural diversity in the City's Equity policy framework”. Considered by who? Press ctrl+F and search for keywords like “Toronto”, “unesco”, “diversity”, and this article will quickly prove to be useless.

Here is an article from the Canadian Press that mentions it:

http://www.canada.com/national/feat....html?id=9c334062-3f2e-49a4-892b-d9f0890c6da8

useless article. Again, do ctrl+F….”unesco” doesn’t even occur once in the article. I’m so stupid for believing u.

and some unofficial websites:

http://www.theatreintoronto.com/features/facts/
http://www.creativeholidays.com.au/...id=67&region=Eastern Canada&subregion=Toronto
http://www.zuji.com.sg/dest/guide/0,1277,ZUJISG|3116|555|1,00.html

it’s bizarre that all the sites that mention unesco and Toronto are non-governmental web pages. The unesco website itself mentions nothing about naming Toronto to anything. If it did, that article is extremely difficult to find. Also, sdn has plenty of Canadians. Where are the others who know about this?

in conclusion, Toronto being the world’s most culturally diverse city is a baseless claim(what you going to back it up with? That travel agency website? Or that theatre website?) Maybe Toronto is the wmcd city, maybe it’s not. Perhaps it is nyc. We will never know w/o convincing evidence. Don’t be disappointed if what you heard about Toronto is simply a rumor propagated by elements that hope to profit off of it(eg that travel agency website).

 

[Halitosis]

Anyways, the reason Im saying all of this is that no one knows anything about Toronto, and its always ignored. For instance, everyone thinks that the tallest structure in the world is the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, BUT ITS NOT! THE CN TOWER in TORONTO is the tallest structure in the world.

THE WORLD’S TALLEST BUILDING IS IN TAIWAN…..“TAIPEI 101”…check it out:
http://www.emporis.com/en/bu/sk/st/tp/wo/
http://www.taiwanfun.com/north/taipei/articles/0311/0311CoverStory.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001338.html
http://architecture.about.com/library/bltall.htm

hard to swallow/believe, huh?

 

[Halitosis]

Oh yah, did I mention that Toronto is also extremely safe (last year there were 60 homicides compared to New Yorks 500+ homicides 😱 ), and that compared to New York, Toronto is spotless!!!

Assuming you’re right, 500+ homicides should raise some eyebrows. But, do you know who those 500+ victims were? Were they gang-bangers killed by rival gang-bangers during a gang-banger shoot out, or were they dental students? Don’t just slap a stat down, leaving out the relevant info to support your argument.

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

in conclusion, Toronto being the world’s most culturally diverse city is a baseless claim(what you going to back it up with? That travel agency website? Or that theatre website?) Maybe Toronto is the wmcd city, maybe it’s not. Perhaps it is nyc. We will never know w/o convincing evidence. Don’t be disappointed if what you heard about Toronto is simply a rumor propagated by elements that hope to profit off of it(eg that travel agency website).

Your right....I couldnt find the official UNESCO document on their website and IM sure if you look at your university library you will find it, but I thought if I referenced those websites who mention the report that you would be satisfied, but I guess not. I like how you make it seem that I only referenced for-profit travel sites, but I tried to mix it up with travel sites, Lonely Planet, official government sites.....you can google more on this topic if you need further clarification. By the way, when did Lonely Planet profit off calling Toronto the most culturally diverse place in the world???

Anyways, even though you might not agree with me on this, we can all agree that you did learn something from this debate....you now know what UNESCO is! Im actually suprised that someone who is going to Columbia didnt even know what UNESCO was, but now not only can you brag about your degree, you can impress people with your newfound knowledge!! Congrats! 👍

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

THE WORLD’S TALLEST BUILDING IS IN TAIWAN…..“TAIPEI 101”…check it out:
http://www.emporis.com/en/bu/sk/st/tp/wo/
http://www.taiwanfun.com/north/taipei/articles/0311/0311CoverStory.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001338.html
http://architecture.about.com/library/bltall.htm

hard to swallow/believe, huh?

Traditionally, the CN Tower has always been called the world's tallest building....but recently, there was debate on whether to call it a building cause its a tower....so now its referred to as the world's tallest free-standing structure. Despite that, it is still taller than the Petronas Towers in Malaysia and the building in Taipei.....Not convinced?

Would you believe the Guiness Book of World Records??

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/index.asp?ID=49675

I dunno, but I think the Guiness Book is more reliable than Taiwanfun.com

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

Assuming you’re right, 500+ homicides should raise some eyebrows. But, do you know who those 500+ victims were? Were they gang-bangers killed by rival gang-bangers during a gang-banger shoot out, or were they dental students? Don’t just slap a stat down, leaving out the relevant info to support your argument.

Funny thing is that those 60 murders in Toronto were also probably 95% gang related....so now not only have we concluded that New York has proportionally WAYYY more murders than Toronto, they also have way more gangs!! Good job bud!! You got anything else more to say cause your hole just keeps getting deeper and deeper!

 

[onetoothleft]

Funny thing is that those 60 murders in Toronto were also probably 95% gang related....so now not only have we concluded that New York has proportionally WAYYY more murders than Toronto, they also have way more gangs!! Good job bud!! You got anything else more to say cause your hole just keeps getting deeper and deeper!

Canada is cold.

 

[MasterTLT]

Canada is cold.

I'll second that one, we used to take a vaction for a week or two in the summer to Canada, plus I've always been a Yankee's fan.

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

When the hell did NYC all of a sudden become the sun destination?

 

[impuny]

When the hell did NYC all of a sudden become the sun destination?

🙄 Well, compared to canada...

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

🙄 Well, compared to canada...

if you actually have ever looked at a map in your life, you wouldve realized that Toronto is not much more north than NYC, which means thats NYC and Toronto have the exact same climate. Very cold winters and Very hot summers. Try again. 🙄

 

[impuny]

if you actually have ever looked at a map in your life, you wouldve realized that Toronto is not much more north than NYC, which means thats NYC and Toronto have the exact same climate. Very cold winters and Very hot summers. Try again. 🙄

Well that's like saying... oh Ithaca and NYC are in the same state so they must have the exact same climate...Bull! I wasn't disputing whether Toronto also has cold winters and hot summers, but I do believe (much like the cities in upstate new york) they have colder and longer winters than nyc... which makes a world of a difference if you don't like the cold. Chill out man and get a clue. 😎

 

[javagrl]

ohhh yeah, ithaca is cold. trust me. nyc will be a tropical oasis compared to ithaca. i'm looking forward to it.

 

[onetoothleft]

NYC is by the water . . . so you have mild winters and mild summers (except for in the subway . . . gets sweltery down there sometimes)

 

[Gulch]

NYC is by the water . . . so you have mild winters and mild summers (except for in the subway . . . gets sweltery down there sometimes)

mild compared to what?!! When I went to Manhattan in February I had to throw on two sweatshirts and a jacket...But I wasn't acclimated. Seriously, when I went to visit liberty island I was colder than I ever was snow camping in Tahoe or Utah. Very cold. As I stepped off the plane and into Sacramento (home) I suddenly realized why this state is overpopulated. All the same, I want to get off the Columbia waitlist and into the class...

 

[onetoothleft]

mild compared to what?!! When I went to Manhattan in February I had to throw on two sweatshirts and a jacket...But I wasn't acclimated. Seriously, when I went to visit liberty island I was colder than I ever was snow camping in Tahoe or Utah. Very cold. As I stepped off the plane and into Sacramento (home) I suddenly realized why this state is overpopulated. All the same, I want to get off the Columbia waitlist and into the class...

I am from arizona and I dont think NY is that cold. the coldest i have experienced has been like 15 degrees. In the winter it averages like 30. I can't wait till this summer! It is almost tanning season! Beach every saturday!