ASDA at Columbia University

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From what I know, next batch will probably be in January.

In my opinion, I think our class size is great--80 is just the right amount. The class composition is second to none. Having the H/P/F system is huge! It's an immense relief when it comes to exam time. Contrary to popular belief, there's little to no competition among classmates. What I really like about the school is the administrators--they've been VERY receptive to students' concerns. I haven't seen any administrators as open and passionate as them. They really want us to succeed and they do all that they can to do so. They know us each and every one of us by name! Beyond that, we're in New York City. No further explanation needed. I could go on and on about Columbia. If you have any specific questions that can help you distinguish Columbia from other schools, please don't hesitate to ask!
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Cool that you are on here answering questions..more schools should do this :thumbup:
 
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Funz said:
Cool that you are on here answering questions..more schools should do this :thumbup:
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Thank you so much for your appreciation!!! I really take time to address students' concerns by doing all I can to have your questions answered--I understand how it feels to be in all of your shoes now and I want to give back to all of you. Ask away!
 
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Asked this elsewhere, but here is a better spot in case anybody else has the same question:

Would you mind sharing your experience with preclinics at Columbia? I see that the current curriculum devotes fourth semester entirely to PCC. Did you get much training in hand skills prior to that? Was it enough to leave you feeling confident (or as confident as possible, anyways!) to enter clinic?

Thanks!
 
HermeyCrab said:
Asked this elsewhere, but here is a better spot in case anybody else has the same question:

Would you mind sharing your experience with preclinics at Columbia? I see that the current curriculum devotes fourth semester entirely to PCC. Did you get much training in hand skills prior to that? Was it enough to leave you feeling confident (or as confident as possible, anyways!) to enter clinic?

Thanks!
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My experience with preclinic is bar none. All the professors are extremely approachable and practicing dentists who take time out of their own practice to come in and help for a few hours. They all want us to succeed. They'll tell you if it's clinically acceptable or not and explain to you your mistakes, which is huge! Every professor is distinguished with years worth of experience.

Yes, students will be devoting their time entirely to PCC. I'm a second year student so I have yet to experience clinics but most students in clinic now seem not to have a problem. All of them are competent and confident in their work. In your first year, first semester, you spend a lot of time doing crown preparations, wax-ups, and provisionals (temporary crowns). In your second semester, you'll be doing operative and restorative dentistry, specifically cavity preparations and restoring them with amalgam. In your second year first semester, you do a month of operative, a month of endodontics, a month of prosthodontics, and some periodontics. In your fourth, you'll be immersed in all fields of the profession.
 
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How much is research experience emphasized upon in the admission process? Do you think that not having any research experience but still having all of the other components still makes you a worthy applicant?
 
earlgreytea said:
How much is research experience emphasized upon in the admission process? Do you think that not having any research experience but still having all of the other components still makes you a worthy applicant?
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Just to give you an idea, I had no research and was accepted. It's not a requirement, it's okay to be passionate about other things.
 
earlgreytea said:
How much is research experience emphasized upon in the admission process? Do you think that not having any research experience but still having all of the other components still makes you a worthy applicant?
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Like Troyvdg said, as long as you're passionate for something, then go for it. I personally did not research--a lot of my classmates didn't either. Research is recommended but not required. With that being said, I think that answers your question.
 
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Hi
I have a question. I have an undergraduate degree (non- science) (2.9 )and unfortunately did not do as well as I should have. Nevertheless, I went back to school to pursue a 2nd degree in Biology and graduated with a 3.5 gpa. Do you think that Columbia would favor my Biology degree ?
 
Columbia will most likely look at your biology degree; but it goes without saying that they'll look at both your GPAs. Congratulations with the GPA, now focus on the DAT and you should be okay!
 
When does the official move in month for columbia on-campus housing begin in the summer? what is the earliest date you can move in?
 
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I'm applying this coming application cycle and Columbia is my number 1 (assuming I have any say in the matter). I really love the idea of taking med school courses along with dental-specific work; for me, it really cements the the notion that dentistry as an integral part of overall individual health. With that being said, the most concerning part of my application is my lack of volunteer hours. I have exactly zero. I will qualify this by saying I am a nontrad (US Marine Corps veteran, married, 2 kids), and work near full time along with taking a full time course load. In fact, I am on pace to earn my BS in biology in 3.5 years from when I started (Spring semester 2012). My oGPA, last I calculated (from 3 different schools) is a 3.63, with no grade under a B (I have quite a few B's), and all prereqs except orgo 2 (which I am currently taking) completed. I don't have a DAT score yet, but I have already scheduled to take it mid-May.

I guess my question is, how much do volunteer hours matter to Columbia? I have asked this question before on SDN, but it wasn't school-specific. The vast majority say I will be fine and not to stress about it, given my military background, but I really want to get into Columbia.
 
Given the information that you have provided t
Reefboss said:
When does the official move in month for columbia on-campus housing begin in the summer? what is the earliest date you can move in?
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I think the earliest you can move in is the first week of August. Orientation and white coat ceremony is typically held the second week of August and classes start the third week of August.

Daneosaurus said:
I'm applying this coming application cycle and Columbia is my number 1 (assuming I have any say in the matter). I really love the idea of taking med school courses along with dental-specific work; for me, it really cements the the notion that dentistry as an integral part of overall individual health. With that being said, the most concerning part of my application is my lack of volunteer hours. I have exactly zero. I will qualify this by saying I am a nontrad (US Marine Corps veteran, married, 2 kids), and work near full time along with taking a full time course load. In fact, I am on pace to earn my BS in biology in 3.5 years from when I started (Spring semester 2012). My oGPA, last I calculated (from 3 different schools) is a 3.63, with no grade under a B (I have quite a few B's), and all prereqs except orgo 2 (which I am currently taking) completed. I don't have a DAT score yet, but I have already scheduled to take it mid-May.

I guess my question is, how much do volunteer hours matter to Columbia? I have asked this question before on SDN, but it wasn't school-specific. The vast majority say I will be fine and not to stress about it, given my military background, but I really want to get into Columbia.
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Given your impressive credentials, I wouldn't sweat it; however, I would suggest taking biochemistry (if you haven't done so already) before matriculation. Instead, I would worry about getting some hours in at the dental office--that counts as volunteer hours, too, in my opinion. Your GPA looks great; I would focus on doing well on the DAT, which more or less is a huge factor when it comes to admissions for any dental school.
 
ColumbiaASDA said:
Given your impressive credentials, I wouldn't sweat it; however, I would suggest taking biochemistry (if you haven't done so already) before matriculation. Instead, I would worry about getting some hours in at the dental office--that counts as volunteer hours, too, in my opinion. Your GPA looks great; I would focus on doing well on the DAT, which more or less is a huge factor when it comes to admissions for any dental school.
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I will be taking biochem, as part of my chem minor (typical, I know).
 
Where can incoming students find a copy, be it new or old of the first year curriculum classes. thanks.
 
Reefboss said:
Where can incoming students find a copy, be it new or old of the first year curriculum classes. thanks.
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I think you would probably get a quicker answer if you asked in the Facebook group
 
Bumping the thread for the 2014-2015 application cycle! Woohoo! Good luck you all!

Again, feel free to ask any questions about the application cycle and I'll try my best to answer your question to its entirety.
 
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Does Columbia DS prefer applicants with dental experience over shadow experience?

Is it possible to be accepted to Columbia with a 3.3gpa and 3.2 sgpa, and 18/19 across the board dat scores?

What are the cut off points for Columbia, for applying pre-dental students? (GPA, dat, experiences)

Does Columbia have preference with in-state applicants vs. OOS ?





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tooth knockn said:
Does Columbia DS prefer applicants with dental experience over shadow experience?

Is it possible to be accepted to Columbia with a 3.3gpa and 3.2 sgpa, and 18/19 across the board dat scores?

What are the cut off points for Columbia, for applying pre-dental students? (GPA, dat, experiences)

Does Columbia have preference with in-state applicants vs. OOS ?





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I don't think we have a preference between those who have dental experience and those with shadowing experience. The purpose is to determine if dentistry is the profession for you, not if you've done hands-on work prior to enrollment.

It is possible to be accepted with those stats. The stats we have on our website (http://dental.columbia.edu/page/class-statistics) is an average. We have applicants above and below that number. As a result, there is no cut-off. Because we are a private institution, I believe Columbia does not show any preference for those OOS or in-state. I hope this answers your question!
 
Yes, thank you for your reply, but the link does not show the # of OOS enrolled/accepted.


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tooth knockn said:
Yes, thank you for your reply, but the link does not show the # of OOS enrolled/accepted.


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You can safely assume there is no favorable preference for those in-state and those out-of-state, especially when almost 25% of the class is from out-of-state. The selection process is solely based on your GPA, DAT, personal statement, application, etc., and not based on where you reside.
 
With a 3.3 oGPA, 3.27 sGPA and a 23 AA/24 PAT I'm a shoe in, right? :laugh:

On the reals though, are the three science letters of recommendation required? Or is that just a suggestion? Let me know if you've already answered this... I haven't gotten caught up on the thread yet!
 
Hey, thanks for taking the time to do this!

B/c Columbia has an H/P/F system, does that make it easier for specializing? Considering there is no class rank? Or do they still rank you in a way? And would you have recommended going to a H/P/F school? What are the Pros and Cons?

Thanks!
 
First post on the boards here. Does Columbia Dental have some sort of preference or look more favorably upon its own undergraduates (from Columbia University/College)? I've heard some other schools do that with their undergraduates, but I wanted to see if that was the case with Columbia as well.
 
BrazilianRider said:
With a 3.3 oGPA, 3.27 sGPA and a 23 AA/24 PAT I'm a shoe in, right? :laugh:

On the reals though, are the three science letters of recommendation required? Or is that just a suggestion? Let me know if you've already answered this... I haven't gotten caught up on the thread yet!
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I can't chance ya here! I think the answer is somewhere in this thread!

Member 139582 said:
Hey, thanks for taking the time to do this!

B/c Columbia has an H/P/F system, does that make it easier for specializing? Considering there is no class rank? Or do they still rank you in a way? And would you have recommended going to a H/P/F school? What are the Pros and Cons?

Thanks!
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Does it make it easier for specializing? Columbia is known to produce great specialists with its high specialization rates but the institution does not pressure you to specialize--it's all about what you want to do. I recommend a HPF school because it takes a lot of stress off your shoulders (also less competition, we don't have competitors here) but we're also on the medical curriculum so you're learning everything medical students are learning, if that's something you're interested in. Not a lot of schools are HPF though.

CaliforniaDMD said:
First post on the boards here. Does Columbia Dental have some sort of preference or look more favorably upon its own undergraduates (from Columbia University/College)? I've heard some other schools do that with their undergraduates, but I wanted to see if that was the case with Columbia as well.
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The DAT is a great way to standardize where you are among other applicants regardless of your alma mater. We have students applying from all over, schools I've never even heard of until I met classmates from them, so I don't know if they "favor" its own undergraduates but dental schools have an understanding of the difficulty of each college.
 
Columbia is still my number 1 (mostly due to the integrated curriculum with medical students, and it's frickin Columbia!). I have a 3.58 oGPA and a 3.41 sGPA (nothing below a B) as a bio major from a school you have likely not ever even heard of (plus CC). I take the DAT the 17th. What would I need to score, with my GPA, to be competitive for admission?
Maybe relevant, maybe not: I'm a Marine Corps veteran. I haven't had much chance to volunteer during undergrad due to having to work near full time to financially support my wife (also finishing undergrad, full time) and 2 kids, both under 6 years old, and going to school full time. It's all I've been able to do to keep my GPA where it is. I've got 70ish hours of shadowing split between 2 dental specialties and a general practitioner. I'm not a member of any on campus organizations, nor have I done any research, due to my extreme time constraints.

...Chance me?
 
Daneosaurus said:
Columbia is still my number 1 (mostly due to the integrated curriculum with medical students, and it's frickin Columbia!). I have a 3.58 oGPA and a 3.41 sGPA (nothing below a B) as a bio major from a school you have likely not ever even heard of (plus CC). I take the DAT the 17th. What would I need to score, with my GPA, to be competitive for admission?
Maybe relevant, maybe not: I'm a Marine Corps veteran. I haven't had much chance to volunteer during undergrad due to having to work near full time to financially support my wife (also finishing undergrad, full time) and 2 kids, both under 6 years old, and going to school full time. It's all I've been able to do to keep my GPA where it is. I've got 70ish hours of shadowing split between 2 dental specialties and a general practitioner. I'm not a member of any on campus organizations, nor have I done any research, due to my extreme time constraints.

...Chance me?
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Hey there, I can't really "chance" you but given your current situation and GPA, you sound like a unique applicant that may appeal to the admissions committee, all of which you should mention in your application to give officers a better understanding of where you're coming from and the hardships you have gone through to get to where you are today. After you get your DAT score, you'll better know where you stand in the application pool. Overall, keep up the awesome work! It'll all pay off!
 
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Are Canadians, treating equally as Americans?
 
I have a question about the prereqs that I could never find a concrete answer to online anywhere. Does Columbia accept AP credit, specifically asking about physics. I have credit for Physics C: Mechanics (scored a 5) and I can choose to skip it at my current college. I'll still be taking a course in Electricity & Magnetism and a course in Light/Optics. Each of these courses are 5 quarter units.
Columbia's website says 1 year of physics is required. Would taking these 2 quarters of physics plus my AP credit satisfy the requirement? Or do I need to take Mechanics again at the college level so that I have 3 quarters of college physics?
 
I personally took AP Calculus BC in high school and was exempt from math my whole academic career (my statistics made up for the math requirement though) and that was okay, but I'm not so sure about physics. I'm sure you can get the credit for it and all but I don't know if it's a good move in my opinion. You can call the admissions office for a more concrete answer to your question, since it is quite a unique situation.
 
Question about why you chose Columbia: What do you think makes Columbia a great school/why did you decide to apply/attend Columbia?
 
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Hi
i want to know what is the average of the DAT and the oGPA, sGPA for Columbia dental school ?
 
csudental said:
Hi
i want to know what is the average of the DAT and the oGPA, sGPA for Columbia dental school ?
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distressstudent said:
http://dental.columbia.edu/page/class-statistics
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Thank you for bringing this up to clarify csudental's question.

dbd said:
Question about why you chose Columbia: What do you think makes Columbia a great school/why did you decide to apply/attend Columbia?
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I've never attended a school where the administrators were so receptive to students' concerns. Because we have a class of 80, everyone knows each other on a personal basis. It goes without saying that the camaraderie we have here is second to none. Every student is warmly welcomed to the school and every dental student, from D1 to D4, knows one another. We're a family and we all watch out for one another. Even as a D3, I look forward to helping D1 and D2s in preclinic and in didactic courses. In addition, the school is constantly changing for the better, hinging on the thoughts and concerns of students. I chose Columbia over the schools I was accepted into for many reasons, some of which I just mentioned.

Aside from the social aspect of Columbia, our academic institution has one of the highest acceptance rates into residency (three times the national average, so approximately 95+%). I believe 14 of 15 applicants in the Class of 2014 were accepted into Oral Surgery, which includes the 4 year track and the 6 year MD track. Don't quote me on that, though. However, come in with an open mind--there is no pressure for you to become a specialist immediately after graduating but if you are truly interested in specializing, Columbia will give you that opportunity.
 
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I've killed my chances, but oh well, it was a long shot anyway.
 
Do you know anyone who is/has pursued or applied to the DDS/MBA dual degree with the business school? If so, how competitive is the application process (I think you apply during dental school)?
 
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CaliforniaDMD said:
Do you know anyone who is/has pursued or applied to the DDS/MBA dual degree with the business school? If so, how competitive is the application process (I think you apply during dental school)?
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You have to be Accepted by the business school, (they don't hold seats for dental students), with that said, it's competitive.
 
Columbia would be amazing, but i don't think my chances are very good with a low PAT score. Should i still pursue applying? my GPA is OK, at a 3.4 but i did well on my DAT sciences and got a 21 overall. But more specifically about Columbia, is it true they have a heavy emphasis on looking for students with lots of past research experience?
 
dp93 said:
Columbia would be amazing, but i don't think my chances are very good with a low PAT score. Should i still pursue applying? my GPA is OK, at a 3.4 but i did well on my DAT sciences and got a 21 overall. But more specifically about Columbia, is it true they have a heavy emphasis on looking for students with lots of past research experience?
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You'll never know unless you try. As for the second part, no.
 
dp93 said:
Columbia would be amazing, but i don't think my chances are very good with a low PAT score. Should i still pursue applying? my GPA is OK, at a 3.4 but i did well on my DAT sciences and got a 21 overall. But more specifically about Columbia, is it true they have a heavy emphasis on looking for students with lots of past research experience?
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As Troy said, you never know if you don't try. I didn't think I had a shot either...but I got in somehow. Just try and see what happens. Hopefully, you have other schools you applied to that fit your range...just in case
 
Thanks all for contributing and answering fellow SDNers' questions. The business school doesn't hold any seats for dental students, so it's competitive. We don't have a lot of dual-degree DDS/MBA applicants. Past research experience is not required, nor is it "heavily" emphasized. Research can only help you in the application process. dp93, I would still apply. What do you have to lose?
 
What should I wear to an interview?
(Men)




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