Attending Ivy League Dental Schools

[Lalibila]

Can students who chose ivy league schools over your state school despite the COA difference comment on the reasons for your decision ? Looking back now, are you happy with this decision? Was it worth the extra cost? I understand everyone has their reasons and I'd like to hear from people who are currently attending or graduated from these schools.

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[Big Time Hoosier]

Let’s beat this horse!

Columbia Dental Grad + Harvard medical grad. fancy degrees but if you saw how much interest I accrue on my loans monthly you'd have diarrhea for a month at minimum. Go to the cheapest school. Don't second guess "well gee I what if I went to Columbia or Penn or one of those fancy Ivy leagues to help me specialize??" because there are smart kids at ivy/non-ivy and just as many if not more tools at ivy league schools.

Not worth IMO. Cheapest dental school = less loans = less interest = less diarrhea = more money to spend on non-underwear related expenses

Big Hoss

 

[Life of Pablo]

An argument people like to make is "if you're smart enough to get into an ivy league school, then you're smart enough to specialize from your state school."

For some people (like Big Hoss or The Anhedonia) this is probably true, but I don't think that this statement applies to everyone because, as The Anhedonia said, there are tons of smart people at state schools that you will have to compete against. Are you confident you can be in the top 10-15% of your state school? Moreover, the lack of a true ranking allows individuals at Ivy league schools to focus on other things that boost their applications (studying for the CBSE/GRE, doing research, community service work etc). Personally, I cannot imagine having to juggle all the extra "stuff" that is required to specialize with maintaining a high class ranking. I truly respect those that manage to do this.

At the end of the day, it is up to you to decide if it's worth it.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Didn't get into my state school but got into Columbia
No desire to specialize as of yet, but if I do want to, I don't need to change any aspect of my academic life; I just need to pass classes
Super relaxed up here, amazing city, a lot of awesome opportunities the school provides. Happy I am paying 80k a year here (not including financial aid I received) compared to 70k at Nova

 

[Trave_]

I think location is a huge factor as well for a lot of people. Location determines what you do in your free time, the kind of people that will surround you, and potentially the relationships you will build in the long term. For a lot of people who fully understand the financial consequences of selecting a more expensive school, this is a factor they consider invaluable. It’s a big reason why I picked Columbia over my state school.

TLDR: I’ve always wanted to live in NYC and Gainesville didn’t sound like a particularly outstanding alternative. The Ivy League part is a nice bonus plus the other reasons already mentioned in this thread.