Choice of school + future potential to specialize

[arginine1]

I'll be starting dental school next year (hopefully) and I have a tough time deciding which school I'd ultimately want to attend. My main concerns are:

1) cost (i.e. my state school -NJDS-which will not cost me much considering that i'll be living with family and therefore minimizing the living cost VS. UOP... - private school, high tuition, living on my own = double the cost)

2) I want to specialize.. ortho and endo are my main two fields of interest. Should I forgo looking at the cost and pick a school that will prepare me best for a specialty?

3) .. anyone knows how well UOP prepares students for specialty?

Thanks to anyone who has a word of advice


EDit: I'm posting this in the dental forum considering that I can get an advice from students who are now in their school of choice and may therefore have more information/words of wisdom on this topic.

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[arginine1]

No one has any opinion to share?

 

[Dr. Dai Phan]

I'll be starting dental school next year (hopefully) and I have a tough time deciding which school I'd ultimately want to attend. My main concerns are:

1) cost (i.e. my state school -NJDS-which will not cost me much considering that i'll be living with family and therefore minimizing the living cost VS. UOP... - private school, high tuition, living on my own = double the cost)

2) I want to specialize.. ortho and endo are my main two fields of interest. Should I forgo looking at the cost and pick a school that will prepare me best for a specialty?

3) .. anyone knows how well UOP prepares students for specialty?

Thanks to anyone who has a word of advice


EDit: I'm posting this in the dental forum considering that I can get an advice from students who are now in their school of choice and may therefore have more information/words of wisdom on this topic.

Hi,

Choose the school that has lowest tuition and live in a city with lowest cost of living. Work hard in school and lay low. That's the ticket to become a specialist, not the choice of school. DP

 

[armorshell]

I'll be starting dental school next year (hopefully) and I have a tough time deciding which school I'd ultimately want to attend. My main concerns are:

1) cost (i.e. my state school -NJDS-which will not cost me much considering that i'll be living with family and therefore minimizing the living cost VS. UOP... - private school, high tuition, living on my own = double the cost)

2) I want to specialize.. ortho and endo are my main two fields of interest. Should I forgo looking at the cost and pick a school that will prepare me best for a specialty?

3) .. anyone knows how well UOP prepares students for specialty?

As I progress through my dental education, I've realized where you were trained matters more and more.

However, I think it still pales in comparison to the amount of money you're debating over. In-state at your state school with no living costs versus one of the higher end expensive schools in an expensive city? We're talking >$100,000 in debt here.

I think Pacific is a great school, and they certainly do a fine job "preparing people to specialize" whatever that means, but 90% of specializing is work that you do yourself. Keeping a high class rank, staying involved in EC's, getting good standardized exam scores. These are the things that matter, and these are things that you can do anywhere.

 

[arginine1]

Thanks for your input. I really appreciate any and every word of advice.

I am really interested in Pacific, but I think I'm at the point of identifying qualities of that school that will help me rationalize the cost...

 

[The Anhedonia]

i'm glad someone has posted this thread. many of us have this same question in mind. please continue to answer this thread with insight.

 

[marcusnasland]

Not to sound obnoxious or anything, but how do people know what/if they want to specialize in before attending dental school? Is it strictly a matter of money?

 

[The Anhedonia]

Not to sound obnoxious or anything, but how do people know what/if they want to specialize in before attending dental school? Is it strictly a matter of money?

it is certainly true that entering dental students should not start dental school with expectations to specialize in one thing or other. indeed, the experience of dental school itself will cause people to find out what they like.

however, it is smart to give forethought about the path one chooses to take (besides, that's why many people shadow general dentists + oral surgeons + pedo's + etc). and though any dental school is comparable to the next, it is certainly worthwhile to know what kind of doors should be opened should they be made available to us.

 

[arginine1]

Not to sound obnoxious or anything, but how do people know what/if they want to specialize in before attending dental school? Is it strictly a matter of money?

I shadowed few specialist (each ~200h). And no.. I don't think for me it's a matter of money, but rather an interest I developed in the specific specialty.

Thanks to anyone who is trying to address my original question. There is obviously a lot to consider when it comes to the choice of school - starting from cost, location, to academics and the potential of specializing if one wishes to do so.

Btw.. is there any way of finding out what is the percentage rate of students being accepted to specialty program from a given school?

 

[armorshell]

Thanks to anyone who is trying to address my original question. There is obviously a lot to consider when it comes to the choice of school - starting from cost, location, to academics and the potential of specializing if one wishes to do so.

Btw.. is there any way of finding out what is the percentage rate of students being accepted to specialty program from a given school?

You can ask them when you interview. Make sure you find out what the rate of people going into *specialties* is, because all the admissions officers will try to includes the GPRs and AEGDs to plump up the number.

Ask yourself though, does that number really matter? Why not ask what percentage of people who applied got in?

 

[arginine1]

Why not ask what percentage of people who applied got in?

...

Btw.. is there any way of finding out what is the percentage rate of students being accepted to specialty program from a given school?

 

[armorshell]

...

My bad, admissions officers and people on these forums tend to ask for the percentage of the class that specializes, not the acceptance rate.

 

[arginine1]

My bad, admissions officers and people on these forums tend to ask for the percentage of the class that specializes, not the acceptance rate.

...that's why it's worth to read someone's post before suggesting to them what questions they ought to ask themselves..



Does anyone else have something informative to share without putting me or my questions down?

 

[OG1]

My two cents, but your situation is probably different: I wanted to go to UOP really badly when I was applying to dental school; I actually am glad I didn't get in there now because a 4 year program was much better suited to me and my goals. UOP is a solid school, but it is intense - you work much harder to get out of there in 3 years as far as I can tell. At a 4 year school, I had time to study hard and still pay some attention to my family and my life. Maybe I still could have gotten into ortho if I'd been at UOP, but I think I would have been less sane by the end of it all. I remember seeing a UOP exam schedule Armorshell posted a while back and I nearly soiled my pants.

 

[armorshell]

...that's why it's worth to read someone's post before suggesting to them what questions they ought to ask themselves..

Does anyone else have something informative to share without putting me or my questions down?

Listen dude, I didn't put you down in any way, and I'm just trying to help you. Misunderstandings occasionally happen.