Choosing the Right Dental School for OMFS Preparation

[mada97]

If I could also get advice on which dental school acceptance offer to accept that would be wonderful! I am very set on pursuing OMFS and want to set myself up for the greatest success, knowing that at any dental school it will be a hard journey. That being said, I have been accepted to the University of Nebraska, Case Western Reserve University, and Creighton dental schools so far. I am from South Dakota, so none of these schools are in-state tuition for me. My main considerations while choosing a dental school are 1. Quality of education 2. Expense 3. Family friendly/good location to live.

Because I'm from South Dakota, these schools are all decently similar in cost. Looking at tuition only, Nebraska averages $80k/yr, Case Western $75k/yr, and Creighton $67k/yr. From what I've heard and exposure from virtual interviews, Nebraska and Case Western have more research opportunities, larger percentages of each class who specialize (Nebraska ≈33% of class size 52 & Case Western ≈22% of class size 77), and provide more help for students wanting to specialize. My initial impression from interviewing at Creighton and talking with people was that not many people specialize from Creighton(≈9% per class size 115).

All seem to be in good locations to me, I'm just wondering what everyone's opinion is in regard to each school and the way they prepare/help/enable students to specialize in OMFS? Does the slightly cheaper cost of Creighton outweigh the negative of it generally producing less specialists?

Thanks in advance for everyone's opinion and experienced advice! It's very helpful, especially considering that because of COVID and attending undergraduate outside of SD I haven't been able to visit any of these campuses in-person yet.



**I know huge amount of matching to OMFS residency comes down to how I class rank, participate in research & clubs, externships, and score on the CBSE, but I do believe that the school has some influence in my preparation and networking for OMFS residency.

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[Big Time Hoosier]

Does Nebraska let you get in state tuition after the first year? I’m surprised South Dakota doesn’t have an agreement to let you get in state at Nebraska since there’s no dental school in the Dakotas.

Big Hoss

 

[mada97]

Unfortunately not, Nebraska only has a deal with Wyoming. I would get in-state in Minnesota, but I haven't been accepted there yet

 

[somefuturedoc]

I would choose Creighton based on price alone. Dental school debt is no joke. The two most important parts of your application will be CBSE and class rank— both of which are entirely dependent on yourself.

 

[surfline]

If I could also get advice on which dental school acceptance offer to accept that would be wonderful! I am very set on pursuing OMFS and want to set myself up for the greatest success, knowing that at any dental school it will be a hard journey. That being said, I have been accepted to the University of Nebraska, Case Western Reserve University, and Creighton dental schools so far. I am from South Dakota, so none of these schools are in-state tuition for me. My main considerations while choosing a dental school are 1. Quality of education 2. Expense 3. Family friendly/good location to live.

Because I'm from South Dakota, these schools are all decently similar in cost. Looking at tuition only, Nebraska averages $80k/yr, Case Western $75k/yr, and Creighton $67k/yr. From what I've heard and exposure from virtual interviews, Nebraska and Case Western have more research opportunities, larger percentages of each class who specialize (Nebraska ≈33% of class size 52 & Case Western ≈22% of class size 77), and provide more help for students wanting to specialize. My initial impression from interviewing at Creighton and talking with people was that not many people specialize from Creighton(≈9% per class size 115).

All seem to be in good locations to me, I'm just wondering what everyone's opinion is in regard to each school and the way they prepare/help/enable students to specialize in OMFS? Does the slightly cheaper cost of Creighton outweigh the negative of it generally producing less specialists?

Thanks in advance for everyone's opinion and experienced advice! It's very helpful, especially considering that because of COVID and attending undergraduate outside of SD I haven't been able to visit any of these campuses in-person yet.



**I know huge amount of matching to OMFS residency comes down to how I class rank, participate in research & clubs, externships, and score on the CBSE, but I do believe that the school has some influence in my preparation and networking for OMFS residency.

I don’t think either of those schools are known for pumping out OMFS applicants. Case Western does have a top tier OMFS program, so it could be good to have that connection and exposure.

 

[BluntForceTrauma]

The cheapest one.

 

[deleted903013]

All of the schools you listed match people into OMFS. You will need to put in the work to achieve a solid class rank and CBSE regardless of where you go. Moreover, there's a decent chance you won't even want to do OMFS by the time you're a D3. Go cheapest.

 

[Ivy.ch]

I don’t think either of those schools are known for pumping out OMFS applicants. Case Western does have a top tier OMFS program, so it could be good to have that connection and exposure.

As a OMFS resident at case, let me say that going to case dental isn’t going to help you match more than any other school. Go to the cheapest school.

 

[Sublimazing]

So my first piece of advice is to ignore anyone’s opinion who isn’t OMFS. If they haven’t taken the CBSE, externed, and Matched to OMFS their input means almost nothing.

My second piece of advice is to also ignore anyone who says “the cheapest school is always the best school”. That’s just not true. Cost is a huge factor, but definitely not the be all end all if you want OMFS. Certain schools are simply more conducive to Matching into a residency. A school with a respected reputation, a heavy med school curriculum, a well established home OMFS program, and being surrounded by other OMFS hopefuls is EXTREMELY helpful and cannot be overlooked.

And the loans just aren’t that big of a deal. I graduated OMFS June 2020 with $305k debt. I will be making my last payment next February after only 20 months. And i took a relatively low paying OMFS job because i wanted to stay in chicago and wanted to stay in the OR. You could make 1.5x what i make very easily if you went corporate or some terrible location like Florida, Nevada, or Killeen, Texas (jk).

Having said all of that…none of those schools listed are notably better for matching OMFS (so far as i know) and in your case, i would weigh other factors like cost and geography pretty damn heavily. But do your own research on how many OMFS matriculants they’ve produced and make that one factor of many for your final decision.

 

[mada97]

As a OMFS resident at case, let me say that going to case dental isn’t going to help you match more than any other school. Go to the cheapest school.

That's very helpful to know, thanks so much for the feedback and input!

 

[mada97]

So my first piece of advice is to ignore anyone’s opinion who isn’t OMFS. If they haven’t taken the CBSE, externed, and Matched to OMFS their input means almost nothing.

My second piece of advice is to also ignore anyone who says “the cheapest school is always the best school”. That’s just not true. Cost is a huge factor, but definitely not the be all end all if you want OMFS. Certain schools are simply more conducive to Matching into a residency. A school with a respected reputation, a heavy med school curriculum, a well established home OMFS program, and being surrounded by other OMFS hopefuls is EXTREMELY helpful and cannot be overlooked.

And the loans just aren’t that big of a deal. I graduated OMFS June 2020 with $305k debt. I will be making my last payment next February (20 months from graduation) and i took a relatively low paying OMFS job because i wanted to stay in chicago and wanted to stay in the OR.

Having said all of that…none of those schools listed are notably better for matching OMFS (so far as i know) and in your case, i would weigh other factors like cost and geography pretty damn heavily. But do your own research on how many OMFS matriculants they’ve produced and make that one factor of many for your final decision.

Thanks for the response! I really appreciate the input, especially from people who have experienced the OMFS route.

I had originally thought that Nebraska or Case matched slightly more into OMFS, but after finding contacts of OMFS residents from each school it's a lot more even than I assumed (even though none are producing a lot of residents). My father-in-law is also an oral surgeon and had said something similar, that if you are really set on it and become an oral surgeon, the price doesn't matter much because you can pay it off pretty quickly. With this, I think Creighton is what I'm leaning towards because it's the cheapest for me and closest to my family.

 

[Racquetball3r]

So my first piece of advice is to ignore anyone’s opinion who isn’t OMFS. If they haven’t taken the CBSE, externed, and Matched to OMFS their input means almost nothing.

My second piece of advice is to also ignore anyone who says “the cheapest school is always the best school”. That’s just not true. Cost is a huge factor, but definitely not the be all end all if you want OMFS. Certain schools are simply more conducive to Matching into a residency. A school with a respected reputation, a heavy med school curriculum, a well established home OMFS program, and being surrounded by other OMFS hopefuls is EXTREMELY helpful and cannot be overlooked.

And the loans just aren’t that big of a deal. I graduated OMFS June 2020 with $305k debt. I will be making my last payment next February after only 20 months. And i took a relatively low paying OMFS job because i wanted to stay in chicago and wanted to stay in the OR. You could make 1.5x what i make very easily if you went corporate or some terrible location like Florida, Nevada, or Killeen, Texas (jk).

Having said all of that…none of those schools listed are notably better for matching OMFS (so far as i know) and in your case, i would weigh other factors like cost and geography pretty damn heavily. But do your own research on how many OMFS matriculants they’ve produced and make that one factor of many for your final decision.

Dude, you’re killing that repayment! That’s awesome. Gives a 3rd year OMFS resident like me hope for the future

 

[DDS9994]

So my first piece of advice is to ignore anyone’s opinion who isn’t OMFS. If they haven’t taken the CBSE, externed, and Matched to OMFS their input means almost nothing.

My second piece of advice is to also ignore anyone who says “the cheapest school is always the best school”. That’s just not true. Cost is a huge factor, but definitely not the be all end all if you want OMFS. Certain schools are simply more conducive to Matching into a residency. A school with a respected reputation, a heavy med school curriculum, a well established home OMFS program, and being surrounded by other OMFS hopefuls is EXTREMELY helpful and cannot be overlooked.

And the loans just aren’t that big of a deal. I graduated OMFS June 2020 with $305k debt. I will be making my last payment next February after only 20 months. And i took a relatively low paying OMFS job because i wanted to stay in chicago and wanted to stay in the OR. You could make 1.5x what i make very easily if you went corporate or some terrible location like Florida, Nevada, or Killeen, Texas (jk).

Having said all of that…none of those schools listed are notably better for matching OMFS (so far as i know) and in your case, i would weigh other factors like cost and geography pretty damn heavily. But do your own research on how many OMFS matriculants they’ve produced and make that one factor of many for your final decision.

How do you like out there in the western burbs of Chicago?

 

[LegendaryPanda]

So my first piece of advice is to ignore anyone’s opinion who isn’t OMFS. If they haven’t taken the CBSE, externed, and Matched to OMFS their input means almost nothing.

My second piece of advice is to also ignore anyone who says “the cheapest school is always the best school”. That’s just not true. Cost is a huge factor, but definitely not the be all end all if you want OMFS. Certain schools are simply more conducive to Matching into a residency. A school with a respected reputation, a heavy med school curriculum, a well established home OMFS program, and being surrounded by other OMFS hopefuls is EXTREMELY helpful and cannot be overlooked.

And the loans just aren’t that big of a deal. I graduated OMFS June 2020 with $305k debt. I will be making my last payment next February after only 20 months. And i took a relatively low paying OMFS job because i wanted to stay in chicago and wanted to stay in the OR. You could make 1.5x what i make very easily if you went corporate or some terrible location like Florida, Nevada, or Killeen, Texas (jk).

Having said all of that…none of those schools listed are notably better for matching OMFS (so far as i know) and in your case, i would weigh other factors like cost and geography pretty damn heavily. But do your own research on how many OMFS matriculants they’ve produced and make that one factor of many for your final decision.

Thank you for saying this out loud. I always see people on SDN talking about how debt will ruin your life. When I look at the people who are making such claims, it's almost always predents, dental students, residents who haven't even started making their payments yet, or older dentists who are done with debt. Talking to actual practicing dentists or specialists often paints me a very different. Even the ones I talk to with high debt and are on a repayment program like paye are doing fine. One very close mentor I know who is on paye is making $1500 payments a month for the rest of his life or whenever his payments end and is investing the rest in either stocks or buying houses. When the tax bomb comes, he's gonna have enough invested to pay it off and still be a multimillionaire because he already is one. Another one I know had lower debt and is making payments for 20-30 years so she can invest the rest to get a better ROI. She lives a great life. Most of the time, it's not as grim as everyone here makes it out to be.

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

it's not as grim as everyone here makes it out to be

Big Hoss

 

[LegendaryPanda]

View attachment 346673

Big Hoss

That was for predents who will have debt. I'm saying they should listen to people who are paying off their debt instead of residents who aren't. I'm debt free baby.

 

[bergus95]

So my first piece of advice is to ignore anyone’s opinion who isn’t OMFS. If they haven’t taken the CBSE, externed, and Matched to OMFS their input means almost nothing.

My second piece of advice is to also ignore anyone who says “the cheapest school is always the best school”. That’s just not true. Cost is a huge factor, but definitely not the be all end all if you want OMFS. Certain schools are simply more conducive to Matching into a residency. A school with a respected reputation, a heavy med school curriculum, a well established home OMFS program, and being surrounded by other OMFS hopefuls is EXTREMELY helpful and cannot be overlooked.

And the loans just aren’t that big of a deal. I graduated OMFS June 2020 with $305k debt. I will be making my last payment next February after only 20 months. And i took a relatively low paying OMFS job because i wanted to stay in chicago and wanted to stay in the OR. You could make 1.5x what i make very easily if you went corporate or some terrible location like Florida, Nevada, or Killeen, Texas (jk).

Having said all of that…none of those schools listed are notably better for matching OMFS (so far as i know) and in your case, i would weigh other factors like cost and geography pretty damn heavily. But do your own research on how many OMFS matriculants they’ve produced and make that one factor of many for your final decision.

what was your lifestyle out of residency?

 

[Sublimazing]

what was your lifestyle out of residency?

I didn’t buy a house or new car yet. But i spent like a jerk otherwise. Like i’ve said i’m making 90% of that 2018 MGMA data, and I’m making the least of the 4 other graduates from 2020 and 2021 i still talk to. It’s not difficult to pay off $300k in loans in less than 2 years.

 

[IrvingJones]

Thank you so much for these recommendations, it's very helpful for me! I want to go to a university where I can write freely and talk about what is important to me. I've been thinking a lot about climate change lately, and I often read about these problems on the site eduzaurus.com/free-essay-samples/environment-problems/ In the future, I want to defend my thesis, which will deal with the issue of climate preservation.

 

[happy_6523]

So my first piece of advice is to ignore anyone’s opinion who isn’t OMFS. If they haven’t taken the CBSE, externed, and Matched to OMFS their input means almost nothing.

My second piece of advice is to also ignore anyone who says “the cheapest school is always the best school”. That’s just not true. Cost is a huge factor, but definitely not the be all end all if you want OMFS. Certain schools are simply more conducive to Matching into a residency. A school with a respected reputation, a heavy med school curriculum, a well established home OMFS program, and being surrounded by other OMFS hopefuls is EXTREMELY helpful and cannot be overlooked.

And the loans just aren’t that big of a deal. I graduated OMFS June 2020 with $305k debt. I will be making my last payment next February after only 20 months. And i took a relatively low paying OMFS job because i wanted to stay in chicago and wanted to stay in the OR. You could make 1.5x what i make very easily if you went corporate or some terrible location like Florida, Nevada, or Killeen, Texas (jk).

Having said all of that…none of those schools listed are notably better for matching OMFS (so far as i know) and in your case, i would weigh other factors like cost and geography pretty damn heavily. But do your own research on how many OMFS matriculants they’ve produced and make that one factor of many for your final decision.

You’re right if OP ends up getting into OMFS programs. But what if OP doesn’t get the grades needed or later decide that he isn’t interested in OMFS? Most students who got into dental school wanting to become an oral surgeon didn’t apply to/couldn’t get into OMFS programs. In this case, what OP would get is just a huge debt.

 

[Ivy.ch]

You’re right if OP ends up getting into OMFS programs. But what if OP doesn’t get the grades needed or later decide that he isn’t interested in OMFS? Most students who got into dental school wanting to become an oral surgeon didn’t apply to/couldn’t get into OMFS programs. In this case, what OP would get is just a huge debt.

If anything, this is the more likely scenario.

 

[Sublimazing]

You’re right if OP ends up getting into OMFS programs. But what if OP doesn’t get the grades needed or later decide that he isn’t interested in OMFS? Most students who got into dental school wanting to become an oral surgeon didn’t apply to/couldn’t get into OMFS programs. In this case, what OP would get is just a huge debt.

Anyone can get into OMFS. Might take a non-cat year and you may have to do a 4 yr program, but it will happen if you work hard. Most OMFS people know they’re going to do OMFS before dental school. He said he was set on pursuing it, so he will. To optimize his chances then he should pick the best school, which is not always the cheapest.

 

[Startingover123]

Anyone can get into OMFS. Might take a non-cat year and you may have to do a 4 yr program, but it will happen if you work hard. Most OMFS people know they’re going to do OMFS before dental school. He said he was set on pursuing it, so he will. To optimize his chances then he should pick the best school, which is not always the cheapest.

I was under the impression six year programs are less competitive than four year ones. Is that not the case?

 

[Sublimazing]

I was under the impression six year programs are less competitive than four year ones. Is that not the case?

Average CBSE and GPA is higher for 6 year matriculants. 4 year programs get more applications, just with lower stats.

 

[happy_6523]

Anyone can get into OMFS. Might take a non-cat year and you may have to do a 4 yr program, but it will happen if you work hard. Most OMFS people know they’re going to do OMFS before dental school. He said he was set on pursuing it, so he will. To optimize his chances then he should pick the best school, which is not always the cheapest.

If OP is set on pursuing OMFS, he can get into OMFS no matter which dental school he goes to as long as he’s willing to seek opportunities. It isn’t worth to spend extra money to get an ‘OMFS exposure.’ If OP wants to pursue OMFS, just connect with many oral surgeons, attend conferences, study well on CBSE, etc. OP doesn’t have to go to an expensive OMFS factory school to do these things. Based on my experience, most people aren’t determined enough to pursue their dreams. Just like the majority of pre-med students didn’t end up applying or getting into med schools.
If I were OP, I’d go to the cheapest dental school with great clinical education (Creighton). In case I can’t get into OMFS, I can still be a good general dentist.

 

[somefuturedoc]

If OP is set on pursuing OMFS, he can get into OMFS no matter which dental school he goes to as long as he’s willing to seek opportunities. Based on my experience, most people aren’t determined enough to pursue their dreams. Just like the majority of pre-med students didn’t end up applying or getting into med schools.
If I were OP, I’d go to the cheapest dental school with great clinical education (Creighton). In case I can’t get into OMFS, I can still be a good general dentist.

Agreed. I go to one of the known OMFS factory schools. First day of d1 year there were like 20+ kids who were set on OMFS. Now, there are less than 10. I’ve watched this happen with the classes above and below me. Definitely dependent on the person, not the school.

 

[Sublimazing]

If OP is set on pursuing OMFS, he can get into OMFS no matter which dental school he goes to as long as he’s willing to seek opportunities. It isn’t worth to spend extra money to get an ‘OMFS exposure.’ If OP wants to pursue OMFS, just connect with many oral surgeons, attend conferences, study well on CBSE, etc. OP doesn’t have to go to an expensive OMFS factory school to do these things. Based on my experience, most people aren’t determined enough to pursue their dreams. Just like the majority of pre-med students didn’t end up applying or getting into med schools.
If I were OP, I’d go to the cheapest dental school with great clinical education (Creighton). In case I can’t get into OMFS, I can still be a good general dentist.

Planning your future around failure is a terrible idea. If someone knows they want to do OMFS they should try to attend the program that leaves the most doors open and gives the most opportunity to achieve that goal. Selecting a school that doesn’t produce specialists because of cost is a good way to torpedo your chances. Now in OP’s case I agree that none of those schools are objectively better at producing OMFS candidates. But if someone wants to do OMFS and chooses some cheap state school over an OMFS factory they’ve made their goal much harder.

What school and OMFS program are you at?

 

[happy_6523]

Planning your future around failure is a terrible idea. If someone knows they want to do OMFS they should try to attend the program that leaves the most doors open and gives the most opportunity to achieve that goal. Selecting a school that doesn’t produce specialists because of cost is a good way to torpedo your chances.

What school and OMFS program are you at?

It isn’t planning future around failure. It‘s just to make sure that OP has something fall back if he can’t get into OMFS. Going to an OMFS factory school can increase his chance, but it isn’t worth to spend much extra money to do it, and it’s a risky investment. OMFS adcoms won’t reject an applicant simply because he goes to a school that doesn’t produce many specialists. He might need to put little extra effort to find more opportunities, but it isn’t impossible. It’s more about the person than the school

All in all, it depends on OP if he wants to take the risk

 

[brennan121212]

If OP is set on pursuing OMFS, he can get into OMFS no matter which dental school he goes to as long as he’s willing to seek opportunities. It isn’t worth to spend extra money to get an ‘OMFS exposure.’ If OP wants to pursue OMFS, just connect with many oral surgeons, attend conferences, study well on CBSE, etc. OP doesn’t have to go to an expensive OMFS factory school to do these things. Based on my experience, most people aren’t determined enough to pursue their dreams. Just like the majority of pre-med students didn’t end up applying or getting into med schools.
If I were OP, I’d go to the cheapest dental school with great clinical education (Creighton). In case I can’t get into OMFS, I can still be a good general dentist.

fyi this is actually a really bad example of a great, cheap dental school. I go to Creighton and it’s 80k for just tuition a year… not cheap. You get great clinical experience but specializing in OMFS is tuff here. Last year 4 people applied, 3 got zero interviews and 1 got 2 interviews and somehow matched. Class size 120. Not to say you shouldn’t go here for omfs, but there is a reality to the dental school you go to and the ease of specialization.

 

[C.elegans]

Going to a school with a well established track record of matching students to OMFS is huge. There are students from schools like that who were otherwise very mediocre and whose applications would have been tossed out, but got automatic invites just because they are coming from a school known to be a OMFS feeder institution. The opposite is true, where you need to be much more competitive to even get an invite if you are coming from a less established school. A student from Touro dental with a CBSE of 70 may get 0 invites, while a student from Harvard with the same score will get invites from virtually every program he/she applies to. Pedigree matters more than ppl think. One look at OMFS resident rosters on websites will tell you that much.

 

[bergus95]

Planning your future around failure is a terrible idea. If someone knows they want to do OMFS they should try to attend the program that leaves the most doors open and gives the most opportunity to achieve that goal. Selecting a school that doesn’t produce specialists because of cost is a good way to torpedo your chances. Now in OP’s case I agree that none of those schools are objectively better at producing OMFS candidates. But if someone wants to do OMFS and chooses some cheap state school over an OMFS factory they’ve made their goal much harder.

What school and OMFS program are you at?

I have to agree with this.

 

[Sublimazing]

It isn’t planning future around failure. It‘s just to make sure that OP has something fall back if he can’t get into OMFS. Going to an OMFS factory school can increase his chance, but it isn’t worth to spend much extra money to do it, and it’s a risky investment. OMFS adcoms won’t reject an applicant simply because he goes to a school that doesn’t produce many specialists. He might need to put little extra effort to find more opportunities, but it isn’t impossible. It’s more about the person than the school

All in all, it depends on OP if he wants to take the risk

Dude are you at Creighton? You posted this 7 months ago:

==
I want to specialize because I heard many people said that if you’ve good grades, specialize, which makes me feel like being a specialist is much better than being a GP in terms of money and lifestyle.

I’m a D1, so I don’t know which specialties I’m interested in yet, but I want to get good grades as many as I can.
I’m getting Bs and 1 or 2 As in my class, so I don’t think I’m in the top of my class (my school only starts ranking in second year).
I’m stressing out myself because I want to specialize, but feel like I’ve no way to raise my overall GPA to 3.6 or above in following years. Should I step back and settle down myself to become a general dentist? Is being a specialist that great?
==

So you don’t know if you want to specialize and you don’t have the grades to get into OMFS, do you really think you’re qualified to be giving people advice on how to get into OMFS?

I mean you literally went to the cheaper school and are on this forum saying you don’t know anything about specializing and you’re not sure if you can. If you’d gone to a specialty school you wouldn’t have to post those questions to strangers on the internet.

 

[happy_6523]

Dude are you at Creighton? You posted this 7 months ago:

==
I want to specialize because I heard many people said that if you’ve good grades, specialize, which makes me feel like being a specialist is much better than being a GP in terms of money and lifestyle.

I’m a D1, so I don’t know which specialties I’m interested in yet, but I want to get good grades as many as I can.
I’m getting Bs and 1 or 2 As in my class, so I don’t think I’m in the top of my class (my school only starts ranking in second year).
I’m stressing out myself because I want to specialize, but feel like I’ve no way to raise my overall GPA to 3.6 or above in following years. Should I step back and settle down myself to become a general dentist? Is being a specialist that great?
==

So you don’t know if you want to specialize and you don’t have the grades to get into OMFS, do you really think you’re qualified to be giving people advice on how to get into OMFS?

I mean you literally went to the cheaper school and are on this forum saying you don’t know anything about specializing and you’re not sure if you can. If you’d gone to a specialty school you wouldn’t have to post those questions to strangers on the internet.

I went to a cheaper school because I wasn’t 100% sure if I wanted to specialize, and I could still be a good general dentist if I decided not to specialize.
I wasn’t trying to give an advice on how to get into OMFS. I’m sure that going to those specialty schools can increase their chances to get into OMFS. I wouldn’t stop OP from going to a specialty school if he’s 100% dead set to pursue OMFS. However, I’ve seen many pre-dental students getting into dental school wanting to become an oral surgeon gave up eventually. Therefore, I didn’t think that it’s a good idea to take the risk. I just wanted people to know that they gotta make sure that they’re set on pursing OMFS and will do everything to get in if they choose to go to an expensive specialty school because if they aren’t, they would just end up getting huge debts

 

[tooth-tastic]

I went to a cheaper school because I wasn’t 100% sure if I wanted to specialize, and I could still be a good general dentist if I decided not to specialize.
I wasn’t trying to give an advice on how to get into OMFS. I’m sure that going to those specialty schools can increase their chances to get into OMFS. I wouldn’t stop OP from going to a specialty school if he’s 100% dead set to pursue OMFS. However, I’ve seen many pre-dental students getting into dental school wanting to become an oral surgeon gave up eventually. Therefore, I didn’t think that it’s a good idea to take the risk. I just wanted people to know that they gotta make sure that they’re set on pursing OMFS if they choose to go to an expensive specialty school because if they aren’t, they would just end up getting huge debts

@OP. I agree with sentiments expressed above. Going to more expensive DS will not guarantee that you will end up in OMFS, but it will guarantee that you will have more debt. That's just common sense.

 

[D1Bound]

Your answer: Attend a dental school with medical school curriculum that will prepare you for the CBSE. Attend a school that is pass fail. Join the Army as it is infinitely easier to become an OMFS through this route.

 

[happy_6523]

fyi this is actually a really bad example of a great, cheap dental school. I go to Creighton and it’s 80k for just tuition a year… not cheap. You get great clinical experience but specializing in OMFS is tuff here. Last year 4 people applied, 3 got zero interviews and 1 got 2 interviews and somehow matched. Class size 120. Not to say you shouldn’t go here for omfs, but there is a reality to the dental school you go to and the ease of specialization.

Not trying to argue if it’s easier or harder to match into OMFS from a non-specialty school, but we can’t say that it’s harder to match with this example alone because what we see is just a result. We don’t know why they didn’t get interviews. Is it because of the school or some other reasons?
Maybe those students at Harvard got higher success rates because the school attracted more students who wanted to specialize or the students were more intelligent? The school name probably helped, but how much? I’m not an adcom, so idk.
What I’m trying to say is that there are a lot of factors that determine an applicant is matched or not. It helps but there’s no guarantee that you can get into OMFS just by going to those specialty schools. Before you make a decision, make sure you weigh out all the risks and benefits. If you choose to accept the risks, cool! But you need to know that you might end up with nothing but a huge debt. Just a grain of salt

 

[Sublimazing]

Not trying to argue if it’s easier or harder to match into OMFS from a non-specialty school, but we can’t say that it’s harder to match with this example alone because what we see is just a result. We don’t know why they didn’t get interviews. Is it because of the school or some other reasons?
Maybe those students at Harvard got higher success rates because the school attracted more students who wanted to specialize or the students were more intelligent? The school name probably helped, but how much? I’m not an adcom, so idk.
What I’m trying to say is that there are a lot of factors that determine an applicant is matched or not. It helps but there’s no guarantee that you can get into OMFS just by going to those specialty schools. Before you make a decision, make sure you weigh out all the risks and benefits. If you choose to accept the risks, cool! But you need to know that you might end up with nothing but a huge debt. Just a grain of salt

Lol so 7 months ago you’re posting asking whether you should specialize because you heard “people with high GPAs specialize”, yet you don’t think you can because your grades aren’t great…but now today you’re telling people how they should apply to OMFS? Haha god bless america.

This goes perfectly to my first point…Do not take any advice from anyone who is not OMFS.

 

[happy_6523]

Lol so 7 months ago you’re posting asking whether you should specialize because you heard “people with high GPAs specialize”, yet you don’t think you can because your grades aren’t great…but now today you’re telling people how they should apply to OMFS? Haha god bless america.

This goes perfectly to my first point…Do not take any advice from anyone who is not OMFS.

Again, I wasn‘t trying to tell people how they should apply to OMFS. I just wanted to point out a fallacy in response to @brennan121212 ’s example. That example doesn’t mean much

And I AGREED with you that going to those specialty schools can increase their chances, but this’s also a RISK because there’s no guarantee

 

[Sublimazing]

Again, I wasn‘t trying to tell people how they should apply to OMFS. What I was trying to say in that post is that the example is meaningless

Well i’m just surprised you’d share advice about OMFS when 7 months ago you were asking if you should specialize because you’d heard “people with high GPAs specialize”. As someone who myself has been through the process i just feel like your input needs to be qualified as someone who has nothing to do with OMFS and couldn’t match to OMFS.

 

[happy_6523]

Well i’m just surprised you’d share advice about OMFS when 7 months ago you were asking if you should specialize because you’d heard “people with high GPAs specialize”. As someone who myself has been through the process i just feel like your input needs to be qualified as someone who has nothing to do with OMFS and couldn’t match to OMFS.

Oh well. Everything I said above was trying to tell the OP that although it’s helpful to go to a specialty school, there’s no guarantee that he can get matched. He might get what he wants or end up with nothing but huge debts, so think twice. Simple as that. Did I make my stand clear? What do you disagree? I don’t have to go through the OMFS application process to know this risk

 

[happy_6523]

Well i’m just surprised you’d share advice about OMFS when 7 months ago you were asking if you should specialize because you’d heard “people with high GPAs specialize”. As someone who myself has been through the process i just feel like your input needs to be qualified as someone who has nothing to do with OMFS and couldn’t match to OMFS.

Also, just because I’ve nothing to do with OMFS doesn’t mean that everything I said was wrong, but of course OP shouldn’t take everything I said without processing. The facts that I didn’t know if I wanted to specialize and wasn’t ‘qualified’ to apply to OMFS have nothing to do with my knowledge in OMFS admission (again, my intention wasn’t to tell OP how to apply to OMFS. I just wanted to remind him the risk). Personal experience isn’t the only way to collect information. No one (including you) knows exactly how adcom members select applicants unless they’re a part of them. You’re more trustworthy than me, but OP can’t listen to your advice simply because you’ve gone through the process, and he can’t ignore everything I said just because I’m not in this field. I’m not saying that OP has to trust me instead of you. I believe he’s smart enough to collect information selectively. Instead of attacking my credentials, can’t we focus on the facts?

I don’t see anything wrong by saying ‘If OP is set on pursuing OMFS, he can get into OMFS no matter which dental school he goes to as long as he’s willing to seek opportunities.’ OMFS adcoms won’t reject an applicant solely because he goes to a school that doesn’t produce many specialists although going to a specialty school CAN increase the chance.

I feel like you always misinterpreted what I was trying to say

 

[brennan121212]

If I could also get advice on which dental school acceptance offer to accept that would be wonderful! I am very set on pursuing OMFS and want to set myself up for the greatest success, knowing that at any dental school it will be a hard journey. That being said, I have been accepted to the University of Nebraska, Case Western Reserve University, and Creighton dental schools so far. I am from South Dakota, so none of these schools are in-state tuition for me. My main considerations while choosing a dental school are 1. Quality of education 2. Expense 3. Family friendly/good location to live.

Because I'm from South Dakota, these schools are all decently similar in cost. Looking at tuition only, Nebraska averages $80k/yr, Case Western $75k/yr, and Creighton $67k/yr. From what I've heard and exposure from virtual interviews, Nebraska and Case Western have more research opportunities, larger percentages of each class who specialize (Nebraska ≈33% of class size 52 & Case Western ≈22% of class size 77), and provide more help for students wanting to specialize. My initial impression from interviewing at Creighton and talking with people was that not many people specialize from Creighton(≈9% per class size 115).

All seem to be in good locations to me, I'm just wondering what everyone's opinion is in regard to each school and the way they prepare/help/enable students to specialize in OMFS? Does the slightly cheaper cost of Creighton outweigh the negative of it generally producing less specialists?

Thanks in advance for everyone's opinion and experienced advice! It's very helpful, especially considering that because of COVID and attending undergraduate outside of SD I haven't been able to visit any of these campuses in-person yet.



**I know huge amount of matching to OMFS residency comes down to how I class rank, participate in research & clubs, externships, and score on the CBSE, but I do believe that the school has some influence in my preparation and networking for OMFS residency.

Where are you finding Creighton tuition is 67k? I go there and tuitions is a solid 80k a year

 

[NomadicMaxFac]

This seems like good advice to me. There seems to be a lot of confusion about what exactly makes a school a good place to go for OMFS. Here are some features that might make a school a better choice for an aspiring oral surgeon even if it costs more than another school:

-Medical school based curriculum: this is a huge edge on the CBSE. A mediocre step 1 score for a medical student is equivalent to an excellent CBSE score for a dental student. It shouldn’t be surprising then that dental students that spend two years as a “medical student” usually crush the CBSE. Based on what I see from my program’s applicant pool and eventual match results, there are more OMFS spots than applicants with CBSE scores equivalent to a clear pass on step 1.

-Pass/fail: if you have a strong CBSE, programs seem to assume you would have been at the top of your class had you gone to a ranked dental school. I certainly feel I benefited from this. I was never very interested in topics in dental school that didn’t relate to OMS so I doubt I would have excelled at them. It’s also a huge mental health benefit if you don’t have to stress over each test and the implications for your GPA.

-Dedicated elective time for OMFS externships in the D3/4 years: This really helps you get interviews. My program gets 150+ applicants for each categorical position we offer. If you externed with us and didn’t make an awful impression, we will probably interview you. If you haven’t externed, getting an interview is unlikely. It’s highly advantageous to extern at all your top choices and going to a school that makes this easy is worth something.

-On-time graduation: are many D4s graduating late? If you miss the start of your residency because you’re having to finish your denture requirements to graduate, I’m pretty sure your program would drop you. I would be careful of going to a program where there are significant numbers of students that don’t graduate on time.

-Faculty supportive of specializing: I would make sure that the faculty support specialization. For schools that crank out tons of specialists, you can generally count on finding support for your OMFS dreams. For schools that don’t produce many specialists, I’ve heard from students externing at our program that some dental school faculties are not very supportive of specialization and so make it difficult to get letters of recommendation and permission to extern. In particular, students from Creighton externing at our program have told me that the faculty have made it difficult. I hope that situation has changed, I heard from an oral surgeon in Omaha recently that Creighton is now more supportive but haven’t heard it from any students.

Also, for what it’s worth, I am a current fourth year OMFS resident.

Your answer: Attend a dental school with medical school curriculum that will prepare you for the CBSE. Attend a school that is pass fail. Join the Army as it is infinitely easier to become an OMFS through this route.

 

[mada97]

Where are you finding Creighton tuition is 67k? I go there and tuitions is a solid 80k a year

I found it on ADEA's dental school explorer, but you are correct. I toured Creighton and Nebraska this week in person and 80k per year is the correct information.

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

In the OP’s case, they’re not looking at choosing between a school that’s $500,000 and a school that’s $250,000. It appears the difference is fairly negligible, as they will be paying out the nose regardless. Might as well go to one that’s “better” for getting into OMFS. How much better one of these schools is over the others, I’ll let you OMFSers battle it out.

Big Hoss

 

[happy_6523]

To OP,

The battles above are more about comparing specialty schools (eg. UPenn, Columbia, UCSF) vs state school.
In your situation, the cost differences are negligible, and none of them are known for producing many specialists, so just pick the school you love the most. If you don’t have a favorite one, then pick the cheapest.

Creighton doesn’t have any specialties, so you get all the difficult cases. However, if you want to shadow oral surgeons, you’ll need to do it in private practices or go to the UNMC hospital nearby. The school also have OMFS faculty for you to build up connections

 

[noodles9]

Just to stir the pot a little more - to base your decision entirely on match statistics from the first pandemic year would be an odd choice. I don’t recommend picking a school based on the weirdest application cycle in recent history. My two cents - look a little deeper into a school’s history of applicant success than the 2020-2021 cycle.

 

[happy_6523]

Not OMFS specifically, just FYI. Class ranking and standardized test scores are most important (so P/F schools probably can help students to specialize). However, if you don’t have these, your school name can’t save you

https://natmatch.com/dentres/stats/2018programreport.pdf

 

[OMSDoc]

I am a board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon. I trained in OMS at the Mayo Clinic.

I know nothing about Nebraska or Case Western, so I recommend going to Creighton…best dental school in the Midwest….OMS or no.

 

[Jaa_]

As a current OMFS applicant, I personally don't know how I could have made the decision to apply without the OR/shadowing hours I had at my dental school (we have OMFS). Spending time around residents and attendings really gives you a picture of what the specialty and residency is like. Yes, you will get this experience on externships, but being exposed to OMFS multiple times per week vs a week or two on externships will make you more confident when applying as you'll be more familiar with the ins and outs of the specialty.

Additionally, the applicants that I've seen on the interview trail have more or less all been from the same schools.