Columbia or Tufts

[DATkilla]

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.... so I have been accepted at Tufts and still have some interviews from Columbia and NYU. How do you guys compared Columbia to Tufts. Should I spend money going to the interview at Columbia after paying the 1K deposit at Tufts or just stick with Tufts? Which one will you go to?

 

[gatormichigan]

.... so I have been accepted at Tufts and still have some interviews from Columbia and NYU. How do you guys compared Columbia to Tufts. Should I spend money going to the interview at Columbia after paying the 1K deposit at Tufts or just stick with Tufts? Which one will you go to?

I would go to tufts..... save urself the money also!!!!!

 

[nokia123]

i'd go to columbia. it'll be worth it.

j/k do what you want

 

[Will I get In?]

If you go to Columbia, be prepared to be forced to study so much more material than necessary. They make you do the Med school curriculum on top of your dental stuff so many of the nights of all-nighters and a lot of your sweat and tears will be for nothing.. Many students that go there go and come out wishing they went to another school and didnt let Columbia's reputation lure them in.

 

[dentstd]

I don't understand the compulsion to become a dentist by going through medical school. But you gotta do what you gotta do.

CU could easily make their curriculum 2 yrs long. How much information do you really need to know about teeth?

 

[gatormichigan]

If you go to Columbia, be prepared to be forced to study so much more material than necessary. They make you do the Med school curriculum on top of your dental stuff so many of the nights of all-nighters and a lot of your sweat and tears will be for nothing.. Many students that go there go and come out wishing they went to another school and didnt let Columbia's reputation lure them in.

right on!! go to tufts 🙂

 

[grilla drilaa]

If you go to Columbia, be prepared to be forced to study so much more material than necessary. They make you do the Med school curriculum on top of your dental stuff so many of the nights of all-nighters and a lot of your sweat and tears will be for nothing.. Many students that go there go and come out wishing they went to another school and didnt let Columbia's reputation lure them in.

That's funny. One of the first classes 1st year student at columbia dental take is a course on ethics and research and they teach us to approach material we read with skepticism in order to truly understand the logic of the information. I'd like to know where you got that negative information.

As a columbia dental student I can proudly say I have not pulled any all-nighter nor anything close. On avg, I go to sleep before 12 every night and have plenty of spare time for my social life. I am also doing fine in all my courses.

To the original poster, I would strongly recommend Columbia if you plan on specializing.

 

[DDSY]

What's the matter people. . . you guys scared of. . . medical school? Let's get a good MD education and feel all right.

 

[Revelde]

That's funny. One of the first classes 1st year student at columbia dental take is a course on ethics and research and they teach us to approach material we read with skepticism in order to truly understand the logic of the information. I'd like to know where you got that negative information.

As a columbia dental student I can proudly say I have not pulled any all-nighter nor anything close. On avg, I go to sleep before 12 every night and have plenty of spare time for my social life. I am also doing fine in all my courses.

To the original poster, I would strongly recommend Columbia if you plan on specializing.

oh I want Columbia so badly.. I know I know.. you should be very proud... man.. I envy u..
hopefully I can get a thick envelope next week 😀

 

[lnsip9reg]

i've lived in nyc and boston, and i prefer the latter =)

though, i am a masshole and your usual redsox/pats fan! so go fig 😛

but i'd have to echo the advice of a previous poster, tufts for being a general practitioner, columbia for specializing.

 

[ddsjymaeng]

Columbia!!!!!!!!
IF U WANNA SPECIALIZE AND BEAT MED STUDENT'S ASS

 

[fancymylotus]

um,go to tufts.mwahahahaha

 

[DATkilla]

ok now you guys got me confused. well it's not like I got accepted at Columbia yet but I know I have a high chance. some materials are even missing from my application and yet they want me to interview. well I'll seriously consider going. Thanks for the confusion... i mean advice.

 

[socratese291]

Depends on what you are looking for. I was accepted to Columbia but I refuse to go to Comlumbia, their curiculum is ridiculous, thier facilities are nothing to brag about, and thier faculty are not that impressive either in my opinion. I sat at the interview and talked with them about in-lay and on-lay techniques for 15 minutes, It felt like I was conversing with a door knob. I did not apply to Tufts so I cannot say whether on not it is better or worse than Columbia. All I can say is that my experience there was a poor one.

 

[ddsjymaeng]

zz

 

[socratese291]

Right now my choice is Stonybrook but I'm still waiting on UConn.

 

[wizziefiend]

I just interviewed at Columbia and it was EXTREMELY impressive. I don't know if it is the correct school for me though.

I did not interview nor even consider Tufts (Not because I think badly but I just had to say No to some schools due to budget reasons).

You won't learn much from actually attending the school's interview to be honest. I would suggest trying to scrounge up some phone numbers on SDN of some students and just calling them. Also the deans are very nice people but very busy. I bet you could talk to them via the phone as well.

Three things I believe they want you to learn from the interview:
1) Demanding curriculum (With med students for 2 years)
2) Good specialization rates (even without including the great number of AEGD/GPRs
3) You won't see New York City for the first 2 years.

Best of luck.

 

[Ething]

Duh.....columbia or tufts...let me see. If you cant figure that one out then i dont know how you were smart enough to get an interview there. Sorry.

 

[prez_al]

Not sure about the curriculum at Tufts because I did not interview there, but you should pick the school that gives you the most clinical exposure. Columbia is an awesome school with a very demanding program and I would definitely think about going there if accepted, however you don't begin to get clinical exposure until 3rd year when you're actually in the clinics.

 

[kayo]

What is the specialization rate for Columbia graduates? I am just curious..

In Tufts, its around 16 % every year.

 

[dentstd]

When a top school takes in what they deem to be the best students, and some of the very best students end up going there, is it a surprise that many of those students end up going very far? Would a top student have trouble going far when she chooses to go elsewhere, for whatever reason?

 

[ddsjymaeng]

Based on the specialization rate of 16% from TUFTS vs. 97% in Columbia?
Anyways both great schools...for me it is definitely Columbia...
I love tough environments... Heard Columbia is tough but so what?
Tough is good...heard no NYC for 2 years...plus dark circles all over your eyes like a panda...
I am not sure about TUFTS but I heard it is damn hard too.

 

[thehipster]

Based on the specialization rate of 16% from TUFTS vs. 97% in Columbia?
Anyways both great schools...for me it is definitely Columbia...
I love tough environments... Heard Columbia is tough but so what?
Tough is good...heard no NYC for 2 years...plus dark circles all over your eyes like a panda...
I am not sure about TUFTS but I heard it is damn hard too.

The specialization rate at Columbia isn't 97%, that's the percent that do any post-doctoral program, including GPRs and AEGDs. The specialization rate is around 41%.

 

[harvarddent]

If you go to Columbia, be prepared to be forced to study so much more material than necessary. They make you do the Med school curriculum on top of your dental stuff so many of the nights of all-nighters and a lot of your sweat and tears will be for nothing.. Many students that go there go and come out wishing they went to another school and didnt let Columbia's reputation lure them in.

Having talked the current students at Columbia, I don't agree with you. The choice is fairly easy, Columbia University.

 

[dentstd]

when you go to med school to become a dentist, I'm not sure you could argue that you wouldn't be learning more information than needed. I'm not saying that it may not be worth it in the end, I'm just saying that you'll be learning much, much more info than required. And when you're stressed out, are having a touch time keeping up, or want to complain, can you guess what you're going to blame first?

 

[v&andy_yankee]

If you go to Columbia, be prepared to be forced to study so much more material than necessary. They make you do the Med school curriculum on top of your dental stuff so many of the nights of all-nighters and a lot of your sweat and tears will be for nothing.. Many students that go there go and come out wishing they went to another school and didnt let Columbia's reputation lure them in.

I'm currently a second year and have no idea what you mean by "all-nighters." Dental school is hard, but not THAT hard, if you have half a brain and know how to manage your time correctly. I have always gotten at least 7 hours of sleep every night, even on the nights before big tests. And still plenty of free time to goof off, watch TV, go out with your friends, etc (there's actually a midterm tomorrow, and look what I'm doing now...and this is already after browsing through ebay as well). Dental school is what you make it out to be--you can stay in and studystudy all the time, or you can take a chill pill and give yourself a break (and do just as well, grade-wise). I had a huge exam a few Wednesdays ago, but that didn't stop me from going out to see "Borat" Monday night.

The ones who moan and bitch about how utterly terrible dental school is--I think those are the ones who went unchallenged all through college--bright kids that took relatively easy classes that they never had to work too much in. And when they get here, they finally realize that there are a lot of damn bright people. Just learn how to manage your time, prioritize things, but still leave plenty of time for yourself as well.

 

[v&andy_yankee]

to the OP, I don't know anything about Tufts but here's my take on Columbia.

The students are all very nice and helpful, but sometimes it varies from class to class. I LOVE my class, and we all think the 2nd years are by far the most awesomest class of the 4 years 😎 People share notes, send out their own review sheets, answers to quizzes, etc. We hang out and party together as well (Xmas party coming up soon!). The class is pretty tight knit, and truly an extended family (we had 3 babies last year...and 3 set for this year! We got gift certificates for the moms/dads as a class). The teachers also do care about the students and we see them often outside of the classroom settings as well (they come to our formals, our plays, etc). And, believe it or not, the med students are great as well. So many ppl always talk about what awful bitches the med students are, blahblah, well...I don't know how I would have survived the first year if it wasn't for the fac that the med student gav the dental students access to their website (and therefore, all of their notes/transcripts/old tests). And dental and med collaborate on many things outside of school as well (clubs and organizations, school plays, etc)

Some cons: I do wish they gave us more preclinical training. They started us out since the 1st week of 1st year, but I still feel unprepared to really see, diagnose and treat a patient. Hopefully they'll gradually break us in, start us off on cleanings. And, the curriculum is hard and you will have to work hard. But that doesn't mean you have to be a slave to just school for the first 2 years--it's up to you how much balance of school and fun you want in your life. The area is also pretty ****ty, but hey at least it's cheap compared to the rest of Manhattan. And in a way, it's also good b/c you're not encouraged to go out as often. If I lived in Midtown, I think I'd be going out every night

 

[mouthcracker]

Hands down...

Columbia..

 

[DDSY]

Essentially, it boils down to this:

***Do you want to be a big fish in a little pond (Tufts)? Or do you want to be a little fish in a big pond (Columbia)?****

No matter where you go, as long as you are an intelligent, hardworking student, you have the potential of doing well. Of course, depending on the environment, see ****, you 'll tend to do better one place or the other.

 

[grilla drilaa]

I just interviewed at Columbia and it was EXTREMELY impressive. I don't know if it is the correct school for me though.

I did not interview nor even consider Tufts (Not because I think badly but I just had to say No to some schools due to budget reasons).

You won't learn much from actually attending the school's interview to be honest. I would suggest trying to scrounge up some phone numbers on SDN of some students and just calling them. Also the deans are very nice people but very busy. I bet you could talk to them via the phone as well.

Three things I believe they want you to learn from the interview:
1) Demanding curriculum (With med students for 2 years)
2) Good specialization rates (even without including the great number of AEGD/GPRs
3) You won't see New York City for the first 2 years.

Best of luck.

From personal experience, I have to disagree with #3

 

[grilla drilaa]

A lot of anti-Columbia-ites seem to blast our curriculum for teaching more than is neccessary. Just my thought on it:

From what I've heard going on at other dental schools, the curriculum teaches full courses of Biochem, full courses of Physiology, etc. . .

At Columbia, we don't have a biochem textbook, the physiology book is basically optional. We only learn the important things necessary for our field and not some useless equations about some chemical property that we will never again see. So instead of learning the dihedral angles of some ******ed peptides, we learn things relevant to the field of medicine. This makes us scientifically cultured while learning the essentials and training to become doctors of head and neck.

My point is think twice when someone says "you learn too many unnecessary things at Columbia" because what our gaps our filled with is probably more interesting with what other dental schools fill their gaps with.

 

[predentalguy]

I think what I would do if I were in ur shoes is take a look at your priorities. For example, if you want to conduct research and perhaps consider specialization, columbia is internationally recognized for producing top research publications and graduating a high rate of students that end up specializing. if thats what ur interested in then columbia is a better bet and it will be worth the 1000 deposit in the long run.

however, if ur interested in being a dentist.. then tufts is a decent school with above average clinics graduating competent dentists. In this case itll be best to save ur dough and just have some fun.. boston is a great city!

goodluck

 

[mmasurf]

i worked with columbia 3r/4th year students and they all told me u will pass your boards with pimp grades due to the excessive studying your forced to do, so thats a plus if u want to specialize but why worry about specilzing now?

 

[mouthcracker]

Cooooooooolumbia....................

Hands Down.....

I cant stress no more!!!

 

[DATkilla]

From what I saw at Tufts, the stress seems to be more on the clinical exposure and students start early from the second year. From what you guys are saying, Columbia does not give as much of a clinical experience which I personally think is the point of being a dentist.
so therefore Tufts is leading Columbia now by 2 points with 9 seconds left in the game.
...that won't preventing me from checking Columbia out though.