Columbia or UOP??

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docnimster said:
If you could decide between either school, which one would you pick?
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I'd suggest, wait until the 'IF' statement becomes 'TRUE' first, or you can also consider 'ELSE IF'.
I'd prefer to see this kind of post after Dec1st.

-last nagging before heading to CT
 
greenday said:
I'd suggest, wait until the 'IF' statement becomes 'TRUE' first, or you can also consider 'ELSE IF'.
I'd prefer to see this kind of post after Dec1st.

-last nagging before heading to CT
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Well of course it's a big 'IF.' And regardless of your preference, the reason for the post is to get people's preferences in regards to the two programs, the cost, and living situation.
 
see you in vegas nimster...
 
for shizzle, who would go to columbia? it's lame.
 
UOP all the way. That's my opinion. 👍
 
docnimster said:
Well of course it's a big 'IF.' And regardless of your preference, the reason for the post is to get people's preferences in regards to the two programs, the cost, and living situation.
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Easy dude. All I'm saying is GET ACCEPTED BY BOTH FIRST
I wish I had those kind of choice. UOP doesn't accept too many out of staters according to historical data.
 
Too bad half of UoP's class is from Utah...it's a private school, they accept people from all over.

My choice would be the city by the bay! Pacific all the way.
 
greenday said:
UOP doesn't accept too many out of staters according to historical data.
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🙄 whateva

UOP is private, and gives no preference to cali residents. Keep in mind that stats on 'those who are offered admission' and 'those who actually matriculate' can be very different. I was extremely out of state and got accepted. But cali was just a bit too far from home for my liking.
 
1992Corolla said:
Too bad half of UoP's class is from Utah...it's a private school, they accept people from all over.
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Nice play.. you beat me to it. 😎
 
1992Corolla said:
Too bad half of UoP's class is from Utah...it's a private school, they accept people from all over.

My choice would be the city by the bay! Pacific all the way.
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Maybe it is for your Utah boys, but not for Nevadan people. Each year they only extract 1-2 people from Nevada, which sucks totally.
 
SuperTrooper said:
Nice play.. you beat me to it. 😎
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Yeah UOP is a private institution, as for last year, out of 140 enrollees, ONLY 90 were from CA. On the other hand, out of UNLV's 75 people, 30 were from out of state. It's hard for me to see any difference in the distribution between a private and public school.

BTW there's 14 Utah people in the 140 seats. Utah is a great state but guys please use your energy on exaggerating college football instead.
 
greenday said:
Utah is a great state but guys please use your energy on exaggerating college football instead.
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Oh wait, i'm definitely no fan of utah. As far as i'm concerned, it's full of ultra-conservatives. Orrin Hatch is a dick!

But back to UOP. You've ignored what i said. 90 out of 140 are from california, sure. But that doesn't mean that 90/140 x 100% of people accepted are from cali. It just makes sense that more california people would choose to matriculate at UOP, after all, UOP is in San Fransisco, which is in CALIFORNIA! It's a huge state!
 
greenday said:
Yeah UOP is a private institution, as for last year, out of 140 enrollees, ONLY 90 were from CA. On the other hand, out of UNLV's 75 people, 30 were from out of state. It's hard for me to see any difference in the distribution between a private and public school.

BTW there's 14 Utah people in the 140 seats. Utah is a great state but guys please use your energy on exaggerating college football instead.
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Its not that they give preference to cali students but Cali has far more qualified applicants than say Nevada. Cali students are all over the country in high number becasue they have a huge population. Also, most of the cali students applied to the UOP so obviously numbers of cali students will be higher.

Higher number of students from California in UOP has nothing to do with their cali residency.
 
UOP! 3 years in a fun city like frisco, i'm in.........hopefully!!!
 
uhh... does anyone else not realize that NYC >>>> anything else including SF?
 
I like both SF and NYC. As an older student I'd prefer UOP becuase of the 3 years plus I love the atmosphere and clinical stength.

You guys think my DAT scores will outweigh my low GPA for UOP? What about for Columbia?
 
greenday said:
Easy dude. All I'm saying is GET ACCEPTED BY BOTH FIRST
I wish I had those kind of choice. UOP doesn't accept too many out of staters according to historical data.
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sorry dude. didn't mean to come off snappy. i'd be totally stoked if i had those choices also. i hear that UOP has more of an emphasis on producing a very capable general practitioner, while columbia puts emphasis on producing student who go on to specialty programs. anyone have a take on this? does anyone plan on specializing?
 
Yeah, the Utah thing was an exaggeration, and hopefully I get in somewhere so I can say goodbye to this state FOREVER (except to visit lake powell). 14 people from Utah that has 3-4 major colleges isn't bad compared to Cali's how many? Nevada's numbers are low because UoP knows that Nevada isn't a challenging state to get good grades in...just kidding 😉 , it's only because Nevada has 1-2 major colleges.

Despite what each city has to offer...THREE years and DONE? UoP all the way...too bad my scores would require a large donation from alumni on my behalf to get me in...
 
phremius said:
uhh... does anyone else not realize that NYC >>>> anything else including SF?
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ok just to let u in on a secret, columbia med campus is not NYC. it is in the ghetto tht is known as washington heights. when u go out and get wasted in the real manhattan areas you have to take a 1.5 hour subway back to home sweet home. then u get out and hope to get past the armory (homeless shelter across the street) without being mugged. so please dont ever say tht the reason tht u would go to columbia over uop is to be in nyc.
 
sdos2009 said:
ok just to let u in on a secret, columbia med campus is not NYC. it is in the ghetto tht is known as washington heights. when u go out and get wasted in the real manhattan areas you have to take a 1.5 hour subway back to home sweet home. then u get out and hope to get past the armory (homeless shelter across the street) without being mugged. so please dont ever say tht the reason tht u would go to columbia over uop is to be in nyc.
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This is an exaggeration. I did grad school (2001-2003) at Columbia (Health Sciences Campus on 168th st.) and lived in Bard Hall as well as university housing on 173rd and Haven. The neighborhood is Dominican and has a lot of families. It is filthy. There is dog poo everywhere. But you will not be mugged by a drunk homeless guy passed out on the steps of the Armory. He may inadvertently pee on you, but will not have the coordination or strength to physically threaten you.

The subway trip is not 1.5 hours to the bottom of Manhattan. Plus who needs lower Manhattan when there's the 80s and Amsterdam. That's a 20 minute trip. I went to bars all over Manhattan and Brooklyn, came back at all hours of the night and never once had any problems. Of course I am a total badass so maybe that had something to do with it. :laugh:

My perspective on NYC is that it is a rad city but the weather sucks, crowds suck, and it's expensive as hell (yes more than SF).

My perspective on SF is that hippies suck, fog sucks, the weather kinda sucks, but it's a cool city too.

My limited perspective on Columbia dental school is that it's expensive and I don't want to take classes with med students, especially Ivy League, silver spoon, arrogant med students.

My limited perspective on UOP is that it is expensive, 3 years is sweet, I'd be concerned about my prospects for specializing, and I wouldn't want people like myself calling me Dr. 3/4ths.

LA blows SF and NYC out of the water! :laugh:
 
drhobie7 said:
This is an exaggeration. I did grad school (2001-2003) at Columbia (Health Sciences Campus on 168th st.) and lived in Bard Hall as well as university housing on 173rd and Haven. The neighborhood is Dominican and has a lot of families. It is filthy. There is dog poo everywhere. But you will not be mugged by a drunk homeless guy passed out on the steps of the Armory. He may inadvertently pee on you, but will not have the coordination or strength to physically threaten you.

The subway trip is not 1.5 hours to the bottom of Manhattan. Plus who needs lower Manhattan when there's the 80s and Amsterdam. That's a 20 minute trip. I went to bars all over Manhattan and Brooklyn, came back at all hours of the night and never once had any problems. Of course I am a total badass so maybe that had something to do with it. :laugh:

My perspective on NYC is that it is a rad city but the weather sucks, crowds suck, and it's expensive as hell (yes more than SF).

My perspective on SF is that hippies suck, fog sucks, the weather kinda sucks, but it's a cool city too.

My limited perspective on Columbia dental school is that it's expensive and I don't want to take classes with med students, especially Ivy League, silver spoon, arrogant med students.

My limited perspective on UOP is that it is expensive, 3 years is sweet, I'd be concerned about my prospects for specializing, and I wouldn't want people like myself calling me Dr. 3/4ths.

LA blows SF and NYC out of the water! :laugh:
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so u can get from a club in downtown manhattan to the towers in like an hour and 29 mins. well you must walk those 10 blocks a lil faster than me as i stumble home, but its close enough to say 1.5 hours. i am not talking about an ideal situation in your perfect world where the club happens to be right next to the subway stop and the subway comes eactly as u get there at 3am. so for those of us who live in the real world its not an exaggeration. oh and some of us dont like to hit on the 18 year olds by the undergrad campus so please let us determine where to go to party, but at least we agree on the poo and the "hello dr., oh wait ur id says dental sry nevermind". also just so people dont get the wrong impression i am not saying tht dont come here, but if you do make sure its for the right reason or you will hate it.
 
So why would one choose to go to Columbia given all of the negative factors? Basically, for those who actually go there, what are the positives.
 
sdos2009 said:
oh and some of us dont like to hit on the 18 year olds by the undergrad campus so please let us determine where to go to party.
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I don't know what you're talking about. There are more people my age (28) around those bars than undergrads. Or at least that's how it was 2 weeks ago when I went to visit.

So you've been a dental student for a week or two and already hate it? Man you're in for a long 4 years.
 
it is NOT a 1.5 hour ride to bottom manhattan, unless if you're just totally lost. take the express, not the local-you'll be there in 45 minutes, tops.

and, it is pretty safe. i'm a 5'3" girl and i haven't felt "scared" around washington heights (but i've been in and out of cities a lot--for people who haven't really been in cities much it might seem unsafe--but use common sense and you'll be fine. parts of philly and baltimore have scared me a hell lot more).

but if you're really scared, sdos2009, you could always call the columbia police escort system, i'm sure :laugh: columbia has a system where you can call and get some police officer guy to walk with you anywhere when it's dark.
 
vandy_yankee said:
it is NOT a 1.5 hour ride to bottom manhattan, unless if you're just totally lost. take the express, not the local-you'll be there in 45 minutes, tops.
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Haha, that's exactly what I was thinking. Someone tell this guy to get on the "A" train, not the "1" train.

You can always spring for the cab. Or move.
 
phremius said:
uhh... does anyone else not realize that NYC >>>> anything else including SF?
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Oh, my bad for mistaking subjective for objective... I would pick UOP. I like SF, getting out in three years is appealing, although I know students there work their hind-ends off in order to do so.
 
ok guys there is no damn express late night sorry i have been here a month and i kno tht so wat does this say about you. btw dont get dirty with this cause i am just giving people my honest experiences.
 
UoP baby. And yes, that is my final answer.
 
So far, after living in Washington Heights for 3+ years, I've had no trouble... I've walked pass the armory many times and have NEVER had any trouble... (I guess I should be thankful that I've never been peed on? but no one I know has been either....).
It takes 20-30 mins to get to times square. I've taken the train to JFK airport and it takes about 1.5 hrs... so I'm not sure why it takes SDOS2009 1.5 hours to get anywhere.
When you go out at night, you'll probably take a cab back up w/ multiple people... and it comes out to a pretty reasonable price usually.
My friends and I go to the upper west side and there's a LOT around there and it's a nice short trip away.
You actually save money from taking the train vs driving (paying for insurance, gas, etc).

There's many positives about SDOS:
-good basic sciences
-good clinical trainning... and with each class there's more clnical hrs added.
-lots of supportive professors (although there's many that teach the old school way...but they all want us to learn and be competent)
-we have multiple prof that stays basically thru the evening to help us
-you get to experience a lot of diff cases depending on what your patients need... RPD, CD, Immediate CD, Procera, Cerec, Placement of Implants, Flap surgery, Restoring implants, etc etc... there's almost no limit if you're motivated...



(-) about SDOS
you're going to be exhausted, cause the workload is crazy...
it's not easy...unless you're a genius (and there are a lot of those...so if you're like me and fall into the group that needs to work hard to pass... life's not going to be easy).

It's 4 years, you can basically make whatever you want out of it....

I wouldn't have changed it for anything... but Columbia MAY NOT be the right place for you... find that out and make the right choice! Go where you'll be happiest, do what you think is right.

good luck
 
drhobbie are u from cali?
 
sdos2009 said:
ok guys there is no damn express late night sorry i have been here a month and i kno tht so wat does this say about you. btw dont get dirty with this cause i am just giving people my honest experiences.
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So... did you regret going to Columbia?
Yes or no?
 
i wish i tried to look at more aspects of the school itself rather than imagining how great it would to be to live in manhattan. i think i let that kinda drive my decesion a certain way and wouldnt want anyone else to make the same mistake. i kno a lot of people who apply to columbia will also apply to uconn. now i know tht its in the middle of nowhere, but honestly the fact tht you have so little time and therefore you usually dont even take the 30-45 min trip to downtown and back anyway means you are not able to take advantage of the things nyc has to offer at least for the first two years. uconn saves you quite a bit of cash and the standard of living will be a lot higher for a lot less. also its really not tht far to drive out to m=nyc on like a friday night and go back saturday. hell for all the money you save you could come out every weekend and stay at a hotel if you managed to find the time. so like i said dont base your choice on the lure of the "CITY".
 
sdos2009 said:
i wish i tried to look at more aspects of the school itself rather than imagining how great it would to be to live in manhattan. i think i let that kinda drive my decesion a certain way and wouldnt want anyone else to make the same mistake. i kno a lot of people who apply to columbia will also apply to uconn. now i know tht its in the middle of nowhere, but honestly the fact tht you have so little time and therefore you usually dont even take the 30-45 min trip to downtown and back anyway means you are not able to take advantage of the things nyc has to offer at least for the first two years. uconn saves you quite a bit of cash and the standard of living will be a lot higher for a lot less. also its really not tht far to drive out to m=nyc on like a friday night and go back saturday. hell for all the money you save you could come out every weekend and stay at a hotel if you managed to find the time. so like i said dont base your choice on the lure of the "CITY".
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you're studying too hard. Dental school ain't that hard to pass and do decent in. At least for us the glory that is of Manhattan is being fully taken advantage of....

negative? 12 dollar drinks 🙄 but you already have loans, and what's an extra few hundred bucks in the grand scheme of things.

pony up, suck it up, and always be happy with your decisions.
 
phremius said:
you're studying too hard. Dental school ain't that hard to pass and do decent in. At least for us the glory that is of Manhattan is being fully taken advantage of....

negative? 12 dollar drinks 🙄 but you already have loans, and what's an extra few hundred bucks in the grand scheme of things.

pony up, suck it up, and always be happy with your decisions.
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well some of us dont wanna just slide by but thanks for the advice.
 
sdos2009 said:
well some of us dont wanna just slide by but thanks for the advice.
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your decision, but whatever it is, be happy with it! 😉
 
sdos2009 said:
i wish i tried to look at more aspects of the school itself rather than imagining how great it would to be to live in manhattan. i think i let that kinda drive my decesion a certain way and wouldnt want anyone else to make the same mistake. i kno a lot of people who apply to columbia will also apply to uconn. now i know tht its in the middle of nowhere, but honestly the fact tht you have so little time and therefore you usually dont even take the 30-45 min trip to downtown and back anyway means you are not able to take advantage of the things nyc has to offer at least for the first two years. uconn saves you quite a bit of cash and the standard of living will be a lot higher for a lot less. also its really not tht far to drive out to m=nyc on like a friday night and go back saturday. hell for all the money you save you could come out every weekend and stay at a hotel if you managed to find the time. so like i said dont base your choice on the lure of the "CITY".
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:laugh:

(I'm sorry, but this post just made me laugh. I did my time at one of those dental schools in the middle of nowhere and now living in Manhattan is actually great.)

If you can't even find the time to take the subway to midtown on the weekends, what makes you think the students at UConn have time to drive 2+ hours to NYC on Friday night, party, stay over, and go back Saturday?

Poor sdos2009. Don't get jaded. Maybe you should seriously consider moving to the Upper West Side next year or third year. It might be good for you; even though you'd have to commute a little more in the morning by train/bus, at least when you came home at night and on the weekends, you'd get your fill of Manhattan.
 
i wish i could pay the 2000 a month in rent but unfortunately the 70000 a year i am tking out right now is a bit of a stretch and i dont want to make it an extra 15000. plus if you went to the debt management seminar your first year they said that for every extra dolllar u borrow u will pave back anywhere from 2 to 4 times tht. so unless u want to rent me a place for 700 a month i think i will just have to stay at columbia housing. but i have to agree with you about how movinf would be good for me cause my sprits are lifited every time i go down over by nyu. whenever i am in union square i consider begging the dean of nyu dental for a transfer.
 
its great how this thread has become support group for me.
 
sdos2009 said:
its great how this thread has become support group for me.
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uhhh, no, you don't have to pay $2000/mo. in rent. If you want your cheapest option, you have to rent a bedroom in an apartment and probably live in a non-doorman, walk-up building. The higher you walk, the less you pay. There are lots of $700/month shared aparments near the other Columbia campus. Look on craigslist, I saw plenty listed there within your budget.

craig's list for poor sdos

How bad do you want Manhattan? If you are expecting to live by yourself on the 25th floor of a 24-hr doorman, luxury highrise building, then yeah - it's not gonna happen while you're a student.
 
Please don't call it "frisco" or you will get some weird looks. It's known as the City, SF, or simply San Francisco. Just saving you from some potential embarrassment :laugh:


howui3 said:
UOP! 3 years in a fun city like frisco, i'm in.........hopefully!!!
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johnstylzes said:
Please don't call it "frisco" or you will get some weird looks. It's known as the City, SF, or simply San Francisco. Just saving you from some potential embarrassment :laugh:
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How about San Fran?
 
mochafreak said:
How about San Fran?
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Or hippie town 😀 I love hippies though 👍
 
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