Columbia vs. UConn

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Teethyman

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I was wondering if anyone would be willing to provide much needed advice on making such a difficult decision!

Right now, I intend to pursue a career in OMFS and want to pick the school that will best prepare me to achieve my goals. While I understand cost always plays a role, I believe it is naive to choose a school solely on finances.

Thanks in advance!
 
Work your behinds off and you can get OMFS in either school.

Im one of those cost dudes, so I'm on the Uconn train.
 

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Let's get @Teethyman some answers so that he can make a very important decision on where to go next year! Congratulations, by the way, man. Two elite dental schools have chosen you- what a day!
 
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I am sorry but Columbia is in New York. New York is amazing city! and Columbia has a stellar reputation.
You get to a better college, you get better opportunities. regardless of the cost.
There is a reason that makes Columbia on the top 10 and Ucon on the top 20!
http://dental-schools.startclass.com/

Disclaimer: I don't know About the OMFs differences.
 
Faefly said:
I am sorry but Columbia is in New York. New York is amazing city! and Columbia has a stellar reputation.
You get to a better college, you get better opportunities. regardless of the cost.
There is a reason that makes Columbia on the top 10 and Ucon on the top 20!
http://dental-schools.startclass.com/

Disclaimer: I don't know About the OMFs differences.
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Aren't dschools technically not ranked though? It seems like each site has its own widely different rankings which kind of makes me feel like it's becoming opinion based at some point (although, of course, I am of no master/know it all about rankings-- just a lowly freshman)
 
Symphonies said:
Aren't dschools technically not ranked though? It seems like each site has its own widely different rankings which kind of makes me feel like it's becoming opinion based at some point (although, of course, I am of no master/know it all about rankings-- just a lowly freshman)
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I noticed that as well.
My brother graduated from Upen and he was saying it is number 1
I went to check and saw it was number 8
so he said well it changes every year:bag: some of the schools are tie.
​
But still, back to Columbia. Columbia is an IVY League. This counts a lot!
I mean suppose he wants to go into politics 20 years from now. Who knows, he might want to change his career or something.
Columbia will count then.
When applying to programs. Columbia will count as well. Say he is against someone with similar stats, and experience, they will choose him/her against the one from that school.
 
Are you a city person or a rural person? Living in Farmington could be rough if you're the type that would thrive living in the center of Washington Heights. What do you imagine yourself doing when you're not doing dental school stuff?
 
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Ah thank you all so much for the help!! I keep changing my mind by the hour, hopefully I decide in the next 30 days.
 
If you're deadset on OMFS, I'd recommend UConn for a critical reason that I don't think has ever been noted by anyone prior. Yes, both UConn and Columbia have medical education, but at UConn, there is true integration (as in they treat you just like a med student). At Columbia, the 1st semester is pretty integrated (almost identical tests to med students), but semesters 2 and 3 you get different tests from the med students that don't assess your knowledge in a way that is helpful for you preparing for medical boards (CBSE, USLME). The med student tests are lots of case vignettes and multi-step questions. Dental tests for the Body in Health and Disease course will be memorizing random facts. So you'll have to do a lot of self-study to prepare for the CBSE just like you would at any regular dental school without medical education.

Another kicker: if you elect to do a 6 year OMFS program (with MD option), and you did your dental education at Columbia and stay at Columbia for OMFS, you have to REPEAT Body in Health and Disease because the dental version of it is not deemed equivalent (i.e. deficient) to the medical version. Whereas if you went to dental school at UConn or Harvard (maybe Stony Brook too) where they actually take legit medical school courses, you don't have to repeat Body in Health and Disease. So your years in medical school during the 6 year OMFS program become even more of a breeze. But if CT is really that unappealing to you, Columbia is a fine institution as well -- probably only under UConn and Harvard in being the most ideal setting for getting into OMFS
 
Incis0r said:
Incredibly flattered by the support, friends.
Thank you so much 🙂. As of now, I am undecided on where I will be attending, but rest assured that I will add my chosen school to my signature once I make a final decision.

Now let's get @Teethyman some answers so that he can make a very important decision on where to go next year! Congratulations, by the way, man. Two elite dental schools have chosen you- what a day!
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Personally, asking for feedback was very beneficial. Only so much I knew back then as a predental. I was close to picking NYU and a few other school, but thankfully people helped me make the more mature decision. But you do whats best for you.
 
Faux said:
Personally, asking for feedback was very beneficial. Only so much I knew back then as a predental. I was close to picking NYU and a few other school, but thankfully people helped me make the more mature decision. But you do whats best for you.
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You're right - you made a great decision with Buffalo.
 
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gfs6 said:
Are you a city person or a rural person? Living in Farmington could be rough if you're the type that would thrive living in the center of Washington Heights. What do you imagine yourself doing when you're not doing dental school stuff?
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This is an important aspect that is often overlooked. Thank you for bringing this up.
 
Incis0r said:
This is an important aspect that is often overlooked. Thank you for bringing this up.
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I am not really picky about my living situation actually. I grew up in a suburban neighborhood but then attended college in a city (not the size of New York though). I enjoyed both and I think I could be happy in either place.
 
I was in a similar situation and chose Columbia. AMA here or send me a PM.

You really can't go wrong either way, though. I have a lot of respect for UConn.

Faux said:
Any who, big cost difference, no? 200-300k?
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For a non-Connecticut New England resident, the cost difference between Columbia and UConn is less than $100k. It is smaller yet for non-New England residents.
 
UConn has a stronger research program and is cheaper so I choose UConn over Columbia.
 
Both are great schools, and would fit your goals.

Which school did you click more with? I found the two student bodies very different.
 
I asked several dentists what they thought on this issue when I was shadowing. Every dentist said to go with the cheaper school, unless cost is not an issue for you (in this case I would be so jealous haha). Once you start practicing no one cares about what dental school you went to. Also, UConn is a good enough school that you can definitely do OMFS. The reputation of UConn at residency programs is very good. If you were comparing Columbia with a lower dental school, I would say go with Columbia. However, UConn is very good that I feel you cannot go wrong. My advice to you is to make a decision based on the costs.
 
I'm in a very similar boat. I got UAB and Columbia and I plan to specialize (OMFS, ortho, or pedes) and cant decide between the two. I've lived in Alabama all my life and I feel like I need a change so NYC seems perfect. I just don't know if the cost is worth it. I loved everything about Columbia when I interviewed but I have many ties at UAB and in Alabama. Does anyone have any additional thoughts about UAB with in-state tuition vs. CU with its legacy? And how bad is the cost actually after we're out of school?
 
Of course you can't go wrong with either school as far as reputation, atmosphere, and preparation for OMFS goes.

It's a shame, but until you've attended both schools, you won't know which one is better for you. All you really can go on as a predent is generalizations and cost. Cost was my most prioritized motivator.

I often joke with classmates that if I had gone to Columbia I'd have more of a social life. I'm not one for the city however, so I don't regret a thing.
 
journeyofhope2017 said:
I'm in a very similar boat. I got UAB and Columbia and I plan to specialize (OMFS, ortho, or pedes) and cant decide between the two. I've lived in Alabama all my life and I feel like I need a change so NYC seems perfect. I just don't know if the cost is worth it. I loved everything about Columbia when I interviewed but I have many ties at UAB and in Alabama. Does anyone have any additional thoughts about UAB with in-state tuition vs. CU with its legacy? And how bad is the cost actually after we're out of school?
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Go to UAB. UAB currently is number 1 in dental research.
 
EighteenstreetloungePUA said:
Go to UAB. UAB currently is number 1 in dental research.
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I've been doing research over there for the past 2 years and have worked directly under the Dean of the Institute of Oral Health Research. I was also highly recruited for their DMD/PhD program. While I have loved the experiences that the research has brought me, I just dont see it as a career path for me. Both schools do have great research that I would love to partake in small projects, but my main goal as of now is to specialize. Does being top in research really carry that much weight?
 
journeyofhope2017 said:
I've been doing research over there for the past 2 years and have worked directly under the Dean of the Institute of Oral Health Research. I was also highly recruited for their DMD/PhD program. While I have loved the experiences that the research has brought me, I just dont see it as a career path for me. Both schools do have great research that I would love to partake in small projects, but my main goal as of now is to specialize. Does being top in research really carry that much weight?
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Absolutely.
 
journeyofhope2017 said:
In what ways exactly?
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better chances to meet big guys in dental research and to publish papers in journals with higher impact factors

These two will serve as residency application boost and will help you to go to more toptier university residency programs than community residencies.
And you may change your mind and you can do dmd phd at UAB as well.

These are just my two cents and I also agree that both Columbia and UAB are great schools.
 
Teethyman said:
I was wondering if anyone would be willing to provide much needed advice on making such a difficult decision!

Right now, I intend to pursue a career in OMFS and want to pick the school that will best prepare me to achieve my goals. While I understand cost always plays a role, I believe it is naive to choose a school solely on finances.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

What did you end up picking and why?
 
Make sure you know what you want to do. Fewer OMFS actually want to go into academics vs private practice (just like in any other specialty).
I'm going to have to argue that rank/CBSE >>>> research > extracurriculars in general. Plenty of people on these boards were just top 15 with a decent 70+ CBSE and matched. Check the 2014-2017 OMFS interview/match threads to confirm this or just google around. If you want to do OMFS (at 4 or 6) research is not nearly as big a variable compared to a med student trying to do say derm, and even then, step 1 >>> research in med school lol. Also since dental school has so much more time sinks, I feel they don't expect as much research compared to medicine b/c med students literally learn for their boards and have more down time to do research during the year while many dental faculty say only to do it in the summer since rank mattesr.

However I think you want to go into academics or something so it may be different, but for the general population who wants private practice OMFS, it's pretty unnecessary.
 
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