D1 AMA at columbia

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tyjacobs

tyjacobs

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Now that this application cycle is coming to a close and that nobody seems to have posted an AMA recently, I'm officially making my own AMA. As title says, I am a D1.

Ask any question you want from, why the hell are you paying so much to go to dental school to how are you surviving D1 to chance me for dental school to anything (I will attempt to answer ALL questions posted on this thread)
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Congrats! Columbia is an amazing school!!

What made you choose Columbia over your other options? How much of the living expenses in NYC can be decreased?
 
Thanks for this Ty. Here you go

why the hell are you paying so much to go to dental school

how are you surviving D1

Is it a waste of money to attend Columbia if you aren't sure if you want to specialize

How is the rigor of biomedical curriculum mixed in with the dental coursework that the med students don't need to do?

Keep in mind (I'm still hoping for a Columbia Acceptance, interviewed Mid December) my only option is attending Nova which is similar in cost. My state school rejected me
 
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Alpha Centauri said:
Thanks for this Ty. Here you go

why the hell are you paying so much to go to dental school

how are you surviving D1

Is it a waste of money to attend Columbia if you aren't sure if you want to specialize

How is the rigor of biomedical curriculum mixed in with the dental coursework that the med students don't need to do?

Keep in mind (I'm still hoping for a Columbia Acceptance, interviewed Mid December) my only option is attending Nova which is similar in cost. My state school rejected me
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I second all of these.
 
Alpha Centauri said:
Thanks for this Ty. Here you go

why the hell are you paying so much to go to dental school

how are you surviving D1

Is it a waste of money to attend Columbia if you aren't sure if you want to specialize

How is the rigor of biomedical curriculum mixed in with the dental coursework that the med students don't need to do?

Keep in mind (I'm still hoping for a Columbia Acceptance, interviewed Mid December) my only option is attending Nova which is similar in cost
Click to expand...

@fantasy football pro

why i think its worth it to pay $ to go to columbia:
- if you want to specialize --> we have very high specalization rates

- if you want to pursue a career in academics/research --> research opportunities at columbia are tremendous (we have some big time dental researchers i.e. jeremy mao, mildred embree just to name 2). one thing that separates columbia from other schools is that you have numerous opportunities to pursue interdiciplinary research (doing research with non-dentists/non-dental related research). also have an opportunity to get a masters in education through teachers college (one of the best schools for education in the country) --> I'm pretty sure you don't need to pay for the masters on top of your dental education (big added bonus)

- you are interested in public health/lobbying/working with govt --> first you can get an MPH through mailman school of public health (one of the best in the country, again) and I know for a fact you wouldn't need to pay tuition to get the MPH on top of dental school tuition (big added bonus). We have the largest population oral health division in the country -- many of the professors have had experience working in and with government. Our department head Dr. burton edelstein is very accomplished in all of this (https://www.dental.columbia.edu/profile/burton-l-edelstein-mph)


how I am surviving D1 - i obviously can only comment about columbia:
one of my classmates @nateriver put it this way -- dental school is like studying for the DAT every day. But keep in mind this is more geared toward the students who are trying to do well and specialize. Dental school is about time management, your ability to MEMORIZE, and your ability to be committed to studying almost every day.

if you are at columbia and you have 0 intention of specalizing, then everything is very manageable. We are graded Honors, pass, faill (some classes are only pass/fail). So if you want to just be a general dentist, you just need to pass all the courses which isn't that hard to do (you'll be doing more work than in undergrad, but it wouldn't be anything too crazy)


about the biomedial curriculum:
I love it -- the quality of the biomedical education is fantastic. I think that dentistry is becoming an increasingly interdisciplinary field, and having a biomedical background will become increasingly important in our lifetimes.

With regards to how its mixed in with our dental curriculum:
our first semester was: clinical gross anatomy, molecular mechanisms (biochem+histology/pathology+dev bio+pharmacology+genetics), dental anatomy, preclinical lab

second semester is: body health and disease 1 (microbio, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, pulm-heme, renal), operative dentistry, preclin lab 2, population oral health workshop (discussing dental public health), psychiatry, physical diagnosis, fundamental analytical skills in dental medicine (discussing research design), another class on shadowing 4th year dental students and gaining first exposure to clinic
 
tyjacobs said:
@fantasy football pro

why i think its worth it to pay $ to go to columbia:
- if you want to specialize --> we have very high specalization rates

- if you want to pursue a career in academics/research --> research opportunities at columbia are tremendous (we have some big time dental researchers i.e. jeremy mao, mildred embree just to name 2). one thing that separates columbia from other schools is that you have numerous opportunities to pursue interdiciplinary research (doing research with non-dentists/non-dental related research). also have an opportunity to get a masters in education through teachers college (one of the best schools for education in the country) --> I'm pretty sure you don't need to pay for the masters on top of your dental education (big added bonus)

- you are interested in public health/lobbying/working with govt --> first you can get an MPH through mailman school of public health (one of the best in the country, again) and I know for a fact you wouldn't need to pay tuition to get the MPH on top of dental school tuition (big added bonus). We have the largest population oral health division in the country -- many of the professors have had experience working in and with government. Our department head Dr. burton edelstein is very accomplished in all of this (https://www.dental.columbia.edu/profile/burton-l-edelstein-mph)


how I am surviving D1 - i obviously can only comment about columbia:
one of my classmates @nateriver put it this way -- dental school is like studying for the DAT every day. But keep in mind this is more geared toward the students who are trying to do well and specialize. Dental school is about time management, your ability to MEMORIZE, and your ability to be committed to studying almost every day.

if you are at columbia and you have 0 intention of specalizing, then everything is very manageable. We are graded Honors, pass, faill (some classes are only pass/fail). So if you want to just be a general dentist, you just need to pass all the courses which isn't that hard to do (you'll be doing more work than in undergrad, but it wouldn't be anything too crazy)


about the biomedial curriculum:
I love it -- the quality of the biomedical education is fantastic. I think that dentistry is becoming an increasingly interdisciplinary field, and having a biomedical background will become increasingly important in our lifetimes.

With regards to how its mixed in with our dental curriculum:
our first semester was: clinical gross anatomy, molecular mechanisms (biochem+histology/pathology+dev bio+pharmacology+genetics), dental anatomy, preclinical lab

second semester is: body health and disease 1 (microbio, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, pulm-heme, renal), operative dentistry, preclin lab 2, population oral health workshop (discussing dental public health), psychiatry, physical diagnosis, fundamental analytical skills in dental medicine (discussing research design), another class on shadowing 4th year dental students and gaining first exposure to clinic
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Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Being able to pursue other degrees free of charge was insanely appealing to me. I really want to attend the school. It's just a matter of being accepted or not at this point!
 
1. What have been your best purchases for dental school? (ex if a laptop or loupes or backpack or whatever has been great)

2. What has been your greatest struggle so far?

3. How much free-time do you have after class to just relax and not think of school?

4. What outside of school resources have you encountered that have been helpful to you for classes?

5. What advice would you give someone just starting this coming year?

6. Whats the best food nearby?

7. How many cutthroat gunners do you have in your class? are you one of them?
 
Endeross said:
1. What have been your best purchases for dental school? (ex if a laptop or loupes or backpack or whatever has been great)
Click to expand...

1. best purchase
a good laptop
lots of students have ipad or microsoft surface where they take notes on ( i dont have this)
you'll eventually buy loupes but not for d1

2. What has been your greatest struggle so far?
adjusting studying habits and learning how to memorize as quick as possible

3. How much free-time do you have after class to just relax and not think of school?
I'm trying to do ortho so grades matter a lot. So I will have less free time than another student who's trying to be a general dentist, or oral surgery (coming from columbia, grades don't matter too much for OMFS --> cbse score is number 1 importance)
So i am going out like 2 times a week unless its the weekend before an exam

4. What outside of school resources have you encountered that have been helpful to you for classes?
i know every dental school will say this but honestly we have SOOOOOO many resources:
- upper class students make a google drive for us with all notes and stuff
- upper class students post advice on facebook group, also very approachable
- upper class students hold exam reviews before exam

5. What advice would you give someone just starting this coming year?
- be comfortable with sutdying every day
- figure out the best way to memorize large amounts of info in a short amount of time

6. Whats the best food nearby?
- this dominican food place called malecon on 175th and broadway

7. How many cutthroat gunners do you have in your class? are you one of them?
lol im not a gunner
and none really --> like there are definitely some kids who are very motivated to do well, but they aren't going to be gunner in the fact that they won't help anyone else
 
Alpha Centauri said:
Quick question. How manageable is it to incorporate getting an MBA or MPh degree while being a full time dental student ?
Click to expand...

for MBA and MPH -- you complete MPH/MBA + DDS in 5 years

note for MBA you will have to pay tuition for MBA (but then again you are getting a columbia MBA degree so you might not even do dentistry all together)
 
Is columbia P/F/H in every class? Is honors needed to specialize?
What if you rank in the bottom third of the class?
Will honors and ranking continue the next four years at Columbia and are any other changes to be anticipated the next 4 years?
 
hopefuldentist123 said:
Is columbia P/F/H in every class? Is honors needed to specialize?
What if you rank in the bottom third of the class?
Will honors and ranking continue the next four years at Columbia and are any other changes to be anticipated the next 4 years?
Click to expand...

1- you dont need honors in every class unless you are going for ortho, but that may change because of the rise of the ADAT. one thing that i really appreciate about columbia is that the administration and the directors of specialties really care about the predoctoral dds students getting into specialties so they try to help you out as much as they can
2- grades fully don't determine "rank" --> it also depends how well you do in clinic (i.e. you aren't graded h/p/f in the clinic but it matters if the clinical professors like you or not and if you do a good job or not)
3- no, there is discussion that to move to pass/fail so it might change

compared to other schools, there is a less emphasis on grades unless you go to a true pass/fail school
 
If you had to chose b/w Harvard and Columbia, where would you go?
Harvard is 1 year med only. P/F, no rank. 35 kids. Research requirement which can be basically as involved as you like
 
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hopefuldentist123 said:
Is columbia P/F/H in every class? Is honors needed to specialize?
What if you rank in the bottom third of the class?
Will honors and ranking continue the next four years at Columbia and are any other changes to be anticipated the next 4 years?
Click to expand...

don't really know much about harvard's program. are you deciding between both?

@Alpha Centauri well im trying to specialize so hopefully the extra income will help afford the loans
 
tyjacobs said:
1- you dont need honors in every class unless you are going for ortho, but that may change because of the rise of the ADAT. one thing that i really appreciate about columbia is that the administration and the directors of specialties really care about the predoctoral dds students getting into specialties so they try to help you out as much as they can
2- grades fully don't determine "rank" --> it also depends how well you do in clinic (i.e. you aren't graded h/p/f in the clinic but it matters if the clinical professors like you or not and if you do a good job or not)
3- no, there is discussion that to move to pass/fail so it might change

compared to other schools, there is a less emphasis on grades unless you go to a true pass/fail school
Click to expand...


Wait so for Ortho you need to honor in EVERY class? Is this true for just Ortho or Endo and Pedo as well?
 
wengerin said:
Wait so for Ortho you need to honor in EVERY class? Is this true for just Ortho or Endo and Pedo as well?
Click to expand...

no but you want to get as many honors in classes as you can. but you need to understand, grades aren't everything at columbia. administration has 3 types of recommendation for specialty programs (which is how they convey rank and why you want honors -- most program directors don't know what an H vs. P means on transcript): highest recommended, strongly recommended, recommended. now you think this means that we are ranked in 3rds based on grades, BUT people in middle 3rd of class can get highest recommendation and vice versa. This is because the recommendation takes into account many things other than grades, mainly how you perform in clinic (do clinical profs like you, do your patients like you, NOT what grades you get in clinic because its graded pass fail by then). Its nice because you know you don't need to kill yourself over getting the H


no idea about endo/pedo
 
tyjacobs said:
no but you want to get as many honors in classes as you can. but you need to understand, grades aren't everything at columbia. administration has 3 types of recommendation for specialty programs (which is how they convey rank and why you want honors -- most program directors don't know what an H vs. P means on transcript): highest recommended, strongly recommended, recommended. now you think this means that we are ranked in 3rds based on grades, BUT people in middle 3rd of class can get highest recommendation and vice versa. This is because the recommendation takes into account many things other than grades, mainly how you perform in clinic (do clinical profs like you, do your patients like you, etc.). Its nice because you know you don't need to kill yourself over getting the H


no idea about endo/pedo
Click to expand...

Okay good to know, just have to keep that all in mind going in.

Did you shadow an Endo or a Pedo or did you always know you want to be an Ortho? I am eyeing Ortho now but haven't seen those other two, does Columbia offer the chance to check out all the specialties?
 
1. How are exams/quizzes spread out 1st year (and 2nd/3rd/4th if you happen to know)?
2. Do they give you protected studying time for boards or do most people also have classes/clinic to worry about?
3. What's your favorite study app?
 
socal6 said:
1. How are exams/quizzes spread out 1st year (and 2nd/3rd/4th if you happen to know)?
2. Do they give you protected studying time for boards or do most people also have classes/clinic to worry about?
3. What's your favorite study app?
Click to expand...

1. there is a block from october through thanksgiving where you are having an exam every week. second semester exams/quizzes better spread out (except for februrary where you have an exam like once a week)
2. yes, extended winter break after 1st semester 2nd yr
3. professor's slides --> no apps needed
 
wengerin said:
Okay good to know, just have to keep that all in mind going in.

Did you shadow an Endo or a Pedo or did you always know you want to be an Ortho? I am eyeing Ortho now but haven't seen those other two, does Columbia offer the chance to check out all the specialties?
Click to expand...

never shadowed endo/pedo

yes. they do an EXCELLENT job with that. all of the specialty dept heads are so welcoming. they tell you if you want to shadow just to show up unnanounced whenever (legit)
 
Are the students in your graduating class homogeneous? Is there a certain stereotypical "columbia dental student?"

I know schools talk about diversity but want to know if thats really the case and if so to what extent
 
icaD said:
Are the students in your graduating class homogeneous? Is there a certain stereotypical "columbia dental student?"

I know schools talk about diversity but want to know if thats really the case and if so to what extent
Click to expand...

our class is very heterogenous. admissions definitely looks for students with quirky, interesting experiences (we have had people who worked in various other fields before coming to dentistry as an example). over 20% of our class are underrepresented minorities yearly (stats found on website)

if you want to go to columbia definitely try to engage in some cool, different experiences so you can put it on your app



note: we also have a VERY heterogenous faculty as well (very few stereotypical white old men that people might typically expect) -- you can look at faculty page on website to see
 
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I have a few more questions.

What's your favorite thing to do outside of school?

When students go out, do they go to places in Washington Heights or in Lower East side or what?

Do you live On-Campus or Off? I am still debating which I want to do.

Do you talk to/mix with anyone at the NYU Dental school? How about in the C P&S and other Columbia Programs?

Finally, is the Subway safe at night or is it safe to say if it's late and i'm alone I should get a Taxi or an Uber instead? I'm coming from the South where we drive EVERYWHERE so it'll be an adjustment.
 
wengerin said:
I have a few more questions.

What's your favorite thing to do outside of school?

When students go out, do they go to places in Washington Heights or in Lower East side or what?

Do you live On-Campus or Off? I am still debating which I want to do.

Do you talk to/mix with anyone at the NYU Dental school? How about in the C P&S and other Columbia Programs?

Finally, is the Subway safe at night or is it safe to say if it's late and i'm alone I should get a Taxi or an Uber instead? I'm coming from the South where we drive EVERYWHERE so it'll be an adjustment.
Click to expand...

What's your favorite thing to do outside of school? go out to bars/eat

When students go out, do they go to places in Washington Heights or in Lower East side or what? go downtown -- from midtown to lower east to meatpacking, etc.

Do you live On-Campus or Off? I am still debating which I want to do. off campus im from NJ you should post on 2021 facebook page asking people their experience of living on campus

Do you talk to/mix with anyone at the NYU Dental school? How about in the C P&S and other Columbia Programs? not really, yes p&s (all the time), not other programs

Finally, is the Subway safe at night or is it safe to say if it's late and i'm alone I should get a Taxi or an Uber instead? i usually taxi/uber but you should ask other people what they think (ask on 2021 fb page again)
 
@wengerin i think the subway is super safe at basically all times, maybe not the super late hours of the night...
Did you choose columbia over your state school and/or other cheaper options because you wanted to go to the school that would give you the best chance at specializing?
 
hopefuldentist123 said:
@wengerin i think the subway is super safe at basically all times, maybe not the super late hours of the night...
Did you choose columbia over your state school and/or other cheaper options because you wanted to go to the school that would give you the best chance at specializing?
Click to expand...

yes
 
Could you give us a simple breakdown of your average weekday?
 
Thanks for your notes tyjacobs, they helped me a lot for the DAT.

Just a quick chance me for the upcoming cycle:
GPA- 3.2 sGPA, 3.3 oGPA (currently)
DAT- 23AA 24TS nothing under 19
EC's: will be around 100 hours of 2-3 different activities by app time
Shadowing: 86 hours currently, will be ~110-120 by app time
Hobbies: Sketching faces (kind of good at it imo), making things out of wood in wood shop at university
Applying broadly (15-20 schools) and early (June) if I get all my LORs in on time.
Wouldn't mind going to an expensive private school.

The GPA should be around 3.25 sGPA and 3.35-3.4 oGPA by the end of the semester if all goes well, fingers crossed. Upward trend (so far) in upper-level bios in my last year before applying (junior year).

Also, since you're an NJ resident like me, what do you think about how selective Rutgers Dental is for in-state students? Is Rutgers a harder school to get into?
 
image.png


those are my classes for next week -- look to previous post where i posted all classes im taking this semester so you can understand abbreviations used

MAJOR NOTE -- amount of classes i have varies from week to week (we are in an intense week right now getting through microbio)


Classes in LIGHT GREEN -- you dont need to go to lecture (watch it online)
bhd exam review = we won't go to it --> held by med school prof --> dental school prof writes our exams totally different style than med school exams

bhd = body and health disease

ome-sa-ssn office hours == held by student success network through columbia med (some club that helps you with classes --> won't go to it will be in pcc)
 
DentalNucleicAcid said:
Thanks for your notes tyjacobs, they helped me a lot for the DAT.

Just a quick chance me for the upcoming cycle:
GPA- 3.2 sGPA, 3.3 oGPA (currently)
DAT- 23AA 24TS nothing under 19
EC's: will be around 100 hours of 2-3 different activities by app time
Shadowing: 86 hours currently, will be ~110-120 by app time
Hobbies: Sketching faces (kind of good at it imo), making things out of wood in wood shop at university
Applying broadly (15-20 schools) and early (June) if I get all my LORs in on time.
Wouldn't mind going to an expensive private school.

The GPA should be around 3.25 sGPA and 3.35-3.4 oGPA by the end of the semester if all goes well, fingers crossed. Upward trend (so far) in upper-level bios in my last year before applying (junior year).

Also, since you're an NJ resident like me, what do you think about how selective Rutgers Dental is for in-state students? Is Rutgers a harder school to get into?
Click to expand...

avg gpa of acceptance is 3.6 sci and 22 dat so yes
not sure if you'll get into rutgers tbh (low sci gpa)

probably to some private school like nyu, tufts
 
Alpha Centauri said:
+2
@DentalNucleicAcid Happy to see you did well on the DAT buddy! Long time no see
Click to expand...
Hey it's been some time 🙂 Yeah, glad it's over. The groupme was very helpful 👍
tyjacobs said:
avg gpa of acceptance is 3.6 sci and 22 dat so yes
not sure if you'll get into rutgers tbh (low sci gpa)

probably to some private school like nyu, tufts
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot for your reply. This is relieving news 😀
 
Do a lot of peers take your ortho aspirations seriously or do you get the "just another kid who thinks he'll specialize" vibe? If you can briefly describe how Pass differentiates from honors that'd be great. If not I'm sure I can find it elsewhere.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
spressomfs said:
Do a lot of peers take your ortho aspirations seriously or do you get the "just another kid who thinks he'll specialize" vibe? If you can briefly describe how Pass differentiates from honors that'd be great. If not I'm sure I can find it elsewhere.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...

i dont get the first part of the question

but in regards to the 2nd part of the question, honors is pre-defined grade for every class (i.e. 85 and above for honors) - no limit to how many kids can get it (so its not like top 10% of grades gets honors) which is better
pass is usually a 60 or a 70 which is pretty low honestly
 
tyjacobs said:
i dont get the first part of the question

but in regards to the 2nd part of the question, honors is pre-defined grade for every class (i.e. 85 and above for honors) - no limit to how many kids can get it (so its not like top 10% of grades gets honors) which is better
pass is usually a 60 or a 70 which is pretty low honestly
Click to expand...

Is the material hard, or is it just the abundance of the material that makes for the DAT studying regime? I also saw that you said that OMFS hopefuls only really shoot for passing with an occasional honors grade... do you feel like the time you spend studying compared to them is a large amount more, or is it not too big of a difference?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
What's the interview like, and what are the chances you get in after you interview?
 
DaMightyBruins said:
What's the interview like, and what are the chances you get in after you interview?
Click to expand...

not sure what the chances are you get in after you interview

interview is very chill -- definitely one of the most relax (upenn is up there too)

if you have any questions regarding interview feel free to PM me
 
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tyjacobs said:
1- you dont need honors in every class unless you are going for ortho, but that may change because of the rise of the ADAT. one thing that i really appreciate about columbia is that the administration and the directors of specialties really care about the predoctoral dds students getting into specialties so they try to help you out as much as they can
2- grades fully don't determine "rank" --> it also depends how well you do in clinic (i.e. you aren't graded h/p/f in the clinic but it matters if the clinical professors like you or not and if you do a good job or not)
3- no, there is discussion that to move to pass/fail so it might change

compared to other schools, there is a less emphasis on grades unless you go to a true pass/fail school
Click to expand...

so if I want to do AEGD or GPR, I don't have to honor classes either?
 
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