Dental School Ratings?

[Doggie]

---

Members do not see this ad.

It's rather unfair that Dental schools are not rated just like Medical schools. I mean...cmon....even nursing school are rated.

Anyways, I just wanted a tally of what you think are the top dental schools in the US of Canada. Please do not be biased and just say that the school you are accepted in to is the best or any thinking along that line.

For research, I pick Harvard as #1.
For clinic, I pick Columbia as #1.

What are your thoughts?

Go Cal....class of 2000.

 

[Vroom]

After seeing first-hand many dental schools across the nation, I am convinced that UCLA is the all around best dental school. UCLA all the way BABY!!

The clinical labs are phenomenal, research opportunities are premiere, great instruction, awesome campus and surrounding community. Also, the stats on the National Boards for Part 1 and 2 are incredible.

The amount of students that go onto speciality programs is HIGH.

And not to mention the beautiful weather, beach, mountains, etc. etc. etc.

You definitely can't beat UCLA...#1 BABY

 

[Vroom]

pwm519:

That is a great article about U. of Conn, but I am wondering if the board scores that are reported in that article are including the entire U.S. or just the Northeastern region. Just curious if you know any info. about this.

Nevertheless, I have heard nothing but awesome thing about U. of Conn. I know it is definitely has a premiere dental program.

Vroom

[This message has been edited by Vroom (edited March 28, 2001).]

 

[Doggie]

I've never heard of the stats about Uconn yet..... I did however interview with several schools and noticed that University of Pacific is also one of the top rated schools....mainly because they have the passing rate of about 97% on part I and 94% on part II. According to national statistics, it's rated up there....

Nevertheless, I still chose to attend Columbia because it had a passing rate of 100% last year for part I...I am not too sure about part II. Another reason is that Columbia also has a program in Oral Surgery.....hopefully, i can get into that as well...

 

[Doggie]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by animal5163:
i attend one of the 'ivey league' schools in the east coatst. i tend to agree the UConn is a superb school. it is a P/F system, and the class sizes are small, and the school is very laid back. if any of you get accepted there, i suggest you go ahead and enrol!

a few schools which i would think are better in terms of tuition and prestige are harvard, ucla, and state schools b/c you pay less tuition.•

For those students who attend P/F schools, how do they apply to specialities? I thought most of all speciality programs require some sort of class ranking system.

 

[Vroom]

Hey Doggie,

To answer your question about how schools determine class ranking when they are on a p/f system for the purpose of specialty programs:

For UCLA there is a P/F/High Honors system. Only students that score within the top 5% (maybe it is 10%) will get a High Honor credit while everyone else will get a Pass or a Fail credit. At the end of the four years, whoever has the most High Honor credits is the top-ranked student and so forth.

For U. of Conn., even though they are on a P/F system, the administrators DO keep track of actual scores on tests. So even though the students don't know who is #1 or #2 and so on, the administrators DO by averaging out student test scores. When it comes time to writing those FAT letters of recommendation for specialty programs, more weight is given to students that are higher ranked. This is info that I was told by an administrator at U. of Conn.

Hope this helps. Anyone who can add to this, please do...=)

Vroom

 

[dds2b]

I believe it's tough to pick a #1 overall school based on the fact that each school has different objectives and goals. It might be easier to rank schools on subareas and not overall, since one school can prepare their students well in matching into specialties, while another school does a better job at producing gen dentists.

Maybe we can rank schools into subcategories for producing researchers, gen dentists, specialists, the facilities, board scores, class size, cost, and the city the school is situated in.

For research, I believe UWash, UCSF, UCLA, Upenn, and Harvard are the top 5. They all receive a lot of research money.

For those opting for gen dentistry: almost any school will produce an excellent GD, but I think UOP amd Temple are up at the top due to the early clinical experience.

For getting tons of patients, ou don't have to worry about not getting enough at NYU and Temple.

For producing specialists: UCLA, UW, UConn, UPenn, and Columbia are up at the top or near the top.

I don't know too much about the schools in the southeast and Texas, so I don't know how well they perform on boards or specialty placements.

These are just my opinion and it's best to make your own list and see which schools meet your needs.

Good luck!

 

[GoBear]

Sorry, this is kinda off topic...

animal5163, r u currenly attending an ivy league dental school, or meds school? I remember you being one of the above from prior posts....but I could be mixing you up with someone else. Just curious!

Go Bears!

 

[Doggie]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by Vroom:
Hey Doggie,

To answer your question about how schools determine class ranking when they are on a p/f system for the purpose of specialty programs:

For UCLA there is a P/F/High Honors system. Only students that score within the top 5% (maybe it is 10%) will get a High Honor credit while everyone else will get a Pass or a Fail credit. At the end of the four years, whoever has the most High Honor credits is the top-ranked student and so forth.

For U. of Conn., even though they are on a P/F system, the administrators DO keep track of actual scores on tests. So even though the students don't know who is #1 or #2 and so on, the administrators DO by averaging out student test scores. When it comes time to writing those FAT letters of recommendation for specialty programs, more weight is given to students that are higher ranked. This is info that I was told by an administrator at U. of Conn.

Hope this helps. Anyone who can add to this, please do...=)

Vroom

•

Thanks Vroom!

Thanks for the wonderful insight. It's rather contradicting how some schools claim that they do not want to promote competitiveness among students by integrating a P/F system......yet it is so sneaky of them to secretly rank the students.

Nevertheless, I best be kicking some ass in school if i want to specialize!!

 

[Doggie]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by animal5163:
Doggie

i do not think by just going to a 'reputable' school, you can specialize easier. another point is that HMO's are moving in on dentistry just like they moved in on doctors, and reduced that salaries. the best specialty in dentistry is ortho, and it is the hardest to get into. endo, perio and OMS are also good. OMS i beleive is getting easier to get into because not enough students are applying for it (6 year residency), and some spots were not filled in last year.

by far, the person that makes the most money is the general dentist if you can market yourself well. but you need to be a good business person. so i suggest all of you consider specialties more carefully before jumping in the fray.

overall, i would suggest that any of you that got into public schools, go there and pay less tuition so you can graduate with a lower debt! if you want to specialize, do a GPR and apply, or if your marks are good, you can get in right after dental school.

•

Thanks for the concern, but I am not attending the "reputable" school because it is "reputable." I will be attending Columbia because I like the profs (or whatever u call them), equipments, and its high reputation for having outstanding board scores. One other reason is that I am really interested in OMS, which they do offer.

 

[ORdoc]

Just wanted to offer my little bit of advice.
It is funny reading these posts, because I see myself 3 years ago when I was trying to decide where to go. I know it is difficult to put other factors above the prestige of a schools name, however that is what I believe you should do. The best advice is exactly what animal has told you. Graduate from the school that will saddle you with the least debt. I am finishing my third year, and plan to do a residency in OMFS. I go to school about 130 blocks south of Columbia so I'll let you figure out where I go.
Here is my current situation. When I graduate, I'll have over 200,000 in debt, and be looking at least 4 years of residency. Thats a big obstacle financially.
As I said earlier, everyone wants to go to what is percieved to be the best school, but the fact of the matter is the name wont teach you anatomy, path, physi, any better than another. If your a good student you will do well anywhere. What school you go to means nothing as far as residency. Be at the top of your class, and score high on the boards and you get what you want. We matched eight of nine this year in omfs, and ten for eleven last year. And our reputaion on part 2 of the boards is terrible.
I suppose if you are interested in research you should attend a school that is strong in that, not my cup of tea.
Also, if anyone thinks that they are ready to step into private practice after only an undergraduated dental experience and have a successful private practice you are delusional. Dentistry is very similar to medical school in the sence that it only gives you a framework for how things are done.
I would love to clarify any of this or take this dicussion in a different direction.

P.S. Best questions to ask dental students is not about professors, and board scores, ask them about numbers of proceedurs they have completed. i.e. crowns, dentures etc.

No matter where you go, your actual experienc in the clinical years will pale in comparison to a practice. The more you do the better dentist you will be.

 

[Doggie]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by animal5163:
i meant to say, if you want pros and cons about columbia, email me•

Hey...

Why not just post it here? I'm sure there are other people who would like to know as well.

As for the financial burden that some of you are wondering about, it's really not an issue for me. My parents offered to pay for my ride.....but I still prefer taking out loans and make it on my own.

You fellaz really think Columbia is a bad school academically and clinically?

I pretty much narrowed down my choices to UOP and Columbia and finally chose Columbia. Here is the basis for my choice. I am really not interested in PBL nor researched oriented curriculum as is offered by many schools out there. That pretty much narrowed down my choices to UCSF, UCLA, UOP, and Columbia (out of the schools that i applied for...incidentally, Tufts just straight out rejected me). UCLA has really old equipments and not really up to date with its facilities.....so that's out. After visiting UCSF and UOP, I narrowed it down to UOP, since UOP practically beats UCSF in every aspects (lab, instructor, scores, etc..). Also, UOP adopts this system called the "humanistic approach" to dentistry....basically what this entails is that instructors do not try to "weed" you out as with most other med school; there is a humanly touch to everything in that school. One thing that pushed me away from UOP is that it does not have a good program for pairing students with speciality programs.

Columbia is very clinically driven while incorporating a right amount of research program. They've got the correct balance that I was looking for. The faculty made me feel welcome. It also has that "humanistic approach" offered by UOP. I checked the stats for all the scores and placements %.........it is really high. The lab is also very top-notch. Also, I've also been in LA and SF practically my whole life....it's good to get a change of pace and go to NY.

I'm not really interested in going to schools in nebraska or montana (or in the middle of nowhere).....it's too rustic and boring out there. I crave the fast-paced city life.

 

[Vroom]

Hey Animal,

From reading all your posts about Columbia Dental School, it sounds as though you basically hate the place. I mean it can't be that bad, can it??

Care to give some specifics about your horrific experience there?

Vroom

 

[Doggie]

Hey Animal,

Sounds like you really hate attending Columbia, eh? Well, it's good to know that some residency programs do not look at grades and only on the board scores. Many people would agree that columbia is one of the most competitive dental school in the nation. Even if a student performed "average" with respect to the class, that student would still be considered one of the "tops" in the nation....mainly because attending such a competitive school is already a feat in itself! Do you not agree?

This brings me to another point. (rather off topic) Many admission boards stress highly on undergrad GPA, regardless of where the student attended school. I know of many undergrad students who attended "crappy" state schools and still got accepted into dental schools because they had GPA's of around 3.6. That to me is totally absurd. Looking at the GPA alone is not a true basis for measuring the person's academic standing. As you can see, going to a competitive school does have its advantages.

Just my 2 pennies (not calculated according to current market fluctuation)

 

[Kawaii]

I noticed that none of you have mentioned anything about Univ. Of Michigan. There is a great chance that I might be going over there, so I am just curious what you guys think of it. Someone told me once that NYU's tuition is way too high for what we can actually learn in the school. They gave me an interview, but I am not sure if I should really consider it. I've spent 4 and half years in Berkeley, so going to a big city like NY just sounds very timepting. What do you guys think I should do? ^^

 

[Doggie]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by Kawaii:
I noticed that none of you have mentioned anything about Univ. Of Michigan. There is a great chance that I might be going over there, so I am just curious what you guys think of it. Someone told me once that NYU's tuition is way too high for what we can actually learn in the school. They gave me an interview, but I am not sure if I should really consider it. I've spent 4 and half years in Berkeley, so going to a big city like NY just sounds very timepting. What do you guys think I should do? ^^•

Hey Kawaii,

I recently look at the gourman's report (published by princeton review) and here is the "low-down" on the dental school ratings.

1. Harvard
2. UCSF
3. U mich, ann arbor
4. Columbia
5. U Penn

As you see on this list, Michigan is ranked up there. However, you shouldnt really rely too much on the list. There are essentially 2 diff types of dental schools: clinical vs research. Do some investigation of your own and see which one fits your needs.

I spent 4 years at cal and now working in the city. I really like the city life, that's why NY was so enticing for me.

 

[Vroom]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by Doggie:
Hey Kawaii,

I recently look at the gourman's report (published by princeton review) and here is the "low-down" on the dental school ratings.

1. Harvard
2. UCSF
3. U mich, ann arbor
4. Columbia
5. U Penn

As you see on this list, Michigan is ranked up there. However, you shouldnt really rely too much on the list. There are essentially 2 diff types of dental schools: clinical vs research. Do some investigation of your own and see which one fits your needs.

I spent 4 years at cal and now working in the city. I really like the city life, that's why NY was so enticing for me.

•

Doggie,

Hmmmm, I don't know about that Gourman Report of dental rankings. First of all, the most recent Gourman Report ranking dental schools was in 1995! That was six years ago. Second, the only other company that ranks dental schools is U.S. News and World Report--the most recent being the 1996 survey. Between these two companies, they have stirred up so much controversy with their "dental ranking system" among administrators, faculty, students, and alumni of U.S. dental schools across the nation that dental schools are no longer being ranked. Has anyone seen any dental ranking system since 1996? I haven't. It has been five years since the last dental school ranking!

The reason:

It is very hard to determine the ranking of dental schools across the nation simply because they are so different from each other. Some are strong research-based schools (Harvard, UCSF, Columbia, etc.), some are strong clinical-based schools (Temple, U of Pacific, New York although some might disagree with this), some have an equal mixture of research and clinical, etc., etc., etc. Basically, each dental school has its own unique curriculum. So who is to say that one dental school is better than the other. It is subjective and carries no merit in my opinion to say that one school is better than another. However, for each individual, there is a #1 school and that is determined by a person's own specific needs. For me, I wanted a strong clinical- and research-based school, a school that has extremely high board scores on Part 1 and 2, high percentage of students going into specialty programs, great professors, fun campus environment, sunny weather, beach and mountains close by. UCLA, in my opinion was the only school that I found that had all this and more!

Anyway, regarding the dental ranking system, no dental ranking system has "proven itself" or given justice to dental schools across the nation. Therefore, there hasn't been a dental school ranking since 1996! When I look at the dental school rankings of the U.S. News and World Report and the Gourman Report, it really means nothing to me.

Anyway, this is my 2 cents...=)

Vroom

 

[DrDMD05]

I just found a ranking:
1) Tufts

 

[Doggie]

Animal, Vroom, and others....

I agree with you Animal....it all boils down to the stardardized testings (DAT, boards, etc). My GPA in undergrad sucked ass, but conversely, I kicked ass on my DAT...21 average and 23 on PAT. If I were to look at my my ranks in undergrad, I would probably be somewhere in the middle. Strangely enough, I was accepted to various dental schools.....so the admission committee does take the school's competitiveness into some sort of consideration.

As for the dental school rankings, I didnt really pay attention to the year of the gourman report. Perhaps it is an old publication. I did read somwehre that US News had to remove its dental school rankings because of all the controversies involved with the faculty and curriculum.

At any rate, I agree that there is no definitive ranking system that can be used to score dental schools. I do believe that all dental schools are are categorized either as 1) research or 2) clinical. I merely started this thread to ask for all the pre-dental students' opinions.

We should start more open-ended threads like this. This forum is still nothing compared to the activity in the med students' forum. Keep it up guys.

My 1 cent.....(anyone got a penny to lend me?)

 

[dds2b]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by Doggie:

My 1 cent.....(anyone got a penny to lend me?)•

Do you have change for a nickel?

Wherever you end up, you're gonna have a DDS or DMD behind your name.

 

[Kawaii]

Thank you guys for answering my question ^^

I agree with Doggie on his comment on undergrad GPA and DAT. My GPA was not very competitive, especially my O. Chem grade. However, I did score a 22 on that particular subject which surprised a lot of professors that interviewed me. That was basically one of the first questions that they asked me during the interviews. So, I would believe that DAT and undergrad school which we attend do play a significant part in the reviewing process.

As for dental school ranking, I don't think I really care about it that much anymore. I think the most important thing is to like the school and try to enjoy it as much as we can. If we can pass the board exam and be really good at our jobs, who cares which school we went to, right? ^^

Thanks again for all of your "cents", they were really informative. I just wish that I could have give you guys something back.... I am afraid that I am a little be short on change compared to you guys ^^

 

[Doggie]

Kawaii,

Just out of curiosity, what major were you in cal? Let me take a wild guess.....MCB?

I was in MEB - Molecular Environmental Biology with emphasis on microbiology....basically I majored in microbiology.

My 2 cents.......hold on...OH SHOOT!

I lost my pennies!

 

[Dr. Pedo]

The US News & World Report ranked U. of Iowa #3 in the nation (1994/97) and Harvard didn't even make the top 12-----Go figure. Check it out for yourself at:

http://members.tripod.com/~softballteam/best.html

Although I'm bias towards Iowa---I'm not buying it for a second.

Point is: Find the school that fits you best and generates the least amount of debt. Specialties are open to all top students from nearly every university. It is better to be ranked #1-5 (w/ good boards) at Public University of USA then 25th at Harvard. IF you don't understand that----then you obviously don't understand the specialty selection process.

Good luck to all,

R.R.B



[This message has been edited by Dr.2b (edited March 30, 2001).]

 

[Waitlisted2009]

.

 

[predentstud]

The US News & World Report ranked U. of Iowa #3 in the nation (1994/97) and Harvard didn't even make the top 12-----Go figure. Check it out for yourself at:

http://members.tripod.com/~softballteam/best.html

Although I'm bias towards Iowa---I'm not buying it for a second.

Point is: Find the school that fits you best and generates the least amount of debt. Specialties are open to all top students from nearly every university. It is better to be ranked #1-5 (w/ good boards) at Public University of USA then 25th at Harvard. IF you don't understand that----then you obviously don't understand the specialty selection process.

Good luck to all,

R.R.B



[This message has been edited by Dr.2b (edited March 30, 2001).]

When you say your bias towards Iowa do you mean for Iowa or against Iowa??

 

[PSU SHC 414]

It's rather unfair that Dental schools are not rated just like Medical schools. I mean...cmon....even nursing school are rated.

Anyways, I just wanted a tally of what you think are the top dental schools in the US of Canada. Please do not be biased and just say that the school you are accepted in to is the best or any thinking along that line.

For research, I pick Harvard as #1.
For clinic, I pick Columbia as #1.

What are your thoughts?

Go Cal....class of 2000.

You couldn't be further off-base saying that Columbia is #1 for clinic... if anything, I think there's a general consensus that Columbia's clinical training is subpar to say the least.

I've heard this first-hand from Columbia D4s, and I quote "Don't come here if you know that you want to be a GP b/c clinical training is not a focus here...". Dr. MacManus flat out said, in a room full of interviewees, "Don't even consider coming here if you don't have a desire to specialize..."

My own dentist who did his GPR at Columbia (did D school at Temple) said that the clinical skills of Columbia grads were among the worst of all his peers.

As far as research is concerned, I'm not sure how much weight you all give to NIH funding received, but here's a listing:

http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/GrantsAndF...talSchools/GrantstoDentalInstitutions2007.htm

Don't see Harvard anywhere near the top of that list... but again, I don't think this ranking is necessarily the only measure of what the "top" dental schools for research are.


Wow, just realized I replied to a post from 2001... oops.

 

[Waitlisted2009]

.

 

[DrReo]

Do you want to be a dentist or a researcher?

 

[PSU SHC 414]

Use the latest Data

http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/GrantsAndF...talSchools/GrantstoDentalInstitutions2008.htm

My bad... I had that link saved as a "Favorite"... thanks for the updated info!

And Dr. Reo's right - for most prospective D students, the amt of research funding a dental school gets should be towards the bottom of their list when it comes to "ranking".

To me, the amt of funding a D school gets is merely an indication of how well-rounded the school is... is this necessarily an indication of the quality of dental training you'll receive? Maybe, maybe not...

 

[Hysteria24]

What people thought 8 years ago

I'd like to emphasize this ^


For all those trying to debate with the OP and other early posters, remember this thread was created at the beginning of this decade! Additionally, things change over that long of a time period (especially the general perception of schools here on SDN) so you're almost comparing apples to oranges.

 

[cwebb4]

What an ancient thread~
Just let you guys know, op went to parkland os. His path turned out to be great.