Does this matter when choosing a dental school?

[jlf1042]

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Should where you eventually want to do your residency (GPR or specality) and/or practice someday have any impact on what dental school you choose? From what I have seen on SDN, the answer seems like not really , but lately a lot of my professors have said its an important factor to consider.

For me particularly, I'm looking at going to school in the midwest but would eventually like to choose a residency on the east coast. Should I go to an east coast school because of this or does it really matter?? 😕

I know its super far in advance, but I want to consider everything!

 

[Surive123]

lf you loved VCU, go there, especially if you see yourself practicing in the east. Price matters, but ultimately, where would you feel the most comfortable/not regret your decision? Fortunately for you, the price discrepancy isn't as severe as say 100k or 200k in your situation (where many others are having to decide based on this). Personally, I am going where is cheapest, but apparently you are still weighing your options 😀

 

[UltimateHombre]

Go to the cheapest school available to you. You can literally do a GPR or AEGD after you graduate wherever the heck you want. Where you went to school will literally have no bearing on that decision. However, if you want to get into a competitive program (like a VA hospital), your class rank and LORs will be weighed in. Your school will not...

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=970137

 

[missdiana]

I want to say it won't matter but I also heard some stuff while working at dental schools and talking to professors at dental schools (since I am getting treated and working there)

What professors said is that school doesn't matter much but WHO writes your LOR matters.
Also that affects when you want to get a job at associates as well. They tend to look at your LoR and WHO wrote that LoR. If it is someone well known in that area or have some sort of trust were built before, then your LoR has more power.

So it is tricky to say that school doesn't matter when it comes to get the residency because it is not school that matters but geographically, people tend to know each other better and heard about them better if they are close (and for East coast people - we feel like we are superior than other part of the USA....as East coast resident, I can tell you that for sure. Professors often makes fun of Conferences in Cali or Hawaii as if it it not serious at all.)

So I think you should look in to more on where you want to go exactly and some back-ups
as well.

 

[UltimateHombre]

I want to say it won't matter but I also heard some stuff while working at dental schools and talking to professors at dental schools (since I am getting treated and working there)

What professors said is that school doesn't matter much but WHO writes your LOR matters.
Also that affects when you want to get a job at associates as well. They tend to look at your LoR and WHO wrote that LoR. If it is someone well known in that area or have some sort of trust were built before, then your LoR has more power.

So it is tricky to say that school doesn't matter when it comes to get the residency because it is not school that matters but geographically, people tend to know each other better and heard about them better if they are close (and for East coast people - we feel like we are superior than other part of the USA....as East coast resident, I can tell you that for sure. Professors often makes fun of Conferences in Cali or Hawaii as if it it not serious at all.)

So I think you should look in to more on where you want to go exactly and some back-ups
as well.

I would agree with you, but this is only the case for competitive residencies. GPR and AEGD slots go unfilled every year. They are by and large not considered competitive.

Furthermore, I doubt having a letter from an esteemed faculty member would help that much or an associate position. It would be much more dependent on your personality and clinical skills. Like other jobs, references rarely matter much and has much more to do with you and what you bring to the table.

 

[jlf1042]

Surive Im actually about 90% sure its gonna be Iowa. Loved both schools, and the areas so will prob be comfortable with both. Iowa City is actually pretty similar to where I live now, and with the OOS scholarship it should be considerably cheaper! Anyways starting to tell ppl my decision and they brought up the question I asked above... putting doubts in my head
Gotta stop being so indecisive!

Thanks Hombre for the link 👍 that post was awesome! I never really considered the debt until the past few months... definitely scary stuff!