Experiences at Harvard and/or UPenn

[MSZ]

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For those of you that may have applied to Harvard and/or UPenn or have chosen one over the other after being accepted, would you mind sharing why? I've been to both for an interview, and although both are great schools, their programs are very different. I was just curious what others thought about particular aspects such as taking classes with medical students, having or not having clinical experience until third year, what a typical day consists of, how stressful one finds the school, etc. Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[dorothyl]

For those of you that may have applied to Harvard and/or UPenn or have chosen one over the other after being accepted, would you mind sharing why? I've been to both for an interview, and although both are great schools, their programs are very different. I was just curious what others thought about particular aspects such as taking classes with medical students, having or not having clinical experience until third year, what a typical day consists of, how stressful one finds the school, etc. Any insight would be appreciated.

I don't believeable that the Upenn student take classes with the medical school peoples.

I chose Harvard because it was lesser monies than Punn, Boston is better than Philly (in my opinion), and I want to specialize and am interested in research. I also look like a cheesesteak sandwich.

Both schools will prepare you well for any career in densitry.

 

[edkNARF]

I don't believeable that the Upenn student take classes with the medical school peoples.

I chose Harvard because it was lesser monies than Punn, Boston is better than Philly (in my opinion), and I want to specialize and am interested in research. I also look like a cheesesteak sandwich.

Both schools will prepare you well for any career in densitry.

We don't take any classes with medical students, but some of our instructors are from the medical school. Most of our basic science faculty is all "in house."

 

[rocknightmare]

We don't take any classes with medical students, but some of our instructors are from the medical school. Most of our basic science faculty is all "in house."

thats awsome that your faculty is inhouse.. at vcu most of ours are "out of house"! we get the same faculty that med students get and it kind of sucks cause we get pretty much 0 attention from basic science professors

 

[Sprgrover]

thats awsome that your faculty is inhouse.. at vcu most of ours are "out of house"! we get the same faculty that med students get and it kind of sucks cause we get pretty much 0 attention from basic science professors

Having almost all 'inhouse' faculty is a real plus - they understand dental students and they usually go out of their way to explain the relevance of much the material (no matter how dry) to dentistry. I have also found that the faculty, and the administration for that matter, here at Penn are very approachable, appreciate student questions, and make themselves available outside of class.

 

[lnn2]

I don't believeable ....
I chose Harvard because it was lesser monies than Punn..

So I guess that Harvard accepts quite a bunch of illiterate folks?!

Both schools will prepare you well for any career in densitry.

I agree. A career in dental assistance! They're both good schools and so are others. I would chose Harvard because it's cheaper than Penn. A diploma from Harvard impresses an average Joe more so than Penn's.

 

[grmaster1]

quite a buch

What's a "buch?"

 

[tx oms]

Both schools will prepare you well for any career in densitry.

As long as you don't plan on doing lab work or using your hands.

 

[suffolktri]

Here we are again hearing a load of crap from tx oms and Inn2, you guys are so freakin hilarious, you still think everyone passes a kidney stone laughing so hard at your ivy league school jokes, jeez I passed several myself. Thanks for the laughs you guys!!!! Keep it coming, I would like to see some new material but if you want to just keep throwing the same old fodder out it will still entertain me.

To the OP, both programs are great, but the sox are in boston, learning the didactic information from the medical school was not something to complain about, and if you talk to any one of us here you'll find our clinic requirements are just as demanding as the next school for graduation (unless you take ivy league jokes as fact) and research can be a footnote to your experience, a major part or whatever you want to make of it, besides, research helps you set yourself apart for residency in most cases. Take care, good luck and feel free to pm me for any other questions you have
suffolk tri

 

[dorothyl]

As long as you don't plan on doing lab work or using your hands.

Yeah, we're trained so well that we actually cut preps with our feet...

Seriously though, we do all of our own lab work with the exception of casting PFM and ceramic crowns. Everything else is done in house to keep costs down.

-Dorothy

 

[toofache32]

...we do all of our own lab work with the exception of casting PFM and ceramic crowns. Everything else is done in house to keep costs down...

...from the redo's.

 

[dorothyl]

...from the redo's.

Right, because I'm sure you never had to send a crown back to the lab...You're so full of it that I can smell it all the way up here...

So why don't you go back to being a fake plastic surgeon and leave the commentary about my school to people who actually go there...

 

[toofache32]

Right, because I'm sure you never had to send a crown back to the lab...You're so full of it that I can smell it all the way up here...

So why don't you go back to being a fake plastic surgeon and leave the commentary about my school to people who actually go there...

I can pee farther than you. Sitting down.

 

[molarama]

I can pee farther than you. Sitting down.

I would go with Harvard - don't underestimate the importance of a small class size. I completely disagree with the schools that accept huge numbers of students per year.

 

[toofache32]

I would go with Harvard - don't underestimate the importance of a small class size. I completely disagree with the schools that accept huge numbers of students per year.

I would agree with that.

 

[groundhog]

Most of the comments on this thread are pure bunk. Go where you feel most comfortable. Beyond that, what you become will be on your back. A graduate of the NYU dental school (which seems to be the most slammed dental school on SDN) was selected to be the dean of the UW dental school. A recent graduate of NOVA dental school (which used to get slammed on SDN) scored in the 98 range on both NBDE I & II. A couple of years ago I heard from a dental student at a particular school on the west coast that an OMFS resident who came out of one of the east cost IVY's could not cut his way out of a paper bag. What does it all mean? Like I said what you become is on your back.

 

[molarama]

No doubt you can become a great clinician/academic/researcher no matter where you go. The point is to put yourself in a position where you are MOST likely to get on that path. DO NOT base your decision on one or two people. Go to the schools and residency programs, talk to as many students, faculty and alumni as possible (faculty of res. programs are more honest than school). They will probably be more genuine than the people on SDN - many of whom enjoy venting their pleasure/displeasure of certain programs. My 2 cents says Harvard because of the small, and selective class. And taking classes with the meds is better than "in-house" in my opinion. Lastly I've met between 20-30 grads from both Harvard and UPenn, and while I only know most of them on a superficial level, and this number is about as far from statistically significant as you can get, but for what it's worth, the Harvard grads were more impressive, seemed to get the most out of their dental school experience, and had more open doors. Other schools that stood out include UNC, McGill and SUNY Buffalo.