General school rankings

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

testtest123

Full Member
5+ Year Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2017
Messages
45
Reaction score
17
I'm not sure if this was asked but is there a broad list of school rankings based on some sort of aggregate scoring system? Not looking for a super specific list but even general ranking would be fine (i.e these schools are considered top tier, these schools middle, etc)

Members don't see this ad.
 
There are no rankings for dental schools, startclass rankings are bogus.

There is no such thing as a "bad" dental school. It purely comes down to your budget and what are you trying to do.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 7 users
Members don't see this ad :)
There are no rankings for dental schools, startclass rankings are bogus.

There is no such thing as a "bad" dental school. It purely comes down to your budget and what are you trying to do.

My concern is that when it comes to specifically dental school (not post-doc residency), there seems to be some consensus saying that one school is better than another. I wasn't sure if this was just purely opinionated,
 
IMO, it comes down to personal preference. Research the programs and find the ones which are right for you. Some schools may have more resources than another, but honestly, the difference will be subtle and many times, all it takes is a phone call and a little extra time to get the same (or near same) experience.

-Fyz
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
My concern is that when it comes to specifically dental school (not post-doc residency), there seems to be some consensus saying that one school is better than another. I wasn't sure if this was just purely opinionated,

It's pure opinion and word of mouth but yes some schools are much more clinically oriented than others. If your goal is to become a GP schools like UAB, Temple, etc. will be what you should be aiming for. If you do your research on SDN enough you can get a general consensus on the low down at each school. Regardless, you'll come out as a dentist though.
 
"Better" is subjective. For one person, "better" might be a school with a heavier clinical focus, whereas another's "better" may be a school that is research-heavy. It all depends what you are looking for.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
There is no such thing as a "bad" dental school. It purely comes down to your budget and what are you trying to do.
I'd say any school that struggles to graduate students or that has financial problems is a bad dental school.

Otherwise I'd agree. Any school that gets you a degree at a reasonable price (given your budget) is a good school.
 
I'd say any school that struggles to graduate students or that has financial problems is a bad dental school.

Otherwise I'd agree. Any school that gets you a degree at a reasonable price (given your budget) is a good school.

No dental school gets you a degree at a reasonable price
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I'd consider inexpensive state schools (around 300k debt) to be reasonable compared to others. Or at least relatively reasonable.


Exactly. In-state if possible. Small class size is appealing (mine: approx. 55). Stay away from the private for-profit schools. They tend to favor students that could not get into the traditional state schools .... therefore they are EXPENSIVE. Seriously once you graduate ...no one will care what school you went to.

And the most important variable imo? Does the program have a GOOD COLLEGE FOOTBALL team? :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I'd consider inexpensive state schools (around 300k debt) to be reasonable compared to others. Or at least relatively reasonable.

They're relatively reasonable, but not reasonable.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
And the most important variable imo? Does the program have a GOOD COLLEGE FOOTBALL team? :)

All jokes aside, one of the reasons I picked Michigan is because Ann Arbor is a really cool college town and game days are pretty sweet.

They're relatively reasonable, but not reasonable.

And that's why I sold my soul to the Navy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Exactly. In-state if possible. Small class size is appealing (mine: approx. 55). Stay away from the private for-profit schools. They tend to favor students that could not get into the traditional state schools .... therefore they are EXPENSIVE. Seriously once you graduate ...no one will care what school you went to.

And the most important variable imo? Does the program have a GOOD COLLEGE FOOTBALL team? :)

I'm still early on in things so my opinion might change, but I wouldn't want to be in a class too small. I like the 80-100 size personally.
 
I can't understand why some of these schools have such low acceptance rates with crappy gpa's and dat's (I'm looking at you Howard and Nova)
 
No dental school gets you a degree at a reasonable price

I would consider TX schools reasonable. 220k (at full loans) sounds like a good deal to me. Honestly full loans is pretty unnecessary too...you could get away with under 200k including all interest and fees with a roommate and a normal amount of budgeting.
 
I can't understand why some of these schools have such low acceptance rates with crappy gpa's and dat's (I'm looking at you Howard and Nova)
Nova is hardly a crappy school, let alone one with low standards for DAT and GPA. Do some research, and maybe even finish up your first semester of undergrad, before you try to slander the names of schools you may be begging to accept you in the future.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 11 users
Nova is hardly a crappy school, let alone one with low standards for DAT and GPA. Do some research, and maybe even finish up your first semester of undergrad, before you try to slander the names of schools you may be begging to accept you in the future.

He's in for a rude awakening in a few years when no one wants to write him a recc or interviewers don't like him because of arrogance
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
I would consider TX schools reasonable. 220k (at full loans) sounds like a good deal to me. Honestly full loans is pretty unnecessary too...you could get away with under 200k including all interest and fees with a roommate and a normal amount of budgeting.

Seems reasonable relative to everything else today but just remember that NYU used to cost like 150k just a decade ago.

If you want to be specializing afterwards and end up at a residency that needs tuition, being 200k in the hole already is quite a bit
 
Nova is hardly a crappy school, let alone one with low standards for DAT and GPA. Do some research, and maybe even finish up your first semester of undergrad, before you try to slander the names of schools you may be begging to accept you in the future.
Confirmation bias right here. I would be grateful to get into a dental school. Just b/c I used the word "crappy" in reference to the stats doesn't mean I think the school is sh1t. Instead of attacking me why don't you inform this ignoramus about why the stats can be so low yet the acceptance rate also stringent. I would guess it has to do with community service.

He's in for a rude awakening in a few years when no one wants to write him a recc or interviewers don't like him because of arrogance
I'm teeter-tottering on switching to pre-law entirely partially because of this reason. At least I recognize my arrogance and understand that I can only mask my personality for so long.
 
Confirmation bias right here. I would be grateful to get into a dental school. Just b/c I used the word "crappy" in reference to the stats doesn't mean I think the school is sh1t. Instead of attacking me why don't you inform this ignoramus about why the stats can be so low yet the acceptance rate also stringent. I would guess it has to do with community service.


I'm teeter-tottering on switching to pre-law entirely partially because of this reason. At least I recognize my arrogance and understand that I can only mask my personality for so long.

Nova takes a very particular type of person. UCSF is one of the most desirable dental schools in the country and has very high average stats, yet you see them outright rejecting applicants in August with 4.0s and 24s. There's no rhyme or reason to it, the school just looks for a specific type of applicant.

I'm not sure what UCSF goes for, but Nova goes for those with exceptional people skills. They drill that part into you when you go interview for them, they want a very specific environment within their school.

I don't want to judge you based off of SDN posts, but if you yourself feel like your personality is what it is on here and can't really be changed, I would also suggest moving to pre-law. You seem to have the analytical thinking for the field. With the dental field becoming saturated, competition is tough. Who do you think patients are going to go to? The mean dentist who doesn't ask how your day's been and barely listens to you, or the down-to-earth dentist who tries to connect with every patient they get and empathize with their issues?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Nova takes a very particular type of person. UCSF is one of the most desirable dental schools in the country and has very high average stats, yet you see them outright rejecting applicants in August with 4.0s and 24s. There's no rhyme or reason to it, the school just looks for a specific type of applicant.

I'm not sure what UCSF goes for, but Nova goes for those with exceptional people skills. They drill that part into you when you go interview for them, they want a very specific environment within their school.

I don't want to judge you based off of SDN posts, but if you yourself feel like your personality is what it is on here and can't really be changed, I would also suggest moving to pre-law. You seem to have the analytical thinking for the field. With the dental field becoming saturated, competition is tough. Who do you think patients are going to go to? The mean dentist who doesn't ask how your day's been and barely listens to you, or the down-to-earth dentist who tries to connect with every patient they get and empathize with their issues?
Law is way more saturated then dentistry.....
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Law is way more saturated then dentistry.....

The only reason I mentioned saturation is because he's gonna be competing with dentists with much more personable traits. You can get away with an arrogant attitude in law, saturated or not
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Seems reasonable relative to everything else today but just remember that NYU used to cost like 150k just a decade ago.

If you want to be specializing afterwards and end up at a residency that needs tuition, being 200k in the hole already is quite a bit

Hmmm...I'm not sure I completely agree with your statement. Well first off, in terms of inflation, 150k 10-15 years ago is what 200k is worth now (ballpark) but that's not the point.

That's like saying...20 years ago you could have bought a condo in NYC for 200k but NOW, since that same condo is worth 800k, it's not worth it anymore (the prices I'm saying don't matter, its the principal haha). You have to look at everything relatively. Maybe 800k for that condo is a steal! Maybe 100k for a dental education was a good deal 10-15 years ago, but today, that number is 200k. You also have to look at the state of affairs 15 years ago. How advanced was their dental training back then? Facilities? Resources? What about job perspectives? Today, because of medical insurance, it's better to be a DDS than an MD... but was that the case 15 years ago? What degrees are more valuable now? 15 years ago you could've gotten a great job out of college (for sure) or even high school. Today, good paying jobs are hard to come by but generally dentists are still doing pretty well.
 
Hmmm...I'm not sure I completely agree with your statement. Well first off, in terms of inflation, 150k 10-15 years ago is what 200k is worth now (ballpark) but that's not the point.

That's like saying...20 years ago you could have bought a condo in NYC for 200k but NOW, since that same condo is worth 800k, it's not worth it anymore (the prices I'm saying don't matter, its the principal haha). You have to look at everything relatively. Maybe 800k for that condo is a steal! Maybe 100k for a dental education was a good deal 10-15 years ago, but today, that number is 200k. You also have to look at the state of affairs 15 years ago. How advanced was their dental training back then? Facilities? Resources? What about job perspectives? Today, because of medical insurance, it's better to be a DDS than an MD... but was that the case 15 years ago? What degrees are more valuable now? 15 years ago you could've gotten a great job out of college (for sure) or even high school. Today, good paying jobs are hard to come by but generally dentists are still doing pretty well.

Even if you account for inflation, the salaries for dentists are going down. The field is not as good as it used to be, so I don't really think the tuition should be higher than it was. But I do agree that better quality of education and resources justify an increase in tuition.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Who do you think patients are going to go to? The mean dentist who doesn't ask how your day's been and barely listens to you, or the down-to-earth dentist who tries to connect with every patient they get and empathize with their issues?
While that may be true, it certainly isn't the case now. My oral surgeon's office was in disarray (literally raising his voice at the assistant while my teeth were being pulled, stating "I thought we had another assistant around here! Where are they?" as well as yelling at me to open wider) with old equipment and practices. To be fair he was in his sixties but my general dentist isn't too much better despite being significantly younger. They're incredibly money-hungry and speak to me like a child.

I also went to an older dentist who was genuinely caring, kind, and compassionate. I could visibly see tell that he was depressed and wanted to hug them.

So while ideally dental schools want a certain type of person, it doesn't work in practice. Most people of my generation will end up going to dentists who are easy to access (online scheduling comes to mind), and affordable.

I live in the mid-west so saturation for both fields isn't anything unmanageable.
 
There are no rankings for dental schools, startclass rankings are bogus.

There is no such thing as a "bad" dental school. It purely comes down to your budget and what are you trying to do.

Said the one who attended an IVY League school.

No there are always good schools and bad schools
Good professors and bad professors.
and finally good names and bad names.
 
Said the one who attended an IVY League school.

No there are always good schools and bad schools
Good professors and bad professors.
and finally good names and bad names.

I didn’t choose to go here for the name.

I choose to come here because I liked the people, the city, the facilities, and the school fit my goals.

You’ll find many on SDN who decided attending an Ivy didn’t fit their goals. This fact leads back to my original point.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Top