how would you rank the following schools?

[dl9006]

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Just out of curiosity, how would you rank these schools in terms of quality of education and facilities.

Comments about student environment would also be great.

i want to apply to these schools next year and was wondering which school would be my ideal school.



-NYU
-Boston
-Temple
-USC
-Case
-UoP
-Pittsburgh
-Tufts
-UMDNJ


Cheers. 🙂

 

[JPDMD]

Your "ideal school" comes from a variety of factors. What importance do you place on cost, clinical work, location, class size, opportunities to travel, research, class competitiveness, prestige, alumni, teaching style. There are so many things that go into your decision our rankings won't be much use to you because they are ours. What you should do is list what you think is important criteria for your decision and then research the schools to see if they meet your standards.

 

[dl9006]

Your "ideal school" comes from a variety of factors. What importance do you place on cost, clinical work, location, class size, opportunities to travel, research, class competitiveness, prestige, alumni, teaching style. There are so many things that go into your decision our rankings won't be much use to you because they are ours. What you should do is list what you think is important criteria for your decision and then research the schools to see if they meet your standards.

lol i thought i was pretty specific when i asked about quality of education and facilities .. my fault

Since dental school is a big time and financial investment, I want to know at which school I could learn the most.

Basically all I want to know is:
1) whether the facilities are modern
2) quality of instruction
3) whether you'll get enough clinical teaching

i have looked at their websites many times but some things can only be known from the experience of current students

prestige is really not that big of a deal as long as i can become a good dentist 🙂

thanks~!

 

[whlee84]

from what I saw during my interviews...

1) facilities: NYU
2) curriculum: Tufts
3) clinical: not much difference, as long as you make the most out of it

 

[dl9006]

from what I saw during my interviews...

1) facilities: NYU
2) curriculum: Tufts
3) clinical: not much difference, as long as you make the most out of it

could you elaborate on what aspects of Tufts' curriculum makes it stand out?


also, could someone explain how clinical training works at dental schools?

do you find your own patients to practice on or are you assigned patients?

Also, as a dental student are you allowed to go in anytime to those simulation labs and practice on those mannequin-like things any time you wish?

Sorry if these questions are really obvious but we all have to begin somewhere right? 🙂

Cheers.

 

[PDizzle]

Answers inside in red 🙂

could you elaborate on what aspects of Tufts' curriculum makes it stand out?
I can't, but someone here can


also, could someone explain how clinical training works at dental schools?
Clinical training is working on actual patients under the guidance of licensed dentists in your school. You usually have a certain # of proceedures to do and a certain number of competancy exams for each proceedure to graduate.

do you find your own patients to practice on or are you assigned patients?
Each school is different. Some give very little help and its pretty much up to you to get a chair and a patient and some spoon feed you the right patient for your requirements and do a lot of the scheduling.

Also, as a dental student are you allowed to go in anytime to those simulation labs and practice on those mannequin-like things any time you wish?
Ususally the school sim lab has hours of operation and after 5 PM it's pretty much a free for all and you can practice all evening long if ya want. Some schools have extra rows so people can do their work even when a class is being taught, some don't.

Sorry if these questions are really obvious but we all have to begin somewhere right? 🙂

Cheers.

 

[JPDMD]

From my research I have found some of the best clinical schools you have mentioned are: NYU, Temple, UoP and Pitt

NYU's and UoP's facilities are amazing.

Curriculum I have heard that Tufts is really good. Again it is what you like and how you study best. I have a friend who is at USC and loves the PBL format of study. I also have friends that love lectures like those at most of the schools that you have listed. I was really impressed with Case's practice management help. 3 years at UoP is awesome. Good luck with finding the right school for you!

 

[dl9006]

thanks for the good info guys

very helpful 🙂

 

[somethinpositiv]

I my opinion, I would rank them in the following three tiers, with the first two tiers being great schools in my opinion. 😉

-UoP
-Tufts

-NYU
-Pittsburgh
-Case
-UMDNJ
-Temple

-Boston
-USC

 

[xhamburgersamx]

Can current students at any school elaborate on how patients are scheduled, whether you have your own chair or shared and whether its student responsibility to contact patients etc.

 

[NyCzPeter]

UoP #1 hands down man. 3 year program bro end of discussion.

 

[dl9006]

UoP #1 hands down man. 3 year program bro end of discussion.

why would a 3 yr program be of any advantage other than finishing and working earlier?

to me it would seem to be more stressful to cram everything into 3 yrs


somethinpositiv: why do you rank USC and Boston as the lowest?
is there something wrong with those schools?

there seems to be some angst against USC in some other threads

but what's wrong with boston?

 

[appleonius]

worry about this if/after you interview. if your #1 school doesnt interview you, then why does it matter anymore? you can just start one of those "which school is better" threads if you get multiple acceptances.

 

[NyCzPeter]

why would a 3 yr program be of any advantage other than finishing and working earlier?

Any advantage other than finishing and working EARLIER? You must love the idea of being in dental school. Why not talk to a dean to put you on the 5 year track since finishing and working earlier is of no importance to you. Less stress that way. As for me, I don't particularly enjoy school so the only reason I'm going to dental school is for that DDS and then I'm out asap before I burn the whole place down.

 

[somethinpositiv]

Any advantage other than finishing and working EARLIER? You must love the idea of being in dental school. Why not talk to a dean to put you on the 5 year track since finishing and working earlier is of no importance to you. Less stress that way. As for me, I don't particularly enjoy school so the only reason I'm going to dental school is for that DDS and then I'm out asap before I burn the whole place down.

Person A:
4 Years at a Dental School

Person B:
3 Years at UoP
+ 1 Year AEGD
or 1 Year GPR
or 1 Year experience working

After 4 years, who is the better dentist?

 

[DrReo]

Person A:
4 Years at a Dental School

Person B:
3 Years at UoP
+ 1 Year AEGD
or 1 Year GPR
or 1 Year experience working

After 4 years, who is the better dentist?

The D3 who is the natural, efficient cheetah.

 

[Mackchops]

You're asking about the "quality of education and facilities" but I'd like to point out that no dental school (at least that I've heard of) ever claims to graduate better dentists than the others. They try to graduate "competent dentists". Not "excellent dentists" or "perfect dentists"... just competent ones. You know what to do even if you can't quite do it perfectly yet -- that takes years and years.

That said, at NYU you have a huge and diverse patient population. You do most of your own scheduling. When a patient comes in they are placed in a sort of match program and matched up to a student needing a procedure. I'm sure we're like many other schools in this respect -- but I'll maintain that our patient population is one of the biggest/wierdest/coolest. And there's always an available chair, so no worries there.

 

[PDizzle]

Person A:
4 Years at a Dental School

Person B:
3 Years at UoP
+ 1 Year AEGD
or 1 Year GPR
or 1 Year experience working

After 4 years, who is the better dentist?

4 years? The one from UoP.

8 or 9 years? Exactly the same. The only difference is the amount you pay each month in student loans.

Don't get me wrong, I heard nut'n but good things from UoP but I think the whole "3 year" thing is overplayed a bit.

 

[dl9006]

worry about this if/after you interview. if your #1 school doesnt interview you, then why does it matter anymore? you can just start one of those "which school is better" threads if you get multiple acceptances.

what's wrong with trying to find out pros/cons of the schools that I want to apply to? Am I supposed to blindly apply to schools?


This thread has been very informative for me and I don't know what makes you think that you have the right to tell me if I can start a thread or not.

If you don't want to contribute anything constructive then please don't post in this thread.

 

[xhamburgersamx]

4 years? The one from UoP.

8 or 9 years? Exactly the same. The only difference is the amount you pay each month in student loans.

Don't get me wrong, I heard nut'n but good things from UoP but I think the whole "3 year" thing is overplayed a bit.

i have to agree with Pdizzle on this one. But more importantly, the effort you put into school and the "luck" you get by getting good patients plays much more into the role of how superior your dental school/training will be. I can attend the worst dental school (statistically wise) and come out way more competent than attending UOP or harvard.

 

[PDizzle]

i have to agree with Pdizzle on this one. But more importantly, the effort you put into school and the "luck" you get by getting good patients plays much more into the role of how superior your dental school/training will be. I can attend the worst dental school (statistically wise) and come out way more competent than attending UOP or harvard.

I agree. There's a student in my class that will have completed all requirements by the end of his/her third year!

Plus, I've been told by many graduates that DS teaches you just enough not to maim or kill your patients. You learn dentistry in your practice, after you graduate. You will do more procedures in 4 months of real world practice than you did in 4 years of DS.

 

[NyCzPeter]

what's wrong with trying to find out pros/cons of the schools that I want to apply to? Am I supposed to blindly apply to schools?


This thread has been very informative for me and I don't know what makes you think that you have the right to tell me if I can start a thread or not.

If you don't want to contribute anything constructive then please don't post in this thread.

Rule 0 NOOb!!

 

[mantown10]

somethinpositiv: why do you rank USC and Boston as the lowest?
is there something wrong with those schools?

there seems to be some angst against USC in some other threads

but what's wrong with boston?


I would also be interested to know what is wrong with Boston?

 

[somethinpositiv]

somethinpositiv: why do you rank USC and Boston as the lowest?
is there something wrong with those schools?

there seems to be some angst against USC in some other threads

but what's wrong with boston?

I would also be interested to know what is wrong with Boston?

First of all, it's an opinion. Second of all, there's nothing "wrong" with that school, there are no bad dental schools.

I was simply seperating excellent, great, and good dental schools 😉

 

[armorshell]

4 years? The one from UoP.

8 or 9 years? Exactly the same. The only difference is the amount you pay each month in student loans.

Don't get me wrong, I heard nut'n but good things from UoP but I think the whole "3 year" thing is overplayed a bit.

I agree. I think that there are lots of excellent reasons to choose Pacific besides the 3 year program, and while the argument that it's beneficial financially does play out, it's over a very long term, basically a lifetime.

Getting done in 3 years is very nice, but I caution pre-dents not to put too much emphasis on it, or think that if you complete your DDS in 3 years the $180,000 average salary for dentists is magically going to appear in your bank account.

 

[haisha ni narou]

I agree. I think that there are lots of excellent reasons to choose Pacific besides the 3 year program, and while the argument that it's beneficial financially does play out, it's over a very long term, basically a lifetime.

Getting done in 3 years is very nice, but I caution pre-dents not to put too much emphasis on it, or think that if you complete your DDS in 3 years the $180,000 average salary for dentists is magically going to appear in your bank account.

Plus at UoP, they teach you how to make phallic-like class I preps on posterior teeth.

 

[pcakes]

Plus at UoP, they teach you how to make phallic-like class I preps on posterior teeth.

roflcopter

 

[armorshell]

Plus at UoP, they teach you how to make phallic-like class I preps on posterior teeth.

No idea where the prep was done, just a lucky happenstance of angulation when the radiograph was taken.

 

[PDizzle]

No idea where the prep was done, just a lucky happenstance of angulation when the radiograph was taken.

OMG!..

I've been on these damn forums for years and just now noticed that! hehe

PDizzle = dork!