Howard or Columbia?

Started by DentalStudent9
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DentalStudent9

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Hi, I was wondering which would be the better fit. I had a great Columbia interview and a Howard interview coming up. Howard is about half as expensive as Columbia. I'm sure the education is great at both, but I was wondering how hard it would be to specialize out of Howard. I'm planning on leaving options open for specializing, such as maybe ortho, and will going to Howard give me a major disadvantage. If so, I think I should just pony up the extra 100k+ of loans...
 
DentalStudent9 said:
Hi, I was wondering which would be the better fit. I had a great Columbia interview and a Howard interview coming up. Howard is about half as expensive as Columbia. I'm sure the education is great at both, but I was wondering how hard it would be to specialize out of Howard. I'm planning on leaving options open for specializing, such as maybe ortho, and will going to Howard give me a major disadvantage. If so, I think I should just pony up the extra 100k+ of loans...
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It won't be a MAJOR disadvantage. If you're in the top of the class you're in the top of your class, and Columbia does pass/fail/honors so that gets even more obscure. Columbia is a great place if you want to specialize, they more or less say it at the interview, but their numbers are a tad inflated because all NY dentists must do a residency to practice.

With ortho you've got to be in the top 10% of your class, and get in the 90's on your boards, it's really competitive. Now, some might say that Columbia would better prepare you for the boards with their more rigourious sciences, but I'm sure you could do just fine with Howard. I was accepted at both schools last year, and although I didn't ultimetly go with either, I would have been happy to go to either one, they're really great schools. Oh, and name doesn't mean much in the long run, positive or negative.
 
DentalStudent9 said:
Hi, I was wondering which would be the better fit. I had a great Columbia interview and a Howard interview coming up. Howard is about half as expensive as Columbia. I'm sure the education is great at both, but I was wondering how hard it would be to specialize out of Howard. I'm planning on leaving options open for specializing, such as maybe ortho, and will going to Howard give me a major disadvantage. If so, I think I should just pony up the extra 100k+ of loans...
Click to expand...

Just curious why would Howard not be a good school to go to if you want to specialize? Does going to a certain school make a difference in you want to specialize? I never really thought about that till now. I just want to get into any dental school lol:laugh:
 
DentalStudent9 said:
Hi, I was wondering which would be the better fit. I had a great Columbia interview and a Howard interview coming up. Howard is about half as expensive as Columbia. I'm sure the education is great at both, but I was wondering how hard it would be to specialize out of Howard. I'm planning on leaving options open for specializing, such as maybe ortho, and will going to Howard give me a major disadvantage. If so, I think I should just pony up the extra 100k+ of loans...
Click to expand...

I would just worry about that AFTER you get in to both. Just focus and practice on your interviews for now. GOOD LUCK!!!! Hopefully you'll hear good news on Dec
 
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