In alphabetical order, Columbia or Stony Brook?

[sheepsheep]

Hi everyone, I've been lurking for a few weeks now but finally decided to post. =) So my problem is I need to choose between Columbia and Stony Brook. Even though I have read the websites and visited both schools, I still feel like I don't have the best "feel" for either school to make a decision between the two. I am aware of some factors like

location
price (I'm not a NY resident anyway)
similar curriculum

but asides from those exterior factors, I'd like to know more about the schools from people who are currently attending or who are more knowledgeable than me about them! I have heard much more about Columbia from this board and friends who know of the school but not much on Stony Brook. I'm also aware of the debate on the pre-dental board about whether Columbia is the best school for specializing or not so I won't ask the question of whether I should go to Columbia or Stony Brook if I want to be a GP/specialist since it seems to be a moot point.

What I'd really like to know is

why I should go to either Columbia or Stony Brook
what kind of person would be best suited for the environment
what are the pros and cons (main gripes) are for each school
what the general experience of the students there are (whether they are happy, sad, annoyed)
what the two schools are generally known for (more clinical, more research, more academic...)?
Does anyone have any numbers on the two schools about boards or gprs/aegds and specializations?

Also, for those who are currently attending or will attend Stony Brook, how do you feel about the small class size?

Hope you guys are still awake! I'll also be posting this on the other board so I apologize for the duplicate post but I wanted to make sure everyone could see this and help me out! Thanks again for the help!!!

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[aileen]

sheepsheep,

Are you accepted to both schools, or are you applying for 2005? I know for fact that Stoney Brook DOES NOT accept out-of-state students. Do not waste your money if you're not in-state.

 

[sheepsheep]

Hi Aileen,

Yes, I have been accepted to both schools even though I am from out of state. Thanks for asking!

 

[freedyx3]

sheepsheep,

You should really consult Avingupta bout columbia, he seems to be the expert bout that school.

 

[Awuah29]

aileen, why do Stoney Brook don't accept out -of state student. Eventhought, I am from Jersey, I applied last year they didn't say that I was not eligible. Maybe, the reason why is that I am an intl. student living in Jesery. By the way can anyone give me list of schools where intl. school are mostly accepted.

 

[UBTom]

Stony does accept out-of-staters... But very few in number. During some years it just happens that the classes are full before they can accept any out-of-staters.

Basically, unless you have kick-ass stats, don't pin all your hopes on just Stony if you are not an NYS resident.

 

[wise146]

I will be attending stony brook in the fall. I also was accepted to both Stony brook and columbia. It really came down to the money for me. It will definitely be easier to specialize out of columbia but the cost is so much more. I will be paying 30-40K a year instead of 55-65K a year at columbia. As an out of state applicant, you will be able to get NYS tuition after the first year. Also, I enjoy living in the suburbs rather than in the city. Columbia isn't in a dangerous area, it just isn't very scenic by any means. It is all a matter of what you prefer and how much you want to spend. Stony was the best choice for me.

 

[gryffindor]

If you are concerned about specializing and you had stats good enough to get into Stonybrook as an out-of-stater, then you probably have what it takes to kick butt at either dental school and do well. I've met students from the current senior class of both schools who are going on to specialize, so it's possible to do it from either school. If I had to pick between the two, I'd go with Stonybrook b/c of the cost (like wise146 said, you get state tuition after 1 year) and the clinical education (see the current "Is Columbia any good?" debate on this board). Cost aside, there are two big differences between the two schools. One is the size since Stony is like half the size of Columbia. It's easy to know everyone's business in my class of 90, imagine how fast and how well you'd know your 39 other classmates at Stony, especially after you hang around with them 24/7 for 4 years in a row. The second is the location, and that is totally up to your preference. Although Columbia's location is much more appealing to a city-oriented person, I think Stony would be doable for 4 years b/c you will be pretty busy with your dental curriculum to pay too much attention to what's around you. NYC isn't that far away if you want to hang out when you do have time in 3rd and 4th years.

As far as what each school is known for, I'd go with clinical for Stony since it is a state school, its intent is to produce practitioners for the state of NY. I still can't figure out what Columbia is known for besides having an expensive dental school in NYC, and the current debate the pre-dents have going on about Columbia isn't making it any easier to decide.

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

sheepsheep,

You should really consult Avingupta bout columbia, he seems to be the expert bout that school

Actually Freddy, I dont know anything about Stony Brook so I couldnt make the comparison and give him advice.

 

[Serge718]

sheepsheep,

As someone mentioned earlier, if you want to specialize it wouldn't be that hard to do it out of stony, you would just have to have very good stats (as you would anywhere). My two main reasons for choosing stony were their strong clinical experience and ofcourse the cost. The small class size can be a plus or a minus depending on the classmates but I think that in such a small class everyone should be fairly friendly (I hope).

 

[sheepsheep]

Hi everyone, thanks for the reply. It seems that people on the board like Stony for its good clinical =). I'm still not sure but my decision will come soon by default anyway. Someone correct me if I'm wrong: If I go to Stony and let's say finish somewhere at the top half of my class, does that look the same as if I finished somewhere at the top half of my class in Columbia? (Hmm, I guess in stony that would mean i was no. 20 whereas in columbia, I'd be no. 45...that doesn't quite work...I hope you get what I'm trying to say?) I'm wondering whether Columbia's Ivy League name gives candidates an edge later on when they apply for residency, specialization or jobs over Stony Brook. Does it work that way?

 

[UBTom]

I'm wondering whether Columbia's Ivy League name gives candidates an edge later on when they apply for residency, specialization or jobs over Stony Brook.

Slight to none.

Specialization is all about HARD WORK and CONNECTIONS.

If you don't maintain a good GPA or get a good score on your NBDE Part I, your chances of getting into a specialty program is not good even if you attended Harvard... Unless your daddy is the program director of a PG program somewhere.

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

wondering whether Columbia's Ivy League name gives candidates an edge later on when they apply for residency, specialization or jobs over Stony Brook. Does it work that way?

Of course Tom knows more than I do, but from the dentists and academics I talked to, the Ivy League name would only give the benefit in the dental world if you go into research/academics. Otherwise, like Tom said, the individual application is what matters the most.

For fields such as Law and Public Health, the Ivy League weighs more, but not for dentistry.

 

[gryffindor]

I'm wondering whether Columbia's Ivy League name gives candidates an edge later on when they apply for residency, specialization or jobs over Stony Brook. Does it work that way?

Doesn't quite work that way in dentistry. All things equal, the name might give you a smidge of an edge - we're talking very slight. The post-grad program might go with the student from the school they're more familiar with (which could be either Stony or Columbia, depending on the program). I wouldn't put so much weight into the name of the school, b/c both are good from a reputation point of view.

 

[sheepsheep]

Just wanted to let you guys know that I'm probably going to stony unless columbia decides to move from washington heights to manhattan in the near future...or give free tuition...but i wish stony were pass/fail like columbia!!!

 

[UBTom]

Washington Heights IS in Manhattan!

 

[quickfix]

Newsflash!

Columbia SDOS just moved to manhattan!

 

[spooky42]

move from washington heights to manhattan

i though sheepsheep was trying to be funny or something