Indiana vs. Oregon??

[Axoloti]

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After careful consideration of both IU and OHSU, my 2 top choices, I still cannot decide which to pick.
I am from Hawaii, and they both cost the same.

about Indiana:
- my dad went there
- my grandparents and cousins are there, I could finally spend time with them
- no cafeteria, old building

about Oregon:
- the location is closer to home and my brother is in college there
- culture-wise I think I would enjoy the people of the West coast
- facilities are nicer than Indiana's
- the city is more exciting than in the midwest


Any additional insight on the two schools?? 😕 it would be so appreciated!

 

[anschutz1913]

At OHSU you have to deal with patient/chair problems, bad student to faculty ratio, and terrible weather all year long. Plus, transportation to and from the hill is a pain. Cost of living high.

At Indiana you would have easy transportation, low cost of living, better weather, and be close to family. But, PBL curriculum if that's a negative, and less modern dental lab.


hope this helps

 

[ohs]

From the list you made, it looks like you like OHSU more, but you feel inclined to go to Indiana so you can get close to your relatives. My personal choice would be OHSU.

 

[dmd87]

from the list you made, it looks like you like ohsu more, but you feel inclined to go to indiana so you can get close to your relatives. My personal choice would be ohsu.

+1

 

[mermaid66]

Of course Oregon 😉 it is heaven

 

[dmatthews]

Portland = coolest city ever
.. but my cousin just got a DMD from OHSU and was like "you might want to look at going to another school if you can" he didn't really like the organization/politics of the school.

From visiting, I can say that their clinic seems a little cramped/old.

My cousin also called the dental school the "armpit" of OHSU (the med school and hospital are all really new/nice buildings, but the dental school is still old)

 

[Axoloti]

Wow guys, thanks for all the insight 🙂 anschutz1913 I guess your opinion is different from the others, but there must be some truth to the points you made.


I do think both schools are good, and it's easy to forget/ignore things like student-faculty ratio and transportation pains but I'm glad they were pointed out so I can consider them. I suppose it really has come down to me feeling like Portland is a cool place to be and Indiana is where my grandparents are. Although, my mom is from Indiana and she advises me to pick Oregon instead since it's way less boring XD tough choice.

Responses appreciated 🙂

 

[EndangeredPasta]

I didn't actually apply this year but I do live in the Portland area so I figure I could give you some insight about the city.

Personally I love living in Portland but at the same time it is not for everyone. The city (and Oregon in general) is pretty different from most other parts of the United States. We just do things differently for some reason but most everyone seems to be just fine with it.

For example; we have people pump our gas, no sales tax, you will not see a walmart but there are tons of co-op/natural grocery stores which are more expensive, speed limits are slower and everyone is really really into the green movement.

Pros:
Three ski/snowboard resorts - 1 hour away
Beach - 1.5 hours away
Good food
Generally clean (besides some of the rivers)
People are friendly
Biker friendly/good public transportation
It is always green/trees everywhere

Cons:
We are the worst drivers in the snow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMzeiMJQrvk)
Economy is one of the worst at times.
Sometimes the whole "save the world" idea gets taken to far.
Lots of meth problems



Also, Portland is very liberal (good/bad depending on your beliefs).

 

[Axoloti]

Thanks a lot, endangeredpasta 🙂

I have been doing a lot of research through old SDN threads, and so far I have come up with a little more info.... including a thread that already asked the same question.

- IUSD students have reported being unhappy, particularly out of state people who felt the midwestern culture was significantly cliquish and unfriendly. (link) On the other hand, many defenses have been made against this (link)
This is something I suppose could be a reality as I think about the people who interviewed me who conveyed a somewhat cold and separate feeling toward me with not a lot of humor sense. You hope that that feeling is just from your interviewers, but who's to say a general feel like that doesn't sweep the d-school? It's hard to explain, but it wasn't something I would be happy about jumping into...
- Indiana's PBL and the triple jump exams are supposedly a pain, and some students complain that the instructors make you go figure out the material on your own rather than really teach it to you. meh. Other schools have PBL too, and I'm sure it can be dealt with.

- Students at both IUSD and OHSU have been known to say "go somewhere else," but the negative vibe from Indiana feels stronger through what I've read. dmatthews has good points in that oregon does have its cons... BUT, it also seems to be a much more collaborative, open environment which I really felt when I visited. The students there seemed actually happy, and many talked to me! That was a good welcoming feeling. At other schools, the students did not look very happy.

- Oregon also has a new d-school facility for lab work I think? And hey, both OHSU and IUSD have chair battles.


Maybe oregon has a meth prob, but so does hawaii... so maybe that leaves one better prepared to deal? 😕

 

[anschutz1913]

Ive lived my whole life in a suburb of P-Town:

great place to live, maybe not the greatest to go to school....why? the distractions--outdoors, beaches, fishing, windsurfing, skiing, etc.

Also, BIG hippie/Liberal club feel ie; "we hate rich dentists...."

I guess other people think that the public transportation here is good and not that big of a deal, but I think otherwise. It is pretty much bus dependent--if you come from the E, or SE, etc. you have to catch a second bus to go up the hill. Adds an extra 1.5 hours in commuting each day. The last thing i want to do is wake up extra early so i dont miss a test, instead of cramming and commuting 10 min.

Each to his/her own. I too am deciding between these 2 schools + one more, just givin info

 

[Axoloti]

Ive lived my whole life in a suburb of P-Town:

great place to live, maybe not the greatest to go to school....why? the distractions--outdoors, beaches, fishing, windsurfing, skiing, etc.

Also, BIG hippie/Liberal club feel ie; "we hate rich dentists...."

I guess other people think that the public transportation here is good and not that big of a deal, but I think otherwise. It is pretty much bus dependent--if you come from the E, or SE, etc. you have to catch a second bus to go up the hill. Adds an extra 1.5 hours in commuting each day. The last thing i want to do is wake up extra early so i dont miss a test, instead of cramming and commuting 10 min.

Each to his/her own. I too am deciding between these 2 schools + one more, just givin info

Yeah, true... I am actually not really worried about the outdoorsy distractions as much as I'm excited to be in a place with a really artistic culture. If I do get the opportunity while in d-school wherever I go, I'm taking drawing or fashion design classes at a nearby institution (I'm assuming you can pretty much do that anywhere). And there are lots of crazy community cultural events that happen in the city, right? More so than Indiana has.

Even though it may be more hippie/democratically oriented, I would think that along with that comes a more laid-back lifestyle and (not to be racist) more Asians and a diverse student body to interact with. I'm feeling wary about the rumors on Indiana and its student body, but I know I shouldn't take them all too seriously because I have been to Indiana many times and I've always thought the people are so friendly there.

What's the other school you're deciding on? And what are you leaning toward?

 

[cndfossil]

At OHSU you have to deal with patient/chair problems, bad student to faculty ratio, and terrible weather all year long. Plus, transportation to and from the hill is a pain. Cost of living high.

At Indiana you would have easy transportation, low cost of living, better weather, and be close to family. But, PBL curriculum if that's a negative, and less modern dental lab.


hope this helps

To My knowledge they are renovating the dental lab in the basement as we speak. Just something to consider. And the PBL is only two years and 30% of curriculum. I think it will be a great program.

 

[xiphoidprocess]

Ive lived my whole life in a suburb of P-Town:

great place to live, maybe not the greatest to go to school....why? the distractions--outdoors, beaches, fishing, windsurfing, skiing, etc.

Also, BIG hippie/Liberal club feel ie; "we hate rich dentists...."

I guess other people think that the public transportation here is good and not that big of a deal, but I think otherwise. It is pretty much bus dependent--if you come from the E, or SE, etc. you have to catch a second bus to go up the hill. Adds an extra 1.5 hours in commuting each day. The last thing i want to do is wake up extra early so i dont miss a test, instead of cramming and commuting 10 min.

Each to his/her own. I too am deciding between these 2 schools + one more, just givin info

So, i get the feeling you are trying to keep your options open and steer away from your hometown? The only reason I ask is because I may have to decide between a school out of state and my instate school. What other factors are you considering when you're deciding what school you want to attend?

 

[Axoloti]

So, i get the feeling you are trying to keep your options open and steer away from your hometown? The only reason I ask is because I may have to decide between a school out of state and my instate school. What other factors are you considering when you're deciding what school you want to attend?

An important factor is patient availability - how easy is it to meet requirements before you graduate and get sufficient patients for each area (endo, perio, crowns, etc) ?

I didn't bring this up between IUSD and OHSU because both seem to be so-so. I know a really bad school for this is UCLA because there are many millionaires around that don't come to the d-school, and a pretty good one is Stony Brook since the community is fairly well off and willing to get more expensive procedures done there.

 

[Polarmolardmd]

Ohsu

 

[anschutz1913]

So, i get the feeling you are trying to keep your options open and steer away from your hometown? The only reason I ask is because I may have to decide between a school out of state and my instate school. What other factors are you considering when you're deciding what school you want to attend?

Well, not trying to go away from hometown, just throwing out info. that a lot of people I dont think even consider (like the traffic for example). Yeah, i hear you about instate vs. OOS. Its kind of like can I justify the price difference??? Still in mental turmoil.

So far I am trying to compare which would be the best clinical school:
-availability of patients/chair
-# of faculty for help
-quality of clinic (cramped, huge, new, etc.)
-type of curriculum; PBL, books vs. clinic, etc.
-presence of specialty programs or not (not might mean more experience for me instead of the the grad students getting them all)

Environment:
-weather
-student body atmosphere
-# of faculty
-commute/location
-proximity to family, fiancee's family
-proximity to where i eventually want to practice

Cost:
-tuition
-cost of living

What ideas do you have?

 

[xiphoidprocess]

Well, not trying to go away from hometown, just throwing out info. that a lot of people I dont think even consider (like the traffic for example). Yeah, i hear you about instate vs. OOS. Its kind of like can I justify the price difference??? Still in mental turmoil.

So far I am trying to compare which would be the best clinical school:
-availability of patients/chair
-# of faculty for help
-quality of clinic (cramped, huge, new, etc.)
-type of curriculum; PBL, books vs. clinic, etc.
-presence of specialty programs or not (not might mean more experience for me instead of the the grad students getting them all)

Environment:
-weather
-student body atmosphere
-# of faculty
-commute/location
-proximity to family, fiancee's family
-proximity to where i eventually want to practice

Cost:
-tuition
-cost of living

What ideas do you have?

What other school are you comparing to your instate?

I'm also in this mental turmoil..

I am looking at factors such as school philosophy, curriculum, patient-faculty ratio, faculty accessibility, atmosphere, location, where I feel most comfortable, etc. and I'm keeping cost in the back of my mind. Cost will definately not be the determining factor of which school I decide to go to.