Iowa

[papichulo]

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I have heard amazing things about Iowa and hope to be accepted and attend there this fall. What have you all heard, both good and bad, about this school?

 

[pine88]

I didn't know anything about the school, just applied to it as a back up, but ever since then, I've been hearing good things about it. A girl from my pre-dent club is a 1st year and loves it. She said the people are really nice, everyone is helpful, she likes the program, and there is plenty to do for fun. Dentists that I talk to say Iowa is a good school.

I'm going to be up there in 2 weeks, so I'll know more then.

 

[in her drawer]

I was impressed with Iowa.

 

[dddsmack]

I heard there was a lack of patients. who knows......

 

[denteng]

For those who do not know this, Iowa basically revamped how schools run their clinical portions of dental school. Literally all the schools copied Iowa's approach because it was that good. Iowa is a very good school for those who want to be hand's on. Great if you want to be a GP.

Downside of Iowa City is the whole town is white. Seriously. It is very small town and very "country."

 

[hsama]

Here's the thing with Iowa. There are a ton of patients because they offer low cost services and accept medicare. BUT FOR BOARDS, people do scramble for the same patients for particular procedures. All of the 11 dentists I shadowed went to Iowa, but it wasn't until two weeks ago I finally did ask a recent Iowa grad about this. (I never knew about the issue before.) He said that he had connections already with the dentist he had worked for about 90 miles away, and asked the dentist to make a referral for him. He did pay the patient to follow through with the commitment. He had classmates who had made arrangements for boards patients, but didn't compensate them, and sometimes the patients didn't show--hung over, didn't care etc. Anyway, he said he compensated the person enough to ensure that he/she would show. Considering the very reasonable cost of tuition at Iowa, the cost of paying a patient to make a trip to I.C. for his treatment is a trifle. I think it's more a matter of having a connection that can make that referral for you.

I wonder how common this is at schools? I would love to know. It is a question I haven't thought to ask until I saw it recently on SDN. However, it came up at Buffalo, when a D-3 student was asked what he liked least about dental school. He said there were cases, not the norm, but that it happened, that the necessity of a procedure was decided in terms of whether it was required for boards. My impression of Buffalo is that the students and staff have too much integrity for that. I really liked the school and hope that was an isolated incident, or that he was mistaken. But according to this student, while it should never be allowed, it has happened.

Boards aside, as for the atmosphere at Iowa, I really like their sim lab, people are friendly, and Iowa City is more diverse and progressive than you would ever guess, given its size. I'll have more perspective after my other interviews.

 

[hsama]

For those who do not know this, Iowa basically revamped how schools run their clinical portions of dental school. Literally all the schools copied Iowa's approach because it was that good. Iowa is a very good school for those who want to be hand's on. Great if you want to be a GP.

Downside of Iowa City is the whole town is white. Seriously. It is very small town and very "country."

My undergrad experience was in Iowa City, and quite different from your experience there. The family housing was 50% international students. I don't remember what color my neighbors were. But they were from China, Phillipines, Jordan, Turkey and Korea. Other friends were Japanese, Laosian, and Pakastani and of course Americans, Native-, African- Euro-. I had teachers from Chille, China, and Japan.

 

[denteng]

My undergrad experience was in Iowa City, and quite different from your experience there. The family housing was 50% international students. I don't remember what color my neighbors were. But they were from China, Phillipines, Jordan, Turkey and Korea. Other friends were Japanese, Laosian, and Pakastani and of course Americans, Native-, African- Euro-. I had teachers from Chille, China, and Japan.

Having neighbors from another country, and living somewhere the celebrates diversity are two different things. I cannot believe you used your professors as an example of Iowa's diversity, and your example simply further proves my point that people in Iowa City generally do not know what diversity really is. FYI, every reasonable-sized school has professors from all over the world.

I've been to Iowa for a few football games. When you "go out" to the ped mall, it's all white kids. Go to Brother's or airliner and it's like being in an Abecrombie and Fitch commercial. There are very few restaurants that aren't franchise/western food. Did you know 7 years ago congress was trying to pass a special immigration bill for Iowa to encourage immigration, as there were more species of pigs in Iowa then races of people? Check the New York Times archive if you do not believe me. Iowa City may be diverse to the corn fields around it, but that isn't saying much.

If there is any further argument to this, please check out the University of Iowa's student demographics listed on the University of Iowa's website: http://www.uiowa.edu/admissions/undergrad/diversity/students.htm

2% Black
4% Asian
2% Hispanic
Total Minority Students: 9%

9%?? The engineering grad program alone should bring that number up above 10%! If anyone thinks a school of 9% minority students is diverse, please reply. (By the way this 9% number includes undergraduate, graduate, and professional students enrolled at Iowa in the fall of 2005).


*crickets chirping*


Seriously dude. I'm not trying to rag on you, or your city, but I do not say these things because I'm wrong and think they sound nice. I say these things because I know what I am talking about.

Iowa is not at all diverse.


.
__________________
Arizonia State University - Biomedical Engineering Class of 2007
GPA= 3.90+
Applying to UOP, USC, UCSF, NYU, Stony Brook, UMDNJ, Columbia, PENN, and Nova

 

[pine88]

I know stats aren't everything, but... if Iowa is so good, why are their stats relatively low? Well, I guess their ave GPA is pretty high (3.59/3.5sci) but their DAT averages are fairly...average. (18AA/17PAT)

 

[hsama]

Having neighbors from another country, and living somewhere the celebrates diversity are two different things. I cannot believe you used your professors as an example of Iowa's diversity, and your example simply further proves my point that people in Iowa City generally do not know what diversity really is. FYI, every reasonable-sized school has professors from all over the world.

I've been to Iowa for a few football games. When you "go out" to the ped mall, it's all white kids. Go to Brother's or airliner and it's like being in an Abecrombie and Fitch commercial. There are very few restaurants that aren't franchise/western food. Did you know 7 years ago congress was trying to pass a special immigration bill for Iowa to encourage immigration, as there were more species of pigs in Iowa then races of people? Check the New York Times archive if you do not believe me. Iowa City may be diverse to the corn fields around it, but that isn't saying much.

If there is any further argument to this, please check out the University of Iowa's student demographics listed on the University of Iowa's website: http://www.uiowa.edu/admissions/undergrad/diversity/students.htm

2% Black
4% Asian
2% Hispanic
Total Minority Students: 9%

9%?? The engineering grad program alone should bring that number up above 10%! If anyone thinks a school of 9% minority students is diverse, please reply. (By the way this 9% number includes undergraduate, graduate, and professional students enrolled at Iowa in the fall of 2005).


*crickets chirping*


Seriously dude. I'm not trying to rag on you, or your city, but I do not say these things because I'm wrong and think they sound nice. I say these things because I know what I am talking about.

Iowa is not at all diverse.


.

You have important insight, too, and there is clearly much improvement to be made. There is nothing positive I can say about those student demographic stats--they are appalling and embarrassing! I didn't realize it was that bad! Yes, franchize-type and sports-bar-type places are all too common, especially since I have left I.C., and in the last ten years, Coraleville has become all about that and their giant mall. I completely agree this homogeninization is depressing.
Then again, the places you mentioned are exactly where you would not go to find diversity. None of these were a part of my experience there. Granted that was 15 years ago. The other part of it is what you make of it, and where, and with whom, you choose to spend your time.
The family student housing really was 50% international students. There is a strong and supportive gay community as well. When I went out it was to Wild Bill's, the Sanctuary, Hancher, Crows Nest, the Mill.
For restaurants you can still get pretty good sushi, Thai, Indian, Korean, various vegetarian alternatives. These are small establishments I choose to patronize; not the Mall and Brother's. So, you are right, it won't hit you in the face like the giant mall and the franchizes and commercial businesses will.
But please don't mistake what's best about Iowa City for what is most common. Best and common are not synonyms. Do I wish there were more diversity. Of course! Am I happy with the status quo? Of course not! Am I claiming Iowa City is big city? Not at all! But I want potential students to feel welcome to Iowa, not scared off!

I guess you could argue that I'm from Iowa so I couldn't know anything different. But I have lived in Japan for 4 years. I'm not saying that makes me a diversity expert either, but I think that it makes me sensitive to these issues. Anyway, I wanted to share what my experience was--a point of view from someone who lived there. That's all. Peace.

 

[denteng]

Then again, the places you mentioned are exactly where you would not go to find diversity.

100% agreed, but I'm not going to use something other for my examples. In my opinion, there are not many places to go to find diversity though. If you have to seek it out, then is it really that prevalent?

None of these were a part of my experience there. Granted that was 15 years ago. The other part of it is what you make of it, and where, and with whom, you choose to spend your time.

Agreed 100% and very good points. It is however easier in some cities than others to choose "what you make of it." That's all I'm saying.

The family student housing really was 50% international students. There is a strong and supportive gay community as well. When I went out it was to Wild Bill's, the Sanctuary, Hancher, Crows Nest, the Mill.

Well, yes and no. The family housing is very small. Maybe 40-60 units in a town 60 000 people. From what I have heard and seen is indeed a strong and supportive gay community compared to the midwest but it is by no means a New York or Amsterdam.

My take? Iowa City is a known college town. Much of the city is comprised of students. So if only 9% of the entire student population is a minority, I feel it is very safe to safe the school and city is not diverse. This is based on what I have personally seen, but the numbers seem to back it up. Just my opinion; I hope when predents visit the school for interviews that they form their own opinions.

For restaurants you can still get pretty good sushi, Thai, Indian, Korean, various vegetarian alternatives. These are small establishments I choose to patronize; not the Mall and Brother's.

All matter of opinion 🙂

Personally I feel otherwise, but that is my opinion. Guess I'm spoiled by living by Phoenix and from my travels.

But please don't mistake what's best about Iowa City for what is most common. Best and common are not synonyms. Do I wish there were more diversity. Of course! Am I happy with the status quo? Of course not! Am I claiming Iowa City is big city? Not at all! But I want potential students to feel welcome to Iowa, not scared off!

Good points.

Personally I still do not feel it is diverse. As a minority student myself, when I visited there, there were more people than usual (NOT AT THE DENTAL CLINIC -- IOWA CITY PEOPLE IN GENERAL - THE DENTAL SCHOOL IS AWESOME) in general made me feel unwelcome and out of place. Not everyone, but There are some very nice people in Iowa City, and it is a nice town, but extremely caucasian, with a mild to medium rural flavor with the people. Only place I have ever been where kids our age will talk to you about the corn crops (not everyone, but it happened more than once!).

I guess you could argue that I'm from Iowa so I couldn't know anything different. But I have lived in Japan for 4 years. I'm not saying that makes me a diversity expert either, but I think that it makes me sensitive to these issues. Anyway, I wanted to share what my experience was--a point of view from someone who lived there. That's all. Peace.

I won't make that argument, because you obviously do know differently. That's really cool. Were you teaching English over there or doing Military?

Put it this way. Iowa City is not a bad place to live, but it is not awesome either. I'd be happy there becoming a dentist, but would not want to live there for 50 years. The lack of diversity would bother me (being a minority) but certainly might not bother someone else. To each to their own.

People, if you go back to my original post, notice I do mention some very good things about the quality of Iowa's dental program. It is still an excellent school, and you will come out a very trained dentist. HSAMA's and my comments have been around the city itself. He feels one thing, and I have my opinion. The real answer is probably somewhere in between both of our opinions.

Good post by the way Hsama. I appreciate the discussion and hope you do also.


.
__________________
Arizonia State University - Biomedical Engineering Class of 2007
GPA= 3.90+
Applying to UOP, USC, UCSF, Iowa, NYU, Stony Brook, UMDNJ, Columbia, PENN, and Nova

 

[denteng]

I know stats aren't everything, but... if Iowa is so good, why are their stats relatively low? Well, I guess their ave GPA is pretty high (3.59/3.5sci) but their DAT averages are fairly...average. (18AA/17PAT)

Most schools favor in state. Iowa wants instate students to attend. This is what I learned.

When I interviewed, the other students told me that all you need to get an interview (in state) is 17's on the DAT and a decent GPA and you automatically get an interview and are favored by the adcoms. Since the bar is set that high, not too many people in the whole state, predent students only choose to jump that high.


.
__________________
Arizonia State University - Biomedical Engineering Class of 2007
GPA= 3.90+
Applying to UOP, USC, UCSF, NYU, Stony Brook, UMDNJ, Columbia, PENN, and Nova

 

[hsama]

Very much. Thanks. You're clearly researching your potential schools very well, and your stats are great so I know you'll end up in just the right place! Best of luck.

Oh, yes, taught English over there.

Oh, not a guy. 😛

 

[denteng]

Oh, not a guy. 😛

With the star trek avater theme I could only assume you were a guy 🙂. My mistake! 🙂 🙂

 

[pine88]

I guess you could argue that I'm from Iowa so I couldn't know anything different. But I have lived in Japan for 4 years. I'm not saying that makes me a diversity expert either, but I think that it makes me sensitive to these issues.

lol! That's cool that you lived in Japan, but that definitely wouldn't be an experience in diversity. Just in being a minority. That's one of the most homogenous countries out there. JET? Did you live in the country or in the city? I lived in Osaka for two years, a big city, and even that was homogenous.

I'm not dissing, it's just an ironic example. 🙂

 

[29DATyep]

Iowa has a great program. I have heard nothing but great things regarding Iowa. When I went to Iowa for my interview I did notice the lack of diversity. It was a little disappointing. However, it doesn't appear to be a very racist place...just ignorant regarding people of other races/ethnicities.

I enjoyed every minute there. However, the lack of diversity is definetely a con.

The faculty is very supportive. Don't knock it till you've tried it. I'm so happy I applied there...initially i thought Iowa....people live there?? They have a great program and offer alot of support. In addition, they have alot of scholarships/grants to offer.

In addition, the students I spoke with seem to love it....and many dentist and professors around the country recommend it.

Its four years of your life...you have to be happy where you are. It isn't about which school is the best it is about which school is the best fit for you.

 

[chordata]

I have heard amazing things about Iowa and hope to be accepted and attend there this fall. What have you all heard, both good and bad, about this school?

I definitely like it here. All of the teachers are great and I feel like I'm definitely getting a quality education.

 

[denteng]

Iowa has a great program. I have heard nothing but great things regarding Iowa.

Ahem! That is what I have been trying to say all along. Iowa is one of the best hands on dental schools. Great clinical training.

However, it doesn't appear to be a very racist place...just ignorant regarding people of other races/ethnicities.

Good way to describe it.

I enjoyed every minute there. However, the lack of diversity is definetely a con.

Me too.

Its four years of your life...you have to be happy where you are. It isn't about which school is the best it is about which school is the best fit for you.

My take is that I would love to go to a great school somewhere I also want to live. That would be a grand slam for me.

But settling for a great school somewhere I do not want to live, I would be happy. Or even going to dental school period, at the end of the day I would still be very happy.

 

[papichulo]

I definitely like it here. All of the teachers are great and I feel like I'm definitely getting a quality education.

Chordata, I was wondering, as a student who chose Iowa, did you interview at other schools? What was it about Iowa that convinced you it was right for you? I heard last year their board I scores were number one in the nation. Do you feel that they produce very competent dentists also? I would hate to ace the boards I and still feel inadequate as a dentist! Also, do you feel you have options after graduation, if a GPR or specialty program ends up being what you decide on? Sorry for all the questions, thanks for your help!

 

[hsama]

With the star trek avater theme I could only assume you were a guy 🙂. My mistake! 🙂 🙂

Hee hee. Pictures of sock monkeys make me laugh even more than real life sock monkeys. And who doesn't love Spock, 7 of 9 and Data?🙂

 

[hsama]

lol! That's cool that you lived in Japan, but that definitely wouldn't be an experience in diversity. Just in being a minority. That's one of the most homogenous countries out there. JET? Did you live in the country or in the city? I lived in Osaka for two years, a big city, and even that was homogenous.

I'm not dissing, it's just an ironic example. 🙂

Ha! Ha! You totally understand! You definitely have to seek out your diversity experiences there! I had my Japanese friends who had lived abroad and who had not, and my friends from Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Costa Rica, Laos, New Zealand,Mexico.... I was going to post that I had experience being a minority, but I hesitated to say it because my minority experience was so different from that of, say my Middle Eastern friends.
I lived first in Gunma prefecture--my California friend said I'd moved from the Iowa of US to the Iowa of Japan! Then I lived in Yokahama. My son did a big chunk of his growing up in Japan. No I didn't do JET. You? I stayed at first couple of weeks with one of my Japanese friends whom I'd met in Iowa City. Started working with the intention of staying a year so my son and I could could learn to speak the language and feel what it is like to be a minority. So I put him in a Japanese school rather than an international school.
I loved the little parties we'd have where around the dinner setting there would be the languages of Japanese, English, Spanish and Farsi all at once. Each of us could speak two languages but we couldn't all speak the same two. So there was all of this translation going on. After a couple of hours and a couple glasses of wine, one night, the old Japanese neighbor man who liked umeshu (alot) stopped the translation that was coming his way, his eyes a happily glazed over, and said "No...it's OK. I understand ....he put his hand on his heart and said...passion!" I learned we to have to actively nurture events like this rather than waiting for them to happen by themselves.

 

[hsama]

I know stats aren't everything, but... if Iowa is so good, why are their stats relatively low? Well, I guess their ave GPA is pretty high (3.59/3.5sci) but their DAT averages are fairly...average. (18AA/17PAT)

OK...I know I'm posting too much, but this same thing has been an issue for me. I have classmates in the deferred admit program. They have good grades from high school and first year of college. If they're accepted for deferred admit, they only have to get a 17 and maintain a decent GPA and they're guaranteed a spot at Iowa! Because I already have a degree, I was not eligilbe for that program. I got an 18 last year and straight A's in my last two years, but I didn't get in. I didn't know about this discrepency when I'd applied -- and neither did my advisor. I asked what they needed from someone like me. They said they need to see at least 19's. So my classmates totally didn't sweat the DAT, knowing from their junior year that they're in with a 17. Good for them, gash nabit. For me...I'll be sweating it out with everybody here on sdn and hoping to get in somewhere!

 

[chordata]

Chordata, I was wondering, as a student who chose Iowa, did you interview at other schools? What was it about Iowa that convinced you it was right for you? I heard last year their board I scores were number one in the nation. Do you feel that they produce very competent dentists also? I would hate to ace the boards I and still feel inadequate as a dentist! Also, do you feel you have options after graduation, if a GPR or specialty program ends up being what you decide on? Sorry for all the questions, thanks for your help!

I chose Iowa for a number of reasons, but the main 2 reasons would have to be cost and their reputation for producing well qualified dentists. (Their Sim Clinic is pretty cool too.)

I definitely believe that when I graduate, I will be well prepared to practice dentistry. (You get so much exposure to practically every situation.)

There are plenty of options available when you graduate. They offer all of the major specialization courses as well as GPRs. As long as you have the grades, you can get into one of these programs.

 

[papichulo]

I chose Iowa for a number of reasons, but the main 2 reasons would have to be cost and their reputation for producing well qualified dentists. (Their Sim Clinic is pretty cool too.)

I definitely believe that when I graduate, I will be well prepared to practice dentistry. (You get so much exposure to practically every situation.)

There are plenty of options available when you graduate. They offer all of the major specialization courses as well as GPRs. As long as you have the grades, you can get into one of these programs.

Thanks Chordata-your input is very helpful!