Is it harder to specialize if you go to a more 'prestigious' and competitive school?

[WilliamC93]

From what I hear and see on (pointelss) rankings, schools like UCSF, Yale, and Harvard are the cream of the crop and harder to get into than others. At first that sounds appealing, but so far as I know, I wish to specialize, and I know that to specialize you have to be the top of the top in your class. From that, I'd almost rather go to a more "average" school. Does it not work that way for those types of schools? Do they have more spots open for specializing?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[gn4]

did not know that Yale had a dental school...To answer your question, it will be hard to specialize no matter what school you go to

 

[ModifiedBass]

smh

 

[WilliamC93]

Well that's embarrassing... Don't know how I confused that. Could have sworn there was another one of those Ivy league schools with a dental school. I've been up for two nights, that's my excuse.
Well of course it's not going to be a cake walk at any school, but I honestly know nothing about specialty program applications. I've always been told its top 5-10% of the class, 1st or 2nd for oral surgery. I'm just asking if its the same percentage for top schools, or if you can be in top 20% or so because its a 'better' or more prestigious school.

 

[WilliamC93]

I'm sure there's much more two it than class rank anyways. One dentist I talked to said that there is a big emphasis on other things you do while in dental school, such as research and volunteer work, just as it is for normal dental school?

 

[jeffity]

did not know that Yale had a dental school...To answer your question, it will be hard to specialize no matter what school you go to

How dare you!

 

[gn4]

I'm sure there's much more two it than class rank anyways. One dentist I talked to said that there is a big emphasis on other things you do while in dental school, such as research and volunteer work, just as it is for normal dental school?

definitely. There are also some tests you have to take. I think Oral surgery have to take a test like the Step 1 that medstudents take. Ortho students have to take the GRE. There's a lot that goes into specializing. Not just class rank.

 

[dbd]

In order to get into the top specialty programs (endo, omfs, ortho) you do need top be in the very top of your class in dental school. My friend chose Harvard over UPenn and Columbia specifically because he thought that it would give him a better chance at getting the specialty that he wants. From what I've heard, Harvard is a 35 person class that has no class rank and is Pass/Fail. I'm pretty sure he's banking on the Harvard name to get him into the specialty he wanted (and supposedly most Harvard grads do tend to get into the specialty they want). Additionally, an endodontist I shadowed who graduated from UPenn is pretty adamant that her Penn degree was a major factor in getting her endo residency. Then again, she was top 5 at Penn in her class (which I believe only do class rank for their top 10, and the rest do not know their ranking) so there's that. My friend currently at Penn (D3) says it's pretty damn difficult there classwise, and that's coming from his 26 AA DAT and 3.96 at a top 10 undergrad school

 

[dbd]

To answer your question, I personally don't believe going to an "average" school will make it any easier for you to get into a specialty program. You still need to be in the very top of your class. Whereas if you attend a dental school that has higher average stats (Penn, Columbia, Harvard), the brand name associated with the schools might bolster your chances. All things considered, it's more about what you do at which dental school you go to as opposed to which dental school you go to. That being said, if a committee was deciding between a candidate that was #1 class rank from an average school against the #1 person from a school like Penn, other things being comparable, they'd probably take the person from Penn.

 

[dentalWorks]

I can't imagine how anyone can answer this reliably without having attended all 60 dental schools and been familiar with their school rankings

But if I had to guess, any professional grade (medical/dental/law/etc etc) school, irrespective of how "ivy" or "average-joe" they are, will have about 25-35% of the class be a bunch of try-hards, and they are intelligent and very efficient with their free time and studying skills. I don't believe specializing into one of the "big 3" (ortho, oral surg, or peds) is easy (or easier) from any school.

 

[#kalel]

Numbers don't lie. Yes.

 

[sjv]

Numbers don't lie. Yes.

^^This, the top schools have ridiculously good results when it comes to specializing.

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

Nah bro, your chances for specialization is the same wherever you go. You gotta understand it's up to the student on what he makes of his education. You see more kids specializing out of those Ivy schools cuz they tend to attract more students that wanna specialize. For example, Columbia matches 10-15 per year into oral surgery, and Penn matches around 10-15 per year into ortho. Compare this to most non-ivy schools, you get like 2-3 each into oral surgery and ortho. So you either compete against more Type A's for more spots, or less Type A's for less spots. Pick your poison.

 

[sgv]

The vast majority of students come into my state school with the intention of becoming a GP. It's the opposite at "prestigious" schools. They chose the prestigious schools because they intend on specializing. Most schools with high specialty placement have a grading system in place that facilitates high placement rates (i.e. pass fail or ranking in thirds or ranking only top 10). These prestigious schools tend to put a lot of emphasis on their basic science curriculum and even give ample summer time off in order to ensure high board scores or research and externship opportunities. Compare this to most state schools that try to make the best GPs with as much clinical instruction hours possible by replacing summer time for more clinic hours and sometimes increasing clinical instruction at the expense of didactic courses. There are a few prestigious schools that try to balance didactics and clinics but they're still expensive schools (EXCEPT UCONN! GO HUSKIES!! WOOO!! SRSLY THE BEST SCHOOL IN THE WORLD)...

What do you get with pass fail, medical school, high clinical instruction hours, high specialty placement, and cheap tuition!? UCONN! Go tell your friends.

 

[HaverfoodsDDS]

I'm going to echo what most others have said on here - specializing is more dependent upon the student then the school, but in my opinion going to one of those schools notorious for sending more students into specialty will motivate you more to specialize than going somewhere else simply because you will be around more people with similar goals as you.