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Romanov said:
So I'm trying to gather opinions from various sources to accurately make my decision. I am currently trying to decide between UF and Columbia. Here are my thoughts:

UF: I'm currently an undergrad at UF and I am very comfortable living there. I am familiar with the school, the city, and I've seen the dental clinics and how the dental students interact with one another. I know I would be comfortable going there plus it's close to home (I'm from florida) and I plan on practicing in Florida too. Plus its cheaper by around 60 grand over the 4 years. They have a good curriculum and a good name too but obviously not as good as Columbias.

Columbia: It's columbia. It's NY. It would be a new experience for me. Down side is it's a little bit more expensive but not so much to be a decisive factor. I am thinking on specializing but i"m not sure yet. Obviously Columbia has a good specialization rate but so does UF. The thing that bothers me about Columbia is their medical integration. I feel I'm learning irrelevant material when they pair us up with med students for most classes in the first two years. Plus since boards are going to pass/fail what happens when you want to specialize and all your classes are pass/fail and the boards are pass/fail. then all you have is the name.

Any thoughts?
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From my parents (dentist/omfs) and the other dental professionals I talked to, a lot of them advised to me to go to school (if its a good school - which UF is) where I plan on practicing. This is where you'll make the most connections and where you'll be able to build your life more easily than starting in NY and bouncing back to florida. And I agree it being that much cheaper is a major advantage. Columbia is a great school especially for specialities and I also agree with you with what you said about the medical integration. They really prepare you for boards but since its p/f that becomes irrelevant; however, I believe in classes they have P/F/ H - honors is pretty much how you get noticed I would say in a school that is solely p/f. It kind of sounds like in writing this post you answered your own question! And yes...NYC is SOOOO expensive haha I live in boston right now and every time I just visit, my bank account takes a dive. Columbia is an amazing school and so is UF - I'm sure you'll be happy wherever you choose to go, good luck!
 
Romanov said:
So I'm trying to gather opinions from various sources to accurately make my decision. I am currently trying to decide between UF and Columbia. Here are my thoughts:

UF: I'm currently an undergrad at UF and I am very comfortable living there. I am familiar with the school, the city, and I've seen the dental clinics and how the dental students interact with one another. I know I would be comfortable going there plus it's close to home (I'm from florida) and I plan on practicing in Florida too. Plus its cheaper by around 60 grand over the 4 years. They have a good curriculum and a good name too but obviously not as good as Columbias.

Columbia: It's columbia. It's NY. It would be a new experience for me. Down side is it's a little bit more expensive but not so much to be a decisive factor. I am thinking on specializing but i"m not sure yet. Obviously Columbia has a good specialization rate but so does UF. The thing that bothers me about Columbia is their medical integration. I feel I'm learning irrelevant material when they pair us up with med students for most classes in the first two years. Plus since boards are going to pass/fail what happens when you want to specialize and all your classes are pass/fail and the boards are pass/fail. then all you have is the name.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...


You already sound like you are biased towards UF. Go to UF.
 
I'd personally chose Columbia.

But given what you've said-- If I were you, then I'd chose UF.
 
Isnt UF a lot cheaper? Have you factored in cost of living in New York? I went to UF for my undergrad and I was paying maybe 450 a month for an apartment. Good luck finding that in New York.

Also the weather isnt going to be too great either. I grew up in Hialeah and never experienced weather below 45 degrees for a sustained period of time (I still havent seen snow). I now live outside Atlanta and am working on my masters. Its a consistent 35 degrees every morning. It sucks.

But I do get the appeal of living in New York. Its a tough choice and you should really think where youll be happiest. Gainesville is fun, but do you want to be there for another 4 years? I will say that once youre gone youll want to go back to at least visit.


Either way, Good luck and Congratulations on getting into both!!

GO GATORS!
 
Columbia 😎 . I know a good amount of people from UF (between 5 and 7) go to Columbia each year. My best friend who graduated from UF is a D2 now and absolutely loves it up there.
 
fgari said:
Columbia! its a top school.
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This is a terrible reason to pick a school.

From what you outlined, I would choose UF. You want to live in Florida, UF is a solid school, and the intangibles/cost are much better at UF than Columbia. The last thing you want to do is choose a school just b/c of its prestige and "match rates."

If you want to specialize, you can do it from any dental school. It's not impossible like people make it out to be. In fact, if you want to, you probably will.

I'm probably turning down Harvard and Columbia for a state school. It's not about the name or the prestige. It's about which school is going to get you to where you want to be in 10 years, and which school is the place you'll be happiest for the next 4.
 
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