Nova 2008

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Hey All,

I was wondering if any of you guys (girls 🙂 too) were research buffs? Or are any of you gonna do research at Nova (either clinical or basic life sciences)? I can't find out much info about the research opportunities avaliable from the wesite. I was wondering if they have a bone biology program or what other sorts of programs that they have if not bone bio.

Just curious...
Jessica
 
JRogoff said:
You can't make a comment like that and not back it up. Lets hear your ingenious theory.....

In my opinion, no dental school is "easy" to get into. Yeah, it might not be as hard as Harvard or UOP, but its definetly not easy.
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I do not want to start an arguement, just will state what I was told by current students at the school. I was accepted there but turned down the offer after I learned more about the school.

My friend that is currently a D1 there had a 2.9 GPA and a 17/16 DAT; not very stellar (that is his only academic record: no masters or post bac). He is now making a B+ average there but never studies and he is not a smart guy. Seems like he goes out more than reads. When I was on the interview there, the students were telling me that the school is disorganized and the faculty are always changing things around making things even worse. They also said there are many students in the program that should not have been accepted because they have poor academic records. One student during the interview even flat out told me do not come here and so did a few dentist's. I was also told the patient pool was a problem and this was confirmed by a Nova D4 on here a month or two ago.

I'm not trying to be negative or put the school down, but this forum seems very biased that Nova is the most perfect school. So there is no need for me to inform people of the positive qualities because they are already posted. I just want people to know some of the things I found out that aren't so pretty.
 
Dental 2008:

I'm not sure where you will attend dental school, but just keep in mind, every dental school will have unorganized something or something that a student won't like. Yes, "your friend" may have a low admission statistics, but many of his classmates have higher stats making the admissions GPA last year around a 3.4 average! Remember, admission stats are only AVERAGES. Many students like to play off dental school as pretty easy, until you see your friend's dental school transcript, I wouldn't believe what his grades are!

I personally know a classmate of mine that likes to constantly talk a big game and lie about his exam grades once we get our exams back. If this person would get a 78, it would be a 86 coming from this person mouth.

Nova is only so hyped up on SDN, is partially me (guilty as charged) because I am having a blast here and I am doing well AND also everyone who decided to come to Nova are pumped about it! Every dental school has what you need to succeed, including Meharry and Howard. It is you the student, ultimately, to make something out of it!

Jessica:

I'm glad that you brought up research availability here at Nova Dental. Since Nova Dental is newer and a private school, research wasn't one of our strong points. Knowing that, the Dean and school have been addressing that weakness here by hiring many more faculties that have PhDs and that are research orientated. To move in the direction of research, we have converted some of our lecture rooms into research facility, purchased a brand new electron scanning microscope (tens of thousands of dollars I heard), immunoflourescent microcope to just name a few. Further, Nova Dental just recieved our first NIH funded research project which I just recently got involved in. I'd be glad to discuss it more with you if you wish once we meet in August.

Since we are a dental school, there were already plenty dental biomaterials research! Now, we're just starting to have full-time research faculty who labs are solely biomedical sciences research. Just this past year, Nova Dental had 7 faculties and some students that attended IADR and AADR annual sessions. The opportunity of research is here, but you'll need to seek it out. It is not widely advertise to students because the research faculties are trying to get setup themselves. If you enjoy research, then you'll have it here! Year after year, Nova Dental is more and more research orientated. Nothing like state dental schools and big time private schools though.
 
I am a Nova D1 student. I am sure that dental2008's friend did just as he said he did during the first semester...but I highly doubt that is the case now. I too studied 1-2 days before an exam in undergrad. During my first semester here at Nova my study habits did change a bit but I still had the time to actually enjoy my weekend. How I miss those days. First semester was just easing us into the 8-5 schedule. Second semester has been exhausting. I have had on average about 2-3 test every week. Keep in mind we still have normal class during the week. Most of my weekends are spent at the library where I study all day long for those exams. If I study for an exam 1-2 days before it is only because I had been studying for another exam.

Now I have a friend who is always telling me that he didn't study much for this exam or that exam and that all he wants to do is get a 70...blah blah blah...but he goes to each and every class and while I am busily scribbling every word the professor says he will sit there with his arms crossed and listen to the lecture and take it all in and occasionally scribble a note here and there...on top of that he's already had most of the science classes in undergrad...so it isnt a surprise when he does well in every class. I have another friend who skips out on most of the science classes. They too have had most of the science classes in undergrad. 3-4 days before the exam they read and memorize the handout packets and they also do well (keep in mind they have all this additional time since they dont go to some of the classes). Everyone has their own learning style. I learn from going to lecture while others don't. I can't stay up and pull an all nighter for an exam (when I am tired I can't function) but a handful of my classmates can do just that and do fine.

From what I hear this year the school added clinical requirements for graduation. Now when the current D-4's were D-3's they gave all their root canals to last years D-4's...now that the D-3's are D-4's some of them are coming up short concerning their root canal requirements. (In addition this year the D-3's didnt give up their root canals to the D-4's.) The problem isnt finding patients the problem is meeting the requirements. Also some of the D-4's are upset that they no longer are at the same chair every day with the same instructor. Instead they are assigned according to the treatment they are doing. For instance Perio is in the first row while Endo is in the fourth row also the are assigned to the instuctor that is at that row.

There will be dentist who might have negative things to say about the school but all the ones I happen to know were former UF grads...but you will find many more in the community who have good things to say about the school. In fact a few of the part time professors I know of have a private practice in the community.

I am just trying to put things in perspective. I am not saying that my school is perfect but I am very happy here. Many of my friends are also happy. I find that most of my classmates are not competitive. We really do try to help each other out. I have no qualms about going up to anyone of my classmates or upperclassmen or to the professors for help.

But then again I'm only a D-1...I still have 3 more years before I can really give you an opinion on my school. In any case things just seem to be going up for Nova.
 
Thanks Yah-E and cgt3477 for giving first hand proof that some of the things that dental2008 was saying is just not true.

dental 2008...

One thing that you have to keep in mind is that no dental school is perfect. You ask any dental student in the country about their school, and every single one of them will have come sort of gripe about the administration, fellow students, etc.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the person that you know with the not so hot stats is only one person in the entire class. That does not mean that all students at nova have similar stats. I gaurentee you that your friend got in by the skin of their teeth because most of the class will have higher stats. For example, i have a 3.7 GPA and a 19/19. Those stats could have got me in lots of other places, but i chose Nova and Nova chose me.

I am proud of my future school no matter what you say about it.
 
JRogoff:

What I stated was not untrue, but facts that I gathered while I was visting the school. I wasn't just there for a few hours durning the interview, but rather for 8 days and stayed at my friends. I had the chance to talk to many Nova dental students. Like I said, I'm not trying to start a fight, I just wanted people to hear the other side of the story because I think this forum gives information about Nova that is too biased. Remember, I am not trying to put your school down, just telling people of what I learned while there so that they can make a better decision as where to go.

My point was proven by Yah-e and cgt3477: Yah-e stated there is disorganization where ever you go, so in esence saying there is some there and cgt3477 proved in in trying to explain the current problem (huge in my opinion) with the D4's. Why would a school change the requirements, make one class give patients to the other class, and then penalize (by graduating late) the class that gave the patients??? I was told of a few more examples of things like this, but I do not remember the details so I will not spread rumors.

Mo007: I will be going to UPenn
 
dental2008 said:
I think this forum gives information about Nova that is too biased.
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So by that rational, everything you hear from current dental students, no matter what the school, it biased. Students aren't going to come on SDN and lie about their school, they have nothing to benifit from that. I don't know where you get idea that the information is too biased because i have seen people post the good and the bad about Nova, just like any other school. Try doing a search and you'll find plenty of gripes about every school. Just look at the current debate over Columbia, thats a doozy.


dental2008 said:
My point was proven by Yah-e and cgt3477: Yah-e stated there is disorganization where ever you go
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Your point before was that Nova was disorganized, not that every school has some sort of disorganization. Yah-E and cgt3477 are absolutly correct that you will find disorganization where ever you go, and that includes U Penn.

dental2008 said:
I will be going to UPenn
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When i stated before that no school is perfect, that included U Penn. Just wait till you're actually in school next year and you'll see. If you graduate from there with no gripes, you will be the first.
 
dental2008 said:
.....cgt3477 proved in in trying to explain the current problem (huge in my opinion) with the D4's. Why would a school change the requirements, make one class give patients to the other class, and then penalize (by graduating late) the class that gave the patients???
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ctg3477 already addressed this issue. I guess you missed it so here it is again...

ctg3477 said:
From what I hear this year the school added clinical requirements for graduation. Now when the current D-4's were D-3's they gave all their root canals to last years D-4's...now that the D-3's are D-4's some of them are coming up short concerning their root canal requirements. (In addition this year the D-3's didnt give up their root canals to the D-4's.)
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As you can see, your main gripe about Nova is not a problem anymore. Nova is a fairly new school, and some changes and tweaks in the system are going to happen. The change in graduation requirements is prefectly justified by the administration, they are trying to put out the most competent dentists possible. Yes, it might be a pain for the students, but it will definetly benifit them in the long run.
 
JRogoff said:
ctg3477 already addressed this issue. I guess you missed it so here it is again...



As you can see, your main gripe about Nova is not a problem anymore. Nova is a fairly new school, and some changes and tweaks in the system are going to happen. The change in graduation requirements is prefectly justified by the administration, they are trying to put out the most competent dentists possible. Yes, it might be a pain for the students, but it will definetly benifit them in the long run.
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I did read it and what it says is that there are some D4's that will not graduate on time because the D3's do not have to give them the needed patients...so in the end the current D4's are getting screwed. The problem is not fixed! It is only fixed for the D3's becoming D4's. I do not want to fight this back and forth so this will be my last post on the topic because my purpose is not to make a school look bad but let people aware of some of the things I heard first hand from current students.
 
Also Nova dental will be starting its 8th class soon...sure they are lower on the learning curve, but using the excuse that it is a new school should not be used anymore. Other dental schools change their curriculum all the time and tweak it before 8 years. My brother even told me his NYU curriculum is only 3 years old and its going fairly smooth.
 
I have read a number of posts about Nova; most good, some bad. I've also noticed that those people who have had choice between Nova and another school have had somewhat of a difficult choice to make. I've read about a choice between Nova and UPenn, Nova and UCLA, Nova and Tufts, and even Nova and Harvard. Why is Nova being considered amongst these schools?
Why are there threads about students on Nova's waitlist eager to get in and threads about international students desperate to attend Nova? My answer to this question is that Nova is a good dental school in a great location with great facilities, faculty, and students. I was also fortunate enough to have had a choice to make between some very good dental schools. I found that the school I would most regret not going to was Nova. The reason Nova has one of the largest application pools this year (if not the largest) and is getting a lot of exposure on SDN is becasue Nova is a good dental school, plain and simple. So don't hate, appreciate.
 
dental2008 said:
I did read it and what it says is that there are some D4's that will not graduate on time because the D3's do not have to give them the needed patients...so in the end the current D4's are getting screwed. The problem is not fixed! It is only fixed for the D3's becoming D4's.
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What you fail to realize is that the last class that will have this problem is the current D4s because the current D3s did not have to give up their patients. Being an entering D1, i will not have this problem because the problem has phased itself out. Get it now? I hope so, beause your "giving up patients" arugement is really pointless.

Also, 8 years is extremly new for a dental school and few bugs will still be present. Before Nova was established in 1997, there hadn't been a new dental school for 25 years! For schools like Arizona and Nova, there are bound to be minor glitches in the system, but nothing major. With each passing year the administrative problems become less and less of an issue. U Penn was established in 1878. With that fact in mind, are you still going to consider Nova established? You're compairing a school with 126 years of expierence and alumni support to a school with 8, give me a freeking break!

P.S. Thanks for the support KidCanada!!!
 
I just wanted to say that the geocities website is great and very helpful. These forums are also helpful. From what I've read, I will be joining most of you come August. I'm very excited and can't wait to meet you all!
 
BAM1717 said:
I just wanted to say that the geocities website is great and very helpful. These forums are also helpful. From what I've read, I will be joining most of you come August. I'm very excited and can't wait to meet you all!
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Welcome to the class Bam and welcome to SDN. I'm glad you have already found the class website. Have you visited the MSN board? If not, i suggest you check it out, there is a link on the class page. When did you decide you were headed to Nova? When did you interview? Where you from? Fill us in, we all want to know about our future classmates. I have also added your name to the class list. Anyways,welcome!




NSU 2008:

munbue
jes1ca
Dr Oh DMD
kidcanada
xxsuzuki1000xx
JRogoff
lsurask
Mwsung
Toothless
laphikhanh
jack604
PADYH
KevinKrause
BAM1717
 
Awesome...Welcome

If our class ends up being 100 people, we already have 14 of those people on SDN. That's a pretty significant percentage! Keep the good work up.

Yah-E: Discussing research in the far and distant future (like the beginning of my life in South Florida) would be wicked!

Jessica
 
Well, I'm from Miami. The reason I chose Nova above other schools was primarily because I'm close to home. I interviewed on Nov. 12, got accepted on Dec. 1, and I can't wait until August 9th!! I graduated from FIU in December with a Bachelor's in Health Sciences. That's about it for now...if anyone has any more questions, feel free to ask 🙂
 
I am still in the process of deciding where I will be attending this fall. The choices are Temple, NSU (please don't refer to it as Nova, the administration is real picky about that and non-Floridians may think that you mean Villanova), Howard, Boston and being waitlisted at Tufts. I can't worry about cost since I'll be paying top dollar (ie I don't qualify for Federal Aid ) wherever I attend. Can someone provide a genuinely objective reason(s) why I should attend NSUCDM instead of one of the others? BTW the arguements about cost and climate will in no way affect my decision.
Thanks
PS: be honest, be fair and be critical
 
DJFnBU said:
I am still in the process of deciding where I will be attending this fall. The choices are Temple, NSU (please don't refer to it as Nova, the administration is real picky about that and non-Floridians may think that you mean Villanova), Howard, Boston and being waitlisted at Tufts. I can't worry about cost since I'll be paying top dollar (ie I don't qualify for Federal Aid ) wherever I attend. Can someone provide a genuinely objective reason(s) why I should attend NSUCDM instead of one of the others? BTW the arguements about cost and climate will in no way affect my decision.
Thanks
PS: be honest, be fair and be critical
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Here is my take...

Boston: Extremly expensive. I know you said that cost isn't an issue because you don't qualify for aid, which i don't get because either way it still costs you more, but BUs tuition is double Nova's. Also BUs APEX program is not liked by many from what i hear.

Howard: Their mission if to serve the under-deserved communities. If this is not part of your goals as a dentsit, then don't attend. I don't know much else about this school.

Tufts: Why talk about it, you're not in, right? I hope you the best in getting in , but i don't see the point in discussing if you're not in yet.

Temple: All around good school from what i hear. Avin can tell you more about it then i can. All i know is that its not in the best neighborhood and its a good clinical school.

Nova: Nicest and most friendly students of any dental school i visited. Cometition in the class is low, providing a minimal stress level. Facilities are the best i have seen.

What i have wrote here most likely won't help much. All i can say is pick the school that best suits you, the school you had the best feeling at, the school that you felt most comfterable at. When it comes down to specializing, you will have an equal chance at all these schools assuming you have a high GPA and board scores. This is what most dental students will tell you, pick the best fit for you. Hope this helped and good luck in making your decision!

P.S. When talking about dental schools its ok to say "Nova" because Villanova doesn't have one.
 
Hey DJFnBU,
Sounds like you have a tough decision for yourself. I can understand your dilemma because I was accepted to Tufts, BU and Nova all at the same time and had to make a huge decision. (I skipped my Temple interview so I can't say anything about it except that it has a good clinical reputation. I also think the neighborhood gets more bad hype than it deserves, but that's my opinion.) Now, I am from Missouri, so I didn't really have a big geographical preference in making my decision because I would have to make a big move either way. The goals of these three schools are similar...to produce good GPs. In my decision, I immediately threw out BU. I just wasn't impressed with the school and its programs. Tuition was another reason why I just found it not to be worth the amount of money that you would pay for it.

The real decision came down to Tufts and Nova. I loved everything about Tufts. I can't say that there is really even anything wrong with the school up to this moment but I made the right decision for myself. I even got a scholarship from Tufts. But I loved NSU more. One really cool thing about NSU is that it is new. This means new facilities. I thought the school was more laid back than the other schools I had seen. I am laid back. Another thing I liked was digital patient charting, another example of the technologically awesome facilities.

I cannot say much about Temple or Howard because I have not seen them.

I know that the patient situation is similar at Tufts, NSU and BU. It seems like all of them might be a little short on patients...not really sure about that. I think just when you get down to needing specific patients to fulfill requirements then you might have to do some of your own recruiting. At least that is the case at BU.

I know that Temple has more patients than you could ever dream of seeing.

All of the schools have research opportunities, the ones in Boston (BU and Tufts) are probably better because of all of the connections through the universities in the area.

I think it mostly comes down to what is the best school for you personally. Each and every school offers basically the same thing in a slightly different package. It's up to you which one of those you like the best.

Good luck and feel lucky that you have to make the decision!
Jessica
 
I have a question for those of us who are Florida residents. What proof of residency are you using? I called up Karen Reinford-Peraz, the residency coordinator, and she told me that there is no set amount of proof that you need. There is a lit of 17 things that you can use in the application, i was just wondering how many and which you are using? Thanks!
 
About the proof of residency- since the paper said to send in "as many of these things as possible" (referring to the list of 17 things) I sent in my parents' income tax returns, their licenses, voters registration cards, as well as mine, copy of homestead exemption and utilities bill (i.e. solid waste management). Up to this point, I believe I've sent in enough evidence. The FL resid. papers said that if they (Nova) needs any more information to consider you a resident, that they would contact you and you'd have a certain amount of time to send them what they asked for. You sent those papers in already right- b/c the deadline was 4/15/04? Just checking.

About where I went to high school- a small private school in Kendall, Westwood Christian School

DJFnBU: Cost was not a factor in my decision either, and to be honest, one of the main factors was Nova's location, but that won't sway your decision one way or the other. Really, after I saw Nova's facilities and spoke with faculty/students, I was very impressed and basically made my decision on the spot, vs. other schools where I left feeling kind of "neutral." All I can say is go with your gut feeling. If you really fell in love with a particular school, that should be your choice (along with their credentials as well, of course.)
 
Thanks BAM, i sent pretty much the same stuff. I sent mine today and i hope they don't mind that its a little late. I had a hard time getting a hold of some of the documents that were needed.

I don't think i have ever heard of your high school, but i went to MAST, on Key Biscayne.
 
Just wondering what was the undergrad major of those that will be attending NSU this fall
 
Question for Andy....

There is a topic on the MSN board about our scrub color, and i was wondering if you could clear it up. I know our scrub color is hunter green, but do we have to stick to this color? I thought we did, but some on there said that they saw someone wearing scrubs with animals on it at their interview??? Thanks!
 
My major was sports medicine with a minor in anatomy.
I'm currently working on a Master's in Biomedical sciences.
 
Josh:

Yes, your class' scrub color is hunter green, the break down is the following:

D1s: always hunter/dark green
D2s: always navy blue
D3s: always light blue
D4s: always light green

Other people here at HPD frequently also dresses in scrubs, people including nursing students, PAs, PTs, OTs, ODs, DOs, staff from all HPD programs and faculties from all HPD programs. The animal print scrubs must be a someone else and not a dental student.

[NOTE: this scrub policy may be changed without warning, but for now, the above colors are what you should go by.]
 
So do the colors follow you, or do they change depending on what year you are?
By what you are saying, i think that every D1 wears hunter green. Then the following year they will wear navy. Am i correct? Its not quite clear when you say D1s always hunter green. Thanks Andy!
 
Yah-E,

Can I have permission to use one of your photos (Dental School 102-0272_IMG.JPG) on the Class of 2008 website?

Chris
 
hey chris,

the site is looking great! those are forms that i can't even get Nova to send me right now. awesome work. 🙂

jessica
 
Cool.

It seems like there is a one week block between the west coast and Missouri. Even if forms were sent, it would still take me an additional week to receive them. At least. 🙂
 
jes1ca said:
Cool.

It seems like there is a one week block between the west coast and Missouri. Even if forms were sent, it would still take me an additional week to receive them. At least. 🙂
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Don't you mean the east coast?
 
Oh yeah, sorry. I was really tired when I made that post.

From Missouri, they're just about the same thing: far away and near the ocean.

🙂

Jessica
 
No problem...

I'm in a good mood so i gave you and the rest of my future classmates good karma!
 
R U Joking JRogoff? I gave you good karma... at least that's what I meant to do. If I did by accident ... please go ahead and get me back.
 
kidcanada said:
R U Joking JRogoff? I gave you good karma... at least that's what I meant to do. If I did by accident ... please go ahead and get me back.
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You must have by accident. No big deal, i'm not going to give it back to you.
 
Sorry dude... I hope I'm better with the dental equipment than I am with the tools on SDN. Somebody give JRogoff some good karma for me. SDN won't let me do it myself.
 
Just got my orientation book today. Lots of paperwork to fill out, it should take awhile. Its very nicely put togather, all bound and everything. I guess i should start filling it out! 😀
 
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