NYU vs UMDNJ

[Rguy]

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Hey everyone, I'm having some difficulty in choosing between two dental schools and I thought that it would be wise to ask dental school students, who are currently enrolled or just graduated. So here's my dilemma: I'm stuck between NYU and UMDNJ. I really like both, but they seem to be complete opposites from my understanding. For those of you who are attending one of these dental schools, or know enough about them I would really appreciate ANY input. I figure you guys would know best... I currently live in NY and would be living at either school. I am aware that there are already a few threads similar to this, but if anyone can chime in on this rather subjective question, it would be of great help!

Here are some of my questions:

When it comes down to it, does it really matter which dental school you graduate from?

Does graduating from NYU hold more prestige in the dental field?

If I plan to specialize in Ortho or Peds will I have a greater chance in one of these schools, if so which one?

Do residency programs prefer one school over the other?

Which school provides the better education?

Is one harder than the other?

Better clinics? Better faculty? Better overall experience?

Do you really have to "fight" for a chair at NYU?

Are the old clinics at UMDNJ really that bad?

Advantages of small school vs. bigger school

Does graduating from NYU/UMDNJ have any benefits/set backs when practicing or doing residency?

I know most dentists/students will say to choose the cheapest dental school, but I'd like to hear some input disregarding cost. Again, any input at all (pro/con) would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[jakey]

The cost difference alone would make me not even consider NYU. Unless you have someone paying all your bills...

Half of UMDNJ's clinics are really old and dumpy. The new half is great, so you have a 50/50 chance when you get up to clinic. Regardless you just do what you need to get done. Most people I know in the old clinics don't care that much. UMDNJ is finally going digital this year if that matters to you.

UMDNJ I've heard provides a good clinical experience. Its something they pride themselves on, and hearing from a lot of students that went on to GPR's UMDNJ does do a good job preparing us clinically compared to some other schools.

I don't think it matters too much which school you went to as far as getting into a PG program. Likewise prestige, but what do I know.

UMDNJ has been a decent experience. I hated it at times, and it has its problems like any school would, but overall I'm pretty happy with the education.

If where you live matters a lot to you, you can always live in jersey city/hoboken or even live in the city. I had a friend that commuted to UMDNJ from brooklyn for a year.

I'd say save the money.

 

[UCSFx2017]

In this case, I think price overrides any level of perceived prestige. Prestige is usually associated with the Ivy's and a few selective state schools. NYU (private) and UMDNJ (state) do not fit into either categories, although both are good schools.

 

[AmericanHero]

I just started NYU in September and I was in the same situation as you are currently in. I was accepted to NYU, UMDNJ, and multiple other dental schools. I'm from NY but went to college in NJ and could have used my in state status to go to UMDNJ with their in state tuition which is significantly lower than if you go there and you are out of state. I also have done UMDNJ's Gateway to Dentistry Program over the summer which gave me a good look at the school and how it operates. I decided to go to NYU and here is why.

1) I know you said that money is not what you want to hear about but please learn from the mistakes of others and trust me when I tell you that you'r first decision when it comes to what school you want to go to is the cost. If you go to NYU for 4 years and will be living where everyone is living now (right across the school) you will come out with 500,000 in debt. That's an insane amount of money and I don't know if you have any loans from undergrad. I know that as a dentist you will pay it off but guess what, there is a difference living with $200,000 or $500,000 over your head with no job experience and not knowing what might happen in your life. Remember student loans are the only loans that can't be written off as a bankruptcy and stick with you for the rest of your life.
Now for the good news for you, you are from NY and you will be considered out of state at UMDNJ. Your price to go to that school as an out of state student will be the same as the price of NYU. Many people don't realize that. The only reason NYU is so expensive is because of the cost of living in Manhattan. People who go to NYU RIGHT NOW pay $75,000 in tuition with books and instruments included (same exact price as UMDNJ) in that price and require about another 30,000 for living expenses. Living at the dorms at UMDNJ will cost you $12,000. In my opinion this difference is not significant enough to base your decision on the money factor so lets move on

2) Does graduating from NYU have more prestige. No question about it, absolutely.
Do a little test and tell people that you go to NYU. Do the same and tell people you go to UMDNJ. 50% will not even know what UMDNJ is and may only know what it is if you start to explain to them that its that big school in Jersey, than they might say Ohh yea I heard of it. That is not what you want to hear what you tell people you spent half a million on your education for them to say something like that. NYU is internationally recognized. You can tell anyone and they will know it because its massive. NYU is everywhere and as a doctor your patients will automatically recognize who you are and where you came from. That makes a big difference.
DISCLAIMER: being recognized says nothing about the level of education that you have received. Even the best schools can make the ****tiest doctors. That all depends on you and if you are willing to take full advantage of the opportunities that are given to you. I speak from my personal experience that NYU will provide with more opportunities than any other school. NYUCD is building a second building right now two blocks down because they are expanding. The money that this school has is unbelievable. As a D1 we have already been given opportunities to shadow dentists that write material for books and are considered #1 in their field.

3) You want to specialize....calm your ambitions. I know that you were told that dental school is hard but you probably thought **** it, thats what they told me about college and that was a joke. You are going to have to trust me when I tell you that you will not be #1-50 in your class. People that go to NYU are monsters and just destroy **** on tests. Take your self and times it by 5 and thats who you are dealing with. Good news is that you will adopt and do well but remember, there is always someone better than you, just like in video games. Bottom line, don't make your decision based on which school gives you a better chance to specialize. Either school will give you that chance. Its just a matter if you can afford to take out another 200,000 in loans, kiss ass, have good grades, and are good looking enough to be liked by the people around you.

4) Regarding education from my experience NYU will provide you with a better experience and significantly more competition. We have a very warm and lovely class but we also do really well on the tests because we do nothing except work. The curriculum has been refined over many years to place classes in such way that each one compliments the other and everything comes together. Our tests and finals are cumulative from day 1 and believe me you will know your **** so well you will feel comfortable taking on any student from any other school. I have a few friends from UMDNJ and they too do a lot of work but not nearly enough. Bottom line, NYU is harder. The teachers are very friendly as well and will do all in their power to help you pass. However, there are people who still fail so be warned. It's hard to describe the curriculum to someone who has not experienced a single day of dental school but trust me its nothing like undergrad or grad school. You will find out soon enough.

5) NYU has so many chairs your head will spin. Don't worry about that. By the way, all of NYU is new and up to date. UMDNJ is not and I wander how you will feel sitting at your D1 and D2 bench lab, that if I remember correctly, looks really run down while paying so much money. I'm not even talking about your D3 and D4 actual clinics that are half excellent and half total ass.

6) Small vs Big. Small is always better and UMDNJ wins that one. However, you are a big boy and should have enough personality and confidence to stand out by now. Its up to you if you want to be know in class or if you want to be a loaner in a corner. Both become dentists.

My decision was not based on school price because I'm doing the military scholarship and think that anyone paying $500,000 out of pocket is insane in the membrane. Money aside I went with a school that is in a city that I eventually want to have my practice in. Lets be honest you are in this profession in great part because you want to have a good life. NYC is the place to be. NYU is a very prestigious school and is well recognized by others and your patients will know where you came from. A small factor was also the location of UMDNJ, I hear bullets are not good for your health but thats just being paranoid. If you were an instate tuition I would definetly say go with NJ even though it provides less value for the $$ in my opinion. You will not go wrong with NYU, everything is shiny, new and super expensive. Join the army and be worry free hahaha

 

[AndrewNJ]

I
1) I know you said that money is not what you want to hear about but please learn from the mistakes of others and trust me when I tell you that you'r first decision when it comes to what school you want to go to is the cost. If you go to NYU for 4 years and will be living where everyone is living now (right across the school) you will come out with 500,000 in debt. That's an insane amount of money and I don't know if you have any loans from undergrad. I know that as a dentist you will pay it off but guess what, there is a difference living with $200,000 or $500,000 over your head with no job experience and not knowing what might happen in your life. Remember student loans are the only loans that can't be written off as a bankruptcy and stick with you for the rest of your life.
Now for the good news for you, you are from NY and you will be considered out of state at UMDNJ. Your price to go to that school as an out of state student will be the same as the price of NYU. Many people don't realize that. The only reason NYU is so expensive is because of the cost of living in Manhattan. People who go to NYU RIGHT NOW pay $75,000 in tuition with books and instruments included (same exact price as UMDNJ) in that price and require about another 30,000 for living expenses. Living at the dorms at UMDNJ will cost you $12,000. In my opinion this difference is not significant enough to base your decision on the money factor so lets move on.

I just wanted to respond to these two points quickly, as a student who currently attends UMDNJ. I am in-state so I don't know exactly what the OOS rate is, but no one in their right mind stays an OOS student for 4 years at UMDNJ. They will pay that rate at most for 1 year, and the other 3 will be billed at the in-state rate of about $42k for tuition and fees. Thats a $99k difference over 3 years. I also lived right across the street from the dorms in Society Hill which was very safe and quiet, at a price tag of $800/mo for rent and utilities. Its a bit more expensive in the dorms but its perfectly reasonable to have living expenses under $10k for the year (not counting food and stuff here which shouldn't be counted as a cost of one school versus another). I have no idea how much it costs to live in NYU, but using your number of $30k/year, thats another $80k over the 4 years. So, even someone who starts as OOS, NYU is approximately $180k more expensive for 4 years than UMDNJ. That is nearly double the cost of UMDNJ for that same student (~$200k). So its a bit ludicrous to suggest that these two have any sort of similar tuition and fees structure. And those numbers are prior to interest, so unless the loans are paid off within a few years of graduation, that difference will rise to closer to $250k over the life of the loans.

People are welcome to choose to go to school wherever they want, but they shouldn't do so under the illusion that there is only a minor financial difference.

2) Does graduating from NYU have more prestige. No question about it, absolutely.
Do a little test and tell people that you go to NYU. Do the same and tell people you go to UMDNJ. 50% will not even know what UMDNJ is and may only know what it is if you start to explain to them that its that big school in Jersey, than they might say Ohh yea I heard of it. That is not what you want to hear what you tell people you spent half a million on your education for them to say something like that. NYU is internationally recognized. You can tell anyone and they will know it because its massive. NYU is everywhere and as a doctor your patients will automatically recognize who you are and where you came from. That makes a big difference.
DISCLAIMER: being recognized says nothing about the level of education that you have received. Even the best schools can make the ****tiest doctors. That all depends on you and if you are willing to take full advantage of the opportunities that are given to you. I speak from my personal experience that NYU will provide with more opportunities than any other school. NYUCD is building a second building right now two blocks down because they are expanding. The money that this school has is unbelievable. As a D1 we have already been given opportunities to shadow dentists that write material for books and are considered #1 in their field.

You are probably right that there is better name recognition with NYU, and its probably moot that the name recognition has nothing to do with NYUCD versus the undergrad/grad schools. But anyone making the choice now should understand that their diploma will say Rutgers, vice UMDNJ. Im sure NYU is still better known than Rutgers, but people who care about this should be aware of the change.

On a personal note, I can't see anyone but the smallest minority of patients caring about where you went to school. And who cares what any non-patient thinks of your education.

 

[UCSFx2017]

It doesn't matter how persuasively someone sugar coats the - (400,000) it takes to attend NYU, it's still almost half a million dollars. Go to UMDNJ.

If you balance your assets on Excel, this is what it'll look like when you graduate.
-400,000

You don't want to be in the red.

Name doesn't matter if you didn't graduate from the Ivy's or the selective state schools. Even when it does matter in residency selection, it matters very little.

 

[cj7]

I too am trying to make a choice between umdnj and nyu. Deposits are due in a week and since dec 3rd, ive been trying to decide on whether or not to save a spot at both schools or just umdnj. I just can't justify a "better experience" with an additional $100,000. ( I'm from NY, but I'll get instate tuition at umdnj after my 1st year). $100,000 in loans is almost $200,000 in repayment loans. Do you know how long it will take to pay back $200,000?? My parents only make 50k a year, and they cannot help me out.
Yes, as a dentist you'll pay it back, but with 200,000 in your pocket, you can buy a house or a couple of cars.

I'm trying to think of the future instead of my happiness now, such as getting hired. But in the end, it's about the effort you put into school and the connections you make. Just like if you were to attend an unknown undergrad and get accepted into a dental school.

 

[CMistry]

I too am trying to make a choice between umdnj and nyu. Deposits are due in a week and since dec 3rd, ive been trying to decide on whether or not to save a spot at both schools or just umdnj. I just can't justify a "better experience" with an additional $100,000. ( I'm from NY, but I'll get instate tuition at umdnj after my 1st year). $100,000 in loans is almost $200,000 in repayment loans. Do you know how long it will take to pay back $200,000?? My parents only make 50k a year, and they cannot help me out.
Yes, as a dentist you'll pay it back, but with 200,000 in your pocket, you can buy a house or a couple of cars.

I'm trying to think of the future instead of my happiness now, such as getting hired. But in the end, it's about the effort you put into school and the connections you make. Just like if you were to attend an unknown undergrad and get accepted into a dental school.

You've got a good head on your shoulders. You'll do well financially.

 

[bkpredent]

for me the decision really isnt about price. i live 20 minutes away from nyu and so i will have no living expenses (including majority of food). umdnj is cheaper with the instate tuition which i would get after a year, but i would have to pay to live there and to eat, utilities, internet, etc so it comes out to be about the same

 

[tooth knockn]

Hey everyone, I'm having some difficulty in choosing between two dental schools and I thought that it would be wise to ask dental school students, who are currently enrolled or just graduated. So here's my dilemma: I'm stuck between NYU and UMDNJ. I really like both, but they seem to be complete opposites from my understanding. For those of you who are attending one of these dental schools, or know enough about them I would really appreciate ANY input. I figure you guys would know best... I currently live in NY and would be living at either school. I am aware that there are already a few threads similar to this, but if anyone can chime in on this rather subjective question, it would be of great help!

Here are some of my questions:

When it comes down to it, does it really matter which dental school you graduate from?

Does graduating from NYU hold more prestige in the dental field?

If I plan to specialize in Ortho or Peds will I have a greater chance in one of these schools, if so which one?

Do residency programs prefer one school over the other?

Which school provides the better education?

Is one harder than the other?

Better clinics? Better faculty? Better overall experience?

Do you really have to "fight" for a chair at NYU?

Are the old clinics at UMDNJ really that bad?

Advantages of small school vs. bigger school

Does graduating from NYU/UMDNJ have any benefits/set backs when practicing or doing residency?

I know most dentists/students will say to choose the cheapest dental school, but I'd like to hear some input disregarding cost. Again, any input at all (pro/con) would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance everyone!

WHERE IS THIS GUYS ( or gal) INPUT ?

 

[AndrewNJ]

for me the decision really isnt about price. i live 20 minutes away from nyu and so i will have no Living expenses (including majority of food). umdnj is cheaper with the instate tuition which i would get after a year, but i would have to pay to live there and to eat, utilities, internet, etc so it comes out to be about the same

Again, not true. If you had no living expenses for the first year at nyu, it would be comparable to umdnj as an oos student. But for years 2-4, living at and attending umdnj is $15-20,000 cheaper per year than attending nyu with no living expenses. Thats still a $45-60,000 difference in cost which is not insignificant. Its only the same if you spend $1500+ per month in food. Last year at umdnj, my rent/utilities/food budget was $1000/mo almost exactly. Tuition and fees comes to about $45k, making it about $18k cheaper than just nyu tuition/fees.

On a side note, i have classmates who commute daily from manhattan to umdnj so you could have the best of both worlds.

 

[bkpredent]

Again, not true. If you had no living expenses for the first year at nyu, it would be comparable to umdnj as an oos student. But for years 2-4, living at and attending umdnj is $15-20,000 cheaper per year than attending nyu with no living expenses. Thats still a $45-60,000 difference in cost which is not insignificant. Its only the same if you spend $1500+ per month in food. Last year at umdnj, my rent/utilities/food budget was $1000/mo almost exactly. Tuition and fees comes to about $45k, making it about $18k cheaper than just nyu tuition/fees.

On a side note, i have classmates who commute daily from manhattan to umdnj so you could have the best of both worlds.

Based off of the schools website, the tuition they give for someone living with their parents is around 62-56,000 and the tuition with living expenses included is between 72-65,000 depending on the year. Even if the estimation is high, there is only so much one can cut back considering they gave room and board at around $13,000, which is actually very accuarte considering you spent a 1000 a month. Maybe your number are outdated?

But based off of the schools number, the costs for me would be practically identical and even giving you the benefit of the doubt, by saying that there are ways to cut down on the schools numbers, i would only be saving around 3,000 or so a year. over 4 years this may amount to something, but honestly, 15,000 is not evnough to influence my decision either way

 

[AndrewNJ]

Based off of the schools website, the tuition they give for someone living with their parents is around 62-56,000 and the tuition with living expenses included is between 72-65,000 depending on the year. Even if the estimation is high, there is only so much one can cut back considering they gave room and board at around $13,000, which is actually very accuarte considering you spent a 1000 a month. Maybe your number are outdated?

But based off of the schools number, the costs for me would be practically identical and even giving you the benefit of the doubt, by saying that there are ways to cut down on the schools numbers, i would only be saving around 3,000 or so a year. over 4 years this may amount to something, but honestly, 15,000 is not evnough to influence my decision either way

As of this year, my tuition and fees plus room and board is a grand total of $57k. Thats $18k less than just tuition and fees at nyu. When you do your calculations , do you use out of state tuition rates each year? I'll take a look at the umdnj spreadsheet again to see what they are actually quoting.

 

[bkpredent]

Books and supplies 12069
fees 4103
personal 4010 (note: this is comparable to nyu's insurance fee, so thats why im leaving it there.) ***
room and board 13860
transportation 4230 (this number im uncertain about, since i woudnlt necessarily feel comfortable walking around newark so i would probably assume it to be kind of high)
tuition 34445 (instate, out of state is 55268)

total 68707, which yes is more than nyu: 73640 without cost of living but including around 4000 for insurance/personal like umdnj, and 1144 for transportation, which i feel comfortable doing since i already live here and know i can take the subway all the time, as well as all fees and cost of books/instruments

***Nyu does have separate expenses listed for personal and insurance. i lowered the personal costs in my caluclations and simply counted 4010 for insurance and personal for both nyu and umdnj. i know this wont work for everyone, but i live at home and a lot of my personal expenses are paid by my parents, so for my this makes sense

yes its 5000 which amount to 20000 over the 4 years. but the difference between in and out of state tuition which i would have to pay for the first year is actually around 20 grand so there become no difference in the cost of the school!

i kno that in reality there probably remains a small difference, but my point remains that the two are not far enough apart in cost for it to matter for me, as someone who lives right by nyu.

although i would be interested in where you saved exactly

 

[AndrewNJ]

Books and supplies 12069
fees 4103
personal 4010 (note: this is comparable to nyu's insurance fee, so thats why im leaving it there.) ***
room and board 13860
transportation 4230 (this number im uncertain about, since i woudnlt necessarily feel comfortable walking around newark so i would probably assume it to be kind of high)
tuition 34445 (instate, out of state is 55268)

total 68707, which yes is more than nyu: 73640 without cost of living but including around 4000 for insurance/personal like umdnj, and 1144 for transportation, which i feel comfortable doing since i already live here and know i can take the subway all the time, as well as all fees and cost of books/instruments

***Nyu does have separate expenses listed for personal and insurance. i lowered the personal costs in my caluclations and simply counted 4010 for insurance and personal for both nyu and umdnj. i know this wont work for everyone, but i live at home and a lot of my personal expenses are paid by my parents, so for my this makes sense

yes its 5000 which amount to 20000 over the 4 years. but the difference between in and out of state tuition which i would have to pay for the first year is actually around 20 grand so there become no difference in the cost of the school!

i kno that in reality there probably remains a small difference, but my point remains that the two are not far enough apart in cost for it to matter for me, as someone who lives right by nyu.

although i would be interested in where you saved exactly

Ok yeah, I went and took a look at what the school was including in their student budget and personal and transportation were the 2 main ones I noticed.

Personal is just for stuff like if you want to buy a new computer, a printer, or sneakers (yes they budget for new shoes) which is not specific to UMDNJ. It is also for paying routine bills such as Car insurance or car payment if you have one. You will incur those expenses wherever you go so I leave them out of the comparison. If those are included in the $75k Tuition and fees for NYU, they should be removed out of that as well.

As for transportation, my school related transportation costs were exactly $160 last year at UMDNJ, not $4230. I paid for a school parking pass so i could leave my car in the garage. Living in Society Hill, it was a 5 minute walk, mostly past the school dorms. I completely agree with you that I would not want to walk around Newark, so if you want to go out and party a lot, you'll need to take cabs and such to bars. But again, I don't associate that with the cost of attendance of the school so I left it out.

So for me, I only look at the mandatory fees associated with school attendance (tuition, fees, local rent costs, utilities, and food). All the rest to me is personal spending that doesn't change no matter what school you attend.

Oh and you can also save on books. Most people don't buy any books at all at UMDNJ, since lecture materials are sufficient to do well (not just pass, but do well). E-versions of books are also available *ahem* free of charge, or so I've heard.

If I was a D2 at NYUCD, looking at their website list of fees, it would cost me roughly $70k in tuition in fees, versus $46k tuition and fees at UMDNJ. Im not including health insurance in either of those figures, since I have my own.. Room and board and all the rest of the UMDNJ specific costs came out to about $12k for me.

I'll bow out of this thread now (unless people have specific questions about UMDNJ) and hope that some of the info has been helpful. Good luck making your decision.

 

[jda02624]

2) Does graduating from NYU have more prestige. No question about it, absolutely.
Do a little test and tell people that you go to NYU. Do the same and tell people you go to UMDNJ. 50% will not even know what UMDNJ is and may only know what it is if you start to explain to them that its that big school in Jersey, than they might say Ohh yea I heard of it. That is not what you want to hear what you tell people you spent half a million on your education for them to say something like that. NYU is internationally recognized. You can tell anyone and they will know it because its massive. NYU is everywhere and as a doctor your patients will automatically recognize who you are and where you came from. That makes a big difference.

I have been in private practice for 7+ years and I have had patients specifically ask me where I went to dental school maybe three times. It may make good conversation at dental meetings with peers, but in my experience patients don't really care.
I would choose the school with the best overall value (cost and education/clinical experience considered).

 

[Muggsy Bogues]

NYU dental and "prestige" should not really be uttered in the same sentence. I guess maybe the average person who knows literally nothing about dental school could make that connection but if I hear that someone goes to NYU I don't think "wow you must have been a phenomenal applicant". I'm sure it's a fine school graduating highly competent dentists but by virtue of the class size and price tag, I will always chuckle at any implications that it's any more "prestigious" than any other dental school.

+ yea, patients don't care where you went to school, at all. This cannot be stressed enough.

 

[iralex801]

3) You want to specialize....calm your ambitions. I know that you were told that dental school is hard but you probably thought **** it, thats what they told me about college and that was a joke. You are going to have to trust me when I tell you that you will not be #1-50 in your class. People that go to NYU are monsters and just destroy **** on tests. Take your self and times it by 5 and thats who you are dealing with. Good news is that you will adopt and do well but remember, there is always someone better than you, just like in video games. Bottom line, don't make your decision based on which school gives you a better chance to specialize. Either school will give you that chance. Its just a matter if you can afford to take out another 200,000 in loans, kiss ass, have good grades, and are good looking enough to be liked by the people around you.

I don't see how you know he's not going to be in the top 50. May be true for you, but may not be for him. The kid who is number 1 in his class doesn't have anyone better than him (academically) lol. I see this a lot, where upper classmen who gave it their all and fell short discouraging incoming freshman from being ambitious. The fact is their advice may be true for the majority, but for some, the top students it will be false.

To OP, you will never know where you stand until you try. Don't be afraid to fail. Be ambitious and try hard and if it doesn't work out, at least you tried and maximized your capabilities, which is what is important.

Back on topic, go to the cheaper school. I would say certain schools such as Penn, Harvard, Columbia, etc will give you a better chance to specialize (however, it could just be the fact that the students who go to these schools are overachievers not the school itself that gives it a high specialization rate). However, the amount of people that specialize from NYU and UMDNJ are pretty much the same.

 

[EpicDentist]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the great advice here!

 

[kew82]

choose the cheaper option.

 

[gryffindor]

NYU dental and "prestige" should not really be uttered in the same sentence. I guess maybe the average person who knows literally nothing about dental school could make that connection but if I hear that someone goes to NYU I don't think "wow you must have been a phenomenal applicant". I'm sure it's a fine school graduating highly competent dentists but by virtue of the class size and price tag, I will always chuckle at any implications that it's any more "prestigious" than any other dental school.

+ yea, patients don't care where you went to school, at all. This cannot be stressed enough.

Agree, and will add that other referring doctors don't care where you went to school either. The general public definitely doesn't care if you went to UMDNJ or NYU. NYU graduates 300+ students a year. Too many grads slide out of there with terrible skills. If I was looking for an associate doctor, I would interview a UMDNJ grad before considering anyone from NYU.

 

[MTD52]

As a current student I'd definitely go cheapest over anything else. Most patients don't care and generally don't know. You will agree once you're in school. There's a huge price difference between the two and don't be convinced otherwise. I have friends at UMDNJ that got in state tuition their second if not first year (not positive if first but definitely 2nd year on).

Also, not that it should matter, but for what it's worth, the person who said NYU has a more "prestigious" name could not be more wrong in my experience. Every single dentist I've spoken to about that choice (before deciding) said go to UMDNJ, and that includes those who taught at both schools.

 

[Dignity1]

Agree, and will add that other referring doctors don't care where you went to school either. The general public definitely doesn't care if you went to UMDNJ or NYU. NYU graduates 300+ students a year. Too many grads slide out of there with terrible skills. If I was looking for an associate doctor, I would interview a UMDNJ grad before considering anyone from NYU.

I concur 100%! Patients will not care what school you graduated from. Just because you went to NYU does NOT mean you are an above average clinician! I attended a GPR with NYU, Columbia, Howard, Penn, Tufts ect. grads. From my experience, the NYU grads were not above the rest. In my opinion we were all pretty much on the same level, the only difference is, they have MUCH more debt. On the flip side, a colleague of mine attended a GPR with 95% NYU grads and she said that she was shocked at the questions some of her co-residents would ask her in regards to certain procedures. All in all, I say go with they cheaper school.