?? passing Florida boards- Harvard vs UF questions?? serious advice Please

[Linden00]

Hey, I am Fl resident and I am trying to choose between going to Harvard and UF... I am weighing all the pros and cons

I have heard that if I go to Harvard ( or any school outside of UF or Nova) that it becomes incredibly difficult to pass the Florida boards.

Does anyone have any input?


Also, I have asked others what they would do and everyone said Florida because of the money.... However, once I do the math harvard ends up being about 100,000 more.

Is that really a huge deal in the grand scheme of things?


Also, I want to specialize. It seems that Harvard gives you an advantage for this. Their stats show that out of 35 ppl in 10 matched for ortho and 6 matched for omfs. Further, I have heard that UF is super competitive and not to tell anyone that you want to specialize because so few from UF match in those specialties.

Is there any truth to these remarks regarding Harvard and UF?


Lastly, Does UF give specialty/residency preference to their own?


Thanks and I appreciate any feedback.

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[New2Philly]

Hey, I am Fl resident and I am trying to choose between going to Harvard and UF... I am weighing all the pros and cons

I have heard that if I go to Harvard ( or any school outside of UF or Nova) that it becomes incredibly difficult to pass the Florida boards.

Does anyone have any input?


Also, I have asked others what they would do and everyone said Florida because of the money.... However, once I do the math harvard ends up being about 100,000 more.

Is that really a huge deal in the grand scheme of things?


Also, I want to specialize. It seems that Harvard gives you an advantage for this. Their stats show that out of 35 ppl in 10 matched for ortho and 6 matched for omfs. Further, I have heard that UF is super competitive and not to tell anyone that you want to specialize because so few from UF match in those specialties.

Is there any truth to these remarks regarding Harvard and UF?


Lastly, Does UF give specialty/residency preference to their own?


Thanks and I appreciate any feedback.

I don't know about the Fl boards, but I do know that UF is a great school and 100k is indeed a lot of money. I can't emphasize that more, it is a lot of money. Also, do you want a New England, or a Floridian winter? Having grown up in California, and now attending school in Philadelphia I would choose the warmer of the two...

Don't let the "Harvard" brand keep you from saving 100K in loans (which would probably be close to 200K after everything is said and done)

I don't know what advantage Harvard will have in getting you into a residency over UF... This topic has been addressed ad nauseam though out this site.
My advice: call some dentists you know, or don't know; make sure they are pretty recent grads (within 10 years) and ask their honest advice. Dollars to dimes they will tell you to go to the cheapest one... I have never meet a dentist that was happy with more debt.

 

[txlonghorn]

I was debating between my state school and Harvard, and I decided on Harvard. The cost difference is about 120k between going to
HSDM vs my state school. While it is a significant sum of money, I made my decision based on my future goals (specializing), learning style (I felt that HSDM's teaching style fit my learning style), the feel I got from the school when I visited, and feedback I got from recent grads from each of the programs.

While many people will say that it is possible to specialize from any school, it is not 100% true. Dental school grading has many subjective factors to it. One of my friends, who attended the state school I was accepted to, told me to go to HSDM if I was sure I wanted to specialize. He mentioned that the basic science part of dental school is pretty objective and can be aced. However, he said the lab part of dental school is another story. Some of the instructors at this program were known to be very difficult on grading vs others. He mentioned that this broke the dreams of some people who were set on specializing. I think pass/grading becomes huge in this portion of dental school.

As for board, I am sure that you can prepare for them and pass them with sufficient time.

 

[Simple Jack]

where can you find the stats on match rates for specialties for the different schools?

 

[Mackchops]

The florida boards are tough if you're out of state because they need to be taken in florida. This means getting your patients and instruments down to the testing site. The exam itself is supposedly very similar to the NERB and, in fact, people who pass the florida board have repricocity in NERB states (not true the other way around).

There are two services (that I'm aware of) that will secure you patients, instruments, prep, etc and have everything ready for you to just show up and take the exam -- however, they run somewhere around 12,000 bucks.

My advice, if you know you want to stay in Florida I would go to UF. You're smart enough to get into some good schools, you'll do well anywhere. Plus you save some serious change.

 

[mike3kgt]

I have heard that if I go to Harvard ( or any school outside of UF or Nova) that it becomes incredibly difficult to pass the Florida boards.

I would probably imagine that is has to due with the fact that Harvard, on average, produces a very intelligent academic dental clinician, a very good oral surgery match, and a decent clinician.

My understanding is that they don't teach you how to prep a very good class II or understand how to manage patients in a general practice. Thus the difficulty with passing the FL board. Not to mention that UF/Nova from day 1 tailors every practice, competency etc towards FL board standards.

Your decision should be focused around how much $$ you will save from going to one school or another. Pre-dent students are oblivious to how much 100k in student loans will cost throughout your first 5 years of dental practice. It's exhausting and intimidating. Always go for the cheaper route unless you have extensive mitigating circumstances.

Good luck.

 

[Linden00]

Thanks to all for the advice and insight. I do appreciate it and will try to contact a few dentist to ask these questions also.

 

[flontario]

Thanks to all for the advice and insight. I do appreciate it and will try to contact a few dentist to ask these questions also.

Personally, I would definitely give up my current UF admission to go to Harvard. I lived in Boston a year after graduation with my sister who was doing pediatric residency at BU. We lived off Beacon street in Cambridge and had the most enjoyable time ever. The reasons I would go to Harvard are:


1. I know 100% that i want to specialize.
2. The people I met and the connections i made during my time there were just not possible if i stayed in Orlando. What i am saying is that in Boston you feel like you are surrounded with smartest people in the country.
3. The city of Boston and the opportunity to live in one of the best student towns in the nation ( good night life, rich culture and classy living, great food, etc).

good luck with your decision

 

[New2Philly]

Personally, I would definitely give up my current UF admission to go to Harvard. I lived in Boston a year after graduation with my sister who was doing pediatric residency at BU. We lived off Beacon street in Cambridge and had the most enjoyable time ever. The reasons I would go to Harvard are:


1. I know 100% that i want to specialize.
2. The people I met and the connections i made during my time there were just not possible if i stayed in Orlando. What i am saying is that in Boston you feel like you are surrounded with smartest people in the country.
3. The city of Boston and the opportunity to live in one of the best student towns in the nation ( good night life, rich culture and classy living, great food, etc).

good luck with your decision

I think Flontario wants your place at UF 🙄

 

[gatorPredent]

UF has roughly a 91% specialty rate....If you want to do it and are driven and intelligent enough you will. Right out of school your a better clinician i would imagine, I have heard Harvard is not as strong clinically, but I can only comment on my first year hear at UF.

They train you for the FL board and it's great to be a FL GATOR!

 

[Mackchops]

UF has roughly a 91% specialty rate....If you want to do it and are driven and intelligent enough you will. Right out of school your a better clinician i would imagine, I have heard Harvard is not as strong clinically, but I can only comment on my first year hear at UF.

They train you for the FL board and it's great to be a FL GATOR!

I'm sure this is a 91% residency rate, not specialty rate. GPR/AEGD numbers are included.

 

[DocJL]

I'll add that as a former military dentist, I got to work with graduates of literally dozens of schools, and you get a rough idea of which schools prepare graduates to be good clinicians.

Harvard was NOT one of the schools that is typically held in high regard for producing graduates prepared for clinical practice. One of the docs I worked with came out of Harvard, and after he asked me to bail him out of a messy extraction, he confided to me that he only extracted NINE teeth in dental school......

As far as specialization, unless you are going to a brand new, unknown program (which UF is NOT), the most important things will be your class rank (much more important than GPA for obvious reasons), and board scores.

Ditto the guy who said less debt is better. I graduated with my shiny new DDS and only 35K in loans thanks to Uncle Sugar (uncle sam), and when I talk to guys owing 2 or 300k, I feel bad for them. Plus you never know if you will still want to specialize (or if you will have the grades to get in, dental school is full of smart people, and you may find you are no longer the "smartest kid in class" - I know I did, I had a 3.9 GPA when I got into dental school, but got a couple of B's after getting early admission and slacking off, and I found in dental school that MOST of the class was exceptionally bright), and if you decide to enter practice as a general dentist, you WANT to be a graduate of a program that provides lots of solid clinical experience. In the real world, your peers will not be lining up to teach you how to be successful.

 

[achilles2]

you want to specialize...go H

you can always jump through the hoops to pass the Florida boards....hell you can prob do residency down there and have many years to jump through those hoops

 

[flapaTron]

op, who knows, maybe during/after dental school, you may not want to practice in florida anymore.


gatorPredent, way to totally jack my avatar. 👎

 

[gatorPredent]

True about the rate being residency.....but none the less solid enough.

Money is huge, you may thank yourself later but the opportunity to live in Boston for dental school is the opportunity of a lifetime for many so go with your heart and what you want to do!

And Flapa....i think iv had this avatar since before you were a member!

 

[jay47]

I was debating between my state school and Harvard, and I decided on Harvard. The cost difference is about 120k between going to
HSDM vs my state school. While it is a significant sum of money, I made my decision based on my future goals (specializing), learning style (I felt that HSDM's teaching style fit my learning style), the feel I got from the school when I visited, and feedback I got from recent grads from each of the programs.

While many people will say that it is possible to specialize from any school, it is not 100% true. Dental school grading has many subjective factors to it. One of my friends, who attended the state school I was accepted to, told me to go to HSDM if I was sure I wanted to specialize. He mentioned that the basic science part of dental school is pretty objective and can be aced. However, he said the lab part of dental school is another story. Some of the instructors at this program were known to be very difficult on grading vs others. He mentioned that this broke the dreams of some people who were set on specializing. I think pass/grading becomes huge in this portion of dental school.

As for board, I am sure that you can prepare for them and pass them with sufficient time.

The only problem is everyone is graded in lab by the same people (mostly). Sure, I'm not going to average a 95 in lab stuff, but neither is anyone else. Plus, your first 2 years, which essentially solidify your class rank and GPA for applications anyways is 80%+ academics anyways, so you don't have to worry about getting discriminated against in labwork or clinic. Trust me though, if you are good at prepping and practice hard, any dental student can learn to do well in dental school lab. Hell, PM me if you are having problems, I've done very well in my labs so far (knock on wood.....)

 

[txlonghorn]

The only problem is everyone is graded in lab by the same people (mostly). Sure, I'm not going to average a 95 in lab stuff, but neither is anyone else. Plus, your first 2 years, which essentially solidify your class rank and GPA for applications anyways is 80%+ academics anyways, so you don't have to worry about getting discriminated against in labwork or clinic. Trust me though, if you are good at prepping and practice hard, any dental student can learn to do well in dental school lab. Hell, PM me if you are having problems, I've done very well in my labs so far (knock on wood.....)

The problem is that the school my friend attended had faculty leads for each group that did the grading for that group. Some of these faculty members were known to be much tougher on their group than others, as in they failed many of the members in their groups. My friend graduated a while back, so I am not sure if these people are still around at that program.

 

[DocJL]

The problem is that the school my friend attended had faculty leads for each group that did the grading for that group. Some of these faculty members were known to be much tougher on their group than others, as in they failed many of the members in their groups. My friend graduated a while back, so I am not sure if these people are still around at that program.

aaaaaahhh, the joys of subjective dental school grading.....

I still remember D1 year having a typodont prep graded, and the instructor (who was grading wearing 3.5 power loupes) tells me, "I don't SEE anything at all wrong with your prep, BUT I THINK I MIGHT be able to just barely feel a 'microledge' on the floor of your prep......."

bastard!

 

[Linden00]

Thanks for the input. Hoping to find more info about passing the FL boards if I do decide to go to Harvard.

 

[DMD Trumps MD]

Thanks for the input. Hoping to find more info about passing the FL boards if I do decide to go to Harvard.

We all know that you'll pick Harvard. Its perceived allure is enough to entrap all regardless of the cost difference (100k according to your calculations).