Yeah I talked to all of the dentists I shadowed (all of them went to Temple except for one who went to Pitt, and then did post-grad training at Harvard, Columbia, Penn, and BU) and I plan to drop into some more offices to get more opinions.
Every dentist I've asked thinks that while Penn has a great program (especially for post-grad training, which I think will only enhance a student's education during D school), it's just simply way too expensive and in their minds, it's not worth the added 6-figure expense.
This is another angle that I've been thinking about it from. We're all aware that dentistry (no matter what your specialty) is absolutely dependent on being able to use your hands... in contrast to say, medicine. Let's say, God forbid, one day something happens and you're no longer able to use your hands (again, this is worst case scenario) and can no longer practice clinically. You need to find some other way to utilize your DMD/DDS degree in academia, industry, or maybe even as a consultant. Since opportunities in these areas are fairly limited (I think), do you guys think that having a degree from an Ivy-league (or other "top tier") program would give you an advantage?
