Penn vs Buffalo (IS)

[entireparsley]

Hi guys. I need help choosing between Penn and Buffalo.

For context, I am interested in pursuing OMFS.

Penn:
Pros:

• Closer to family (~2 hours)
• Better transportation options (family lives in NYC)
• Bigger, nicer city. My girlfriend is disabled so accessibility is very important
• Higher rate of specialization (wouldn't have to rank AS high as one would need to at a school like buffalo. obviously still need good gpa and class rank). Relatively easier to specialize
• Access to better research and resources

Cons:

• Cost - about $200,000 more expensive than Buffalo (~500,000 over 4 years)
• Large class size
• Penn supposedly has a highly competitive student body and is a notoriously hard school

Buffalo:
Pros:

• Cost - cheaper. (~300,000 over 4 years)
• Less competitive student body due to lower specialization rate (10-15% of students specialize)

Cons:

• Very far from home (~7 hours)
• Undesireable weather
• Less urban than other major cities, a con for me

Cost really isn't the biggest factor for me. I'm more concerned about where I would be happier. A $200,000 difference is something I am willing to stomach if it means I will be happier. I think what I am really looking for is someone to comment on the competitiveness of the student bodies at each school. Penn is notorious on the internet for being highly competitive within the student body, so maybe someone can clear that up.

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[Ryxndek]

If it was 50k difference I could maybe understand but 200k, that’s a truckload more. I think the mountain you’re looking at should be taken more seriously. Buffalo is also a great program from what I’ve heard. I personally would go to Buffalo

 

[Ivy.ch]

If you're smart enough to be a surgeon, you should be smart enough to see the poor financial decision ahead.

- What happens you don't end up applying to OMFS like 90% of predents? Seriously, everyone and their brother wants to do OS at the beginning. I wouldn't be so certain that you're special. Few actually put in the work to study for the exam and apply.
- You're not going to visit your family much if they live 2 hours away. Trust me. 2 hours there and back - there's no time for that in dental school - not if you want good grades at least. Maybe some weekends, but it will be rarer than you think.
- Seriously, weather?! You can run your thermostat at 90F in Buffalo, it would cost a lot less than $200k. You could fly to Miami every month and it would cost less than $200k.
- Where you would be happier?! JAJAJAJA , you're about to start dental school, amigo. This will be the most miserable 4 years of your life. At least graduate without the soul-crushing debt on top of it.
- What about Penn would make you happier? You'll be around preppy kids all day, in a city full of 3rd world tent cities with hard core addicts roaming around for money, not to mention that traffic and cost of living, getting an education that is just like any other run-of-the-mill school. Philly is cool, but you really think it's going to make you happy? People who live in Buffalo actually really like it. The winter sucks, but it's harsh in Philly too.
- If I had $200,000 extra dollars after I finished school, I could think of a hundred things that would make me WAY happier than attending some other dental school.

Buffalo is solid. Go with it. Study hard for the CBSE. Graduate near the top. See you on the other side.