Penn vs. Buffalo

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DentCornell

DentCornell

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So I got into both of these schools and I am a NY resident for Buffalo and I (somehow) received a scholarship where they pay the full tuition for Buffalo and I also got the Dean's Scholarship for Upenn. I am so conflicted and would love to hear what others think on that matter. I would essentially only be paying for books and fees and living expenses at Buffalo whereas UPENN I would have tuition as well. For Penn I loved the family vibe, how everyone was so connected with one another, the amazing professors and the location and it's easier to specialize (I'm definitely specializing in something)... Buffalo is cheaper...
 
what would the total cost for penn be?(over the 4 years)
 
Buffalo all day every day. Tuition alone at Penn was enough for me to decline, no matter how much I liked the school. How did you get that big of a scholarship? Did you have a 4.0 and a 30 DAT or what haha
 
Did you look at any of the recent threads discussing CoA?
 
you got a full scholarship to a dental school? this should be a no brainer.
 
DentCornell said:
Maybe around 330k for the 4 years ( I got a 30k a year scholarship).
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You want to specialize? Most programs require you to pay tuition. Most Oral Surgery 6 year programs require you to pay MD tuition. And even in 4 year programs, the interest keeps driving your loans up.
If you want to specialize, the best you can do is keep your borrowings low.
 
so its 330k vs UB(full tuition scholarship) which is less than 200k for 4 years, including fees and living expenses.

Are you seriously asking this? The monthly payment difference is huge. That 330k will turn into 400k by the time you graduate.
 
If you look at it simply from the perspective of getting into a specialty like ortho, I would say Penn, just because they don't rank past top 10 students, yet still send and obscene number of graduates into competitive specialties. Contach wrote about this on these boards. That post changed my perspective.
 
capnamerica said:
If you look at it simply from the perspective of getting into a specialty like ortho, I would say Penn, just because they don't rank past top 10 students, yet still send and obscene number of graduates into competitive specialties. Contach wrote about this on these boards. That post changed my perspective.
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Although I agree with Penn having more of their students going into specialties, I dont think its worth spending 350K for an increased chance of going into a specialty. Also, most people think they want to specialize going into D-school, only to realize it might not be for them.
 
bing12 said:
Although I agree with Penn having more of their students going into specialties, I dont think its worth spending 350K for an increased chance of going into a specialty. Also, most people think they want to specialize going into D-school, only to realize it might not be for them.
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Great point. That sdn member I mentioned also talks about this. He also had to pick between Buffalo and Penn, and chose the latter. Coming out of Penn, he felt that his classmates were more driven to specialize because they were surrounded by peers who wanted to do the same. Again, one can argue that this is totally dependent on the individual student, but I'm not going to discount the effects from environment and peers either.

As far as the cost goes, this totally depends on the op's plans. If s/he wants to specialize, I would think of attending Penn as an investment.
 
capnamerica said:
Great point. That sdn member I mentioned also talks about this. He also had to pick between Buffalo and Penn, and chose the latter. Coming out of Penn, he felt that his classmates were more driven to specialize because they were surrounded by peers who wanted to do the same. Again, one can argue that this is totally dependent on the individual student, but I'm not going to discount the effects from environment and peers either.

As far as the cost goes, this totally depends on the op's plans. If s/he wants to specialize, I would think of attending Penn as an investment.
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I do agree that environment has a big impact.

This is how I look at this:
1) Option 1: you go to buffalo, save 350k, and end up specializing= best case scenario
2) Option 2: go to buffalo, save 350K, dont get into your specialty, go to a GPR for 1 year to improve your app and reapply. You forgo about 60k in potential income as a GP (avg of lets say 120k starting salary)= still saved 290k.(wasted 1 more year than if went to penn then went straight into specialty).
3) Option 3: Go to buffalo, save 350k, dont get into specialty even after GPR, end up being a GP , ball out with little to no debt.
4) Option 4: go to buffalo, save 350k, end up not being interested in a specialty, and are super happy you didnt go to penn for that reason.
5) go to Penn: pay 350K, get into any specialty, depending on the specialty end up possibly paying tuition at that specialty and graduate as a specialist with over 450-500K of debt.
6) Penn, " " dont get into specialty, do GPR( forgo 60k), now you have lost out on 410K ( 350k Debt and 60K forgone income).
7) Penn " ", dont get into specialty even after GPR: you are out 410K in debt and are a GP and will forever regret not going to Buffalo...forever.
8) Penn , " "end up not being interested in a specialty, end up being a GP and prob not have as much clinical experience as much as you would have had going to buffalo.

The main point is: the best case scenario is the first option of going to buffalo and saving 350K and getting what you want, the worst case scenario is going to penn and either not getting into a specialty or not wanting to specialize anymore. I tend to try to avoid any possible option of having worst case scenario. worst case scenario at buffalo is still pretty solid.
 
i'm assuming you got a full scholarship to undergrad. they are no full tuition scholarships for dental at buffalo to my knowledge.
i went to UB for undergrad and i'm a D4 here now too. i got a full scholarship for undergrad (30k a yr, for 4 years). i graduated early and the 4th year of my scholarship was applied to my first year of dental school. without a doubt i'd choose the scholarship. feel free to ask me any questions
 
obturating molar bear said:
i'm assuming you got a full scholarship to undergrad. they are no full tuition scholarships for dental at buffalo to my knowledge.
i went to UB for undergrad and i'm a D4 here now too. i got a full scholarship for undergrad (30k a yr, for 4 years). i graduated early and the 4th year of my scholarship was applied to my first year of dental school. without a doubt i'd choose the scholarship. feel free to ask me any questions
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He got into both dental schools. I know this for a fact.
 
Based on some internet stalking, the posters stats are:
GPA (Science, Overall): 3.63, 3.64
DAT (AA/TS/PAT/Reading/Any section below 17): 20, 20, 17, 20, none

Confused as to how you got all these scholarships as your grades are relatively average :eyebrow:
 
Honestly I would suggest going to Penn, it would complement your undergrad education.
FloorMatt said:
Based on some internet stalking, the posters stats are:
GPA (Science, Overall): 3.63, 3.64
DAT (AA/TS/PAT/Reading/Any section below 17): 20, 20, 17, 20, none

Confused as to how you got all these scholarships as your grades are relatively average :eyebrow:
Click to expand...
Clearly stats are not end all be all
 
go to buffalo,

as far as specializing, this year 2016 cycle alone, there were 30+ ppl shooting for ortho at penn. Did everyone get in? No, i heard 10+/- didn't match. Penn =/= high chance of specializing.
 
FloorMatt said:
Based on some internet stalking, the posters stats are:
GPA (Science, Overall): 3.63, 3.64
DAT (AA/TS/PAT/Reading/Any section below 17): 20, 20, 17, 20, none

Confused as to how you got all these scholarships as your grades are relatively average :eyebrow:
Click to expand...
Hey op, I'm too lazy to check if this is correct, care to verify? Not trying to discredit your accomplishments but just wondering what was on your app that made you stand out so much that Penn and buffalo gave you huge scholarships. Also please go to Buffalo if it's going to coat 330k to go to Penn...I declined a seat at Penn so I'm not trying to dissuade you for personal gain lol
 
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nonociceptors said:
Hey op, I'm too lazy to check if this is correct, care to verify? Not trying to discredit your accomplishments but just wondering what was on your app that made you stand out so much that Penn and buffalo gave you huge scholarships. Also please go to Buffalo if it's going to coat 330k to go to Penn...I declined a seat at Penn so I'm not trying to dissuade you for personal gain lol
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He got the scholarship that Buffalo only gives to 2 applicants a year (Full ride).
 
studentdental8 said:
He got the scholarship that Buffalo only gives to 2 applicants a year (Full ride).
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Still gotta pay fees I believe. Which is like 10k or more a year, on top of living expenses.
 
Racquetball3r said:
It never ceases to amaze me how people with mediocre stats are getting these huge scholarships, when many others out there worked way harder, have better grades, extracurriculars, and DAT scores and have trouble even scoring an acceptance.
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You have no right to criticize/bash someone who received a scholarship. This is @DentCornell 's thread. You don't know his background, whether he's URM or not, what kind of leadership experience he has, etc. He goes to Cornell so I'm pretty sure he's well-qualified.
 
Racquetball3r said:
It never ceases to amaze me how people with mediocre stats are getting these huge scholarships, when many others out there worked way harder, have better grades, extracurriculars, and DAT scores and have trouble even scoring an acceptance.
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It never ceases to amaze me how you can judge how hard someone has worked based on your perception of them online, their grades, and your perception of their extracurriculars.

Poster A: I have 3.3 GPA 20 DAT
Poster B: I have 4.0 GPA 21 DAT.

For all you know Poster B could have gotten it at a CC while Poster A got it at Harvard, and for all you know Poster A could have been a D1 or olympic athlete.
 
studentdental8 said:
It never ceases to amaze me how you can judge how hard someone has worked based on your perception of them online, their grades, and your perception of their extracurriculars.

Poster A: I have 3.3 GPA 20 DAT
Poster B: I have 4.0 GPA 21 DAT.

For all you know Poster B could have gotten it at a CC while Poster A got it at Harvard, and for all you know Poster A could have been a D1 or olympic athlete.
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Lol if you wanted to pick a school where it's hard to get a 4.0,should've said Berkeley or something. My friend at Harvard laughs at how many people get As. Grade inflation exists. I get your point though
 
nonociceptors said:
Lol if you wanted to pick a school where it's hard to get a 4.0,should've said Berkeley or something. My friend at Harvard laughs at how many people get As. Grade inflation exists. I get your point though
Click to expand...
Yeah you are right, Harvard is a bad example. Let us say 3.3 at MIT then.
 
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