Penn vs. Harvard vs. Columbia vs. UConn (OOS)

[future_nostalgia]

Hello everyone! I was fortunate to receive acceptances to these four schools (and received a $20k/year scholarship to Penn). And I'm having a little trouble making my decision. I know most people say to go with the cheapest option (in this case it would be UConn), but I was just curious if there was any insight on each of these schools that could possibly help me narrow things down. Based on the interview days the two I felt like I liked the most were Penn and Columbia, but I did really like the integrated medical curriculum and "team-learning" at Harvard and UConn. I'm open to the idea of specializing, but not 100% set on a specialization yet. If anyone could give any helpful advice I'd greatly appreciate it! 🙂 Congrats to everyone on all their acceptances!

Also I'm OOS for all of these

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[mylandds]

All I can say is... wow. You must have done tons of ECs and submitted way early! Congrats - whatever you decide, I'm sure everything will turn out great for you 🙂

 

[queenki]

HARVARD!!! hahahah. hey it's HARVARD.

 

[Life of Pablo]

I'm biased but I've really enjoyed Penn so far. If you're not sure whether or not you want to specialize, I might go to UConn since it is your cheapest option. Between Harvard, Penn and Columbia, I'd probably go with Penn in this case because of the scholarship (and because you said you enjoyed it the most).

 

[Hunterdan]

Uconn!! I said this in a similar thread, but it applies here too. I chose UConn because it has the entire package with a small class size, pass/fail medical based curriculum, amazing faculty, in-state tuition after 1st year, and affordable location. They are all great options, but personally each of those schools had major drawbacks for me (location/cost) while UConn didn't.

 

[future_nostalgia]

Thanks for the advice so far! It's great to hear how other people made their decisions, I obviously have my own personal preferences but I also think it's good to know what factors to consider when eventually making my decision 🙂

 

[Hunterdan]

Thanks for the advice so far! It's great to hear how other people made their decisions, I obviously have my own personal preferences but I also think it's good to know what factors to consider when eventually making my decision 🙂

They are all great schools so you really can’t go wrong. Congrats and good luck deciding!

 

[ResinTooth]

All solid choices, but I'd personally gravitate towards UConn (cheapest) or Penn.
They'll all set you up to specialize if you're interested, but UConn and Penn tend to have the slight edge in clinical curriculum.

Plus, you were good enough to get a Penn scholarship!

 

[BlackThought]

UConn and Penn tend to have the slight edge in clinical curriculum.

Wandered over to the pre-dental forum for some reason, but just wanted to make it clear that Penn is not a "clinically-centered" dental school. If you think you'll be ready for private practice after 4 years at Penn Dental, you are in for a treat. Things may be changing with the new dean though.

 

[Life of Pablo]

Wandered over to the pre-dental forum for some reason, but just wanted to make it clear that Penn is not a "clinically-centered" dental school. If you think you'll be ready for private practice after 4 years at Penn Dental, you are in for a treat. Things may be changing with the new dean though.

Yeah things are changing for sure. The new dean is 100% focused on making Penn a stronger clinical program.

 

[ResinTooth]

Wandered over to the pre-dental forum for some reason, but just wanted to make it clear that Penn is not a "clinically-centered" dental school. If you think you'll be ready for private practice after 4 years at Penn Dental, you are in for a treat. Things may be changing with the new dean though.

Compared to harvard and columbia?

 

[BlackThought]

Compared to harvard and columbia?

No. I cant speak for HSDM or Columbia. Just Penn. Not the strongest with regards to clinical education. Basic science didactics are pretty solid though.