Pitt v.s Temple

[GDragon_1988]

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Hey everyone! I have a tough decision to make and I would like some opinions!
Temple:
Pros:
-I loved the city of Philly (76ers, Eagles, and sooooo many good restaurants)
-Large and diverse patient population
-Strong Clinic Curriculum (most important thing for me)

• Almost all of their clinic requirements were in the triple digits to graduate

Cons:
-During my interview, I was talking to another interviewee who had a friend that was a D3 at Temple. The D3 told her he hated it there and would choose another school. The D3 also told her that it's disorganized/dysfunctional at Temple. Said something along the lines of you have to do everything by yourself...... great way to start off the interview day

Pitt:
Pros:
-Small Class size (80)
-Honestly it was such a welcoming environment, and they treated me like family from the jump
-Already have friends up there for DS, so I can make a smoother transition IMO
-Many electives I can explore (I'm sure other schools have this lol)

Cons:
-IMO, they're not as strong clinically as Temple. At Pitt, it's all competency based and they didn't give us actual numbers to graduate. I'm worried I might not be confident with certain procedures if I graduate from here

At the end of the day, my goal is to be a general dentist who can provide the highest quality of care, so I'm kind of heartbroken that I can only choose one. Money isn't an issue for me, and I want to be in an environment that's gonna give me the best chance to succeed.

 

[blablabla1]

Being real, what you learn in dental school is the very basics of what you will need to know in your career. Some schools are clinically better than others, but regardless, most of your learning will come when you are out in practice after graduating. I didn't interview at Temple, but I loved Pitt. They're a strong program and I'd choose Pitt if I was in your shoes. Plus the smaller class size is something you don't really appreciate until you end up at a school with a larger one.

Also for what it's worth, I never met any faculty who were as nice and welcoming as the faculty at Pitt.

 

[GDragon_1988]

Thanks guys! I’m gonna give it a few more weeks to decide

 

[Manic324]

I think the “highly disorganized” and “having to do things on your own” is not specific to that school. I think most dental schools are like that actually so I wouldn’t use that as a huge con against that specific school.

 

[Vicviper]

I felt like the clinical training at Pitt was pretty solid, especially in Restorative, Endo, and Prostho, however OS was very week - but this is the case at many dental schools - I interviewed someone last week for my residency program who said they had only taken out ~10-20 teeth from a major big name dental school (that I can't quite remember the name), and I've also talked to people who went to UCLA and did less than 40 fillings to graduate.

Pittsburgh is a great city, lots of great people, and though the school is right on the edge of a not great area, it is still essentially on the main campus, right next door to the basketball arena. From what I've been told, Temple is in a pretty not great area.

Like you said, one of the main things I noticed at Pitt was how welcomed I was, and how great of an environment it was.

I know people who went to both schools and came out as fantastic dentists - you'll be able to get those skills whenever you go. One thing to consider, I feel like a majority of new graduates end up going on to do an AEGD or GPR, and you'll get a lot more experience that way.

 

[OGNn]

I hear a lot of negative things from a few friends going to Temple.. The dean is very hungry for money and a lot of things are very unorganized..
Also the place is not very safe... I heard one of the faculty members got punched in the face by an unknown right in front of the school a couple of months ago lol
Definitely Pitt

 

[887194]

So this person is interviewing there but seems to give you the impression that its a terrible school... Seems like a conflict of interest. Each school will have it's own downfalls but the way I see it, you can make your experience great or terrible. Both schools are very solid, go with the one you feel you will fit in better and give you the education you want.

 

[Warran E. Namel]

Temple clinical program is lights years ahead of Pitt. Pitt only has people do 2 crowns, 2 root canals, and 2 dentures. This is compared to Temple's 15 crowns, 11 dentures, and 7 root canals. And many do much more than that. Pitt students struggle to do even 2.
I understand that even Temple's requirements are nothing compared to what you will do in private practice, but like they said above, it makes the transition so much smoother.