Premature Advice on In-State vs. Ivy League

[Predent850]

I'm hoping to get some thoughts on attending my in-state school vs. Ivy-Leagues. I know that there's a lot of talk about choosing the cheapest school no matter what, but is there anything that might make it worth double the cost of attendance for a school? I have some interest in specializing but of course I have no clue because I have had little exposure to all of the specialties. I also have an interest in conducting research during dental school as I have during undergrad but I don't really want to pursue academia long-term. This is all a little pre-mature because I just recently received interview invites from UF, Columbia, and Harvard for early January but I figure they wouldn't interview me at this stage of the game if there wasn't a genuine interest in me.

Side note: I'd like to toss out a little hope for anyone in the future that waits until late September or early October to submit their application. I was told by a lot of people that I shouldn't even bother applying until the next cycle and here I am with interviews at some really great schools.

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[pinetree305]

I suggest that you wait until you have visited the schools and have gotten acceptances from more than one school.
Your stats may be great but you may simply not fit in some of the schools you are interviewing.

Congrats on your interviews!

 

[Faux]

I suggest that you wait until you have visited the schools and have gotten acceptances from more than one school.
Your stats may be great but you may simply not fit in some of the schools you are interviewing.

Congrats on your interviews!

Nothing wrong with just thinking ahead a little bit. I mean, I eyeballed an apartment before my UB acceptance and guess what apartment I'm in now typing this from . From the exact same picture unit on the website too.

Anywho, the problem comes when you're in your residency and your coworkers are from schools that cost at times, half of yours. Most likely than not, if you can specialize at Columbia, you can specialize at your state school. The month payment difference is usually +$1000k, over the period of 10-15 years, often to get to the same place. Some people want to pay for the increase in odds. Sometimes people really like saying their from a certain school. And thats perfectly okay.

*shrug. I'm scoring at the class average of all my exams and sometimes higher. I'm from a no named school with $1.5k left in undergrad loans. You can guess what dental school route I would take if given the cross roads

 

[MRZ8]

Controversy: does "big name" school improve your dental career/patient pool?

My angle: the big name school might be a (small) factor in a person's decision to become your patient.
Your angle: will the big name school increase my chances of entering a specialty program?

IMHO: Regardless, it shouldn't be worth "double the cost" to attend.

My solution: attend the in-state school for DDS and attend "the big name school" for specializing

 

[Faux]

Controversy: does "big name" school improve your dental career/patient pool?

My angle: the big name school might be the biggest factor in a person's decision to become your patient.
Your angle: will the big name school increase my chances of entering a specialty program?

IMHO: Regardless, it shouldn't be worth "double the cost" to attend.

My solution: attend the in-state school for DDS and attend "the big name school" for specializing

We had many dentists come here and say they have been rarely asked about what school they attend , if ever.

 

[jokersmiles]

definitely go to the cheaper school!

 

[ajj70]

What if the Ivy League name makes you feel like a million bucks everyday? and you see how impressed people are when they hear what school you go to? What if your all your family friends start throwing their daughters at you (lol true story)? People respect you more and you can see it. Could you go back to being at your state school? I am finding it hard. I can always make more money but I'll never have such an opportunity again.

obviously there are other bonuses to Harvard/Columbia/Penn but I am just focusing on the superficial stuff here.

I'd say that if your self-worth is determined by the name on your sweatshirt you have other issues to deal with. What if you go to Harvard and can then only find a job paying 80K/year....as seen in some posts here lately....vs your buddy that went to their less expensive state school and is now pulling in 400K/year...how impressed will your friends be then?