*RUTGERS DENTAL or STONY BROOK DENTAL*?

[zeeero]

Hey everyone, I'm a NY resident graduate from NYU undergrad. I've been accepted into both Rutgers and Stony Brook dental schools, but I'm having a hard time deciding between the two.

Rutgers is very strong in clinical exposure, more sense of community, and seemingly happier and more supportive student body. It's located in Newark so finding patients won't be a problem. But the location is definitely not the best and facilities are rather old.

Stony Brook on the other hand is a much smaller community but very competitive. They are also strong in clinicals but the location is rather isolated and I'm not sure if there are enough patients and variety of cases. Not sure how I feel about the tiny ~40 student class size... But SB is cheaper since i'm NY resident.

I am very sure I want to specialize too... so how would each school affect that goal?

Any students from either Rutgers or Stony Brook care to enlighten me on this decision? Any comments or opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

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[maiyaa]

Stony. Without a doubt

 

[cbizzle7994]

I'm currently finishing up my 4th year at Stony Brook. As with any school, there are pros and cons. But addressing your concerns:

There is definitely no shortage of patients. They keep trying to give me more patients and I'm already booked out about 2-3 weeks to begin with. We service the lower income/elderly population of pretty much all of Long Island. We graduate with a minimum of 14 arches of removable and 24 crowns, with almost everyone doing significantly more of both, which from what I understand is on the higher end of dental schools.

Small class size is nice in my opinion. Everyone has their own dental chair so you're not having to schedule chair time to see patients. For the most part everyone gets along and works together to get through big tests or sharing patients to complete requirements. I don't know that that happens in classes with larger class sizes. However, I used to kind of enjoy the anonymity of a large class size (went to a large undergrad) so being in a small class for me was kind of a shock in the beginning. There's no hiding, and pretty much everyone knows everything you do at all times.

In terms of specializing, we are a school that has no class rank and no GPA. This is good in the sense that everyone works together and there's no real competition between classmates. But I did receive a ton of questions on residency interviews asking how program directors were supposed to tell us apart. That being said, we ended up placing I think 4/4 to OMFS, 3/4 to ortho, 4/4 peds, 1/1 prosth , and most everyone else to one of their top choice GPRs. In term's of OMFS, it is helpful that we take about a year of basic sciences with the med school, so the NBME exam that we are required to take is a little bit more manageable. It's not as much as a Harvard or UConn, but it does make a difference compared to some of the other applicants who have zero med school experience.

Finally, if it were me I would be following the money. Dental school aint cheap (even at Stony) so any dollar you save is gonna make your life easier in the future. I'm pretty sure at this point I'm personally paying for the guy over at Henry Schein's to send his kids to college. My number one factor in choosing dental schools was cost. Everyone comes out a dentist no matter where you go, and the majority of learning as a dentist takes place when you get out on your own. You might as well go somewhere that won't cripple you in the future.

That all being said, I know literally nothing about Rutgers, except that they have a pretty solid OMFS program and they were my 3rd choice for undergrad. So you might want to hear from that perspective as well.

 

[Faux]

Rutgers would be about +40k more expensive for you (maybe even more if you live at home for stony brook). I read that tuition has gone up abnormally lately.

 

[LeFortV]

I'd choose Stony due to their P/F grading and integrated med school curriculum. Also, I heard that the class of 13' had a 100% match rate into their 1st/2nd choice.

 

[dentalgirl360]

I'm currently finishing up my 4th year at Stony Brook. As with any school, there are pros and cons. But addressing your concerns:

There is definitely no shortage of patients. They keep trying to give me more patients and I'm already booked out about 2-3 weeks to begin with. We service the lower income/elderly population of pretty much all of Long Island. We graduate with a minimum of 14 arches of removable and 24 crowns, with almost everyone doing significantly more of both, which from what I understand is on the higher end of dental schools.

Small class size is nice in my opinion. Everyone has their own dental chair so you're not having to schedule chair time to see patients. For the most part everyone gets along and works together to get through big tests or sharing patients to complete requirements. I don't know that that happens in classes with larger class sizes. However, I used to kind of enjoy the anonymity of a large class size (went to a large undergrad) so being in a small class for me was kind of a shock in the beginning. There's no hiding, and pretty much everyone knows everything you do at all times.

In terms of specializing, we are a school that has no class rank and no GPA. This is good in the sense that everyone works together and there's no real competition between classmates. But I did receive a ton of questions on residency interviews asking how program directors were supposed to tell us apart. That being said, we ended up placing I think 4/4 to OMFS, 3/4 to ortho, 4/4 peds, 1/1 prosth , and most everyone else to one of their top choice GPRs. In term's of OMFS, it is helpful that we take about a year of basic sciences with the med school, so the NBME exam that we are required to take is a little bit more manageable. It's not as much as a Harvard or UConn, but it does make a difference compared to some of the other applicants who have zero med school experience.

Finally, if it were me I would be following the money. Dental school aint cheap (even at Stony) so any dollar you save is gonna make your life easier in the future. I'm pretty sure at this point I'm personally paying for the guy over at Henry Schein's to send his kids to college. My number one factor in choosing dental schools was cost. Everyone comes out a dentist no matter where you go, and the majority of learning as a dentist takes place when you get out on your own. You might as well go somewhere that won't cripple you in the future.

That all being said, I know literally nothing about Rutgers, except that they have a pretty solid OMFS program and they were my 3rd choice for undergrad. So you might want to hear from that perspective as well.

Hey! What would you say are some negative things or things that you did not like about the school. Stony is a great school, with great faculty and students, but in every school there are flaws and things that can be improved.

 

[LFA20]

I am a d2 at Rutgers and so far I have been pretty a satisfied with the school.. However if stony is cheaper for you and it is indeed P/F then you should pick stony. It will make your life less stressful..