Originally posted by Woodsy
i don't know enough about dental school to make a fair assessment.
You are absolutely right Woodsy. You really don't know enough about dental school, seeing as you aren't there yet. People continue to choose big name schools because of the exact stereotype you described. I really don't think anyone in dentistry is going to hand you any real opportunity over other candidates just b/c you attend Columbia. Columbia alumni will probably tend to favor you, but I think that's as far as it will go. I could be totally wrong; next year when I am at my GPR where there will certainly be Columbia graduates, I'll let you know if I change my opinion.
As a pre-dent, I too thought schools like Harvard & Columbia must have excellent dental schools too. If you are talking about excellence & high standing, I'm taking that to mean clinical excellence b/c that's why we are here - to take care of the patient. However, now that I've been in dental school for 4 years and talked to many dental students attending schools across the country, I wouldn't put Harvard & Columbia's clinical experiences high on my list of excellence. In fact, I'd put San Antonio high (is that a big name? i dunno, i think they're good) b/c I've seen the school and it is apparent they are getting a good clinical experience. They get the chance to do implant cases if it comes up at San Antonio, now that wows me as a dental student.
I've also seen Harvard's dental school; where do the students see the patients? Their dental school is miniscule (the building) compared to the med school down the street. Compare that to the Columbia junior who told me his operative experience included 2 fillings, and that was more than his classmates. Harvard and Columbia have other positives, but in my mind, a "good" dentist isn't one who can recite the muscles in the hand. A good dentist is someone who can make sound clinical decisions in a practical situation when the patient is sitting in the chair in front of you. Not when you have a hypothetical situation in class about "what would you do in this case?" but when you actually have to consider all facets (medical, money, family, transportation, goals, dental IQ, etc) of the live patient sitting in your chair and tie it into their dental care.
Good luck at Columbia; I'm sure it offers other positives. But don't just assume that the mediocre student at the school with a reputable name will be afforded better opportunities than the average student at the school with the lesser name based on name alone. Dentistry is a different ball game and doesn't quite always work like that, unlike law or business where what you are trying to say can hold true.
