Specialization rates?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

avangusva

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2010
Messages
361
Reaction score
278
Points
5,201
Is there some place we can find statistics or information of specific dental schools and their specialization rates? The reason I ask is because I hope to specialize one day and would like to factor that into my decision on which school I will attend in the fall. Thank you in advance!
 
I'm not sure if there is a central location where you can find this information, but some schools release this on their website, or like Penn, pamphlets when you apply.

You can enquire the specific schools if they have this information available.

One thing I can tell you is that specializing depends on the applicant rather than school. The specialization rate for top tier schools are higher because there are more high quality applicants compared to lower tier schools. So it's more of what you've done rather than what school you went to.
 
I'm not sure if there is a central location where you can find this information, but some schools release this on their website, or like Penn, pamphlets when you apply.

You can enquire the specific schools if they have this information available.

One thing I can tell you is that specializing depends on the applicant rather than school. The specialization rate for top tier schools are higher because there are more high quality applicants compared to lower tier schools. So it's more of what you've done rather than what school you went to.

Great information. Thank you, I'll look into that and I'll take what you said into consideration.
 
Is there some place we can find statistics or information of specific dental schools and their specialization rates? The reason I ask is because I hope to specialize one day and would like to factor that into my decision on which school I will attend in the fall. Thank you in advance!

This type of data is not published by majority of dental schools...

The heavy hitters (harvard, columbia, UCLA, and few others) do publish them, I think you can find them on their websites somewhere.
 
I'm not sure if there is a central location where you can find this information, but some schools release this on their website, or like Penn, pamphlets when you apply.

You can enquire the specific schools if they have this information available.

One thing I can tell you is that specializing depends on the applicant rather than school. The specialization rate for top tier schools are higher because there are more high quality applicants compared to lower tier schools. So it's more of what you've done rather than what school you went to.

I mostly agree with what you said. However, when I was at my Penn and Columbia interviews, both groups of students I talked to said that, if they had to guess, they were no where near the top 10 in their class, but still had 10+ interviews for ortho/omfs, respectively; compared to the other candiates from other schools who pretty had to be (or coincidentally were) in the top 5 in their classes. Both pretty much gave us the spiel that the cost you pay at certain "top schools" carries a tremendous amount of weight when you're interviewing.
 
agreed. I went to penn yesterday and they just found out that 16/16 matched to ortho. I was literally blown away!
 
agreed. I went to penn yesterday and they just found out that 16/16 matched to ortho. I was literally blown away!

I've talked to 4 seniors about the subject (randomly) and all 4 matched to their program of interest.
 
Anyone familiarwith UConn's specialization rate? I heard they specialize a lot of their students, but I'm not to sure how valid that is
 
Anyone familiarwith UConn's specialization rate? I heard they specialize a lot of their students, but I'm not to sure how valid that is

They didn't mention anything during the interview? I'm actually curious about stony brook's rate.

You dropped that deposit check already?
 
They didn't mention anything during the interview? I'm actually curious about stony brook's rate.

You dropped that deposit check already?

They did "mention" it. However they simply said that they specialize a lot of their students. No numbers, or any specifics. On their website they have some very vague numbers in that "90% of D.M.D. graduates pursue advanced education opportunities, compared to about 45% nationally" and "820 (out of1,367) advanced training/specialty alumni as of 2010". So from what I gather about 60% of their class goes on to advanced training, but I am sure that a large portion of those are AEGD or GPR. This is why I was asking if anyone was more familiar with their numbers, because this basically tells me nothing lol

No deposit yet. I need to wait for payday first lol 😀
 
To chime in on HSDM's rate, out of a class of 35 (c/o 2011):
7 Ortho
6 Prosth
4 OMS
4 Peds
4 Endo
1 Perio
1 Path
4 GPR
31/35 going to residencies; 27/35 specializing; and I'm pretty sure 35/35 doing what they want to do

1 getting MBA,
1 getting MPA, and
the rest going into practice

I think that this year, there is maybe around 13 people going into ortho.
 
16 people from 1 class? all into ortho? how? Thats unheard of

Believe me, I was shocked. I've never heard of that many getting in from one class. I know it's legit because Dr. Sheridan (Assistant Dean) ran in and was like 16 matched! 100%! To Corky and I was like lol. wow! And each year, they are increasing the amount of specialties their students get into. I'm not sure how they are doing it but I was impressed.
 
Any ideas on Michigans match rates? NOVA? ASDOH?
 
Last edited:
They didn't mention anything during the interview? I'm actually curious about stony brook's rate.

You dropped that deposit check already?

I heard 10/40, so ~25% of the class went to specialization for Stony Brook
 
agreed. I went to penn yesterday and they just found out that 16/16 matched to ortho. I was literally blown away!

16/120 = 13.3% in penn which is the same as 10/75 = 13.3% columbia; considering that columbia is almost 80k cheaper, I think columbia is a better deal, harder to get into though
 
16/120 = 13.3% in penn which is the same as 10/75 = 13.3% columbia; considering that columbia is almost 80k cheaper, I think columbia is a better deal, harder to get into though

That's not how I see it. Of the 16 students from penn that applied to ortho, 16 matched. There is a distinct difference.

Not all 120 students from Penn applies to ortho. Some do other specialties or GPRs/residencies.

But either way, they have awesome specialization rates. Their OS and pedo and perio are also high >85% match that apply.
 
Does anyone know what the class rank requirement is on average for oral surgery programs? Top 5 of class? Top 10? Say there are 70 students in the class, for example. This is questions is directed for most schools, not the heavy hitters like Columbia, Penn, Harvard, etc.
 
Does anyone know about UoP's rate?
 
16/120 = 13.3% in penn which is the same as 10/75 = 13.3% columbia; considering that columbia is almost 80k cheaper, I think columbia is a better deal, harder to get into though

I'm not sure why you're calculating it that way, because the entire class doesn't apply to orthodontic residencies...

Difficulty is all relative. At least at on my interview days, I found Columbia's applicant's to have higher DATs, but lower GPAs. Also, the types of interviewees were quite different: Columbia had a lot of Asians who were research powerhouses, Penn had a more of a mix with crazy leadership accomplishments. I didn't get the vibe that they were gunning for the same type of applicants.

Either way, both great schools.
 
Does anyone know what the class rank requirement is on average for oral surgery programs? Top 5 of class? Top 10? Say there are 70 students in the class, for example. This is questions is directed for most schools, not the heavy hitters like Columbia, Penn, Harvard, etc.
Depends on where do you want to go for OMS residency. In general, class rank is far less important than boards performance, but top 10% would be very competitive.


Does anyone know about UoP's rate?

Everyone in my class who applied got in for whatever they were applying for, except 1-2 who probably had no business applying in the first place. However, I think there were also a few who had no business applying in the first place who DID get in 😎
 
One day you kids will understand that 90% of what dental school does for you is provide with with a certificate that says you are allowed to practice dentistry, and the majority of where you take your career depends on the work you put in. Specialization rates are unimportant. If you're smart enough to get accepted to Harvard, you're smart enough to get into ortho regardless of where you do dental school.
 
You're right. I called my state school today and he said that all those who were in the top third of the class who applied to oral surgery programs matched. 3 out of 4, and the fourth was not in the top third of the class. Traditionally, they match every competitive applicant to a program. That's good enough for me.

People need to make this more common knowledge: that it's the student and not the school that gets one into a specialty.
 
This is such a newb question..but can someone explain to me what it means to be "matched?" I don't understand this.. I thought you applied and hoped for an interview. Is being "matched" like being accepted? Confused 😕
 
This is such a newb question..but can someone explain to me what it means to be "matched?" I don't understand this.. I thought you applied and hoped for an interview. Is being "matched" like being accepted? Confused 😕

So you apply and go interview. And then you have to rank the places you interviewed at in the order of your preference. The school's then rank applicants in order of their preference. And then on match day, you open up the website and PRESTO! You're matched with a school depending on where you ranked them and how they ranked you. Medical schools do this to prevent applicants from the holding multiple acceptances situation and playing musical chairs with acceptances. You're just given one school that matched with you. It's like an arranged marriage 😀
 
This is such a newb question..but can someone explain to me what it means to be "matched?" I don't understand this.. I thought you applied and hoped for an interview. Is being "matched" like being accepted? Confused 😕
Match is a system that aligns your preference with the school's preference. After candidates submit their applications, school will contact prospective students for interviews. After interviews, the programs and the candidates will utilize the matching program to rank each other in order of preference. then the computer will set up each candidate with the program that he or she ranked highest.
 
anyone know speciality rate for buffalo? hoping to hear from columbia, got into buffalo but i want to specialize and i know columbia is huge on that but its way more expensive then buffalo (im ny resident) so i would like to hear some opinions! thanks!
 
WIth the cost of school, less people are applying to post dental residencies. You should be able to go wherever you want to.
 
WIth the cost of school, less people are applying to post dental residencies. You should be able to go wherever you want to.

Hmm, really? How did you find this out? It seems like there would be more people shooting for residencies because they have the potential to earn more money...? Interesting lol
 
WIth the cost of school, less people are applying to post dental residencies. You should be able to go wherever you want to.

I can kind of see that. It's scary to think about a 1/2 million dollars accumulating interest at 8% while you're doing a residency, assuming it's a free residency. A lot of residencies are pretty expensive though. I think some people might just want to start paying it off rather than getting even deeper into debt. So if I had to guess, it would probably be relatively straightforward getting into residencies that charge tuition, but it's probably going to be more competitive to get into residencies that pay a stipend.
 
So you apply and go interview. And then you have to rank the places you interviewed at in the order of your preference. The school's then rank applicants in order of their preference. And then on match day, you open up the website and PRESTO! You're matched with a school depending on where you ranked them and how they ranked you. Medical schools do this to prevent applicants from the holding multiple acceptances situation and playing musical chairs with acceptances. You're just given one school that matched with you. It's like an arranged marriage 😀

Thanks for explaining this so clearly! I never knew it worked like that...sounds kinda scary to me!
 
Top Bottom