Stony Brook vs. UMDNJ

[avnaks]

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Hello,

I was accepted to both Stony Brook and UMDNJ and am about to make the crucial decision. I know that both are good schools, but does anyone have any input as to what the pros and cons are of each school? Thank you very much.

 

[AndiB]

being that i only have knowledge of umdnj, i suppose my opinion is somewhat bias (hehe but very true though, in my opinion!) umdnj provides an excellent clinical experience, super friendly staff, get great practice for the future (theyhave more requirements such as X caps, do X cavities, etc, which will prepare you well for the real world

heh this may sound kinda weird, but umdnj is my dream school, kinda like a high school crush, i went there, knew i loved it, and thought about it every day since (haha, jk) but thats my input, hope this helps a little 🙂

 

[LadyxJC]

I'm also curious as to what others have to share in terms of their knowledge of the two schools...

It seems to be that there are many UMDNJ fans on SDN... I have to say, I also was positively impressed when I went to visit the school for their interview. But personally, I am leaning towards Stony Brook a bit more because it's my state school. Also, Stony has a very small class size, which I find favorable. Stony is technologically up to date, they offer digital x-rays and their clinics seemed pretty nice. I guess it doesn't help if one says that a school provides good clinical experience, without backing it up... but it seems to be that both schools supposedly (what I know only from word of mouth) offer good clinical training. One thing that bothers me though is that my interview day experience at Stony wasn't as pleasant~

The avg. gpa of students accepted to Stony is pretty high... does anyone know how the students perform on the board exams and how many of their graduates go on to specialize?

 

[PreDentalGuy29]

My vote would definitely go for UMDNJ.

 

[Tzips]

I actually went through exactly the same dilemna a year ago, a finally settled on UMDNJ because 1. it's more centrally located - Stony is at least an hour drive from anything; and 2. the class size - small classes are nice, it's true, but it also means that everyone knows everybody else's business. I want to be a student, not fodder for the gossip mill (admittedly a vain hope, but at least I can pretend... which I couldn't in a smaller class). All I know is, I really like my class here. I'm sure Stony would have been nice as well, but I'm glad I made the descision I did, DVD curriculum notwithstanding 😛 . To the OP: PM me for more details; I have huge pro-con lists, as I spent weeks agonising over the descision last January.

AFAIK, both UMDNJ and Stony students do very well on the Boards, with high residency-matching stats. They're both good, solid clinically-oriented schools.

 

[AndiB]

I guess it doesn't help if one says that a school provides good clinical experience, without backing it up...
QUOTE]
I respectfully believe that my answer about being challenged in the clinics by having more requirements speaks for itself. And for another fun fact, they want to digitize all of the patients records within the next 2 years...woo! ay yay yay im such a dork.

 

[LadyxJC]

I guess it doesn't help if one says that a school provides good clinical experience, without backing it up...
QUOTE]
I respectfully believe that my answer about being challenged in the clinics by having more requirements speaks for itself. And for another fun fact, they want to digitize all of the patients records within the next 2 years...woo! ay yay yay im such a dork.

I'm not sure if having "more requirements" is a strong argument in stating that a school provides a good clinical training, not that I know the exact #'s of the various requirements. A lot of schools seem to be moving towards the comprehensive care/competency method where they don't have required #'s but instead test you on the different procedures when you feel that you are ready. But anyway, I wasn't referring to you when I said "without backing it up"... it was more for what I said next, about sharing what I have just heard from word of mouth. But anyway, thanks for the input and I share your thought on the paperless records... I think Stony is already doing that, if I'm not mistaken. It's pretty cool~

 

[AndiB]

I'm not sure if having "more requirements" is a strong argument in stating that a school provides a good clinical training, not that I know the exact #'s of the various requirements. A lot of schools seem to be moving towards the comprehensive care/competency method where they don't have required #'s but instead test you on the different procedures when you feel that you are ready. But anyway, I wasn't referring to you when I said "without backing it up"... it was more for what I said next, about sharing what I have just heard from word of mouth. But anyway, thanks for the input and I share your thought on the paperless records... I think Stony is already doing that, if I'm not mistaken. It's pretty cool~

Hey, sorry for the confusion. I think Stony happens to be an excellent school as well. Good luck next year 🙂 And btw, I can empathize with you regarding UPenn...I have similar stats as you and went through the same thing with Penn..heh oh well, I know it wasn't my top choice anyway.

 

[RockinDDS]

Hi All,

I am a SB DS1. Feel free to ask any questions you have about the school. I went through the same thing myself just a year ago and I remember how frustrating it was b/c there is little SB representation on SDN.

I will say that I am happy with my Stony Brook decision thus far!

best of luck to everyone