TOP rated dental schools

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artyosha

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Can someone please show a good link which rates the top dental schools.
some say UCONN is #1 some say harvard some say Buffalo
Can anyone actually give a good, legit list to prove which is at the top 10 👍 Thank you for your time.

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Dental schools haven't been officially ranked in a long time.

Search SDN and you will find a plethora of opinions and arguments regarding dental school rankings.
 
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My vote is for UNC for the highest quality training. Harvard for career options.
 
Hmm, I definitely see a pattern about some questions being asked over and over again. Perhaps I've been on SDN too long. Anyone know the frequency of school rankings and/or IVY vs state school thread occurrences?

Oh, to answer your question see the quote below. By the way this could be found on the Forum etiquette & FAQ's page.

Why can't I find a list of dental school ranks?
Why are dental schools not ranked?

From http://www.tambcd.edu/DentalCE/askdo..._rankings.html
There have only been two individuals or organizations that have ranked dental schools; US News and World Report_ in 1993 and The Gourman Report on a periodic basis. Both organizations have multple flaws in the methodology of ranking the schools.

The major problem is that the rankings were based on the perception of Deans, administrators, faculty and others_ about the relative quality of the schools and not on any objective criteria that compared "apples to apples". The dental schools complained bitterly to US News and as a result US News has discontinued ranking US dental schools. Parenthetically, the dental schools were given wide acclaim by our colleagues in higher education as being the only education enterprise that has stood up to US News. As you may know, rankings of all colleges and universities are under intense criticism by our colleagues in the higher education community.

Here is the official statement from the ADA on rankings. It make a lot of sense.

Dental school applicants should be aware that there are proprietary publications available that purport to rank dental schools according to the quality of their programs. The American Dental Education Association and the American Dental Association advise applicants to view these rankings with caution. The bases for the rankings are questionable, and even those individuals most knowledgeable about dental education would admit to the difficulty of establishing criteria for, and achieving consensus on, such rankings.

All U.S. dental schools are accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation, and all have their relative strengths. A dental school ideally suited to one applicant might not be appropriate for another. The American Dental Education Association and the American Dental Association recommend that applicants investigate on their own the relative merits of the dental schools they might wish to attend.

SDN threads on this topic:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/show...hreadid=105170
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/show...threadid=63737
 
The OFFICIAL Top Dental Schools list:

#1. School you're going to!
#2. Other schools you got accepted to!
#3. Other schools you got interviews at!
#63. Schools you applied to but didn't hear from.
#64. Schools you got rejected from.
#65. Schools you didn't apply to.

Hooray for the #1 Dental School in the land, Tufts! 😉
 
The OFFICIAL Top Dental Schools list:

#1. School you're going to!
#2. Other schools you got accepted to!
#3. Other schools you got interviews at!
#63. Schools you applied to but didn't hear from.
#64. Schools you got rejected from.
#65. Schools you didn't apply to.

Hooray for the #1 Dental School in the land, Tufts! 😉

LOL pretty much correct with maybe a couple of exceptions.
 
This is the most well documented ranking I have found, and I have a math/econ background. (Same ranking number indicates a tie).

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=600320

Top 10:
1 University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry 94.00
2 State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine 93.40
3 University of California at Los Angeles School of Dentistry 91.17
4 Louisiana State University School of Dentistry 90.60
5 University of California at San Francisco School of Dentistry 89.67
6 State University of New York at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine 89.33
7 University of Washington-Health Sciences School of Dentistry 89.17
7 University of Maryland Baltimore College of Dental Surgery 89.17
9 University of Colorado Denver 88.80
10 Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry 87.60
 
:corny:
This is the most well documented ranking I have found, and I have a math/econ background. (Same ranking number indicates a tie).

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=600320

Top 10:
1 University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry 94.00
2 State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine 93.40
3 University of California at Los Angeles School of Dentistry 91.17
4 Louisiana State University School of Dentistry 90.60
5 University of California at San Francisco School of Dentistry 89.67
6 State University of New York at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine 89.33
7 University of Washington-Health Sciences School of Dentistry 89.17
7 University of Maryland Baltimore College of Dental Surgery 89.17
9 University of Colorado Denver 88.80
10 Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry 87.60
 
This is the most well documented ranking I have found, and I have a math/econ background. (Same ranking number indicates a tie).

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=600320

Top 10:
1 University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry 94.00
2 State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine 93.40
3 University of California at Los Angeles School of Dentistry 91.17
4 Louisiana State University School of Dentistry 90.60
5 University of California at San Francisco School of Dentistry 89.67
6 State University of New York at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine 89.33
7 University of Washington-Health Sciences School of Dentistry 89.17
7 University of Maryland Baltimore College of Dental Surgery 89.17
9 University of Colorado Denver 88.80
10 Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry 87.60

4.) Last available "official" ranking (US News 1994 (republished 1997))

That's the fourth criteria in the rankings. So that person is pretty much introducing already flawed data into his own calculations.
 
My vote is for UNC for the highest quality training.

I hope to be a North Carolina trained dentist.

Applying this cycle. I'm in state, and its my alma mater.

Curious why you say this, though. I feel biased because I've become so familiar with the school and acquainted with some of the students and faculty.
 
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it's your own f'ing ranking....

and you being a math/econ background doesn't reconcile your stupidity.

The guy who made these rankings is an idiot. The people who believe these rankings are even bigger idiots. Many people have said that dentistry is a sub-specialty of medicine. Many people also look to U.S News for medical school rankings. Do you know how U.S. News ranks medical schools?

See here: http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-graduate-schools/2008/03/26/medicine-methodology.html

It's mostly based on the school's research and peer reviews. They have a primary care rank which takes primary care into account. They also look at MCAT, GPA, acceptance rate, and specialty rank. They do not include cost and SDN member opinions.

If U.S News ranked med schools like the idiot who made these rankings Harvard, Hopkins, Penn, and other top schools would be nowhere near the top. It would be mostly state schools like the silly list created on SDN. The guy who made this list should rank med schools using the same criteria and give everyone here a good laugh with the mediocre list he comes up with.
 
Citing US news as your 'good' methodology probably isn't the best argument.

The guy who made these rankings is an idiot. The people who believe these rankings are even bigger idiots. Many people have said that dentistry is a sub-specialty of medicine. Many people also look to U.S News for medical school rankings. Do you know how U.S. News ranks medical schools?

See here: http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-graduate-schools/2008/03/26/medicine-methodology.html

It's mostly based on the school's research and peer reviews. They have a primary care rank which takes primary care into account. They also look at MCAT, GPA, acceptance rate, and specialty rank. They do not include cost and SDN member opinions.

If U.S News ranked med schools like the idiot who made these rankings Harvard, Hopkins, Penn, and other top schools would be nowhere near the top. It would be mostly state schools like the silly list created on SDN. The guy who made this list should rank med schools using the same criteria and give everyone here a good laugh with the mediocre list he comes up with.
 
The guy who made these rankings is an idiot. The people who believe these rankings are even bigger idiots. Many people have said that dentistry is a sub-specialty of medicine. Many people also look to U.S News for medical school rankings. Do you know how U.S. News ranks medical schools?

See here: http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-graduate-schools/2008/03/26/medicine-methodology.html

It's mostly based on the school's research and peer reviews. They have a primary care rank which takes primary care into account. They also look at MCAT, GPA, acceptance rate, and specialty rank. They do not include cost and SDN member opinions.

If U.S News ranked med schools like the idiot who made these rankings Harvard, Hopkins, Penn, and other top schools would be nowhere near the top. It would be mostly state schools like the silly list created on SDN. The guy who made this list should rank med schools using the same criteria and give everyone here a good laugh with the mediocre list he comes up with.

Sorry, aceofspades, your school (Columbia) is definitely not in the top 10. By any rankings.
 
Sorry, aceofspades, your school (Columbia) is definitely not in the top 10. By any rankings.
I never specified what schools (Columbia) are/or should be at the top. Oh, and I'm not attending Columbia by the way. Nice ad hominem style attack, just get your facts straight first. I bet you thought you were a regular Sherlock Holmes after you "found me out" right? :laugh:

Citing US news as your 'good' methodology probably isn't the best argument.
U.S. News may not be the best but it is widely accepted. Please armorshell, show me the 'good' methodology ranking for medical schools that you approve of. Please, I would really like to know. How reputable is your list? Was it created on SDN?

Edit: And once again, I would like to see a list created with the same methodology ranking medical schools. Then you can truly see how mediocre this is.
 
I hope to be a North Carolina trained dentist.

Applying this cycle. I'm in state, and its my alma mater.

Curious why you say this, though. I feel biased because I've become so familiar with the school and acquainted with some of the students and faculty.

They have more of the biggest authorities in the field working for them. Many schools learn from what UNC's done.
 
They have more of the biggest authorities in the field working for them. Many schools learn from what UNC's done.

I haven't run across a faculty member who wasn't world-class. The new dental building is going to be something else. I had an itch to get out of NC and apply to some west coast schools, but after doing some more research, the value + quality at UNC for me as an in-state student is an absolute no-brainer. East Carolina will have a dental school open for 2011 (probably), but it looks bush league compared to what UNC will have. No offense to the fine folks at ECU, either. I'm probably going to apply to 5 or 6 schools other than UNC, but if I just miss at UNC, I may turn down one of the other schools and try again at UNC. I like it that much.
 
Sorry, aceofspades, your school (Columbia) is definitely not in the top 10. By any rankings.


no of course not

Columbia is only ranked in the top 10 of every single area EXCEPT dental school....isn't this common knowledge 🙄
 
U.S. News may not be the best but it is widely accepted. Please armorshell, show me the 'good' methodology ranking for medical schools that you approve of. Please, I would really like to know. How reputable is your list? Was it created on SDN?

There is no "good" methodology, because in things as complex as education, there are rare occasions where one school is strictly better than any other.

Do me a favor, rank in order of best to least, the following waffle toppings:
1. Belgian w/ syrup and butter
2. Belgian w/ strawberry compote
3. Belgian w/ blueberry compote

I would wager you know which one you would order if faced with the decision, and that you could eloquently explain why. You could even formulate a system by which you ranked them, taking into account that blueberries are a peak fruit during this season, last years maple harvest, looking at the percentages of each topping sold in the previous years at that particular IHOP, but it wouldn't neccesarily mean anything to anyone else.

Even when looking at waffle toppings, there's not a clear way to evaluate how much better one is over the other without making subjective judgment calls personal to the individual rater.
 
There is no "good" methodology, because in things as complex as education, there are rare occasions where one school is strictly better than any other.

Do me a favor, rank in order of best to least, the following waffle toppings:
1. Belgian w/ syrup and butter
2. Belgian w/ strawberry compote
3. Belgian w/ blueberry compote

I would wager you know which one you would order if faced with the decision, and that you could eloquently explain why. You could even formulate a system by which you ranked them, taking into account that blueberries are a peak fruit during this season, last years maple harvest, looking at the percentages of each topping sold in the previous years at that particular IHOP, but it wouldn't neccesarily mean anything to anyone else.

Even when looking at waffle toppings, there's not a clear way to evaluate how much better one is over the other without making subjective judgment calls personal to the individual rater.


Well I prefer my waffles with Ivy leafs on them. They just taste better than the 3 options you put.🙄
 
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There is no "good" methodology, because in things as complex as education, there are rare occasions where one school is strictly better than any other.

Do me a favor, rank in order of best to least, the following waffle toppings:
1. Belgian w/ syrup and butter
2. Belgian w/ strawberry compote
3. Belgian w/ blueberry compote

I would wager you know which one you would order if faced with the decision, and that you could eloquently explain why. You could even formulate a system by which you ranked them, taking into account that blueberries are a peak fruit during this season, last years maple harvest, looking at the percentages of each topping sold in the previous years at that particular IHOP, but it wouldn't neccesarily mean anything to anyone else.

Even when looking at waffle toppings, there's not a clear way to evaluate how much better one is over the other without making subjective judgment calls personal to the individual rater.
Though your food analogy is a bit over the top I actually agree (somewhat) with what you said in bold. However, often THINGS ARE RANKED whether you like it or not. We live in a world or rankings. From colleges to law and medical schools, official, though possibly flawed, methodology is used to regularly rank schools. People are ranked as well. How many times have I heard "top" or "world class" when referring to professionals. In fact, that term has been used in this thread. Hey armorshell, aren't you ranked at your school? In our society, perception is reality.

It's a shame that dental schools managed to escape the whole official ranking fixation only to succumb to ludicrous rankings on SDN. Well, luckily this is only SDN I guess. Keep saying to yourself "Harvard, Penn, Columbia and the like ain't s#it" while their students continously grab up specialty spots at your higher ranked SDN approved state school. Someone (with real authority) must think otherwise when large percentages of the people from those schools plus others like UCLA, UCSF, UConn match consistently.

aceofspades is the perfect definition of the term douchebag.
Well, better to be a douchebag than a turd sandwich.

I'm still waiting for the SDN med school ranking using this methodology. Who the hell created that crap anyway? Perhaps I should send a PM to the maker. I need a good laugh, though this thread has provided some of that already.
 
I think.. the ranking of a school should be based on how well it teaches and prepares students materials for their test, and how much clinical opportunity they provide.

On the how well it teaches part.. you can't really compare that because some school accepts only the brightest due to their big name status, and some school accepts the average joe like me who don't learn as well. It is rather hard to compare.

However on the clinical opportunity, this could be easily researched and compared. Just look into each school's graduation requirements on clinical aspect of school. Some schools only go for "competency requirement" ! and some school don't even let people get 2 years of clinical training before graduating them..

Therefore, I believe, the top ranked school will be :

#1 - the school you are going to (maybe not the ones that are on adea probation list, uh hem)

#2 - all else 🙂
 
There can be two different criterias under which dental schools can be ranked-
1) schools with medical curriculum or stresses more on didactics. The schools which are high board score oriented.
2) schools that are heavy on clinical training.

But again it is subjective.
 
There can be two different criterias under which dental schools can be ranked-
1) schools with medical curriculum or stresses more on didactics. The schools which are high board score oriented.
2) schools that are heavy on clinical training.

But again it is subjective.


There are so many different aspects to consider when ranking dental schools. For example, if you are looking at clinical strength, a school like Temple would probably rank toward the top of that ranking. However, if you are looking at technology or didactics, Temple would probably rank toward the bottom. This is what complicates ranking--each school has it's own strengths.
 
There are so many different aspects to consider when ranking dental schools. For example, if you are looking at clinical strength, a school like Temple would probably rank toward the top of that ranking. However, if you are looking at technology or didactics, Temple would probably rank toward the bottom. This is what complicates ranking--each school has it's own strengths.

Isnt that what i said?😕
 
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