UPenn or Columbia?

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iwannabadentist

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so before anyone says anything about doing a search, let me just say, i've done that. most of the relevant posts i found were from 08 or before. However, beginning in 09 (c/o 2013), CU has slightly changed their curriculum to try and get students into the clinic earlier - towards the end of their 2nd year. I recently interviewed at both schools, and feel like I may have a good shot at them both. Considering all goes well and I get accepted to both, I am VERY confused as to which school to choose. I've made a pros/cons list, which i am attaching - let me know if im missing anything or if there is anything anyone would like to add. any opinions/thoughts on both schools, particularly from students going through the new CU curriculum would be greatly appreciated. thanks! :thumbup:

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  • Columbia vs UPenn.docx
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is it possible to provide a .doc. i don't have the newest version of office :(
 
Personally I would set such problem aside until time comes to dwell on it- less headache and disappointment this way...
each school will have their own pros and cons. You will be happy with pros either way, question is- can you live with those cons?
All DS are more alike than different and you get what you put into out of each of them. If there is serious problem and lack of chairs is one of them- what school does about it? Does school listen to student concerns? If the problem persist year from year that might mean an ongoing trend- you won't be heard during your time there.
 
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yah i guess but its one of the biggest decisions of our lives...so it does require a great deal of thought. also...im attaching .doc
 

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  • Columbia vs UPenn.doc
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Personally I would set such problem aside until time comes to dwell on it- less headache and disappointment this way...
each school will have their own pros and cons. You will be happy with pros either way, question is- can you live with those cons?
All DS are more alike than different and you get what you put into out of each of them. If there is serious problem and lack of chairs is one of them- what school does about it? Does school listen to student concerns? If the problem persist year from year that might mean an ongoing trend- you won't be heard during your time there.

You are right. But you also have to realize this is a HUGE decision in our lives. And IMO will require more thought than we can give it in the 45 day deadline.
 
I'd chose Columbia because I live in NYC, but my decision is biased. But its a decision your going to have to sit down and really think about. All the factors (location, tuition, if your in a certain situation, etc), the pros and cons of the school.
 
I'll talk on behalf of Penn... im a first year here.
- i'd agree we have pretty early clinical experience, and we are one of the only schools to have a dent simulation lab.. however, I hear it is nowhere near representative of the real thing.. second weak we got to learn a bit about class 1 amalgams and then started drilling in a plastic dummy.
- all schools have a good deal of 'medical involvement'. i don't know why, but we are learning about nerves that run down the arms and stuff. apparently we need to know this for the boards.. so whatever.. but yes, we have 120 students, and we don't share classes with any other people. same 120 all the time.. is that still a pro? hmm
- indeed. there are a lot of GREAT GAPSA (Graduate student organization-whatever) events planned by the school. A couple weeks ago, they rented out a docked boat, and it was free for all grad students, and we had a blast. They organize (generally free) events every couple weeks. also, it is close to penn main campus so you can meet people from other grad programs easier than other schools. great bonus in my opinion. albeit, how much time do we have to meet other students? not a lot.. hopefully soon we will reap these benefits.
- yeah, area is pretty ghetto. if you live on like 45th or higher, you can get a pretty nice studio for about 550, but if you want to live like a block away in a fairly new appartment building, can be 850-1000 for a similar 1 studio or 2-4 bedroom suite. but probably still not as expensive as NYU (but would you still call this 'reasonable living'?). Penn does a pretty decent job at having security on many corners up until 43rd and all around the campus once dusk hits - they stay around till 3 am... you can also chose to live downtown, which would start at 24th or so, and the school is on 40th, so that gives you an idea of how far the walk/bike ride/bus would be... (not far) and the area is somewhat nicer.
- I have never heard that chairs are hard to come by in 3rd year. they are currently implementing a new system where you sign up your patients online. all the upper years are struggling as they go through this change, but they are telling us scheduling will be a lot easier and streamlined for our year (and thus of course yours).
- why is high clinical requirement for graduation a con? the school finds our patients for us.. which is good.

some asides:
- we have the block system at Penn, we have one test every week after the 2nd week of school. I like it a lot because you can focus and there aren't areas of high stress like 'exam periods' or 'midterm seasons' that I had in undergrad. i know someone who has friends at columbia, and she was saying how they had 3 exams last week. and i couldnt imagine studying for 3 exams in 1 week. however.. that pass/fail system seems awfully tempting. mind you.. i hear they have honours as 90+, so there is still pressure to achieve/compete in that sense..

- im working hard, but im also having fun. i enjoy it here... hope this helps.
 
oh.. columbia may have lower tuition, but then calculate the yearly expenses when the rent differential is included.. that sort of brings the net price you will have to pay closer together..
 
thanks a lot for the info on penn! anyone want to speak on columbia's behalf? it would be really appreciated :)
 
i see for a Columbia con you wrote late clinicals. Their curriculum changed this year, the basic science part is compacted to 1.5 years and starting your 2nd year 2nd semester, you begin your clinical part.
 
Just pick the cheaper and more convenient of the two schools. I know it sounds like a silly thing to say but at the end of the day you will be a dentist no matter what school you attended. How good of a dentist you are depends on your abilities, every dental school in america does its part to give you education needed to be a good dentist.

Goodluck on you choice, I wish I had this luxury...
 
Based solely on interview experience, I'd choose Penn. The campus is beautiful and overall I got a much better vibe there.
 
Based solely on interview experience, I'd choose Penn. The campus is beautiful and overall I got a much better vibe there.

+1. I didnt see much of the campus tho? i'm not sure what is considered to be part of the campus actually lol..
 
Based solely on interview experience, I'd choose Penn. The campus is beautiful and overall I got a much better vibe there.

From your experiences, would you say that Penn had the nicer facilities? I've never seen Columbia, but I know that Penn's main clinic and preclinical labs were pretty old. And which one has the better surrounding area (if you had to choose)?
 
From your experiences, would you say that Penn had the nicer facilities? I've never seen Columbia, but I know that Penn's main clinic and preclinical labs were pretty old. And which one has the better surrounding area (if you had to choose)?


I thought Penn's facilities were better than Columbia.. but Columbia is in the process of renovating? Surrounding wise.. Penn had more of a "school" feel.. and Columbia felt more like a hospital. Penn's immediate surrounding is pretty solid.. but Philly OMG.. wtf? Columbia immediate surrounding is ok? I felt safe and i'm really glad to be able to take the express train towards the fun part of NYC in 20 mins.
 
From your experiences, would you say that Penn had the nicer facilities? I've never seen Columbia, but I know that Penn's main clinic and preclinical labs were pretty old. And which one has the better surrounding area (if you had to choose)?

Columbia actually has nicer clinics and lecture halls, but Penn's environment is better (more like a college town). Can't put my finger on it, but something about Columbia turns me off.
 
philly feels like a college town because, frankly, it is! theres 4 major colleges in about a 4 mile radius - upenn, temple, drexel and thomas jefferson. soo many possibilities for interaction with students from other schools and other professions. as for columbia, nyc is no doubt AWESOME (as barney stinson would put it). i might actually pick penn over columbia as well, but i really still don't know - columbia has definitely gained significant weight in my book at least, because of their new curriculum. hmm...lets get accepted first then i can make a decision! can't wait till dec 1st!!
 
I haven't attended either school, but I've talked to graduating dentists from both schools. Based on what they have told me, I would choose Penn. From the sounds of it, it is a much better school clinically. You learn dentistry by doing. So in my mind.. better clinically = doing more dentistry = better!

Hup
 
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