UPenn vs. Columbia?

[purplecoW]

I know both UPenn and Columbia are great schools, but what are some of the strengths and weaknesses of both? Which one has better clinical training (I've heard since there are no minimum quota procedures for Columbia there is less clinical exposure unless you really make an effort to get experience)? Better facilities? Good alumni connections? How important is location to future practice if you want to specialize? Any thoughts/comments appreciated. So hard to choose...

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[motörhead]

(I've heard since there are no minimum quota procedures for Columbia there is less clinical exposure unless you really make an effort to get experience)?

This can't possibly be true.

 

[purplecoW]

I think the person who said it was talking about a lack of set number of procedures like X crowns, Z fillings, etc.

 

[OMFSdoc]

Penn has it's own building. Columbia's dental school is a few floors in the hospital. I interviewed and was accepted to both years ago, and while I didn't end up attending either one, Columbia wasn't even a consideration after getting into Penn and Tufts.

 

[shamrock84]

Penn has it's own building. Columbia's dental school is a few floors in the hospital. I interviewed and was accepted to both years ago, and while I didn't end up attending either one, Columbia wasn't even a consideration after getting into Penn and Tufts.

why is that? give me please some good arguments. i picked columbia over penn (didn't apply to tufts) but i would love to hear your opinion. the fact that one has a whole building and the other has only few floors is not important to me but i would appreciate other input.

 

[lovechild404]

i picked columbia over upenn b/c...

it's pass or fail or pass w/ honors system
it's in nyc
class size is smaller
both neighborhoods are bad, but upenn was worse
high percentage of columbia students specialize
high board scores
better/more on-campus housing
slightly less expensive tuition
i enjoyed my interview at columbia more

 

[Rev Balls]

Just roll a dice and pick one. Both are great places. Ivy baby.........but Columbia's name sounds a bit more.....More folks would know more about Columbia than UPenn...It's only popularity, but other than that, UPenn is as great .

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Rev Balls....UPenn or Columbia Dental Medicine Class of 2011

 

[ddsjymaeng]

Columbia is not more famous or that people know better.
Actually it can be the opposite, since based on the USA Today ranking Upenn is ranked higher than Columbia. But this cannot conclude that Upenn is more famous as well. Both Ivy school.... so people know that school anywayz...
About Columbia
-NYC
-Small class population (in other perspective... well u gotta add with the med student...)
-pass/fail (might be less productive to people who prefer grades as incentives) but less stress overall...all u need is pass...so study for it...
- my experience is lack of facilities (don't know about the tools, but just the feeling...old buidling)... only 3 floors...but this is New York gotta understand that...space!!!
- no sim lab...might not need one...but someone might prefer.
-high specialties... but not necessary much higher than Upenn... similar...
-high board exams....cuz focus on didactics... reasonable...

Upenn
-higher tution
-Philadelphia vs NYC
-bigger/new building
-sim lab (but its under the basement...gloomy) if u r a person who needs to practice hand skills and learn stuff by yourself... might be helpful...
-much more focus on clinical practice than Columbia
-high specialty rate...ex. pediatric dentistry 12/12 got in... if u r interested in pediatric...lol
-high board exam...
-grade system... A/B/C could be stressful but could force you to study hard...
it depends...

Overally, go to the one you feel better...becuz both schools are awesome and good!!! U can be a good dentist if u study hard in either one of those schools...so relax...

Good Luck in choosing...

 

[jhuplaw]

- no sim lab...might not need one...but someone might prefer.

i thought i saw about 3 dentsims there...definately not a lab but at least available to try

 

[INFNITE]

-pass/fail (might be less productive to people who prefer grades as incentives) but less stress overall...all u need is pass...so study for it...

Note: it's actually Pass/Fail/Honors. The honors make a huge difference if you want to specialize in one of the more competitive specialties like orthodontics. For those who just wanna GP, yes, it's certainly nowhere near as stressful, but for those who want to specialize, there's still an incentive to do well. In fact, our class is pretty overachieving overall.

 

[Zanderale6]

i picked columbia over upenn b/c ... class size is smaller

Keep in mind that, although the class size is smaller at Columbia, you won't really be able to really enjoy the benefits of that until third year. Columbia students take their science courses w/ med students, which means their class size (w/ the exception of GRD) is actually larger for two years!

... Keeping on the same subject, I also appreciate the fact that Penn's science courses (taken separately from the medical students) can be better geared toward the future practice of dentistry.