UW (IS) vs. Penn

[mr.dentist]

thanks guys!

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[future_nostalgia]

Personally -- if cost is definitely not a factor then I would choose wherever you think you'd be happiest. This is going to be four years of your life where you will definitely face some hardships so keep that in mind! I think if you have a strong preference for Seattle then it's probably the best choice to go to UW since that might be factored into your overall happiness in the long run?

I ultimately chose Penn from the schools I was deciding between because I strongly preferred the area over the other cities I had as options!

 

[sonicfighter]

For me, I would choose UW. Seattle is one of my favorite cities in the entire world and I did a summer research project in the dental school. I love the faculty and my experiences there and would have chosen them in a heartbeat (I am OOS and was rejected w/o interview). I like the class size and if I were to move there I would have my brother and a friend group already situated for me. I know that Penn gets knocked around a lot on SDN but I really like the school. Their biggest draw for me is their vast array of dual degree opportunities even over their higher specialization rate. Additionally, the financial struggles with UW are mostly sequestered to a particular graduate dental department and so you shouldn't be too impacted by it. Outdoor-wise, you cannot compare Seattle's skiing or mountain biking to the east coast and if outdoors activities are something that you would miss then staying in Seattle is for the better. Ironically enough, I think I prefer the east coast's Fall-Winter-Spring to Seattle's dreary equivalent for those months with Seattle's summers being hard to beat.

Ultimately, it is a very personal decision and you will have to decide what's going to be important for you but thankfully you cannot make a bad decision here career-wise. Financially, however, that's a whole other can of worms

 

[bracketbuster68]

UW. Penn's specialization rate doesn't matter and you can for sure build practice networks at UW. Also saves you a bunch of money. Put the difference towards your retirement or future practice fund or your kid's college or even charity.

 

[Life of Pablo]

If cost is not a factor, Penn 100%. Why would you subject yourself to having a class rank? No class rank at Penn and easier to specialize. If cost is a factor, then I'd say choose UW unless you want to do OS. Class rank is no joke and you're going to have to work VERY hard to maintain a good class rank.

 

[wengerout]

Penn.


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[mr.dentist]

UW. Penn's specialization rate doesn't matter and you can for sure build practice networks at UW. Also saves you a bunch of money. Put the difference towards your retirement or future practice fund or your kid's college or even charity.

Appreciate your reply here!

For me, I would choose UW. Seattle is one of my favorite cities in the entire world and I did a summer research project in the dental school. I love the faculty and my experiences there and would have chosen them in a heartbeat (I am OOS and was rejected w/o interview). I like the class size and if I were to move there I would have my brother and a friend group already situated for me. I know that Penn gets knocked around a lot on SDN but I really like the school. Their biggest draw for me is their vast array of dual degree opportunities even over their higher specialization rate. Additionally, the financial struggles with UW are mostly sequestered to a particular graduate dental department and so you shouldn't be too impacted by it.

Thanks for your reply! Sorry you didn't get an interview..UW is just SO NOT OOO friendly

Personally -- if cost is definitely not a factor then I would choose wherever you think you'd be happiest. This is going to be four years of your life where you will definitely face some hardships so keep that in mind! I think if you have a strong preference for Seattle then it's probably the best choice to go to UW since that might be factored into your overall happiness in the long run?
I ultimately chose Penn from the schools I was deciding between because I strongly preferred the area over the other cities I had as options!

 

[mr.dentist]

Penn.

Sent from my iPhone using SDN

May i ask the reasoning behind?

If cost is not a factor, Penn 100%. Why would you subject yourself to having a class rank? No class rank at Penn and easier to specialize. If cost is a factor, then I'd say choose UW unless you want to do OS. Class rank is no joke and you're going to have to work VERY hard to maintain a good class rank.

Thanks for replying! Do you go to Penn? if so, in what aspects do you think the no class rank system has made? It obviously fosters a more cooperative culture, but from what i've heard from other schools with class rank, most people are still extremely willing to help each other (except for the gunners of course).

 

[future_nostalgia]

Thank you! It's a difficult one since I prefer Seattle as a city but Penn as a school, and both the city and school will affect my overall happiness - just gotta figure out which will contribute more!

I would then choose Penn. At the end of the day you're going to dental school for the school-aspect mostly. Yes it would be fun to get out and explore the city in which the school is located (and Philadelphia is a really great city to explore), but the reality is you should go to the school with the best general environment from you! If the Seattle-pull is extremely strong for you that it trumps your preference for Penn as a school then I guess it would make sense to go to UW haha.

I have to agree about not having rankings at Penn -- despite rumors on SDN saying that the top 10 are ranked we've been told multiple times by faculty/deans that Penn doesn't rank at all. And I've also been told by D4's that have matched into residency that they did not place any rankings on their applications. I think not having a ranking system eliminates any pressure to try to excel to reach a certain position in your class, even in schools that do rank and are collaborative, there will still be some underlying competitive environment (which I'm personally not drawn to).

 

[P7898]

Easy. Whatever is cheaper. Cheers.