Who is everyone asking for advice?

[Teeths]

Sorry if this is silly to some of you... but now that I have some acceptances under my belt, everything REALLY hit me that this is for real, I'm actually going to be a dentist. I almost feel as though I have a whole different level and slew of questions I wouldn't have had at the interviews.

So what I'm asking is... where are all of you getting your advice on what school to pick? Asking family/friends is eh because they don't really understand all that's involved and some of the dentists I've worked for/shadowed are 'out of touch' with dental schools since they're older. Is there such a thing that I can call up one of these schools and just rattle off all of my questions? Seems like that'd be highly annoying to them, ha, but I'll probably end up doing that. Thanks for any input!

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[Paperclipz]

Congrats on all your acceptances Teeths!! I'm super happy for you!

I think the best thing to do is call up the schools just to get the information straight from them. Like I'm looking into scholarships and sometimes their financial aid departments have more information on that because they deal with that every year. It's a huge decision and they obviously see you as a stellar future dentist so they will do their best to guide you in the right direction.

Best of luck!!

 

[Teeths]

Thanks Paperclipz!

You're right, I'll just end up calling the schools. But of course they're not going to tell you things they think need some work or updating. It's going to be one of the biggest decisions in my life so far and I just want to feel like I made the right one. I realize that no school is perfect and in the end I will come out with the same degree, so I'll just gather as much info as I can and ... TAKE A BITE!

 

[Illfavor]

Congrats on all your acceptances Teeths!! I'm super happy for you!

I think the best thing to do is call up the schools just to get the information straight from them. Like I'm looking into scholarships and sometimes their financial aid departments have more information on that because they deal with that every year. It's a huge decision and they obviously see you as a stellar future dentist so they will do their best to guide you in the right direction.

Best of luck!!

Thank you for such a good answer.

 

[Teeths]

Thank you for such a good answer.

Haha, yeah. Well I'm just thinking if I'm missing anyone... I guess students of the school would also be a good source of info.

 

[Jbrowndds]

I'm not applying for another 2 cycles but I thought that you actually get to tour the schools you interview at. Did you miss that or what it not enough info?

 

[LFA20]

trust your instinct..

 

[Blake1e]

Youre going to have to rely on yourself and answer your own questions. Researching this forum (a lot of misinformation but also a lot of good info) and other websites, calling the schools, using my memory of what the schools seemed like when I went there for interviews, and like AVB2104 said above relying on your instincts.

 

[wazian2018]

You should try emailing current students- that's what I've been doing and it's been relatively helpful!

 

[jeffity]

Students are the best resource, I think. Be aware that fresh students might be in the honeymoon phase and be very cheerleader about things while late upperclassmen can be grumpy about everything in life at this point (but they'll be best if you want the scoop on clinic years if you have access to one).

 

[sgv]

ask newly grads

 

[aqz]

For those of you who have to make a deposit by January, this is probably a long stretch, but people should meet up and check out some of these places for a longer period of time/revisit the schools to make a better decision. For my temple/upenn interviews, I stayed at a temple D1's apartment. That whole week, he kept apologizing for not knowing places to show me around because he never took the time himself to check out Philly.

 

[Ferneezy]

ask newly grads

If I were so inclined this is exactly who I'd tap for info.

They have fresh knowledge of their school and the freedom to speak freely about it.

 

[crooked castle]

I agree with emailing current students (probably D3 or D4s) to ask them Qs about their experience. For me, I searched for facebook groups (ie: XYZ school of dentistry c/o 2015) to find current students to message.

 

[Teeths]

Thanks everyone for your responses! Have definitely helped, and I'm sure not just me

 

[doc toothache]

Getting information from a D1, D2, D3, D4 or a recent graduate on a particular school is kind of like throwing a dart at a board; you never know where it is going to land. Unless you have some specific questions that were not answered during the interview, calling the schools with a laundry list of questions may or may not be beneficial.

 

[KittySquared]

Current students. When you go on interviews, be sure to get a few emails of current students and ask them. If you want to solicit advice from SDN members who are in dental school, look at their past post history and see if they really have anything insightful and genuine to say. Just take everything with a grain of salt. And don't underestimate your gut feelings either. Ask yourself how you felt when you were at those schools interviewing. Ultimately you have to feel right being there, not your parents, siblings etc.

 

[jdye]

I've emailed my mentors throughout college. They all said "choose wherever you felt the best fit". Aka useless, lol. I e-mailed the dentist I shadowed who went to one of the schools and he said he was busy but has a lot to say, so I expect that advice to help. My family has no idea what's going on (two engineers) so they're as torn as I am because they know the same things I do. And that left me with the forums... idk what to do, haha.

I guess I should probably e-mail current students. I completely forgot some of the schools gave me a list during my visit. Thanks guys I'm glad so many of us have the same questions right now, lol.

 

[aqz]

I've emailed my mentors throughout college. They all said "choose wherever you felt the best fit". Aka useless, lol. I e-mailed the dentist I shadowed who went to one of the schools and he said he was busy but has a lot to say, so I expect that advice to help. My family has no idea what's going on (two engineers) so they're as torn as I am because they know the same things I do. And that left me with the forums... idk what to do, haha.

I guess I should probably e-mail current students. I completely forgot some of the schools gave me a list during my visit. Thanks guys I'm glad so many of us have the same questions right now, lol.

Same here with the 2 engineers, except my dad is absolutely gung-ho about me going to harvard if I get in. I would try to tell him all about the application process and how each school offers something unique, and he would go uhhuh, okay, uhhuh, and at the end of it all, he'd just say....son, if you get into harvard, go to harvard.

 

[Teeths]

Same here with the 2 engineers, except my dad is absolutely gung-ho about me going to harvard if I get in. I would try to tell him all about the application process and how each school offers something unique, and he would go uhhuh, okay, uhhuh, and at the end of it all, he'd just say....son, if you get into harvard, go to harvard.

One of the dentists I've worked for said -- "Harvard is the only school whose name matters in our country. I tell any of my shadows to go there if they get in. Everywhere else go to the cheapest, most established school you've been accepted to."

 

[aqz]

One of the dentists I've worked for said -- "Harvard is the only school whose name matters in our country. I tell any of my shadows to go there if they get in. Everywhere else go to the cheapest, most established school you've been accepted to."

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Apparently there's also a really nice tennis court right next to the campus. Boston weather, you stink.

 

[Teeths]

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Hahaha, sorry if that didn't help. I just thought I'd pass it along because I'm nowhere near Harvard material so it doesn't pertain to me

 

[lwen5]

One of the dentists I've worked for said -- "Harvard is the only school whose name matters in our country. I tell any of my shadows to go there if they get in. Everywhere else go to the cheapest, most established school you've been accepted to."

I absolutely agree with this. Unfortunately, Harvard is the most prestigious name for lots of disciplines.

 

[gn4]

just curious, but why is Harvard the exception to this rule? they teach you how to better be a dentist? I don't think their name is going to get you more patients

 

[Teeths]

just curious, but why is Harvard the exception to this rule? they teach you how to better be a dentist? I don't think their name is going to get you more patients

You'd be surprised. There's a specialty dentist in my area that went to Harvard and he promotes that fact so incredibly much it almost makes me sick lol. Think about it though, your average person associates Harvard with really intelligent, focused people. Why wouldn't you want your dentist to fall into this category too? The fact of the matter is, your average person doesn't know any prestige of dental schools (if such exists) so this can be both a good and bad thing.... BUT they will know the name Harvard.

 

[gn4]

You'd be surprised. There's a specialty dentist in my area that went to Harvard and he promotes that fact so incredibly much it almost makes me sick lol. Think about it though, your average person associates Harvard with really intelligent, focused people. Why wouldn't you want your dentist to fall into this category too? The fact of the matter is, your average person doesn't know any prestige of dental schools (if such exists) so this can be both a good and bad thing.... BUT they will know the name Harvard.

But wouldn't that work for any ivies?

 

[Teeths]

But wouldn't that work for any ivies?

I guess so, but you have to realize if you asked people what the most prestigious school in the country is... I'm willing to bet 90+ % would say Harvard. Maybe YOU can name all of the other ivies, but most couldn't tell you. I don't know, just my opinions

 

[gn4]

I guess so, but you have to realize if you asked people what the most prestigious school in the country is... I'm willing to bet 90+ % would say Harvard. Maybe YOU can name all of the other ivies, but most couldn't tell you. I don't know, just my opinions

you are right. haha. I just asked my aunt to name some Ivy league schools and she could only name Harvard and Columbia. Harvard was fast out of her mouth, but she had to take 5 min to name Columbia. haha. So you have a good point.