Why NYU?

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Double Bonded

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Hey guys,

I got accepted to a school that I'm 98% sure that I'll be attending but I can't shake this feeling about NYU.

I know all the reasons not to go there (cost, huge class size, etc, etc) but for some reason I'm pulled toward it. At my interview I said that I wanted to go to NYU because I loved the city, I could picture myself there yada yada.

Maybe it's because I've always wanted to live in NYC and my top choice school isn't in as big of a city but my deposit is supposed to be postmarked by tomorrow and I'm not sure that I don't want to send it in.

I don't want to specialize and I just want to be a kick ass general dentist so another thing pulling me toward NYU is the fact that the dental school I attend will have less of an impact on my career goals than if I wanted to pursue a specialty.

What are the reasons to go to NYU over a cheaper school with a (much) better reputation, better clinics, and smaller class size?

(Wow...typing that last sentence sounded stupid but I might as well ask than not 😀)
 
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Double Bonded said:
Hey guys,

I got accepted to my top choice dental school that I interviewed at and I'm 98% sure that I'll be attending but I can't shake this feeling about NYU.

I know all the reasons not to go there (cost, huge class size, etc, etc) but for some reason I'm pulled toward it. At my interview I said that I wanted to go to NYU because I loved the city, I could picture myself there yada yada.

Maybe it's because I've always wanted to live in NYC and my top choice school isn't in as big of a city but my deposit is supposed to be postmarked by tomorrow and I'm not sure that I don't want to send it in.

I don't want to specialize and I just want to be a kick ass general dentist so another thing pulling me toward NYU is the fact that the dental school I attend will have less of an impact on my career goals than if I wanted to pursue a specialty.

What are the reasons to go to NYU over a cheaper school with a (much) better reputation, better clinics, and smaller class size?
(Wow...that sounded stupid but I might as well ask than not 😀)
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NYU is private. I don't know if your top choice is also private though. Private institutions usually give you networking possibility, and that can give you an advantage in terms of finding jobs and patients in the future. I know USC does. USC patients love to go to USC dentists. lol..
 
ginaych said:
NYU is private. I don't know if your top choice is also private though. Private institutions usually give you networking possibility, and that can give you an advantage in terms of finding jobs and patients in the future. I know USC does. USC patients love to go to USC dentists. lol..
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I'd like to disband this myth right now. At our NYU presentation, the dean of admissions who talked to us in the conference room said the alumni network at NYU was weak and quite frankly not really important to your career. Also, the state of new york requires a GPR, so networking won't even matter right out of school.

However, to the original poster, I will say I had the same feeling. The time to live in New York is now. We are young, single-(ish?), and becoming professionals. The pick up line "I'm 40, married, and taking a day trip to New York with my kids" doesn't sound too attractive. However, "I'm 23 and live here for dental school, did I mention I'm going to be a doctor?"...now that sounds better. You can't go wrong with living in the Big Apple, and you're probably going to be really clinically adept coming from that school. Not to mention they offer you a lot of community service, rotations, selectives, and research. I know NYU gets overlooked a lot, but it can offer you so much and the time to go is now.

That being said, there is a reason to attend the cheaper school. Higher education is hitting a bubble. That is to say, the cost of education is becoming too difficult to pay off with the fees health professionals can charge. Let's face it, dental school tuition is inflated. Dentists have always made six figures over the past 20 years, but tuition has blimped from $15k to $60k a year. Over that time living expenses have also inflated. So, paying for the NYU education is probably not worth it in the end. Nothing is worth crushing debt, especially with our economic outlook.
 
I thought NYU was an alright school. The only things that really made me dislike it was the huge class size and tuition prices. Other than that, everything (clinical experience, facility quality, etc) is pretty much on par with other schools.

I guess from reading your post, the only reason why you would pick NYU over your current D-school is NYC is a pretty amazing city. Lots to do. While your out there exploring the city, you could run into high profile celebs and maybe make one of them your wife and you'll be set for life lol. Also, you might have network possibilities.
 
dantemac said:
I'd like to disband this myth right now. At our NYU presentation, the dean of admissions who talked to us in the conference room said the alumni network at NYU was weak and quite frankly not really important to your career. Also, the state of new york requires a GPR, so networking won't even matter right out of school.

However, to the original poster, I will say I had the same feeling. The time to live in New York is now. We are young, single-(ish?), and becoming professionals. The pick up line "I'm 40, married, and taking a day trip to New York with my kids" doesn't sound too attractive. However, "I'm 23 and live here for dental school, did I mention I'm going to be a doctor?"...now that sounds better. You can't go wrong with living in the Big Apple, and you're probably going to be really clinically adept coming from that school. Not to mention they offer you a lot of community service, rotations, selectives, and research. I know NYU gets overlooked a lot, but it can offer you so much and the time to go is now.

That being said, there is a reason to attend the cheaper school. Higher education is hitting a bubble. That is to say, the cost of education is becoming too difficult to pay off with the fees health professionals can charge. Let's face it, dental school tuition is inflated. Dentists have always made six figures over the past 20 years, but tuition has blimped from $15k to $60k a year. Over that time living expenses have also inflated. So, paying for the NYU education is probably not worth it in the end. Nothing is worth crushing debt, especially with our economic outlook.
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Agreed. Debt is too much of an issue nowadays. Let's put things in perspective. I loved, loved, LOVED UPenn when I was interviewing there. I got an acceptance, I fell in love with the city (city life!) and the atmosphere of the campus. But to be honest, I can't see myself shelling out 380K to attend dental school, so I chose UMich over it for the price and my love for research. I'm spoiled because I'll be completing a DDS/PhD where my tuition is covered, so I'll be coming out with no debt, but in terms of ability to practice, I feel that as long as you get a DDS/DMD, you're perfectly fine, and hopefully, will be able to find work where you want to live, and establish yourself in that community. I mean, if you had to choose between schools where the price difference was 20-30K, that's fine, but if it's like 100K, that's insane.
 
a2ndragoon89 said:
Agreed. Debt is too much of an issue nowadays. Let's put things in perspective. I loved, loved, LOVED UPenn when I was interviewing there. I got an acceptance, I fell in love with the city (city life!) and the atmosphere of the campus. But to be honest, I can't see myself shelling out 380K to attend dental school, so I chose UMich over it for the price and my love for research. I'm spoiled because I'll be completing a DDS/PhD where my tuition is covered, so I'll be coming out with no debt, but in terms of ability to practice, I feel that as long as you get a DDS/DMD, you're perfectly fine, and hopefully, will be able to find work where you want to live, and establish yourself in that community. I mean, if you had to choose between schools where the price difference was 20-30K, that's fine, but if it's like 100K, that's insane.
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Exactly. I narrowed my choice down to Pitt and a private school, and if I do not get the Navy HPSP, Pitt all the way. No shame in going to the cheaper school.
 
What I like about NYU's clinical program is that you'll learn things other program won't teach you. Every NYU graduate is Invisalign certified, trained to use CEREC 3D along with other advanced dental technologies. Also many of the faculty are the pioneers in their field such as the guy who invented veneers. How cool is that.

It would be more helpful if you told us the other school so we could make a more comprehensive comparison.
 
Sorry that this is off topic but just how big is the class size?
 
I don't know much about NYU, but I am guilty of choosing the more expensive school over the one that's practical and makes more sense simply because I know I'd be more content at the more expensive school. I'm not saying forget cost and stuff, just saying weigh out your options see which school you feel most comfortable with.
 
As a New Yorker I can share my advice with you: If you fell in love with NYC then come back here to do your GPR. If you still love it after a year you can stay and build a future here. While I love NY and I dont think there's a better city in America, I would not advise you to spend a ton of $$$$ just to get the "NY Experience." Let's look at some facts:

1. D-school is hard and requires so much focus that nightlife activities will be limited. All the touristy stuff can be done in a week or less and then you'll be faced with the 4 walls of a library, student center, or your tiny 300 sq foot apartment.
2. You'll quickly run up large bills as you go out to bars, clubs, food, etc. All that stuff is extremely expensive in Manhattan (even more expensive than Brooklyn, which is only 10 to 15 mins away.)
3. Like everything else in life you'll get bored of the lifestyle after a year or so and then doubt your choice or might feel like its too fast paced for you.
4. There is no way your wallet or future investment into a marriage, house or practice can justify going to NYU. Its just a poor financial move if you'll wind up paying another 100K or more to attend.

I know that you're excited and you want to go to NYU just like men want to date Scarlett Johansson. But remember what happens when the dream fades away and you realize she used you for your $$$ and left you high and dry.
 
For me, NYU was the cheaper school haha. =X

I half-expect a Case acceptance in the next few weeks though so I may decide against my NYU acceptance. Still unsure. Case isn't THAT much cheaper than NYU but cost of living is quite a bit cheaper; although, who knows, the extra $15-20k it'll cost to live in NYC might be worth it. It's honestly all about what you value more: more money in the bank or a different experience. There are people who take pride and joy in saving money; others are happier spending it on things they want or would prefer. Different strokes.
 
cleanup said:
For me, NYU was the cheaper school haha. =X

I half-expect a Case acceptance in the next few weeks though so I may decide against my NYU acceptance. Still unsure. Case isn't THAT much cheaper than NYU but cost of living is quite a bit cheaper; although, who knows, the extra $15-20k it'll cost to live in NYC might be worth it. It's honestly all about what you value more: more money in the bank or a different experience. There are people who take pride and joy in saving money; others are happier spending it on things they want or would prefer. Different strokes.
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MN costs more for you than NYU?
 
There is no way MN costs more than NYU there should be at least on minimum 50k difference. USC and NYU are the most expensive schools I know. MN should be around Case's cost level.
 
Bereno said:
I am wondering the same thing...

This seems recent, so I am confused lol
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On the ADEA handbook, they calculated the Minny living costs to be 12k/year.
There's no way you can live off 12k/year. I don't know how they calculated that.
Random expenses already come up to 1k/month, so 12k/year. They might expect you to live in the streets or something, or maybe they have free housing in Minny. I don't know, I've never been there.

But for NYU, they calculated living expenses to be around 34k/year, which seems reasonable. If you spend 1k/month on random expenses, then you're still left with 22k for rent, which means almost 2k/month.

But if we're talking about how much money the school gets from you in terms of tuition+fees+instruments+books, Minny will take ~276k (69k/year), while NYU takes ~266k (66.5k/year).

Assuming you don't want to have the lifestyle of a hobo in Minny, living expenses should be 10k/year more, so 40k more over 4 years. This makes Minny cost around 365k while NYU around 400k. So even though NYU is more expensive, it's not *that* much more.
 
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AlbinoPolarBear said:
On the ADEA handbook, they calculated the Minny living costs to be 12k/year.
There's no way you can live off 12k/year. I don't know how they calculated that.
Random expenses already come up to 1k/month, so 12k/year. They might expect you to live in the streets or something, or maybe they have free housing in Minny. I don't know, I've never been there.

But for NYU, they calculated it to be around 34k/year, which seems reasonable. If you spend 1k/month on expenses, then you're still live with 22k for rent, which means almost 2k/month.

But if we're talking about how much money the school gets from you in terms of tuition+fees+instruments+books, Minny will take ~276k (69k/year), while NYU takes ~266k (66.5k/year).
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See the link I included above they charge for a "summer semester" hence the Tuition itself is 300K vs. NYUs 280K, but the Living Costs offsets everything else.

I dont get cleanups math and I dunno if its correct, but as a choice between the schools I would go with NYU over MN, since the prices are comparable and NYU is a better school IMO.
 
wired202808 said:
See the link I included above they charge for a "summer semester" hence the Tuition itself is 300K vs. NYUs 280K, but the Living Costs offsets everything else.

I dont get cleanups math and I dunno if its correct, but as a choice between the schools I would go with NYU over MN, since the prices are comparable and NYU is a better school IMO.
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That's crazy how they charge extra for the summer semesters. I guess Tuition wise it maybe more expensive than NYU. I also vote for NYU probably a better school lol, so I would go to NYU.
 
You could easily live off of $10,000 a year. I live off of less than that in Pittsburgh.
 
dantemac said:
You could easily live off of $10,000 a year. I live off of less than that in Pittsburgh.
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I wouldn't doubt it... the students over at pitts during my interview were telling me about how cheap it was to live over there and you could get a pretty sweet place for very little. Just as a comparison... drinks over here in nyc is about 2x that over in pitts at a bar based upon the numbers they gave me.
 
I have both NYU and UMN's financial info pages I received at the interviews with me. Minnesota charges you separately for the summer semesters after your 2nd, 3rd and 4th years. UMN's yearly cost is certainly less than NYU's (about $65k vs $70k) there's also the summer semseters which run about 15k. So in total a year at UMN would cost (at most, since first year is almost always the most expensive) over $80000. NYU, on the other hand, costs about $70k per year for all 4 years at the moment (obviously I might be paying 5-7% more each year, but as it stands right now each Class pays about $70k total), and that INCLUDES the summer semester.

So there's a $10k difference, which may not seem like much but either way, I felt more at home at NYU (probably due in large part to the city) and I figure $10k is quite a bit of extra cash to spend on living expenses. Minneapolis is by no means as expensive as NYC, but it's also by no means cheap (I've looked at some apartment/condo prices; they seem to nearly approach that of Toronto). I think at worst NYU will cost me an extra $5k-10k a year, which isn't that much in the grand scheme of things.

Quite simply, figures on school websites and in the ADEA guides can be misleading. You really have to wait until you visit the school or demand something concrete from them does it really become clear what you're going to be paying.
 
Bereno said:
I am wondering the same thing...

This seems recent, so I am confused lol
Click to expand...

I went to the interview at MN. I got a sheet of estimated tuition + living cost. It says that the tuition + living cost is around 100K to 140K per year for OOS, assuming 10% tuition increase each year. It's not much cheaper than NYU.
 
cleanup said:
I have both NYU and UMN's financial info pages I received at the interviews with me. Minnesota charges you separately for the summer semesters after your 2nd, 3rd and 4th years. UMN's yearly cost is certainly less than NYU's (about $65k vs $70k) there's also the summer semseters which run about 15k. So in total a year at UMN would cost (at most, since first year is almost always the most expensive) over $80000. NYU, on the other hand, costs about $70k per year for all 4 years at the moment (obviously I might be paying 5-7% more each year, but as it stands right now each Class pays about $70k total), and that INCLUDES the summer semester.

So there's a $10k difference, which may not seem like much but either way, I felt more at home at NYU (probably due in large part to the city) and I figure $10k is quite a bit of extra cash to spend on living expenses. Minneapolis is by no means as expensive as NYC, but it's also by no means cheap (I've looked at some apartment/condo prices; they seem to nearly approach that of Toronto). I think at worst NYU will cost me an extra $5k-10k a year, which isn't that much in the grand scheme of things.

Quite simply, figures on school websites and in the ADEA guides can be misleading. You really have to wait until you visit the school or demand something concrete from them does it really become clear what you're going to be paying.
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In your case money isnt the issue 5 to 10K in either direction wont make or break you. I just think you made the right choice because NYU is a stronger school than U of MN for reasons that I listed above and in the other thread. At first glance I heard a lot of stellar reviews from MN students, but after my dad referred me to his buddies kid who's a D3 I realized it's a weaker school in comparison with NYU. Plus, MN's tuition is just crazy for out of state students it seems to defeat the purpose of a state school.
 
wired202808 said:
In your case money isnt the issue 5 to 10K in either direction wont make or break you. I just think you made the right choice because NYU is a stronger school than U of MN for reasons that I listed above and in the other thread. At first glance I heard a lot of stellar reviews from MN students, but after my dad referred me to his buddies kid who's a D3 I realized it's a weaker school in comparison with NYU. Plus, MN's tuition is just crazy for out of state students it seems to defeat the purpose of a state school.
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Well... I'd be worried if this kid was ranked #1 in his class, otherwise I'm not sure if it means much.
 
JOoa0ky said:
Well... I'd be worried if this kid was ranked #1 in his class, otherwise I'm not sure if it means much.
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Its an opinion, i'm not really gonna argue the merit of it. My opinion is that NYU is a better school and is in a much better city. But hey to each his own.
 
Thanks everyone!

After thinking about it I ended up taking a pass on NYU so another spot is going to open up soon for those of you waiting.
 
I think I'm gonna go to NYU. Hahahaha. As a soon-to-be NYU undergrad alum, I felt NYU has treated me really well. I love NYU's facilities and it has one of the best compared to all the other schools I've interviewed at. I feel more comfortable and professional in that sense. I like a bigger class size because NYU is the largest college in the nation (not sure about the world) but because of my personality, I've built so many connections and networks that'll last me to the end. I look forward to use my networks and to build my patient pool through them as well.
 
invictusx said:
I think I'm gonna go to NYU. Hahahaha. As a soon-to-be NYU undergrad alum, I felt NYU has treated me really well. I love NYU's facilities and it has one of the best compared to all the other schools I've interviewed at. I feel more comfortable and professional in that sense. I like a bigger class size because NYU is the largest college in the nation (not sure about the world) but because of my personality, I've built so many connections and networks that'll last me to the end. I look forward to use my networks and to build my patient pool through them as well.
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No Stony Brook for you?! Wow. I don't think anyone here can argue that NYU is not a good school. Its a good school. Its just that I can't justify the price. Congrats on all your acceptances!

Double Bonded: I keep having the same feeling you do. I am really happy with my current choice but I always get this thought every now and then about NYU... I feel for you. All said and done I think we are splitting hairs here, and the price difference really makes the difference for me. Congrats on your acceptances! What is your top pick?? 🙂
 
Bereno said:
No Stony Brook for you?! Wow. I don't think anyone here can argue that NYU is not a good school. Its a good school. Its just that I can't justify the price. Congrats on all your acceptances!

Double Bonded: I keep having the same feeling you do. I am really happy with my current choice but I always get this thought every now and then about NYU... I feel for you. All said and done I think we are splitting hairs here, and the price difference really makes the difference for me. Congrats on your acceptances! What is your top pick?? 🙂
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Haha, yeah Bereno. I turned down Stonybrook. I don't think I would enjoy myself over there. I'm more of a bustling kind of a guy so I NEED activity. Yeah, I can't justify the price either. On top of that, I have amassed college debt so I'll be in massive debt. However, at the end of the day, it is what it is.
 
invictusx said:
Haha, yeah Bereno. I turned down Stonybrook. I don't think I would enjoy myself over there. I'm more of a bustling kind of a guy so I NEED activity. Yeah, I can't justify the price either. On top of that, I have amassed college debt so I'll be in massive debt. However, at the end of the day, it is what it is.
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Well, it seems like you know yourself pretty well then. That said, you are likely making the best choice for you! Congrats again! 🙂
 
Bereno said:
Well, it seems like you know yourself pretty well then. That said, you are likely making the best choice for you! Congrats again! 🙂
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I hope I do, Bereno. :x We'll see about Columbia soon...

Thanks! Congrats to you!
 
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