Upenn vs UMDNJ

[jko208]

Hi Guys,

I am down to these two schools and I like to have your opinions on which school to go. This is what I found out so far for these school.

UPENN:
4 year cost is going to be about $260.000.
Good number of people go to specality program (about 50% of their class)
Housing is good and location is pretty good.
Clinically OK but not as strong as UMDNJ

UMDNJ:
4 year cost is going to be about $140.000.
About 20% of their class go into specalty program.
You have to live away from the campus and the location (Newark) is pretty bad.
They are pretty strong clinically.

Me ?
I am switching my career from engineering so I am not that young like most of you and I kinda want to do specalty but I haven't made that decision yet. If I do, I want to do oral surgery or ortho.

Any advices and opinions will be very helpful.

Thanks

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[japolloniac09]

hey,
i've been thinking about the same thing, too. the newark area irks me, but hey, it's close to nyc, which would be a plus for me.

a reason that upenn might have a greater percent of students going into specialty is that more students at upenn apply to speciality programs. a lot of students whom i've talked to at umdnj just want to do general because they've got strong clinical training to be able to cover a lot of areas in dentistry.

aside from that, it seems like umdnj would be more advantageous from a financial aspect. I mean, hey, if i could get amazing clinical training with new resources (umdnj is in the middle of renovating and expanding) and not have to pay as much, then why not go for it? I also believe that a strong clinical training will be better off, too, if I decide to specialize later on. I don't know, 20% doesn't seem that high, but I'm sure you can work hard.

since i attend an small undergrad college with an amazing student community, i'm concerned about umdnj's seemingly lack of a tight-knit student body. upenn would probably be able to offer a better quality of life just because it's a socially thriving campus. come one, who wants to hang out in newark? then again, we'll be so busy studying our asses off that we probably won't even have time to hang out.

good luck. i'm still groping with all these questions. it'll be funny if we both end up going to the same school.

 

[drPheta]

Well, as far as safety goes, UMDNJ is a closed campus. The parking garage is tunneled off to the dental school. I have a friend who lived in Newark down the street from UMDNJ for her first year in med school. Needless to say, and she's fine.

The area is much better than it used to be, but the crime rate is still there. Come on, it's an urban city, and University Hospital is NJ's premier critical care emergency center. So, you're bound to be dealing with crime.

Living is cheap...CHEAP in NJ compared to UPenn. Clinically, I'd choose UMDNJ, and with the new clinic in the works it's even better. If I were accepted, I'd be there since it's so cheap.

Don't count on public transportation, since it's bus transportation to the dent/med school. So, driving will suck.

But 100,000 is a lot of money.

 

[jko208]

japolloniac09

Thank you for your feedback. It seems like you are in the same situation as I am. Let me know if you find out more info and come up with more thoughts.

jko

 

[jko208]

drPheta


Do you live in NJ ? You seem to know lots about UMDNJ.

 

[japolloniac09]

my pleasure, jko208. let me know if you find out about more insights, too. thanks.

 

[drPheta]

Yeah,

I grew up in Nutley, so I've been in Jersey almost my entire life.

That's how I know a lot about UMD and Rutgers. Don't let any of the budget cuts in NJ scare you. Every school across the nation is dealing with it, so programs at NJ dental won't be compromised.

Personally, UMDNJ is a very apt clinical school. Think about it, it's the only dental school in New Jersey.

The only real qualms I have with the school are the ghettoness of Newark and the adminstrative politics. However, these two are minor points that should have little effect on anyone who got into dental school in the first place. Newark isn't as ghetto as Temple's neighborhood, and the politics are something expected at any HUGE university network.

Good luck guys.

 

[DcS]

I had a friend graduate from UMDNJ and she really liked her time there. I too grew up in NJ but decided to go to UNC because it is cheaper and a nicer area. Also when I applied they just started renovating their clinics so it was still those outdated ones. The area can be a plus because there will be a good patient pool. As far as politics in the administration, it is like that EVERYWHERE. THere is no avoiding that.

There is actually 1 minor thing that was big turnoff to me at UMDNJ. They make you sign in at EVERY single class, and they check those records and class attendance is absolutely mandatory. Don't get me wrong, I go to almost all of my classes. But sometimes some of them really are just useless, or things come up you need to take care of. I would think at our age we would be respected and wouldn't have to be held of such a tight leash w/ the admin checking in on us. Like I said though, that's a minor issue in the scheme of things.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[bgreet]

If you guys have any questions about newark (the area around the school) I'd be more than willing to entertain them. I currently attend Rutgers Newark (approx. 2 blocks away from UMDNJ) so I know the area pretty well. It's not nearly as bad as some would have you believe, but thats not to say that I would feel comfortable roaming the streets past a certain hour.

 

[scandalouslj]

I can give you a little insight into Penn, since no one has responded to that. You might want to check our class website for more info also www.upenndentists.com . Penn has a lot of people go into specialities becuase a lot more do apply. But att he same time I think we also get more people into specialties also. If you look at the ratio of the number of people applying and that get in it is very close. Esp for oral surgery and ortho where we always have over 10 people get into both programs. This year it was 14 into ortho and 12 into oral surgery. I think one of the reasons is becuase our last dean is one the the formost oral surgeons in the world. The campus here is great and you will have a lot of time to go out (obvioulsy not as muvch as undergrad, but a lot more than I was expecting), so its nice that the campus and the city is very socially vibrant. The school or the Graduate Community normally has something once a month at a bar where you drink for free, and during the first few months the dental fraternitys thorw quite a few parties. The faculty is very down to earth and treat us like equals, we really dont have to go to any class we dont want to except for GRD lab during our second semester. While we arent the strongest clinical school, our new Dean (was head of endo or something like that at Alabama, and the editor of JADA) is actually trying to focus more on the clinical aspect and not so much on the specialization aspect, which a lot of people do and dont like.

 

[jko208]

Thank you for your posting, Dcs, bgstreet, scandalouslj. You guys are helping me out a lot.

 

[DesiDentist]

As my fellow colleague, Scandalouslj stated PENN has a little bit of everything. I am going to speak from the view of a GP wanna be. If you want to be a general dentist, this school will prepare you very well. We have done stuff that most schools don't start until end of first year or second year. The second day of class we started drilling on teeth with a dental simulation unit, with a high speed drill that was 20 times heavier than a real one, and let me tell you that if you can drill with a high speed that weighs two pounds your hand/eye coordination will be very precise and we are seeing the results of that now when we are in General Restorative Lab. I came to PENN because I knew that PENN was a student friendly school, yes the cost of tuition is high, but there hasn't been a day when I have not thanked my lucky stars. The faculty is ultra supportive, the students are diverse, there is support everywhere. We have two coffee shops in the dental school...student friendly by keeping us awake.

I will assure you, that you will be happy here.

If you have more questions, as scandalous suggested take a look at our website www.upenndentists.com

DesiDentist

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

Tuition at UMDNJ: $19,776
Tuition at Penn: $42,302

With living and all the fees, over 4 years, the difference is $120,000

If you goto Penn without the Dean scholarship when u have a state school to choose from, you smoke crack. Simple as that.

 

[SillyRabbit]

Didn't apply to Penn, but chose columbia (similar costs to penn) over umdnj. It was just a personal preference and i'm willing to deal with the debt.

If you're worried about specilizing....don't be. You can do very well at umdnj and get into your choice. It's a great school and there were a lot of things i did like about it but i liked columbia better overall.

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

Hey Sillyrabbit....how much do rocks cost in NJ?

 

[DcS]

Originally posted by avingupta
Hey Sillyrabbit....how much do rocks cost in NJ?

Probably as much as a dime of that BC pot you canadians grow up there

 

[Vinipooh]

JKO208
I will be entering the class of 2008, I had other choices to choose from, but I chose NJ because its cheap and its close to home. UPEN might be in a nicer area, but that shouldnt be a reason why you choose one school over another. UMDNJ as I've heard prepares you clinically much better then UPEN. The reason they have such stron clinic is because of where they are located.

Let me know what your decision is...
Maybe I'll see you there