Baltimore College of Dental Surgery

While this school is more commonly known as the University of Maryland Dental School, the above title is probably the official name. Anyway, Maryland is another great school, and it is going to be really difficult for me to choose between these three schools.

U. of Maryland has a brand-new, state-of-the-art building, with most (if not all) of the chairs and simulator setups coming from some stylish Scandinavian company. Digital X-rays, electric hand pieces, automated chairs: get ready to be spoiled! The building itself is open and bright, with plenty of places to study, eat, or just hang out. There is wireless everywhere, and all of the lectures (I believe) are audio-recorded and posted on the internet all synched up with their respective powerpoint presentation! The first five or six floors are dedicated to the dental students, while the top floors are reserved for research. Speaking of which, Maryland offers a ton of opportunities for research, if you are into that sort of thing.
Now, I honestly cannot understand why anyone from Maryland who gets in here would choose to go anywhere else. That is, unless they were just looking for a change in scenery, as Baltimore left a lot to be desired. It felt very small town, kind of like my hometown of Fort Wayne, IN, which was kind of nice. People seemed friendly enough. Unfortunately, Baltimore has a lot of big city problems without a lot of the big city appeal. I don't know if I could justify paying out-of-state tuition to go there. With a scholarship, well, that sounds like a good deal.

So, should I be accepted to all three (IU, Penn, and Maryland), it will be a pretty difficult choice. I'll just have to wait and see how the cards fall.

Indiana University School of Dentistry

Now, I think it is time for me to give the spotlight to the Indiana University School of Dentistry in Indianapolis, Indiana. Despite my previous post, I have a lot of good things to say about this school.

1. The faculty, staff, and students all seemed very friendly and very considerate of each other. The two professors who interviewed me seemed like they would be very helpful in any classes and also in helping me to become involved in any "extra" activities.
2. Despite having older facilities compared to schools like Maryland and Colorado, everything seemed just fine. I actually liked the feeling of IU's school more than the newer school at Maryland. IUPUI isn't a huge campus, but there are enough students to make things interesting. There is a lot of green space, it's close to the city, and very easy to access from the interstates that cross through Indianapolis.
3. Despite the fact that Penn offers a number of different externships and was very encouraging on the research front, in reality most dental students are probably to busy for research. My interviewers at IU told me that if I was interested enough in doing research or getting involved in some type of international program, they would be more than happy to help.
4. Indianapolis is not Philadelphia, but that is both good and bad. I have a lot of friends in Indy, it's a cheap place to live, the city is big enough to provide plenty of drinking and eating opportunities, and it is relatively safe to live just about anywhere in the city. No trains or subways or anything, but it's very easy to get around on a bicycle in the spring-summer-fall.
5. The in-state tuition at IU is very reasonable, and much much cheaper than tuition at any private dental school. Actually, even with a half-tuition scholarship from Penn, tuition at IU is still about $10,000 less a year. Double that over the life of the loan and it's easy to see how that adds up!!
6. All of my family lives in Indiana. This can be a case for getting out or staying in, hahaha. Seriously, it would be nice to not have to drive 10+ hours to see them for Christmas.

It's going to be a hard choice, and I still haven't given my low-down on Maryland. As it stands, though, it will between IU and Penn, and money will be a large factor in the decision.

University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine

I loved the University of Pennsylvania! What an awesome school, speaking of both the dental school and the school as a whole. I guess I had heard that whatever school I go to I would get a good education and thus should choose a school based upon price (low) or location. I like mountains, so I was thinking of Colorado. If that failed, IU would be a great and inexpensive school. There were two things I discovered on Thursday: 1. all dental schools are not created equal, and 2. I might like the vibrant, culturally rich atmosphere of the city even more than the majesty and grandeur of the mountains and the West.

Let's start with number one:
The University of Pennsylvania is a great school, and I feel that it would give me more opportunities to realize my full potential in the field of dentistry than would Indiana.

• Student research is encouraged at Penn in a number of ways, including summer programs, competitions, and student presentations, while IU told me that I would be too busy most of the time for much serious research.
  
• Penn as an extensive externship program, a requirement for graduation that includes the option to travel for 4 weeks or more to various parts of the globe. Indiana did not have such a program.
  
• Just the feeling I got while touring around Penn's dental center was inspiring, literally. I really felt doors could open up at Penn that could lead me anywhere. That feeling of endless opportunities just didn't strike me at IU, despite knowing that I would receive an excellent education there.
• Penn is continuously renovating the school. No plans seemed to be underway at IU.
  

Ultimately, one's education is whatever YOU make of it, but it makes it much easier to realize your potential when you are learning in an environment with the highest standards and faculty and students both involved in an endless variety of activities. It was a great feeling that I got at Penn, a feeling like no matter what I might decide to do(pursue a specialty, do research, go abroad, etc.), the opportunity is there. IU seemed more relaxed, which is not a bad thing. But I worry that if I were to go there I might concede to path I would not have otherwise chosen given more opportunities to explore and upon which to expand.

Actually, let's leave it at that, for now. I didn't even get to the non-dental part of the school. I guess I'll include that in my next segment about the city.

Taxes

I received my first paycheck today. Unfortunately, old Uncle Sam also got a little present, probably the largest chunk of taxes from me he has ever seen. Ah, I miss the days of living in Japan and not paying taxes to the US government. Of course, I was paying taxes to the Japanese government, but 1. they weren't as they are now even though I was making more then, and 2. included in my taxes was an excellent medical insurance plan (social plan). At least in Japan it seemed like my taxes were being used for stuff I would want or use anyway. But, in the supposedly capitalist country of America I get robbed 15% of my paycheck for what amounts to nothing (I know that's an exagerration).

Anyway, hopefully I can get some overtime in here at CMEA to help pay the bills.

Back in Action

So, I've decided to revive my blog after no real updates in nearly a year and a half. Why, you might ask? Simply to fill a little time at my new job. I know work for CME AUtomotive in Monroeville, IN, employed as a Japanese-English translator. The work is full-time, so if they need translations quick someone is there. Honestly, though, I'm not very busy. I'm not an engineer, I'm not a trained on any of the factory lines, so if I don't have translation work to do then I don't have any work. Good deal, huh?

Yes, so I have time to study for my two classes, Biochemistry and Virology, that I'm taking at IPFW in Fort Wayne. I also have plenty of time to do my dental school stuff. I've received interviews to 3 of the 4 schools I've applied to and no rejections. The interview at IU School of Dentistry went well, I think I'm in. I have University of Pennsylvania Dental School and University of Maryland Dental School interviews in a few weeks. The only one I'm still waiting on is University of Colorado Dental School.

Masashi and Ritsuko are both doing well. Ritsuko's thyroglobulin count is higher has gone up some, and she'll be having some investigative tests done next next month, but nothing to worry about.

Masashi is as active as ever. He goes to the IPFW Daycare twice a week for 4 hours and loves it. At first , we were picking him up before lunch, but he kept saying how much he really wanted to eat lunch with all the other kids. A very social boy. He's really into Spiderman now, too, and likes to play Spiderman 2 on the Playstation II everyday. I don't mind playing, either, but we limit him to 30min-1hour each day. I don't know, I think it's better than just watching TV.

Well, I have some work coming in, guess it's time to get back.