UCSF vs UCLA (sorry, another one...)

[rmtom]

Obviously these threads always vary... but I guess I'll try to make the criteria as objective as possible rather than just asking"which is better?"

My main concerns that haven't necessarily been addressed in the others:

1. Class competitiveness: Is there a lot of collaboration? A lot of "gunners"? Is bonding with your classmates in general (not just your own friend group) relatively comfortable and easy? How about the stress level?
2. Housing: Is housing hard to find? Housing offered by the school? Or do people generally live off-campus? How hard is it to get to campus? Do dental students generally spend time together outside of school (I guess, where they live)?
3. Extracurriculars: Is it possible to pursue extracurricular activities during school? Are there a lot of clubs available?
4. "Vibe": Is the faculty-student, student-student interaction casual and comfortable? What is the "vibe" of the school in general? (I sort of got this from the interviews, but I don't know if it's different in an interview setting than usual.)
5. Clinic: How is the patient base? Are the clinic requirements too heavy? Are there enough chairs?
6. Are you happy at the school? What are your favorite and least favorite things about the school (being totally honest, please)?

Any input would be appreciated! Thank you so much!

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[nanilla]

I can talk a little bit about UCLA

1. Many people in our class wanted to and are specializing so everyone worked hard which often gets the label as everyone was gunning, but no one is intentionally out to get anyone else and everyone usually shares what materials they do have
2. Housing is easy to find but expensive, but from what I remember a little less than SF.
3. Non factor for either school, both have way too many extracurriculars
4. Vibe has gotten better since I started, most of the preclinical and clinical faculty are laid back, we do have a few in clinic to avoid but you can choose who you work with and generally students are overly sensitive.
5. Patient base is not great with being in westwood. Our issue has always been having to do so many arches in a place without the patients to support it (10.5 arches). Luckily within the last few weeks requirements got dropped significantly to 6 arches. The schools requirements now reflect the patients and it is going to be very easy to graduate early while still taking time off from clinic to study for your boards or do extracurriculars or externships, etc.
6. Preclinical is good, my class was frustrated with removeable but now everything is good.

Honestly, both are good schools, both P/F, both in great cities in the end pick whichever city you would rather live in and which school gave you best impression on interview

 

[rmtom]

Thanks so much nanilla!
Does anyone else have input?

 

[Member 6236]

The people I've met at ucla weren't friendly. Seemed like everyone was a gunner there.

Housing is expensive and the patient base is terrible.

 

[Member 6236]

You have a lot more free time at SF to participate in extracurriculars or whatever else may interest you.

 

[nonociceptors]

The people I've met at ucla weren't friendly. Seemed like everyone was a gunner there.

Housing is expensive and the patient base is terrible.

Either you ran into some people having a bad day, or you had one negative interaction and are generalizing that experience to everyone. Either way, going to have to call bull****.

I've spent this quarter shadowing different students they've all been nice to me. Some even went out of their way to initiate a conversation with me when I was new/nervous. That isn't something I ever would have expected given how busy they are, but it happened.

 

[kingenamel]

Either you ran into some people having a bad day, or you had one negative interaction and are generalizing that experience to everyone. Either way, going to have to call bull****.

I've spent this quarter shadowing different students they've all been nice to me. Some even went out of their way to initiate a conversation with me when I was new/nervous. That isn't something I ever would have expected given how busy they are, but it happened.

I agree, my classmates are probably one of my favorite parts of going to UCLA

 

[UCLADDS2015]

Obviously these threads always vary... but I guess I'll try to make the criteria as objective as possible rather than just asking"which is better?"

My main concerns that haven't necessarily been addressed in the others:

1. Class competitiveness: Is there a lot of collaboration? A lot of "gunners"? Is bonding with your classmates in general (not just your own friend group) relatively comfortable and easy? How about the stress level?
2. Housing: Is housing hard to find? Housing offered by the school? Or do people generally live off-campus? How hard is it to get to campus? Do dental students generally spend time together outside of school (I guess, where they live)?
3. Extracurriculars: Is it possible to pursue extracurricular activities during school? Are there a lot of clubs available?
4. "Vibe": Is the faculty-student, student-student interaction casual and comfortable? What is the "vibe" of the school in general? (I sort of got this from the interviews, but I don't know if it's different in an interview setting than usual.)
5. Clinic: How is the patient base? Are the clinic requirements too heavy? Are there enough chairs?
6. Are you happy at the school? What are your favorite and least favorite things about the school (being totally honest, please)?

Any input would be appreciated! Thank you so much!

4th year at UCLA, about to finish up. Here are my thoughts:
1) The class is not overly competitive. After all, this is a P/F school and we don't have class ranks. Yes there is honors but everyone helps each other and the large majority of the class is just looking to pass. As long as you make an effort to study, it is not difficult to pass all your classes.
2) Housing is soooo much better in LA compared to SF. The prices in SF are completely out of control and there are many reasonable housing options available near Westwood (e.g. Culver City).
3) Extracurriculars at UCLA are 2nd to none. We regularly win best ASDA chapter and there are more clubs than I can even keep track of. Almost everyone is involved here. We even have an exchange program with a dental school in Japan and the school pays to send students to Japan once a year for a couple of weeks, all expenses paid.
4) I know the vibe probably wasn't great when you interviewed but it has gotten remarkably better in the past couple of weeks. The main source of stress (probably 90% of it) at UCLA was related to the unreasonably difficult removable requirement which recently got lowered from 10.5 to 6 arches. I think you'll find that everyone is much happier now, as this single change (in response to the requests of the students) has solved many of the problems with the clinic at UCLA. Before it was a struggle finding enough dentures cases to graduate and now I doubt anyone will have trouble graduating, and most will graduate early.
5) The patient base is probably not as good as UCSF but you'll do enough to be competent. We have CADCAM, restore implants, do perio surgeries, etc. We also have a restorative selective at our clinic in Venice where you can get more experience with complex cases.
6) As I said before, most people were not happy before the change, but now people are alot happier knowing that we won't have to struggle to find dentures patients to graduate on time.

I think you should pick based on where you want to live SF or LA, the schools are fairly similar otherwise. The main difference being that UCLA has Honors grades that shows on your transcript and UCSF does not. Also, more people specialize coming out of UCLA than UCSF (this year 13 matched into ortho, 13 matched into OMFS, 7 into pedo, not bad for a class of 88).

 

[arkenstone]

I've been told UCSF offers in-state residency after one year---how does UCLA handle such things?

[/obsessed]

 

[oceanangel4]

I've been told UCSF offers in-state residency after one year---how does UCLA handle such things?

[/obsessed]

UCLA also offers in-state tuition after one year

 

[JAWSSS]

I had to choose between UCLA and UCSF and I I chose UCLA.

Both schools are great; however, UCLA had a better vibe.

If I had to do it again, I would choose UCLA, this school is awesome.

To the person that said everyone they have met was mean and that the patient base is terrible: You have a huge misconception of this school and your statement leads me to believe that you have deeper issues with UCLA that you are not mentioning.

 

[panmit]

@rmtom, UCLA and UCSF are practically 1a and 1b. People will give up an arm and a leg to just get an interview in one of these places. I have friends in both of these schools and my dad/other family members regularly hires associates from both of these schools as well. Also, I chose UCSF, so if there is any bias, just know it wasn't intentional.

1. UCSF = UCLA. I asked a student, and they said it varies from one year to another. D4's might be super friendly, while the D1's might be competitive. By the end of dental school, all my friends from both schools said everyone helps each other out and they made life long friends here. In terms of stress level, both school's are much less stressful than all other schools. But UCSF might have a veerrry small advantage (if any) because it's P/F for first 2 yrs and LOR/P/F for D3/D4. UCLA has honors so might just be a little (but not that much) stressful. Also, UCSF has iso time (which was a big draw for me) and is regularly called UC Stress Free by many dentists who attended there.

2. Housing UCLA>>UCSF. There's no debate. UCSF is the most expensive city to live in the US right now. Finding rent is absolutely horrendous. I've been looking at couple places, and owners are already trying to scam me (i.e. put the rent deposit first BEFORE you can view the interior of the apartment, their phone number from another state, etc.). But you can live a little farther than the school at UCSF because transportation wise UCSF>>UCLA.

3.
Outdoor/sporty stuff: UCSF>UCLA
Hollywood/movies/clubs: UCLA>UCSF (Bars/Clubs close at 2 am in UCSF, LA goes on much later)
I like golf, so: UCSF>UCLA
Food: UCSF>>>>>>>>UCLA
Girls: Casual hookups/models/ UCLA>>UCSF.
Wife material: UCSF>>>>>>UCLA
Hipsters: UCSF, even though I've noticed LA has a rising population of this as well.
Undergrad/Sports/School spirit: UCLA

4. UCSF = UCSF. Teachers and students are awesome from both schools.

5. UCSF>UCLA>>>>>>>>USC>>Loma Linda>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Western
This is coming from my father/uncles who have hired and trained associates from all these schools. My father has colleagues who have agreed with this as well. UCLA kids are smarter didactically, but clinically UCSF is superior. Keep in mind this is general dentistry only. Also, UCLA only has a higher specializing rate than UCSF because UCLA attracts those types of students. D1's come in with the mindset of specializing, while UCSF there is a mix. I talked to UCSF before accepting their offer, and they said for those who apply to specialty programs 89% matched to their respective choices last year. Don't know about you, but that's just amazing, and I am certain UCLA has the same number as well. I'm not sure if I want to specialize, so I believed UCSF will give me the best opportunity to either specialize or remain a GP.

Sorry, I don't know much about the requirements/chairs, but getting patients (UCSF>UCLA). It's not UCLA's fault, they are in westwood, which is literally next to Beverly Hills. These high income people are not going to a dental student to get their dental work done. Don't care what anyone says, this is the truth.

6. UCLA=UCSF. My friends and my father's associate said its what you make of it.

I was born and raised in SoCal, and wanted to experience SF. IMHO, since the 90's and early 2000's, LA changed drastically (not in a bad way, but don't think it's the original city I fell in love with). But that's where my family is, and I plan on settling here once I finish dental school. Who knows, I really like Laguna/New Port Beach side of SoCal, I may end up there.

 

[GinaS2K]

Girls: Casual hookups/models/ UCLA>>UCSF.
Wife material: UCSF>>>>>>UCLA

 

[amiraliagh]

I interviewed at both schools. i was told by the dean of academic affairs at UCLA that they also have designated two half days as independent study time like UCSF.

 

[panmit]

Hahaha, he has so many expressions on his face, I don't know where you are going with this.

I interviewed at both schools. i was told by the dean of academic affairs at UCLA that they also have designated two half days as independent study time like UCSF.

Oh, that's awesome. Well then, for #1 then UCLA === UCSF.

@rmtom, I guess I would just choose which one is closer to family/friends.

 

[kingenamel]

I interviewed at both schools. i was told by the dean of academic affairs at UCLA that they also have designated two half days as independent study time like UCSF.

This is correct we have the same thing its just called "independent learning time"

 

[Vortex_Ring_State]

Thanks for the insight, this is far and away the best comparison I've seen. I'm deciding between these two schools right now - I've got a few weeks to make a deposit. If you've experienced anything that's made you change your opinion over the last year, I'd love to hear it.