UPenn, Tufts, UCLA, or USC ? CAN'T DECIDE!

[GoBear]

Hi everyone,

I have a bit of delimma as it comes to time to pick a school that I will spend the next crucial four years with. I am currently accepted by UPenn and Tufts, and will be going for interview at UCLA and USC in the next weeks. I have read lots of responses from prior correspondances and like some, I LOVE Tufts!! When I interviewed there, i was so impressed with their sim clinic and everything else that I think I am now more incline to pick Tufts over UPenn. The reason is the following:

1) I know I am just an average student who works hard, so probably won't be the top of the class at UPenn. Thus, specilizing is out of the question. In this respect, I will most likely to do general dentistry but definitely want to do the 1 year residency program or the Advanced General Dentistry Education. UPenn, which is known for matching its students with specialization and more into research, is probably not a right school for me. Am I correct?

2) I have heard much negative comments about Philly, and my mentor has advised me to go with Tufts, even if by some miracle I got accepted to UCLA. I want to go to a more open-minded city that will tolerate diversity. Boston or LA seem to be a much sensible choice as compare to Philly.

3) Like I mentioned above, if by some miracle I got into UCLA or USC, should I just forget about Tufts? I plan to practice in California, and as most of you know, California is one of the tough state to pass the regional board, and aren't they leaning toward deterring any out of states dentists from comming in by making the board more difficult every year? So it probably makes more sense if I go to a California school which will prepare me well and will already provided me with a wide range of patient pool to complete my board exam. But there is always that part of me saying that this will be your last chance to venture out of state and experience the east coast b/c after this, it will be very difficult.

Thank you for any comments or feedback. btw, Go Bear!!

[This message has been edited by GoBear (edited 03-11-2001).]

[This message has been edited by GoBear (edited March 26, 2001).]

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[sharktooth]

Hey there,
Sounds like you have a lot of thinking to do. I was just accepted to UCLA as an out-of-state student and was extremely impressed with the program. Not only that, but the students looked a lot happier and healthier than I have sen at other schools. Additionally, the price-tag on UCLA really isn' that bad, even for an out of state guy like me. I was also accepted at UPENN and was impressed with the clinic and the staff as well as their mission statement. The biggest problem is the price, 240K pretty much puts anyone without millions of dollar at a serious finacial disadvantage after schools. Plus if you plan on specilizing, then you can plan on being half a million dollars in debt aftr you figure in interest upon the principle. Assuming you gt in to UCLA, I would just analyze your personality versus the characteristics of the different cities. The mentality of Boston and LA are anyting but similar so which one meshes better with your personality? This really shouldn't be too difficult if you have been to both of the cities. Also, did you apply to UCSF, sound like that would have been a great school for you to apply too? Good luck to you, and maybe I will see you next year at UCLA...

 

[GoBear]

dear sharktooth,

Congrats on your UCLA acceptance!! And always appreciate the input. Yes, I do have lots of thinking to do....

btw, was your UCLA interview any different from your other interviews? I know I will be interviewed by 2 faculty members and if they don't ask weird questions, I think I should be fine. I actually didn't apply to UCSF b/c it is a school kinda "out of my reach" since I don't have a stellar GPA, so I just kinda "intentionally" forget to turn in the secondary after I saw the millions of questions I have to answer. But of course, my parents don't know that.....besides, it is TOO CLOSE to home. Yuck! Did you apply to USC? Just curious b/c they changed all their curriculum to PBL and supposely very helpful to students. Again, thanks for the input.

Go Bear!

 

[mechengr]

What is PBL curriculum?

 

[dds2b]

GoBear:

If you're gonna practice in Cali, then it's best for you to go to UCLA or USC, since I've heard of some students having trouble passing the exam after attending an out-of-state school. Like you said, they'll prepare you best for passing the Cali board. I thought it was tougher to get into UCLA than UCSF from looking at the stats. Anyways, best of luck on your decision and remaining interviews.

Mechengr:

PBL=Problem based learning

Instead of a lecture format students get into small groups and get actual case studies where they try to make a diagnosis out of all the possible differential dx. Students are monitored or led by a group tutor that makes sure the group is making progress towards a dx and aren't straying away from the topic. Supposedly, studies have shown that schools who had some students in the PBL program performed better on the national boards than students who took the traditional program. I think the study compared UNC students (not sure if it was med or dent) but the traditional program students ranked 32nd and the pbl students ranked 2nd overall in one of the board exams (not sure which one).

 

[GoBear]

Hi there,

PBL is short for "Problem-Based Learning." Instead of the traditional teaching method-students listening to lecture taught by professors, students form groups and each group is given a case to research. Professors serve as facilitators and then each group present its research findings to the class. Midterms and finals are these cases presented in class but just that you do them yourself instead of a group effort. Supposely very effective according to some students, but like most things in life, some dislike the method. I belive USC and U Pitt are the two schools that emphasize on PBL. However, I think all the schools have PBL intrinsic in their curriculum, and just that the didactic courses are still taught the traditional way. Hope this helps!

Go Bear!

 

[Kawaii]

Just wanted to say HI, I** L**

Good luck at USC~~~ make us proud ^^

Cal Rules !!!!!!