ucla or BU

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
treasure

treasure

Senior Member
7+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2004
Messages
168
Reaction score
0
Hi,
I have been accepted at BU and UCLA and was wondering which school to go to? There doesn't seem to be too much info out there on the forum regarding UCLA except that that they have a poor patient pool.
I would really appreciate comments and views about both schools .
Thanks,
Treasure
Members don't see this ad.
 
How have you been accepted to both already?

Im going to take a wild guess and say that 99% of the posters will choose UCLA for you. If you would still be interested in BU, drop me a private message and I will tell you about the school.
 
It really depends what you look for in your education.
Life style, amount of debt, specialty/career path, etc.

I would focus on those area to make the right decision. Tell me how you rank these factors and match it with the two schools.

treasure said:
Hi,
I have been accepted at BU and UCLA and was wondering which school to go to? There doesn't seem to be too much info out there on the forum regarding UCLA except that that they have a poor patient pool.
I would really appreciate comments and views about both schools .
Thanks,
Treasure
Click to expand...
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I graduated from UCLA this year, if you would like to know anything about UCLA.

Some things to consider when you're choosing the school:
What do the graduates do (specialize, GP, etc)
What's the on-time graduation rate
What's the drop-out rate due to poor performance
What kind of clinical experience & didactic training you get

As I have posted in the past, my classmates and I were generally very bitter about UCLA by the end of the 4th year. (And I still have ill feelings toward the school). Many of my classmates (about 20 out of a class of 98) could not graduate on time, because most of them were not able to fulfill their clinical requirements. A few had to stay to retake a didactic course in the summer & a few probably did not work as hard as they should have. However, the majority of those that didn't graduate on time, it was just pure unluckiness. They just didn't have the necessary patient cases. This is an extremely high rate of not graduating on-time. And those that did graduate on-time, finished up the last requirement probably in the last 2-3 weeks of clinic of the last quarter. I finished my last requirement 3 days before the last day of clinic, and just a week and a half before my AEGD program was to start on the other side of the coast. So here's my point. The lack of patients probably would not be as big of a deal, if the school was understanding of this and if the school adjusted the clinical requirements. Many old timers who graduated from UCLA many years ago would tell us how our clinical requirements are so much easier now. That is true. However, we have less patients that can afford the treatment than they used to have. So what do desperate students do, to try to graduate on time? First off, we paid for many patients' care. For example, I paid for my patient's hard reline worth $150. I paid for a lower RPD (worth $150 after the subsidy the school provided for Medicaid patients), and for another patient, fronted $150 for a lower RPD and she paid me back $75. I paid a rush fee for the bridge case ($111). Some of our long time patients take advantage of this situation - one patient had a few bridges done ($1275 I believe for a 3 unit bridge) in his mouth for free (students every year have paid for them because they had to graduate). So when my classmate told him that one of his other older bridge needed to be redone for recurrent decay or whatever, he told this classmate that he was just going to wait until some poor student offered to pay for a bridge. Quite a sad situation, but I am sure he will get his wish someday. The other way students coped with lack of patients willing to pay for some things was to become patients themselves. Many of my classmates had their amalgams replaced with gold inlay/onlay to get the required partial coverage gold restoration requirements. Some also got their amalgams replaced with ceramic inlay/onlay to get the all-ceramic restoration requirements. These amalgams for the most part were in good condition and otherwise would have not needed to be replaced at the time.

The lack of patients made fulfilling the graduation requirements very stressful and unethical.

Besides its impact on graduation requirements, lack of patients also affects how well you may do on the state board exam for licensure. We had very little patients in the school patient pool that would be a good case for the state board exam. And for the California board exam, you really do want to have ideal cases. To compensate for this, our class had class screenings in which students would take turns on certain days to screen patients who were lured by our ads for limited oral exam & possibility of getting S/RP or a simple filling for free if eligible for the licensing exam. Even this had limited success because UCLA is located in westwood, next to Bel Air, next to Santa Monica, next to Brentwood, next to Beverly Hills.
 
It's quite difficult to be kicked out of school for poor performance at UCLA. If you fail a class, there's a makeup exam you can usually take. And if you fail that, you can usually just retake that particular class a year later with the class below you. I think when I entered UCLA, they told us that they had not kicked out a student for poor performance in like 7 yrs or something like that.

In my class, one person dropped out after the first quarter of 1st year. I heard that it was for personal reasons (wrong career path).

UCLA has a reputation for sending many of its graduates on to specialties. Our class was no exception. I don't have the exact figures on me, but i think we probably had approximately 10 people each go into pedo, ortho, oral surgery, and a little less ~5? each for endo, perio. In any case, we do have many that go on to specialze. For the rest of us who want to do GP, I think about half went to AEGD or GPR and another half went to private practice. These are all guesstimates however.
 
We got a lot of didactic training at UCLA. So I think we probably had a strong didactic background.

As far as clinical experience goes, I think in general, it was minimal.

This is what I had done, when I graduated from UCLA:

Perio - 28 prophys (you can refer your perio prophys & S/RP to hygiene students, and that is what I generally did, after I fulfilled my minimum requirements), 9 S/RPs, 2 pocket reductions, 1 crown lengthening

Restorative - 33 class I or II amalgams, 29 composites (mostly class V), 9 glass ionomers, 1 3/4 gold crown, 1 7/8 gold crown, 1 gold onlay, 5 FGC, 4 PFM, 1 porcelain inlay, 1 pin buildup, 3 core buildups that go into canals, 1 dowel core (custom cast), 2 bridges, 1 pin retained amalgam

Endo - 1 molar RCT, 2 premolar RCT, 1 anterior RCT, 1 pulpectomy

Nitrous - 5

Removable - 4 arches of complete dentures, 1 arch of immediate complete denture, 2 arches of immediate treatment partial, 4 arches of RPDs, 1 hard reline of complete denture, 1 denture repair

Misc - 1 occlusal guard

Pedo - 1 pulpotomy, 1 SSC and a few restorations (you can get more experience, if you go to the voluntary pedo clinic on Saturdays)

Oral surgery - 1 surgical extraction, 15 or so simple extractions (normally, you do get more experience in OS than I did, but depends on where your oral surgery rotation was and such).
 
i can't believe some student end up paying for their pts. work. unbelievable. also, endo is extremely low. i know i wouldn't do an endo in priv. practice with such little experience. removable prostho is a good # though.
 
Oh there is another issue that I forgot to mention. If you want to practice in California, it was recommended in the past that you go to a California dental school. The California licensure is in the midst of going through some changes, and things may be different for you by the time you graduate from dental school. Currently, California is considering accepting WREB in lieu of the California board exam, and is also considering PGY-1. However, if neither go through in the end and you must take the California board exam to become licensed in California, it's really best to go to a California dental school that can prep you for it.

And a little tid bit about BU. I was talking with a BU grad of 2004 last year and he had tons more clinical experience than UCLA.
 
Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond and a very big thank you to Chocobo. Your posting has helped me a lot .It is good to know the realities before jumping in rather than getting a rude awakening after you are already in.

Sincerely appreciate your input....
Treasure
 
TKD said:
i can't believe some student end up paying for their pts. work. unbelievable.
Click to expand...

This is not unique to UCLA. Many dental students in the US and abroad (I've discussed this with out international students) have done the same.
 
For the OP, I think you should be wary of one person's admittedly bitter attitude toward UCLA. I've written before about UCLA's rumored lack of patients. I haven't seen any problem with it and neither have my classmates. We're all 3rd years right now and are doing endo, perio surgery, fixed, removable and operative on a daily basis. I have no desire to get additional patients. I have all that I need. Frankly, at this rate I'll be finished with my requirements well before the end of 4th year. In addition, the school has done a lot recently to increase the patient supply and the current report from our clinic director is that we get 125 new patients a week. I've been talking to a lot of current 4th years and they all have told me they forsee no problems completing their graduation requirements.

The class of 2005 seemed to have a lot of students scrambling to finish requirements on time. I heard 5 (not 20) had to finish their requirements over the summer. Obviously I can't say why this occurred but there are explanations other than the school didn't give students enough patients. Other possible explanations are lack of effective patient management by students, inefficient use of clinic time, and not getting heavy into clinic at the beginning of 3rd year. The Class of 2005 is somewhat legendary with the administration, which tells us not to wind up like them and that they are not going through that again.

This graduate's story may be indicative of several people's experiences in that class but it is not reflective of the current situation at UCLA.
 
I too am a graduate of UCLA and I must say that I agree completely with what chocobo is saying. I wouldn't base too much of the decision on what the third year students are saying. Its funny, when I was a third year, there were quite a bit of gunners who were on track to finish early, and they used to brag about it. I, on the other hand was pretty behind compared to my classmates, with research, externships, etc, etc. The greatest irony was that I was one of the earlier ones to finish requirements (and this was with around 2 weeks left to graduation) and those that used to brag as 3rd years finished later than me. Its also true that around 15-20 didn't graduate in spring, but I know the departments cleared them as they finished, meaning if you finished 2nd week of summer, they signed you off to leave.

Anyway, the point is, lot of things go wrong during dental school to set you back and yes, ucla requirements are horrendous and patient pool is not great. I hate many of the faculty there. I'll probably never donate a single dime there. But will I attend UCLA again? Absolutely. You can't beat the price, nor the location. I have to say that UCLA is probably in top 5 in terms of difficulty in getting in. I've interacted with dental students at my residency and they simply are not at par with UCLA students. I am not sure if the reason is due to the education or the fact that to get into UCLA, you have to be pretty smart. In terms of specialty, 10 of 10 omfs, 14 ortho, 5-6 perio, 3-4 endo, and 2 prosth. So i guess that makes around 35% specializing.

So to the OP, i doubt that you got into both programs this early on, since acceptances aren't handed out till december, but if you are fortunate to get into UCLA, then by all means you owe it to yourself to go there.
 
one more thing. i didn't have to pay for any of my patients.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
WestCoast said:
I too am a graduate of UCLA and I must say that I agree completely with what chocobo is saying. I wouldn't base too much of the decision on what the third year students are saying. Its funny, when I was a third year, there were quite a bit of gunners who were on track to finish early, and they used to brag about it. I, on the other hand was pretty behind compared to my classmates, with research, externships, etc, etc. The greatest irony was that I was one of the earlier ones to finish requirements (and this was with around 2 weeks left to graduation) and those that used to brag as 3rd years finished later than me. Its also true that around 15-20 didn't graduate in spring, but I know the departments cleared them as they finished, meaning if you finished 2nd week of summer, they signed you off to leave.

Anyway, the point is, lot of things go wrong during dental school to set you back and yes, ucla requirements are horrendous and patient pool is not great. I hate many of the faculty there. I'll probably never donate a single dime there. But will I attend UCLA again? Absolutely. You can't beat the price, nor the location. I have to say that UCLA is probably in top 5 in terms of difficulty in getting in. I've interacted with dental students at my residency and they simply are not at par with UCLA students. I am not sure if the reason is due to the education or the fact that to get into UCLA, you have to be pretty smart. In terms of specialty, 10 of 10 omfs, 14 ortho, 5-6 perio, 3-4 endo, and 2 prosth. So i guess that makes around 35% specializing.

So to the OP, i doubt that you got into both programs this early on, since acceptances aren't handed out till december, but if you are fortunate to get into UCLA, then by all means you owe it to yourself to go there.
Click to expand...


Hehe. I got a kick out of this post. I'm sure many graduates from 2005 think I have no idea what I'm talking about and when I get to Spring of 2007 I'm going to be in their shoes too. I doubt it. I'm doing my best to stay busy in clinic, which is easy, and there's no way I'm going to fail any didactic classes (e.g. implants) the summer before graduation. I don't know how it is at other dental schools but at UCLA we have a great deal of autonomy with respect to managing patients. It's like we each have our own little dental practices. We're responsible for scheduling, billing, obtaining consults, planning treatment, providing treatment, and maintenance. It's a lot to handle and if you're not on top of it things fall apart.

There's this interesting phenomenon that results from instilling fear into lower classmen. What happens is upper classmen tell lower classmen how hard a given class or requirement was and the lower classmen freak out and go overboard trying to make sure they don't make the same mistake. This happened with us 3rd years and Oral Path III. The result was our class had the highest scores ever in this class. Everyone in my class and 2006 saw the class of 2005 and the stress they went through in Spring. We are all determined not to experience that. It's not just my perspective as a 'naive' 3rd year, but every current 4th year I've talked with (over 10 of them) has said they forsee no problem graduating on time. There are quite a few 4th years that are going to complete their requirements early. I remember several people from class of 2005 who were angry that their 3rd year treatment team members didn't give procedures to them.

This business about UCLA not having patients because we're in a wealthy area is funny. Not only poor people have dental problems. One of my full mouth reconstruction patients is in the middle class. And talking about patients not having the ability to pay...this is clearly going to be a greater problem if your patient pool is composed primarily of poor people. You can't have it both ways -- a patient pool composed of poor people who can afford all the dentistry you want to do. Another point I've made before is that we live in Los Angeles, where even poor people drive automobiles. While they might not live in Westwood or Beverly Hills, they can and do drive from West LA, Venice, Hollywood, and wherever else has more affordable housing. I even had some patients drive from Ojai and Thousand Oaks! That's about 1.5 hours.

I'm sure this statement about UCLA not having patients will persist as these things often do. We've had tremendous success in the last quarter with acquiring patients from the graduate student pool at UCLA. I was part of this marketing campaign and have seen first hand the fruits of our labor. In addition, we now have greater subsidies than ever before to ensure that patients who cannot afford dental treatment can still receive it. For example, now each student can do 1 free root canal.

Regardless of what dental school you go to and whether you do 5 or 10 root canals, you will not be an experienced dentist when you graduate. This is even more true now than it was 20 years ago because technology has advanced so much in the last 5 years of dentistry. More and more graduates understand the necessity of post-graduate education for general dentistry. I used to doubt the utility of AEGD/GPR programs, but now I'm a believer. You simply cannot learn everything you need to know in dental school. Modern dentistry demands a greater knowledge base. At the very least you will have to be continually involved in good CE courses.

I completely agree with WestCoast that the student body at UCLA is nothing short of exceptional. There's something about being around bright people driven to succeed that is inspiring.

If you come to UCLA you will have all the patients you need to graduate. Whether or not you have the management skills and personal focus to utilize these patient resources is the question. Even if you don't have these skills now you can develop them, provided you are willing to work hard. They will be essential when you enter private practice.
 
Interesting thread. EVEN IF you don't have all the patients you need to graduate, it seems that you would only be couple months behind. When you weight this slight disadvantage next to all the advantages of UCLA (awesome didactic program, high specialty rates, great campus and weather), where would you rather go? Where would you rather go?
 
Wow that some good advice chocobo and westcoast are giving. Speaking the truth so people don't copy their mistakes.

From what chocobo said, it seems like students there are passing around the same patient for all to use. Like a one bong everyone takes a hit off of. PUFF PUFF GIVE...

The cops make it even harder for you guys since they round up all the po'folks and drop them off on Skid-Row.
 
I don't disagree that my situation is only a reflection of what UCLA was and that this was just my own personal experience, and who knows, UCLA students maybe getting a better experience now with the changes they have been implementing. Good for you for being actively involved in school improvement measures. However unhappy you may be that the infamous class of 2005 is still wreaking havoc by sharing personal experiences at the school, I believe that the school became more amenable to change because of how outspoken we were. I think our class spread the honest word to predental students about the situation at UCLA. And when the administration realized that fewer applicants were accepting the offers and they were having a harder time filling the class with more qualified applicants, I think they decided that they must be open to change for the better.

And yes, from what I have heard, it seems like the current 4th years are doing better with their clinical requirements. I do feel that the current 4th year class inherited many important cases that were worked up by our class, and such have more cases that are ready to be restored than what we were handed down. Also, as you mentioned, there were some infamous 3rd years (current 4th years) that did some cases which really should have been given to 4th years. That is why the 3rd year class was known to be very aggressive by our 4th year class.

I do understand what you mean by you feel like you have enough patients in your patient pool. I actually had quite a number of patients when I was in school and I was booked almost 100% capacity from the moment I was a 3rd year. I was in clinic every day. But in my case, it didn't mean much in terms of getting some of those key graduation requirements in a timely fashion.

I would like to comment on your statement:
"If you come to UCLA you will have all the patients you need to graduate. Whether or not you have the management skills and personal focus to utilize these patient resources is the question"
This was definitely not the case for most of us in the class. It's not just hard work and patient/time management that let us graduate on time. I do not hesitate to say that most of my classmates did work very hard and practiced sound management skills. I'm sure most dental students anywhere fit this criteria. This is precisely why I think predental students should ask about ontime graduation rates. I didn't know any better when I was a predental student. I thought if you worked hard and well, you should definitely be able to graduate on time.

Just to be fair and square, I'll point out some positive things about UCLA that I personally experienced, so that I don't offend any other existing UCLA students.

1. We get very good removable pros training (traditional, but solid).
2. We have some excellent restorative clinic instructors.
3. In general, most clinic instructors treated us well.
4. The general clinic is still fairly new and nice.
5. Pass/no pass grading system.
6. No classes with med students.

jk5177, you bring up a good point. Most people who didn't graduate on time graduated within the first few weeks of summer quarter. Now this does not seem to be a big deal, unless you were planning on going to a post-grad program. I have heard that there has been a case in the recent past of somebody being kicked out of the program because s/he couldn't graduate on time. I have also heard of a few programs that let people start a little late. So it will depend on the program.

The question of where would I rather go is a difficult one. You can only know what a program is really like, by going through it. So all I know, is what UCLA was like for me. If you want to do GP, which was my case, I feel that there are probably better choices out there though (more clinical experience, less unimportant didactics, happier alumni, progressive philosophy). The reason I chose to go to UCLA was because I thought it would give me a very good didactic training with moderate clinical training - and I think in general, it was so. At the time, I thought the technical aspects will come with experience, but that the didactic training would be difficult to obtain after dental school. I also thought that it may be a possibility that I would become interested in specializing, and I knew that UCLA does well with the board scores & sending people off to specialize. If I had to choose all over again, I'm not sure which school I would have chosen, but I would have tried to get more information on more schools (especially the reputable ones, such as San Antonio or UNC).
 
chocobo said:
I do understand what you mean by you feel like you have enough patients in your patient pool. I actually had quite a number of patients when I was in school and I was booked almost 100% capacity from the moment I was a 3rd year. I was in clinic every day. But in my case, it didn't mean much in terms of getting some of those key graduation requirements in a timely fashion.
Click to expand...

I was fortunate because I actually wasnt in the clinic all the time. In fact during 3rd year, there were many days where I only had to goto school 3 times a week because I didn't have enough patients. Others like chocobo worked very hard and still had to go till the end. For me, luckily, all the cases that I had went through and I was able to finish all the key requirements. As a matter of fact, I didn't deliver my first denture till summer in between 3rd and 4th year, but I ended delivering over 13 arches by the time I graduated. So the fate of dental students is not necessarily determined by how hard you work or how lazy you are. It really comes down to luck and the cases that you end up with. Anyhow, good luck to all the 3rd and 4th years and those contemplating going to UCLA, I definitely recommend it. It worked out well for me, and I am in a specialty program that wanted to match in.
 
I respect what you both are saying about your experiences. I understand your experiences were very different from what I am seeing and hearing from my classmates and current 4th years. I'm not saying your class didn't work hard. That would be insulting. My comment was not about being lazy but rather maintaining focus and managing patients. You can work hard and still fail to get the most out of your patients. There are dedicated, hard working, and kind dental students who let their patients walk all over them. When I said "maintaining personal focus and managing patients" I meant things like knowing when to discharge a patient, how to convince a patient to accept a given treatment, and how to train patients to act how you want. These are things we all must learn to be successful in practice. The sooner the better.

It is noteworthy that dental students often have this idea that problems are unique to their dental school. The grass is always greener. Generally, this is not the case. When you (the applicants) become dental students your peers all around the US will be going through the same struggles. You are not special. Nobody gets an easy ride. I'm sure the difficulties that my class, class of 2006, and class of 2005 faced are experienced by dental students across the US and probably the world over.

Dental school is a rough path. Sometimes it's a struggle just to stay happy. Being in an environment you enjoy, which for me is UCLA, helps you hold onto a little bit of happiness during those tough times. I firmly believe you should pick the school that affords you this type of environment. You can specialize coming from any school.

I somewhat agree with what Chocobo said about UCLA providing an excellent didactic education and moderate clinical training. However, I believe the clinical training is what you make of it. At UCLA you have the opportunity to learn what to do for patients with very complex problems. You can consult the world's leading specialists in each area and get their perspectives on the case. This is invaluable knowledge and it's the kind of thing we'll all be paying tens of thousands of dollars to learn in CE courses. Anyone can cut a prep. The hard part is knowing which treatement to provide, when to do so, and the problems that may occur. This is called clinical judgement and it is what will set you apart from other dentists.

Like Chocobo said, I too believe that I will hone my clinical skills in residency and private practice, but this is my best opportunity to create a foundation of didactic knowledge. However, I don't think any dental school will give you complete clinical proficiency. Anyone who believes that does not know their limitations and is putting themselves and their patients in jeopardy.

Here's the thing about clinical requirements: after a few months in private practice, the issue of whether you did 5 or 10 endos during dental school will be moot because you will have done dozens and learned cutting edge techniques and materials. Dental school does not make you an experienced dentist. It is the first step of acquiring a foundation of skills and knowledge that must be built upon with experience and education if you desire to become a good clinician. Otherwise you'll be limited to the outdated clinical techniques you learned in dental school. Things change quickly in this profession.
 
Good thread. Good thread.
 
WestCoast said:
I too am a graduate of UCLA and I must say that I agree completely with what chocobo is saying. I wouldn't base too much of the decision on what the third year students are saying. Its funny, when I was a third year, there were quite a bit of gunners who were on track to finish early, and they used to brag about it. I, on the other hand was pretty behind compared to my classmates, with research, externships, etc, etc. The greatest irony was that I was one of the earlier ones to finish requirements (and this was with around 2 weeks left to graduation) and those that used to brag as 3rd years finished later than me. Its also true that around 15-20 didn't graduate in spring, but I know the departments cleared them as they finished, meaning if you finished 2nd week of summer, they signed you off to leave.

Anyway, the point is, lot of things go wrong during dental school to set you back and yes, ucla requirements are horrendous and patient pool is not great. I hate many of the faculty there. I'll probably never donate a single dime there. But will I attend UCLA again? Absolutely. You can't beat the price, nor the location. I have to say that UCLA is probably in top 5 in terms of difficulty in getting in. I've interacted with dental students at my residency and they simply are not at par with UCLA students. I am not sure if the reason is due to the education or the fact that to get into UCLA, you have to be pretty smart. In terms of specialty, 10 of 10 omfs, 14 ortho, 5-6 perio, 3-4 endo, and 2 prosth. So i guess that makes around 35% specializing.

So to the OP, i doubt that you got into both programs this early on, since acceptances aren't handed out till december, but if you are fortunate to get into UCLA, then by all means you owe it to yourself to go there.
Click to expand...

One of the issues that definitively influence my ultimum decision of going to USC was the patient situation at UCLA. It was a difficult one; but I definitely seeked advice from both ends of the spectrum. Patient access was ultimately the main factor. There are imbalances in both uCLA and SC programs: UCLA being highly didactic but not having the sufficient patient pool to practice clinical dentistry and USC having poor academic training due to the stupid PBL but on the other hand produce highly skill dentists due to the intense clinical prep + high patient pool. In my case, I want to do general dentistry and I was advice by both UCLA and USC dentists and students to choose a school were clinical experience was more emphasized than academics...and...I think the right decision; from my standpoint I'm glad I went to a clinically-oriented school
 
Another reason was that I got a scholarship from SC ;)
 
TeethVader said:
One of the issues that definitively influence my ultimum decision of going to USC was the patient situation at UCLA. It was a difficult one; but I definitely seeked advice from both ends of the spectrum. Patient access was ultimately the main factor. There are imbalances in both uCLA and SC programs: UCLA being highly didactic but not having the sufficient patient pool to practice clinical dentistry and USC having poor academic training due to the stupid PBL but on the other hand produce highly skill dentists due to the intense clinical prep + high patient pool. In my case, I want to do general dentistry and I was advice by both UCLA and USC dentists and students to choose a school were clinical experience was more emphasized than academics...and...I think the right decision; from my standpoint I'm glad I went to a clinically-oriented school
Click to expand...

I don't think so. I have friends over at SC and it doesn't sound like you guys are doing so hot with patients either. The clinical requirements for SC and UCLA is very similar. Also PBL seems to be helping you guys do well on the boards. A lot more people going into specialty from your school now.
 
WestCoast said:
I don't think so. I have friends over at SC and it doesn't sound like you guys are doing so hot with patients either. The clinical requirements for SC and UCLA is very similar. Also PBL seems to be helping you guys do well on the boards. A lot more people going into specialty from your school now.
Click to expand...

The Ortho match yesterday - 17 out of 24 UCLA students were matched. USC can’t even touch this ratio.
 
atlanta478 said:
The Ortho match yesterday - 17 out of 24 UCLA students were matched. USC can’t even touch this ratio.
Click to expand...
I knew there were lot of gunners in that class but didn't know it was that many :eek:
 
atlanta478 said:
The Ortho match yesterday - 17 out of 24 UCLA students were matched. USC can’t even touch this ratio.
Click to expand...
Where did you get this info from? I heard it was 17 out of 20 matched.
 
WestCoast said:
I don't think so. I have friends over at SC and it doesn't sound like you guys are doing so hot with patients either. The clinical requirements for SC and UCLA is very similar. Also PBL seems to be helping you guys do well on the boards. A lot more people going into specialty from your school now.
Click to expand...

What are you talking about? We have a stronger patient pool by far...We're located in downtown LA and the area is very multicultural, and since the community is somewhat low-income we receive a lot of patients with different conditions on a daily basis...Our clinical experience is strenghtened due to our location definitely. You guys are in Westwood!! I don't think Tom Cruise would go to have filled-in at the UCLA clinic. I think he has his own personal dentist. BY THE WAY...OUR YOU GUYS READY TO HAVE YOUR ARSES KICKED BY SC THIS SATURDAY??? FIGHT ON!!! WE WILL DEMOLISH UCLA AT THE COLISEUM!! REGGIE AND MATT FOR THE HEISMAN!!! :thumbup:
 
SORRY I JUST COULDN'T CONTAINED MYSELF BEING RIVALRY WEEK AND ALL; BUT, REALLY, WE WILL RUN OVER UCLA THIS SATURDAY!!! WHO DARES DISAGREE?? :p
 
TeethVader said:
SORRY I JUST COULDN'T CONTAINED MYSELF BEING RIVALRY WEEK AND ALL; BUT, REALLY, WE WILL RUN OVER UCLA THIS SATURDAY!!! WHO DARES DISAGREE?? :p
Click to expand...

You guys should enjoy the victory, it will be your last of the season.

Hook 'em,
Longhorn fan
 
Hi, although I haven't been accepted to UCLA, I have gotten into BU. I'm trying to decide between BU and Case Western. I'm really leaning towards BU right now but I'm still not sure...would you please give me some info on BU (i.e. board scores, living conditions - too expensive?, faculty, students, programs, anything)? I would really appreciate it. Thanks a lot.
 
DUBS said:
Hi, although I haven't been accepted to UCLA, I have gotten into BU. I'm trying to decide between BU and Case Western. I'm really leaning towards BU right now but I'm still not sure...would you please give me some info on BU (i.e. board scores, living conditions - too expensive?, faculty, students, programs, anything)? I would really appreciate it. Thanks a lot.
Click to expand...

I will give you the basics right now because Im a little on the busy side, but I will drop you a PM later with more detail.

As far as the boards are concerned, Part 1 scores arent high. Im not sure what their average score is, but I know that its around the national average. However, the students do extremely well on the NERBs, which is a clinical exam.

~42% of last year's class went on to post-grad training (includes aegd and gpr).

Student body is awesome, faculty is very friendly, facilities are top notch, and the city is great. A few years ago, they were having some issues with patient pool, but they implemented a program called BUMP UP, which in short, allows patients to get dental services at very low fees. This has created a much larger patient pool than before.

I will give you more details some time tonight.
 
TeethVader said:
SORRY I JUST COULDN'T CONTAINED MYSELF BEING RIVALRY WEEK AND ALL; BUT, REALLY, WE WILL RUN OVER UCLA THIS SATURDAY!!! WHO DARES DISAGREE?? :p
Click to expand...

Enjoy it. Football's all you got. :smuggrin:

It's funny to hear you talk about patient pool. I'm sure you've never treated any patient in UCLA's clinic. Have you even set foot in USC's clinic? You've been a dental student for what...4 months?
 
TeethVader said:
SORRY I JUST COULDN'T CONTAINED MYSELF BEING RIVALRY WEEK AND ALL; BUT, REALLY, WE WILL RUN OVER UCLA THIS SATURDAY!!! WHO DARES DISAGREE?? :p
Click to expand...
Isn't it nice to know that some component of your huge tuition, (remind me how much it was again?), goes to sport your awesome football team.
 
drhobie7 said:
Enjoy it. Football's all you got. :smuggrin:

It's funny to hear you talk about patient pool. I'm sure you've never treated any patient in UCLA's clinic. Have you even set foot in USC's clinic? You've been a dental student for what...4 months?
Click to expand...

Of course I have been in the clinic (unlike UCLA students who are in the library all day), if there is something SC has is the continuous involvement of their freshmans in the clinic. Sadly, you didn't know about this when you enter your first semester; I am glad I'm acquainted with a clinical setting at this early stage of my education. This is ok, since your miopic view of UCLA does not let you see some of the imperfections of your program. That's ok, I realize if you want to specialize, definitely choose UCLA; as I've stated before my intention is to do general practice, and when it comes to that, I would choose SC over UCLA anytime. Just look at your lonely clinics; why don't you come down one day to our clinics to show you around; how about after we dismantle your team at the coliseum saturday? I would gladly give you a tour of the clinic. Personally, I don't like PBL but feel that my rotations at this stage of the game will enhance my hand skills to become a better general dentist. In fact, our 2nd trimester we'll be doing sealants (something you guys will probably due 2nd year).

P.S. I'm pretty sure on the beginning of your 1st year all you did was hitting biochem and anatomy, etc etc; It is definitely reflected upon the residency acceptances UCLA gets every year. However, like I said, SC is a "hands school more than an academic one. But, if you think your school carries a reputation for having a large pool of patients with the necessary conditions the seniors need for graduation....dude you are wrong. Believe me, my decision on choosin SC was a very difficult one to make. But you know something.....although it is very expensive here, I carry a brand that is very well known and will take me places, the networking possibilities are enormous, it will make me a strong general dentist, and most of all....I am very happy around here. It's evident you're having a blast at bruin town and that's also great; we both ended up where we wanted to land.

I hope you enjoy the game tomorrow; it's going to be a hell of a game (in the first quarter probably)!!! :laugh:
As always....FIGHT ON!!!!
 
jk5177 said:
Isn't it nice to know that some component of your huge tuition, (remind me how much it was again?), goes to sport your awesome football team.
Click to expand...

It's very expensive around here; however, I got a very descent scholarship and I'm paying for 2 years only. :)
 
drhobie7 said:
Enjoy it. Football's all you got. :smuggrin:

It's funny to hear you talk about patient pool. I'm sure you've never treated any patient in UCLA's clinic. Have you even set foot in USC's clinic? You've been a dental student for what...4 months?
Click to expand...

Another factor is that I intend on staying in California and since 60-65% of Cali Dentists are SC Alumni....well, you're probably not aware of the Trojan Family concept but it runs strong in California....Just a thought ;)
 
drhobie7 said:
Enjoy it. Football's all you got. :smuggrin:

By the way.....do I sound resentment?? Don't worry man, don't be mad or frustrated, you guys will have your day in the sun....someday......perhaps the next century or so.... :smuggrin:

GO TROJANS!! FIGHT ON!!!! :thumbup:
Click to expand...
 
TeethVader said:
Of course I have been in the clinic...
Click to expand...

...sucking spit.

TeethVader said:
In fact, our 2nd trimester we'll be doing sealants (something you guys will probably due 2nd year).
Click to expand...

Sealants. :laugh: Oh wow. Sealants. That's um,....wow. :laugh:

TeethVader said:
But, if you think your school carries a reputation for having a large pool of patients with the necessary conditions the seniors need for graduation....dude you are wrong.
Click to expand...

I know UCLA has a rep for a small patient pool. That's no longer the case. Anyone who dismisses the school based on that is missing out. I've got tons of patients and am doing diverse procedures. I've got a full mouth reconstruction case, two implant cases, three RPDs, one complete denture, three endos, about 30 crowns, and two maxillary anterior veneer cases from K9 to K9, and plenty of operative. Oh wait, crap! I don't have any sealants! But I'm sure you know more about our daily clinic happenings and my patients because, well, you go to USC.

TeethVader said:
I hope you enjoy the game tomorrow; it's going to be a hell of a game.
Click to expand...

I hope so. Unfortunately I don't have much faith in our defense.
 
know UCLA has a rep for a small patient pool. That's no longer the case. Anyone who dismisses the school based on that is missing out. I've got tons of patients and am doing diverse procedures. I've got a full mouth reconstruction case, two implant cases, three RPDs, one complete denture, three endos, about 30 crowns, and two maxillary anterior veneer cases from K9 to K9, and plenty of operative

I'll be damn!! Well coming from you this must be true. Dude, your issues are SO ONE-Sided you have no credibility. But, like I said, sealants must be something minuscule from all the procedures you claim to be performing at your clinic (I'll bet CEOs and hollywood personalities are just rushing in to get to UCLA Clinic in Westwood hehehehe), but to me, that I'm a first trimester guy, doint something like that on the second trimester is a big deal. Oh! And don't tell me you did that in your second semester because as usual you would be lying. You are class of 07 and I'm sure as hell and I can guarantee (like the bruins will get their sorry arses spanked tomorrow), that you don't come close to the number of clinical procedures and patients our 07s come across. Dude, numbers don't lie; we have by far and I mean by FARRR a bigger patient pool than you guys, you guys don't come even close and if you say yes...you are a big time and I mean big time liar, but hey! a miopian is a miopian forever, you must think the bruins will win tomorrow too :laugh:

This is definitelly rivalry week..LOOK AT ME?? Running smack with a bruin. Peace dude, like I said, we're both from LA and wind up at our top choice, let's stop the bashing
 
...sucking spit.


HEHEHE VERY FUNNY, ACTUALLY YES; BUT, UNLIKE UCLA WE WERE SUCKING SPIT AND ASSISTING THE SENIORS...SOMETHING THAT I KNOW, DOESN'T HAPPEN AT YOUR SCHOOL. IF YOU HAD ANY PATIENTS AT YOUR CLINIC I BET YOU'LL BE KISSING SPIT :laugh:
 
Sealants. Oh wow. Sealants. That's um,....wow.

YOU RIDICULE ME BECAUSE I'M DOING SEALANTS IN SECOND TRIMESTER WHICH IS LIKE MMMMM.... 4 MONTHS OF SCHOOL...WELL THAT TELLS YOUR CHARACTER. DUDE YOU DEFINITELY HAVE ISSUES, YOU'RE THE MOST MIOPIAN GUY I'VE KNOWN OK IF IT MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD: GO BRUINS!!! YOU'RE GOING TO THE JACK IN THE BOX BOWL!!!! :laugh:
 
YOU'RE GOING TO "THE JACK IN THE BOX BOWL"!!!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
 
Rezdawg said:
You guys should enjoy the victory, it will be your last of the season.

Hook 'em,
Longhorn fan
Click to expand...

This will definitely be a sweet rose bowl; however, is Vince Young vs. Matt, Reggie, Dominique and Co.....It's a 3 to 1 deal...Too uneven in my point of view...TROJANS WITH THE THREEPEAT!!! FIGHT ON!!! :thumbup:
 
drhobie7 said:
Sealants. :laugh: Oh wow. Sealants. That's um,....wow. :laugh:
Click to expand...

sealants... whats that???
dude you need to stop talkin some major trash. bruins will prevail!!!
 
TeethVader said:
...sucking spit.


HEHEHE VERY FUNNY, ACTUALLY YES; BUT, UNLIKE UCLA WE WERE SUCKING SPIT, SOMETHING THAT I KNOW QUOTE]

you can suck my spit anytime too. your posts are hilarious.
Click to expand...
 
WestCoast said:
TeethVader said:
...sucking spit.


HEHEHE VERY FUNNY, ACTUALLY YES; BUT, UNLIKE UCLA WE WERE SUCKING SPIT, SOMETHING THAT I KNOW QUOTE]

you can suck my spit anytime too. your posts are hilarious.
Click to expand...


hehehehe...Dude what can I say...It's rivalry week but dr.hobie7 started it..Bruins will be destroyed tomorrow!!! MEN OF TROY TO VICTORY!!! Fight ON!!!! :smuggrin:
What a better spot for a TROJAN to kill some bruins than in a COLISEUM!! WOW!! The stage is set..this is definitelly destiny!!
Click to expand...
 
I have never seen anyone did just a sealant in the clinic. But, I did several sealants in my first quarter last year in health fairs. I believe a bunch of current 1st year have done tons already plus they r learning prophy too.

TeethVader said:
Sealants. Oh wow. Sealants. That's um,....wow.

YOU RIDICULE ME BECAUSE I'M DOING SEALANTS IN SECOND TRIMESTER WHICH IS LIKE MMMMM.... 4 MONTHS OF SCHOOL...WELL THAT TELLS YOUR CHARACTER. DUDE YOU DEFINITELY HAVE ISSUES, YOU'RE THE MOST MIOPIAN GUY I'VE KNOWN OK IF IT MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD: GO BRUINS!!! YOU'RE GOING TO THE JACK IN THE BOX BOWL!!!! :laugh:
Click to expand...
 
Jesus Vader, how am I supposed to reply to your 5 posts in a row?! Will you just put them all in one post already? You're making me dizzy. Oh and you keep spelling miopia wrong (it's myopia).

Yes, sealants are a very simple procedure. It doesn't get any easier than that. I was extracting teeth summer of my first year. Granted this was outside UCLA down in Mexico (on drunk bums I found in alleys), but regardless I was doing it even before I learned to give LA. I don't care if you don't believe what I wrote about my current patients, but you called our clinical education into question and I provided some facts to refute that.

I don't think you know me well enough to be commenting on my 'character' either. I didn't ridicule you. You made yourself look silly by claiming superiority of USC's clinical education based on your opportunity to place sealants during first year.

You know what's great about tomorrow's game? UCLA has nothing to lose because nobody expects us to win. If we lose, no big deal, tomorrow will still come. But if we win I get to rub it in the face of every trojan for the rest of time. :smuggrin:
 
TeethVader said:
I carry a brand that is very well known and will take me places, the networking possibilities are enormous
Click to expand...

Does anyone find this a tad bit presumptuous? I only remember one famous person from USC and he killed his ex-wife!

Well that's not entirely true. There are many other football stars I can name from USC. :laugh:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

amolupa
UCLA vs Columbia Dental CBSE preparation
Replies
10
Views
3K
UConnDoIt
UConnDoIt
D
Prosthodontics Programs Feedback - Harvard, UCLA, Texas A&M?
Replies
6
Views
3K
dentistrydmd
D
B
Does UCLA help its own undergraduates to get into UCLA dental school?
Replies
2
Views
1K
hk64
H
charcot bouchard
Columbia, Penn and UCLA students
Replies
35
Views
3K
l4dygaga
L
C
7 year BS/DMD or UC Berkeley/UCLA?
Replies
10
Views
2K
Noice
Noice
Top