USC or BU

Started by texasdental
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
T

texasdental

2007 applicant
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Hi guys,

So I need to know your thoughts on which dental school is better. I've heard a lot of questionable things about USC and I'm concerned about the PBL curriculum and national board pass rates. Any opinions out there on which school is better?

Thanks
 
texasdental said:
Hi guys,

So I need to know your thoughts on which dental school is better. I've heard a lot of questionable things about USC and I'm concerned about the PBL curriculum and national board pass rates. Any opinions out there on which school is better?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Scroll down to see a few USC students make the comments about the school here http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=390621

Personally I would go to BU. Cheaper school, much better education.
 
Here's how this thread is going to go:

Random Pre-dent who doesn't really know anything: l0l zomg why would you go to USC it is liek below the passing average for the NDBE boardz!

USC Student Type 1: No you are so wrong USC is the greatest school ever, nothing is wrong and nothing ever will be! We actually have the highest boards scores...clinical...warm weather...

USC Student Type 2: I wish I was dead.

Confused Pre-dent: Does USC give a DMD or DDS? I'd sure hate to have to settle for a DMD program!

armorshell: Statistically speaking it's impossible to say which school is better then the other, but you should probably go to the cheapest one.

Aphistis or Gavin: *sigh*

Everyone else in the thread: NOT THIS AGAIN! ARMORSHELL IS THE COOLEST!
 
texasdental said:
Hi guys,

So I need to know your thoughts on which dental school is better. I've heard a lot of questionable things about USC and I'm concerned about the PBL curriculum and national board pass rates. Any opinions out there on which school is better?

Thanks
Click to expand...


Curious, have you decided which school?
 
BU if locale isn't imp....o/w usc cuz it's socal

both expensive so lose lose either way .. j/k 😀
 
i'm an 09 student at sc like dentofalltrades.

seriously, 'sc has its problems. they keep on saying things will change.... they do change, but not for your class. the class coming in after you will see the changes (which is a good thing for you guys that are applying). I haven't been in clinic yet (full exposure, at least), but pre clinical has been a headache.

PBL sucks. seriously. it's stupid. thats all. don't try to say its the best and greatest way to learn. it's not.

The people and friends that I have spoken with about BU have not had anything bad to say about it. They might have problems there, too, but maybe not like SCs that even their own students can't stop bitching about.

but in the end, we will all become dentists. USC puts out great clinicians.... but the way out is a complete mess and full of hurdles.

good luck
 
armorshell said:
Here's how this thread is going to go:

Random Pre-dent who doesn't really know anything: l0l zomg why would you go to USC it is liek below the passing average for the NDBE boardz!

USC Student Type 1: No you are so wrong USC is the greatest school ever, nothing is wrong and nothing ever will be! We actually have the highest boards scores...clinical...warm weather...

USC Student Type 2: I wish I was dead.

Confused Pre-dent: Does USC give a DMD or DDS? I'd sure hate to have to settle for a DMD program!

armorshell: Statistically speaking it's impossible to say which school is better then the other, but you should probably go to the cheapest one.

Aphistis or Gavin: *sigh*

Everyone else in the thread: NOT THIS AGAIN! ARMORSHELL IS THE COOLEST!
Click to expand...

You forgot this one:

1992Corolla: Check out my site, I wrote an article on it.


OP: Temple.
 
Oh Pleeaasssseee, BU in a heartbeat, it's an awesome school; SC....well... its SC
 
My buddy goes to BU, he likes it there. BU is an expensive school, expensive city to live in as well, but I guess it "cheap" relative to USC. Ive been to Boston many times to visit, great city, lots to do and you dont need a car to get around.

There are videos of USC dental students (mostly persians I believe) on youtube. They look like they're having fun 😛
 
Thank god for youtube not being so popular when I was in dental school. I'll leave it at that..:laugh:
 
Its the end of my 3rd year in dental school at SC. I was a non-science major coming in so of course I was very worried about boards since you don't learn anything in PBL. Studying for boards was very frustrating b/c we never learned biochem, histology, etc. So I would just sit there trying to read a biochem book but after the 4th chapter it made no sense to me. I was soooo frustrated. I didn't want to specialize so it made things a little better. But I still wish that I had a chance to do better if I had the correct foundation that should have been provided by SC. After I got my results I did better than I thought and somehow biochem was my highest score. I have no idea how that happened. Point is if you want to do exceptional on your boards this is not the school for you, b/c you have no way of really competing with the nation when your school doesn't teach you anything.

Moving on to the clinic.. I have basically been on the clinic floor for the past year. When I was studying for boards I thought that was the worst, but I really had no idea what was coming to me. There is no sense of professionalism at this school. If your a girl and happen to be sleeping with the faculty then you will most likely graduate on time. But for the rest you are faced with sexually charged comments from old nasty dentists whom you must just sit and listen to b/c you are trying to graduate too. And if you want to complain then good luck who do you complain to? Nothing gets accomplished, and you will be blacklisted b/c all of the faculty somehow end up knowing whats going on b/c they are constantly chatting about specific students when they really should be "teaching".

Besides that the main problem that every pre-dental student should ask dental schools that they are interviewing at is "WHAT IS YOUR GRADUATION RATE?" the second most important question is what are your board scores? (keep in mind that board scores are not solely based on the school, there are people in our class that did particularly well, I think one person got a 98) But graduation rate is completely out of your hand. Only 36% of the 2007 class is graduating on time. There are multiple reasons why this is true. Too many to explain here but I will mention a few.
1. Not enough faculty coverage for the number of students that are permitted to be on the clinic floor
2. The majority of the faculty that is on the clinic floor does not have the authority to sign off on fixed work so you end up prepping a crown with one faculty in one appt take a final impression on your 2nd appt and then send the lab work out. Then you spend a day or two trying to track one of the five faculty who do have the authority to sign it off only to have them tell you that there needs to be adjustments made. Then you bring the patient back but unfortunately the faculty who can sign off is rarely ever teaching on the clinic floor. Do this 5 + times until your patient gets completely fed up and doesn’t want to come back.
3. So many requirements: 30 fixed (crowns), 9 removable arches, etc..
4. Soo many comp exams on live patients who must qualify for these exams. The faculty grading are nearly impossible to pass, and it is soooo hard to find pt’s that qualify. Every day we are bombarded by seniors emailing us looking for compable crowns. They are more like begging us for these crowns.
5. Again not enough faculty to sit your patient down and do the work
6. Last week attempted to take a final impression of a crown. RDA left early (the person who takes the impressions). Tried to get the material needed from the dispensary but guess what they were all out. Brought patient back tonight only to beg every single faculty on the clinic floor to please cover me. I explained that I don’t need there assistance I have everything signed off. I just want to get a final impression. But after one hour of running around that didn’t happen. Had to send my pt. home. Apparently, 2 faculty just decided to cancel their night chairs, and of course nobody bothers to tell the poor dental students!!

Anyways, there are soooo many other reasons why this school is absolutely the most chaotic, bull****, school. We don’t even become great clinicians b/c we spend at least over 60% of our time trying to figure out how and when we could possibly bring our patients in with the few chairs that do exist. Do yourself a favor, don’t go to this school, go somewhere where you actually have a chance of learning and becoming a better dentist. Go to a school where the dean is approachable and cares what is happening to his students. Our dean will never dare walk through the clinic floor. I think he is too scared. All he would see is the majority of the students standing on line for instruments/supplies, miserable as hell. Hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions. Don’t forget ask about the graduation rates. b/c whats the point of getting into a specialty only to find out that you aren’t graduating on time and you will have to defer it if they will allow you to. And trust me spending most of your time worrying about graduating on time is a very miserable way to live.
 
If you Think coming to BU will help you avoid many of those issues/problems/frustrations mentioned above then you are sadly mistaken. It may not be so bad when it comes to the courses covered in the first 2 years in preparation for the boards. But the clinic is nothing but total CHAOS, it never seems like there's enough faculty on the floors when you're trying to book appointments 3 weeks out. And every year the advanced standing class size seems to increase by 10-15. Yet there hasnt been any indication from the administration that additional clinic chairs are forthcoming to accommodate these annual increases. For the most part the faculty sometimes seem to be sympathetic, but I dont think any of them possess the courage to attempt positive student-centered policy changes.
 
I jus learned out of the 144 students of the graduating class of 2007, only 19 students will check out (i.e. graduate) on time...just food for thought. I am not picking on the school, I'm just telling the facts
 
MrVagus said:
If you Think coming to BU will help you avoid many of those issues/problems/frustrations mentioned above then you are sadly mistaken. It may not be so bad when it comes to the courses covered in the first 2 years in preparation for the boards. But the clinic is nothing but total CHAOS, it never seems like there's enough faculty on the floors when you're trying to book appointments 3 weeks out. And every year the advanced standing class size seems to increase by 10-15. Yet there hasnt been any indication from the administration that additional clinic chairs are forthcoming to accommodate these annual increases. For the most part the faculty sometimes seem to be sympathetic, but I dont think any of them possess the courage to attempt positive student-centered policy changes.
Click to expand...

I'll vouch for these statements. 1st and 2nd year I had little complaints besides a few useless classes, and a heavy course load. We have some great professors, and some not so great, but overall I was happy with the preclinical education.

The clinic has severe problems. I will leave it at that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.