UConn vs. Maryland vs. Virginia Commonwealth

Started by scifijock
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scifijock

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I need to decide between these schools and would like you to share your experiences with these programs. I would like to explore the pros and cons of each with an emphasis on the cons since the schools already do a good job at selling the pros. I have already formed an option of each that I'm willing to share, but each of us had different interactions while visiting or attending these programs and I would find your input most helpful when I make my final decision.
 
I only interviewed at UConn so I can only give you some insight to UConn:

Pros: Overall I think they have a great curriculum where all the material is integrated which makes for efficient learning. They only have a few tests each semester, not multiple tests every week. The faculty all seemed great and supportive. Just built a new sim lab. Small class around 45 students. Great board scores.

Cons: Clinics seemed somewhat old

Some other things to think about that may be pros or cons depending on the person:
-Location: rural
-Medical curriculum
-Weather
 
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Hey guy, Conn is the best school, really, if you don't look at the labels.

It consistently has one of the highest board scores (over Columbia/UCLA/Harvard/etc) and place so many people into post graduate residencies.

Don't want to specialize? That's okay, Conn's dental center is the most productive dental center in US (they told me when I went to interview there this year), therefore your clinical exposure will also be equally great, I presume.

Oh, and it is affordable.

VCU and Maryland has nothing on Conn.. Haha
 
EdwardKim said:
Hey guy, Conn is the best school, really, if you don't look at the labels.

It consistently has one of the highest board scores (over Columbia/UCLA/Harvard/etc) and place so many people into post graduate residencies.

Don't want to specialize? That's okay, Conn's dental center is the most productive dental center in US (they told me when I went to interview there this year), therefore your clinical exposure will also be equally great, I presume.

Oh, and it is affordable.

VCU and Maryland has nothing on Conn.. Haha
Click to expand...


Easy, guy.
 
EdwardKim said:
Hey guy, Conn is the best school, really, if you don't look at the labels.

It consistently has one of the highest board scores (over Columbia/UCLA/Harvard/etc) and place so many people into post graduate residencies.

Don't want to specialize? That's okay, Conn's dental center is the most productive dental center in US (they told me when I went to interview there this year), therefore your clinical exposure will also be equally great, I presume.

Oh, and it is affordable.

VCU and Maryland has nothing on Conn.. Haha
Click to expand...

I see what you're trying to do.
 
nanilla said:
I only interviewed at UConn so I can only give you some insight to UConn:

Pros: Overall I think they have a great curriculum where all the material is integrated which makes for efficient learning. They only have a few tests each semester, not multiple tests every week. The faculty all seemed great and supportive. Just built a new sim lab. Small class around 45 students. Great board scores.

Cons: Clinics seemed somewhat old

Some other things to think about that may be pros or cons depending on the person:
-Location: rural
-Medical curriculum
-Weather
Click to expand...
I agree with your pros and cons and I really like the school. The location is my favorite of all dental schools. I think the medical curriculum could be worth it to more broadly understand a patient's health. I'm just concerned this may take away from learning dental procedures ect., but they do extremely well on board pt. II, which seems to prove they are doing good at clinicals as well. Also, are there any UConn students who can speak about their "extremely demanding" curriculum? Is it really worse than other schools? Do the student have any free time? I know dental school is hard, but I don't want to go insane!

Also, do any of you know the student:teacher ratio in pre-clinic and clinic? I think UConn's is better than most schools, but I can't remember the exact numbers.
 
Student to faculty ratio is 3.3 compared to 4.77 nationally. This is not just clinic, but the whole school.
 
scifijock said:
I need to decide between these schools and would like you to share your experiences with these programs. I would like to explore the pros and cons of each with an emphasis on the cons since the schools already do a good job at selling the pros. I have already formed an option of each that I'm willing to share, but each of us had different interactions while visiting or attending these programs and I would find your input most helpful when I make my final decision.
Click to expand...
UConn:


Pros: Individualized clinicals experience -competency based so you work more on what you struggle with and speed past the easy stuff for you. They are getting a new sim lab. Pass/fail. Class recorded and loaded to internet. It's way cheaper than the others (~150K with personal expenses). It's not in a city no pollution and low crime. Plus there are trails to bike and rivers to kayak. Small class size (~43). High board scores on both part 1 & 2. Students seemed pleased with the education they received and had lives.

Cons: Few exams mean they will be extremely high stress and they may be up to 5 hours long. The exams sounded harder here than at the other schools (hard know this for sure). I'm unsure about this whole "extremely demanding" thing. I wish knew more about what this entailed besides having to take medical classes that apparently are harder than all the other dental schools! Students seemed less sure about going straight to private practice.
 
scifijock said:
I need to decide between these schools and would like you to share your experiences with these programs. I would like to explore the pros and cons of each with an emphasis on the cons since the schools already do a good job at selling the pros. I have already formed an option of each that I'm willing to share, but each of us had different interactions while visiting or attending these programs and I would find your input most helpful when I make my final decision.
Click to expand...
Maryland

Pros: Extremely happy students and friendly faculty. They seem to have curriculum innovation so that they teach in the best way they know to get their students to learn, online videos, classes loaded to internet and podcast. Also, they integrate parts of curriculum and they have teams of upper and lower classmen to work together on patients, thus a first or second year can do a basic procedure while the upperclassmen does something more advanced like administer anesthesia. Comprehensive patient care to mirror private practice. The building is new and has lots of natural lighting, electric hand pieces (no more going deaf). Senior clerkships where you gain skills in a specialty of dentistry for a year. About 40% of the class goes straight to private practice. Boards after yr 1. They have an outreach program where dental faculty oversee you while working in an undeserved area and you get to stay in a mansion for the duration you are there. Public transportation get to suburbs 15-20 min.


Cons: Costs are very high for out of staters (275k for all education related costs other than living expenses). There is the possibility of changing to in-state, but it is not guaranteed and the dental school does not control this. It's a city and dirty and dangerous. Large class size (~130). student:faculty ratios are not good overall 5:1, in operative 8:1, sim lab is 7:1. This school claims to be very technologcally advanced, but I was not that impressed. It seemed like they just had a computer at each station, but any school can do that with laptops ect. Their sim lab did not have a camera that monitored movement, thus no feedback from it - they were just fancy heads. Finally, multiple students pulled all nighters for the exam that day.
 
scifijock said:
I need to decide between these schools and would like you to share your experiences with these programs. I would like to explore the pros and cons of each with an emphasis on the cons since the schools already do a good job at selling the pros. I have already formed an option of each that I'm willing to share, but each of us had different interactions while visiting or attending these programs and I would find your input most helpful when I make my final decision.
Click to expand...
VCU: Pros: Also seemed very friendly. Sim lab with feedback. Multiple outreach opportunities-you chose. Learn multiple ways to do procedures. Start in clinical about 6 month before most schools. Boards after yr 1. Somewhat competency based, but the students say it's not really. Students felt comfortable going straight to private practice.


Cons:Students working in lab seemed very stressed. Bad public transportation-need a car here, but traffic is not a bad as Baltimore. Dangerous city, but not as bad as Baltimore. I can't recall the student:faculty ratios in clinic, but they seemed close to Maryland. Cost is very high and there is no way to get in-state tuition (230k w/o personal expenses). Large class.
 
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scifijock said:
VCU: Pros: Also seemed very friendly. Sim lab with feedback. Multiple outreach opportunities-you chose. Learn multiple ways to do procedures. Start in clinical about 6 month before most schools. Boards after yr 1. Somewhat competency based, but the students say it's not really. Students felt comfortable going straight to private practice.


Cons:Students working in lab seemed very stressed. Bad public transportation-need a car here, but traffic is not a bad as Baltimore. Dangerous city, but not as bad as Baltimore. I can't recall the student:faculty ratios in clinic, but they seemed close to Maryland. Cost is very high and there is no way to get in-state tuition (230k w/o personal expenses). Large class.
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Definitely agree for the most part, public transportation is only bad depending on where you live-some places are better than others.
 
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DrReo said:
Go to the cheapest school! Thank me later
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I agree with the premise about cost is a major factor. I just worry about their "demanding curriculum." Why is it that most schools don't argue that there school is hard while that is all UConn talks about? Does anyone have experience with UConn's rigorous curriculum?
 
scifijock said:
I agree with the premise about cost is a major factor. I just worry about their "demanding curriculum." Why is it that most schools don't argue that there school is hard while that is all UConn talks about? Does anyone have experience with UConn's rigorous curriculum?
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I assumed it was because UConn is not as well known outside of the medical/dental field as some of the other leading schools, so they want to make sure people know it is a top-notch program that prepares its students well for careers/specialty training. Before I researched dental schools, I didn't know that UConn was one of the best programs in the country, but now I think it's pretty impressive.
 
LongTooth said:
I assumed it was because UConn is not as well known outside of the medical/dental field as some of the other leading schools, so they want to make sure people know it is a top-notch program that prepares its students well for careers/specialty training. Before I researched dental schools, I didn't know that UConn was one of the best programs in the country, but now I think it's pretty impressive.
Click to expand...
I never thought of it that way, but it's a good point.
 
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