ASDOH or USC

[mahya]

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I have been accepted to ASDOH and USC..I liked both school very much..I am originally from CA and lived in Southern CA for 5 yrs now. Never been to Arizona though. I am really confused and dont know what to do..my only problem is the price tag of USC...the difference between ASDOH and USC is almost $100,000. I am thinking that at the time I graduate from USC, I have to repay the loans for 10 yrs of about 3,500 a month. Would I be able to make around $9,000 a month to cover for this loan if I become an associate as I graduate. PLEASE HELP..it is urgent..ASDOH deposit is due tomorrow...

Mahya

 

[vaio]

pbl? I dont know what to make of it, not having lectures seems like a relief, but then again wouldn't it be a lot easier if you know what you have to study/structured lectures/syllabi, instead of doing/finding everything yourself?

location? if you want to practice in cali, and/or enjoy cali living, then I would definitely go to SC

if you decide to go to arizona, however, its right next door

price, arizona is cheaper.

Good luck deciding! 🙂

 

[michaelazna]

pbl? I dont know what to make of it, not having lectures seems like a relief, but then again wouldn't it be a lot easier if you know what you have to study/structured lectures/syllabi, instead of doing/finding everything yourself?

location? if you want to practice in cali, and/or enjoy cali living, then I would definitely go to SC

if you decide to go to arizona, however, its right next door

price, arizona is cheaper.

Good luck deciding! 🙂

GOOD POINTS...HOWEVER MAHYA I GOT FLAT OUT DENIED FROM ARIZONA AND SO DID EVERY SINGLE PERSON I TALKED 2 AT EVERY INTERVIEW I WENT 2...FROM WHAT I HEARD THEY ARE A GOOD SCHOOL EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE NEWER BUT HARD AS HELL TO GET IN....SO CONGRATS ON THE ACCEPTANCE...MONEY IS THE ISSUE BETWEEN THE 2 SCHOOLS I THINK AND THE LOCATION...PERSONALLY SAVING 100,000 IS MORE IMPORTANT CAUSE ITS FOUR YEARS OF STUDYING NOT VACATION TIME...WHEN YOU GRADUATE YOU CAN TAKE THAT 100,000 YOU SAVED AND LIVE IN LA...PUS THE COST OF LIVING IN ARIZONA IS MUCH LESS THEN CALI...SO YOU WILL HAVE MORE MONEY TO SPREAD AROUND I GUESS IN ARIZONA....HAHAHA...GOOD LUCK DECIDING.....

 

[DATRAT]

I have been accepted to ASDOH and USC..I liked both school very much..I am originally from CA and lived in Southern CA for 5 yrs now. Never been to Arizona though. I am really confused and dont know what to do..my only problem is the price tag of USC...the difference between ASDOH and USC is almost $100,000. I am thinking that at the time I graduate from USC, I have to repay the loans for 10 yrs of about 3,500 a month. Would I be able to make around $9,000 a month to cover for this loan if I become an associate as I graduate. PLEASE HELP..it is urgent..ASDOH deposit is due tomorrow...

Mahya

This is what I found when I interviewed at both of the schools. ASDOH is a very tight knit group since there is only 54 seats in the class. It is very new and still under construction. I think b/c it is so new that there are still a lot of kinks that need to be worked out, but overall it seemed to be a good school. I think AZ will be awesome in a few years, once they get everything running smoothly. USC was also very impressive for almost the opposite reasons. They were a huge class right on campus (which I liked). The clinic was packed and it seemed like you would get tons of clinical exposure. USC also has a great name and a great alumni association which may be worth the extra tuition $ to you when you get out of D school and get a job in cal. I work for a very prominent dentist and asked him about loans and the difference in tuition after D-school. He told me to go to USC and that the 80k I would save by going to a different school would be made up in a matter of a few months once i start working. He strongly encouraged me to go to USC inspite of the price tag, so that's where I am going! In all honesty they are both great schools, go where you want to go, where you will be the happiest, and what makes the most sense for you.
GOOD LUCK!

 

[coolen2000]

if both schools are equally good to you, I'd go to ARIZONA because of tuition and fees that you would save. $100,000 is a lot of money and the smaller class size of arizona seems like an added plus. 🙂

 

[PDizzle]

I interviewed at both also and would pick ASDOH over USC for several reasons.


1) Cheaper
2) Smaller class size. I heard that some D2's at USC didn't even know other students in their year.
3) PBL blows!
4) You can buy a home in Mesa, which is growing real fast right now. You can probably make close to $100,000 in equity in 4 years! Add that to the equation, and it's starting to look mighty nice!
5) USC is in the Ghetto.
6) I'm not a fan of LA in general

 

[Ruprick]

I interviewed at both also and would pick ASDOH over USC for several reasons.


1) Cheaper
2) Smaller class size. I heard that some D2's at USC didn't even know other students in their year.
3) PBL blows!
4) You can buy a home in Mesa, which is growing real fast right now. You can probably make close to $100,000 in equity in 4 years! Add that to the equation, and it's starting to look mighty nice!
5) USC is in the Ghetto.
6) I'm not a fan of LA in general

Good points, I'm sure many positives can be found about USC, too, though. PBL blows for some, rocks for others. #4 is also off a bit. The housing market has really leveled off in the Phoenix area over the past several months. There is NO way to predict how much equity could be made in the next 4 years. Current dental students at ASDOH made a killing, though!

 

[Sprgrover]

Personally, I would pick ASDOH over USC for many of the same reasons others have listed above: price tag, smaller class size, cost of living, and so on. I liked the facilities at Arizona when I was there and, from what I have gathered from individuals going there, you will get a solid education. Best of luck with the decision, and congratulations on the acceptances!

 

[mahya]

Personally, I would pick ASDOH over USC for many of the same reasons others have listed above: price tag, smaller class size, cost of living, and so on. I liked the facilities at Arizona when I was there and, from what I have gathered from individuals going there, you will get a solid education. Best of luck with the decision, and congratulations on the acceptances!

Thanks everyone with the tips and views. I will send the deposit for ASDOH today and I still think more but I am leaning toward ASDOH for now. I feel there is a better market for dental graduates in Arizona and eventhough I really dont plan to stay there but who knows..and I also like the small class size and taking the board after the first year.

Mahya

 

[ElDienteLoco]

Mahya,

Congratulations on this wonderful dilemma of yours! It is a great feeling to have to choose between two good options.

My advice would be to go where you feel you will enjoy dental school the most and which school will help you to acheive your career goals. ASDOH is a chill place to go to school. The atmosphere really is like you saw during your interview. No where else I interviewed was anything like it. On the other hand, specializing COULD be different here. With no history, no one is really sure how residency programs are going to view our applicants. Could be positive or negative, but no one knows for sure right now.

ASDOH's clinical exposure is great! The D3's are doing more dentistry than a lot of other schools get. I can't wait to start (my first patients are in June...). Also, there are a lot less "kinks" than might be suspected. The inaugural class has had some serious flexibility training because every day for them is a new day...never done before. Our class (Current D2) got a lot improvements and the current D1s are still being fine-tuned. I would probably dare say that your incoming class will have different kinks than other dental schools, but probably not more or less than any other dental schools because after three years of predecessors, they have really gotten the curriculum to a great place.

The D2 year is so much nicer with NBDE part I behind you. I am so glad I don't have to study for that still...

Also, money is money, but it's not everything. I would actually expect the difference in tuition between ASDOH and USC to be smaller than you have calculated. ASDOH is not cheap and it is getting not cheaper every year. When the current D3's started, their D1 tuition was less than $30,000 a year and now the new D1 tuition (For your incoming class) is a squeak under $40,000 + fees. I'm not sure if the new tuition has been communicated to everyone very well. My guess is that your calculations are based on a $36,000-ish number you got at the financial aid part of the interview (the Board of Trustees just approved a tuition hike). Just a thought, because the difference between $250,000 and $330,000 for school probably shouldn't be the deciding factor in my opinion.

As another thought...Arizona is probably not going to be the Mecca for new dentists that it has been in the last few years. Although the population is growing rapidly in Phoenix, hundreds of dentists moved to Arizona last year. With some ASDOH graduates staying, with some Midwestern graduates staying and with every graduating dentist at other schools talking about how great a place AZ is to practice in I would expect the demand for dentists in Urban Arizona to cool off in the next ten years.

Oh yeah...no beach in Arizona...except for a country song...

Good luck with your decision. If you PM me with your phone number, I would love to talk to you and answer any questions you may have that would help you in making the best decision for you.

 

[ItsGavinC]

Mahya, you'll do more clinical procedures at Arizona than USC, if that matters to you. Right now you'd be hard pressed to find a school that gives their students more clinical experience than ASDOH.

The downside to that is less time for didactics the 3rd and 4th year.