ASDOH or Western University

[22’dentist]

Hey everyone, I interviewed with ASDOH on 10/21 and was waitlisted on February 28. I sent two emails of continued interest to them in February and another email in March. I recently received the email that’s in the attached photo today. Is this email a good sign that I’ll be accepted off of the waitlist? I’ve heard that usually when people receive the “are you still interested email” that means they have an opening in the class and will likely accept you off of the waitlist.

I have also been accepted to Westernu, so I was wondering if someone could share if they would choose ASDOH or Westernu if I get accepted to ASDOH. I am also applying to the WesternU trustee scholarship, which would give me 50% off tuition. However, do you think it is a wise choice to have the possibility to get this scholarship as a reason to choose Western over Asdoh?

Cons to Asdoh: tuition at asdoh is 88k a year and Westernu is 78k a year, but I don’t think 40k after 4 years is that significant. Also, Arizona is insanely hot compared to California.

Pros: ASDOH is pass/ fail, There are externships in the 4th year at asdoh that allow D4’s to get 6 weeks of experience at different states and I feel that’s really great for clinical experience, ASDOH has an orthodontics speciality and western doesn’t have any specialties. The orthodontics speciality at Asdoh is 30 months long. One question I have is do orthodontic residents get paid during these 30 months or do they have to take out more loans for it?

I was also wondering if anyone could tell me which school they believe has a better reputation.

Additionally, are there more cons to externships than pros? Do you think 4th year ASDOH externships would be stressful because I’ll have to go to a new state every 6 weeks so like will I be stressed about requirements, graduating, applying to residencies, interviewing all while moving and adapting to a new clinic and new faculty every 6 weeks? A dental student told me in regards to the ASDOH externships “I can’t see how having to learn a new clinic and how new faculty are every 6 weeks helps. A dental school appointment you already waste so much time running around grabbing supplies, now imagine having to learn where new supplies are every time. Also my clinic group was a saving grace. You spend all day in pre clinic and clinic together. If you need someone to pour your stone cast up while you’re seeing a patient, you know exactly who to ask without hesitation. You need someone to help you with a procedure, theyre there. If you’re constantly changing clinics you lose that support system. And You have plenty of time to learn about where you want to practice and experience more in residency. I truly wouldn’t stress that aspect“

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[PerioDont]

Hopefully its a good sign, but I wouldn't read too much into this email as a guarantee of any sort.

You also have to factor in COL of California vs AZ.

I would probably choose ASDOH if I had the choice. Doing externships 4th year is way better than staying in dental school. New clinic and new faculty every 6 weeks are extremely helpful and will expose you to many new ways of doing dentistry compared to 1 guy.

 

[22’dentist]

Thank you for the reply! So you don't think that externships will be mentally exhausting like getting familiar with a new clinic and faculty every 6 weeks?

 

[22’dentist]

Or do you think changing clinic every 6 weeks would help me get out of my comfort zone?

 

[PerioDont]

Thank you for the reply! So you don't think that externships will be mentally exhausting like getting familiar with a new clinic and faculty every 6 weeks?

You do want to be mentally exhausted in dental school clinic. That will enable you to have the variety of experiences from different mentors.

Instead people often exhaust themselves in memorizing bio chemistry and don’t really learn dentistry. This message doesn’t make a lot of sense. Also dental school Clinic is extremely inefficient it is much better to do externships and get out as much as you can

 

[ericlopl]

For what it's worth, Western students do two 7-week externships. But, they are only within California versus ASDOH's can be out of state.

 

[22’dentist]

For what it's worth, Western students do two 7-week externships. But, they are only within California versus ASDOH's can be out of state.

Which year do western students complete the externships ?

 

[22’dentist]

Which year do western students complete the externships ?

And are the externships in western required ?

 

[ericlopl]

Which year do western students complete the externships ?

End of third year and the beginning of fourth year. Yes they are required.

 

[kavitykween]

Hey there! I was actually in a similar predicament about 2 months ago, when I had to choose between both ASDOH and WesternU. Ultimately, for me, it came down to two factors: location and price. Having visited both schools, I was definitely more drawn to ASDOH's newer facilities and campus. However, the price was definitely one big deciding factor between both programs, with ASDOH costing approximately ~95k for tuition alone ($84k tuition + $10k lab fee/yearly) and Western about ~80k. Another aspect I had to grapple with was location. With both schools in entirely different environments, I really had to weigh out which cities I would genuinely see myself thriving in. Mesa is quite hot in comparison to Pomona, however Pomona isn't the best city to be living in due to its high crime rate. The last factor that tipped the scales was my support system: aka. family and friends. I'm fortunate enough to have family that live about 20-30 minutes away from WesternU, and I am incredibly close with them - making the holidays and school in general more tolerable. Having a strong support system near me was a huge deciding factor, since dental school is incredibly difficult and rigorous, I wanted to have people that I know and trust near me. In the end, I did choose WesternU over ASDOH due to all these factors! Both programs are incredibly similar and have almost the same values and clinical experiences, so it really came down to my personal preferences. Whichever school you choose, I'm sure you'll have an amazing experience! Best of luck

 

[22’dentist]

Hey there! I was actually in a similar predicament about 2 months ago, when I had to choose between both ASDOH and WesternU. Ultimately, for me, it came down to two factors: location and price. Having visited both schools, I was definitely more drawn to ASDOH's newer facilities and campus. However, the price was definitely one big deciding factor between both programs, with ASDOH costing approximately ~95k for tuition alone ($84k tuition + $10k lab fee/yearly) and Western about ~80k. Another aspect I had to grapple with was location. With both schools in entirely different environments, I really had to weigh out which cities I would genuinely see myself thriving in. Mesa is quite hot in comparison to Pomona, however Pomona isn't the best city to be living in due to its high crime rate. The last factor that tipped the scales was my support system: aka. family and friends. I'm fortunate enough to have family that live about 20-30 minutes away from WesternU, and I am incredibly close with them - making the holidays and school in general more tolerable. Having a strong support system near me was a huge deciding factor, since dental school is incredibly difficult and rigorous, I wanted to have people that I know and trust near me. In the end, I did choose WesternU over ASDOH due to all these factors! Both programs are incredibly similar and have almost the same values and clinical experiences, so it really came down to my personal preferences. Whichever school you choose, I'm sure you'll have an amazing experience! Best of luck

Hey, I actually got accepted to ASDOH yesterday and ended up choosing ASDOH over WesternU! Nevertheless, I appreciate your advice. One question I have is that you said that ASDOH costs an extra $10K a year for lab fees, but is this not also the case for WesternU? I understand that tuition at ASDOH costs $84k and tuition at WesternU costs $80k, but is there not also an extra yearly lab fee at WesternU? My understanding is that most dental schools generally make their students pay an extra yearly lab fee that ranges from $5-10K a year.

 

[kavitykween]

Hey, I actually got accepted to ASDOH yesterday and ended up choosing ASDOH over WesternU! Nevertheless, I appreciate your advice. One question I have is that you said that ASDOH costs an extra $10K a year for lab fees, but is this not also the case for WesternU? I understand that tuition at ASDOH costs $84k and tuition at WesternU costs $80k, but is there not also an extra yearly lab fee at WesternU? My understanding is that most dental schools generally make their students pay an extra yearly lab fee that ranges from $5-10K a year.

Congrats, I’m sure you’ll have a great time at ASDOH! So according to the 2021-2022 budget posted online, WesternU’s tuition is $78k, and the lab fee is an additional $6k per year. I was given ASDOH’s budget by their financial aid office and I believe it was about $88k for tuition, with an additional $10k for lab fees.