ASDOH vs WESTERN

[dkhong03]

Hey fellow pre-dents! I've had the huge honor of being accepted to both schools, Asdoh in Mesa, Arizona and Western in Pomona, California. Both are around the same price (~100k per year). I am a resident of southern California and live 30 minutes away from Western but 6 hours away from Asdoh. I am going nuts trying to decide on which school to attend. Can anyone chime in on which school and why please? Thank you!!!

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[HowIMetYourMolar]

It depends on your preferences. ASDOH puts a huge accent on community service and public health work. Do you enjoy going out into the community / wish to surround yourself with dental students who put service as a priority in their careers? ASDOH's 4th year rotations are great and there are 68 sites all over the nation that you can choose from, whereas Western's externship sites are limited to California only. At the interview, ASDOH told us that 35/36 of their students last year got into their first choice for specialty (that 36th student probably still got accepted, but not necessarily their first choice per se) and that many graduated having done at least 15 root canals on average.

Both facilities at Western and ASDOH are fine, the cities their located in are both decent/not super rural but not super urban. I guess it depends. My personal feel was ASDOH >> Western because the people seemed more genuine and relaxed. Also, ASDOH has a block curriculum which is pretty awesome compared to your traditional boring 'ol basic science curriculum. ASDOH's clinical education also seemed a lot better than Western's (the students sounded tons more confident).

They're both great schools though, congratulations! I interviewed at both and am also a California resident. Haven't heard back from ASDOH, but accepted at Western and if I were in your position, I would choose ASDOH in a heartbeat but as I started with, it depends on your preferences 🙂

 

[dkhong03]

Thank you for the advice! I really hope you get into Asdoh!!

 

[BYU4you]

I'd take Western because of location myself. You do have combined classes with DO students and podiatry if you like that. (Or dislike)

 

[dentymenty]

It depends on your preferences. ASDOH puts a huge accent on community service and public health work. Do you enjoy going out into the community / wish to surround yourself with dental students who put service as a priority in their careers? ASDOH's 4th year rotations are great and there are 68 sites all over the nation that you can choose from, whereas Western's externship sites are limited to California only. At the interview, ASDOH told us that 35/36 of their students last year got into their first choice for specialty (that 36th student probably still got accepted, but not necessarily their first choice per se) and that many graduated having done at least 15 root canals on average.

Both facilities at Western and ASDOH are fine, the cities their located in are both decent/not super rural but not super urban. I guess it depends. My personal feel was ASDOH >> Western because the people seemed more genuine and relaxed. Also, ASDOH has a block curriculum which is pretty awesome compared to your traditional boring 'ol basic science curriculum. ASDOH's clinical education also seemed a lot better than Western's (the students sounded tons more confident).

They're both great schools though, congratulations! I interviewed at both and am also a California resident. Haven't heard back from ASDOH, but accepted at Western and if I were in your position, I would choose ASDOH in a heartbeat but as I started with, it depends on your preferences 🙂

Thank you so much for your response. I am in the same boat as op, but am deciding between ASDOH and USC. Thoughts?

 

[dkhong03]

Thank you so much for your response. I am in the same boat as op, but am deciding between ASDOH and USC. Thoughts?

Initially I was deciding between USC, Asdoh and western. I narrowed it down to Asdoh and western because USC is just too pricey. Also, my mentors (one of which graduated from USC years ago) that I have spoken to sort of see USC grads in a bad light for some reason (could be due to less exposure to complicated cases during dental school since USC has a lot of specialty programs).

 

[dkhong03]

I'd take Western because of location myself. You do have combined classes with DO students and podiatry if you like that. (Or dislike)

That's why this decision is so hard to make. I love Asdoh. It was the most amazing school and interview experience I had out of all my interviews but it's in Arizona, far away from my community and my family. Western has a great program but I can't shake off my feelings for Asdoh. However, I'm leaning towards western at the moment because it would be much cheaper for me to attend since I would be able to live at home and commute. Arg....I thought getting into dental school was tough but choosing where to go seems tougher!!!

 

[HowIMetYourMolar]

That's why this decision is so hard to make. I love Asdoh. It was the most amazing school and interview experience I had out of all my interviews but it's in Arizona, far away from my community and my family. Western has a great program but I can't shake off my feelings for Asdoh. However, I'm leaning towards western at the moment because it would be much cheaper for me to attend since I would be able to live at home and commute. Arg....I thought getting into dental school was tough but choosing where to go seems tougher!!!

During my Western interview, they highly discouraged people to commute just because you spend most of your day at the school and then need to study ASAP when you get back. 30 minutes away isn't too bad, but will you have to wait for LA traffic to die down before you can go? Can that valuable time be used elsewhere? Western has a new on-campus dorm literally right across the dental school that's open to all its graduate students. Ultimately, I think people do decide to commute to Western but the dean was like, "We tell them not to and they still don't listen" lol

 

[HowIMetYourMolar]

Thank you so much for your response. I am in the same boat as op, but am deciding between ASDOH and USC. Thoughts?

I shadowed a dentist who graduated from USC and she's practicing in Sacramento right now and living the life. She loved her experience at USC Dental (she did her undergrad at UCSB and was outgoing, friendly, party-type haha) and she did mention that it's gone through a lot of change. She was there when their PBL curriculum was not super established so things were constantly changing and studying for boards was a little tricky in her opinion. But she absolutely stressed that if you like studying, working and spending time with groupmates, then USC is a great fit just because you will be required to do that throughout your 4 years. Of course, USC is super duper expensive and cost of living will be high (whereas in Mesa, cost of living is low). USC has a great name and alumni network, though ASDOH claims to also have a great alumni network (esp. but not limited to community dental centers). I think if you plan on practicing in California, USC will be more recognized than ASDOH but ultimately, you have to compare the feel of the schools based on your interview. You'll be at this place for 4 years and your dental experience is a once-in-a-lifetime experience! (sorry, not to put more pressure than you're already under! but it's true 🙂 ) Best of luck! Talking to current students is always helpful so you can get the real low-down, not just what schools want to show off on interview day.

 

[pikachurro]

Thank you so much for your response. I am in the same boat as op, but am deciding between ASDOH and USC. Thoughts?

ur cute