Best/ worst dental school vibe

Started by dentaldays1
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dentaldays1

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Out of all of the dental schools in the US, which are known for the best and worst student and/or faculty atmosphere? Like what are the rumors?
 
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dentaldays1 said:
Its just interesting that every student I have talked to always says "we arent like other schools" and "we arent competitive here/ we are a family." Im curious if they are telling the truth, or trying to sell the school.
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Yeah that's a load of bologne my dude. as someone else said it's all about the individual classes.
 
dentaldays1 said:
Its just interesting that every student I have talked to always says "we arent like other schools" and "we arent competitive here/ we are a family." Im curious if they are telling the truth, or trying to sell the school.
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LOL, biggest lies to try and sell their school. To answer the OPs question, I remember a long time ago interviewing at UCSF and my student interviewer told me not to go there. To try and keep the positivity, I didn't press the issue any further, but I think that probably gave me the worst vibe of any school along with a hostile faculty interviewer.
 
TanMan said:
LOL, biggest lies to try and sell their school. To answer the OPs question, I remember a long time ago interviewing at UCSF and my student interviewer told me not to go there. To try and keep the positivity, I didn't press the issue any further, but I think that probably gave me the worst vibe of any school along with a hostile faculty interviewer.
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How long ago was this......
 
Looking at San Francisco now, that's probably the best advice any student could've given you
 
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I'd usually suggest just keeping an eye out during your interview day (which is hard with virtual interviews), but if you look closely you can see subtleties that speak volumes about the school (student behavior/mood, how the interview day is structured/are they respectful of your time, how faculty treat you as an interviewer)

also talk to students, a lot of them are often more than willing to give you straight advice about their thoughts on the school
 
There were a lot of good UConn vibes when I visited, but maybe that was just for show during the interview.
 
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i think most of the CA schools (asides from USC, and Loma Linda lol) are competitive schools with competitive students. UCSF, UOP, UCLA are some of the most competitive programs historically and currently I believe. Western just has weird vibes. You'd think the texas dental students would be happier since they're paying less tuition than the 90% of us who don't live in texas. doesn't really sound like that's true though. Harvard has good vibes, although some feel a bit weird after a year of medical school and also they spend a lot of time in the basement. I think P/F schools tend to have better vibes. but really dental schools about more than just vibes my guy
 
coolsands155 said:
Probably because some of them (USC) has one of the highest if not the highest COA (cost of attendance) and also the lowest matriculant GPA out of all dental schools. Everyone is probably dreading the thought of paying back $700k.....
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The COAs are the least of the CA school attendees’ worries (probably)
 
UT Houston grad here. Enjoyed the school but your experience will depend on certain factors

1. Your actual class (culture varies from year to year. I loved my class (bias there) but didn't care for the class above or below me too much.
2. Group practice assignment. Eventually our class of 100 got separated into 5 groups of 20ish students or so. Starting in 3rd year and until graduation, your group practice pretty much dictated your experience. If you're in a good group, you had a great time. If you're in a bad group, it made for a long 2 years.
3. Patient assignment. Some students got lucky and the patients they got assigned: showed up, paid for treatment and easy to work with. Some students constantly got assigned patients that didn't need work, didn't want to pay, or too advanced and got referred to the AEGD/GPR program.
 
pookey123 said:
i think most of the CA schools (asides from USC, and Loma Linda lol) are competitive schools with competitive students. UCSF, UOP, UCLA are some of the most competitive programs historically and currently I believe. Western just has weird vibes. You'd think the texas dental students would be happier since they're paying less tuition than the 90% of us who don't live in texas. doesn't really sound like that's true though. Harvard has good vibes, although some feel a bit weird after a year of medical school and also they spend a lot of time in the basement. I think P/F schools tend to have better vibes. but really dental schools about more than just vibes my guy
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The students at pass/fail schools work with each other. While it would be cliche to say that they build each other up (even though they kinda do, actually), they encourage one another's ability to contribute more to the field as a whole and grow more. This makes their schools proud and more likely to receive enough consideration and recognition for research grants etc. The ones that are graded are places where you'll see more students react in their worst possible nature, given the set of circumstances they are given when in a panic and many of them blow smoke in each other's faces.
 
coolsands155 said:
Probably because some of them (USC) has one of the highest if not the highest COA (cost of attendance) and also the lowest matriculant GPA out of all dental schools. Everyone is probably dreading the thought of paying back $700k.....
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USC is expensive, but it doesnt have the lowest matriculation GPA out of all dental schools. Their class of 2024's avg gpa is 3.67 with their avg science gpa 3.59 (taken directly off their website)
 
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pookey123 said:
i think most of the CA schools (asides from USC, and Loma Linda lol) are competitive schools with competitive students. UCSF, UOP, UCLA are some of the most competitive programs historically and currently I believe. Western just has weird vibes. You'd think the texas dental students would be happier since they're paying less tuition than the 90% of us who don't live in texas. doesn't really sound like that's true though. Harvard has good vibes, although some feel a bit weird after a year of medical school and also they spend a lot of time in the basement. I think P/F schools tend to have better vibes. but really dental schools about more than just vibes my guy
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what do you mean by western has weird vibes? Ive seen people say this before but im not sure why.
 
GushinGushin said:
The students at pass/fail schools work with each other. While it would be cliche to say that they build each other up (even though they kinda do, actually), they encourage one another's ability to contribute more to the field as a whole and grow more. This makes their schools proud and more likely to receive enough consideration and recognition for research grants etc. The ones that are graded are places where you'll see more students react in their worst possible nature, given the set of circumstances they are given when in a panic and many of them blow smoke in each other's faces.
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1000% agree with what you said, my research supervisor went to a P/F and instructs at a graded school dental school. He said the exact same thing you did, in the graded schools students are ready to stab one another in the back if it means getting ahead, they don't care whose head they have to step on whereas in P/F schools students have a more "we're all in this together" mentality and are far more collaborative
 
shjdk1921 said:
what do you mean by western has weird vibes? Ive seen people say this before but im not sure why.
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campus is a converted shopping mall so feels odd. the students I met there were weird. they complained about unusual things at their school but said that they liked it there so... sorry don't want to drag them but it's hard to describe. didn't feel at all like other schools. sort of felt like a small for profit community college campus
 
pookey123 said:
campus is a converted shopping mall so feels odd. the students I met there were weird. they complained about unusual things at their school but said that they liked it there so... sorry don't want to drag them but it's hard to describe. didn't feel at all like other schools. sort of felt like a small for profit community college campus
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thanks! 🙂
 
pookey123 said:
campus is a converted shopping mall so feels odd. the students I met there were weird. they complained about unusual things at their school but said that they liked it there so... sorry don't want to drag them but it's hard to describe. didn't feel at all like other schools. sort of felt like a small for profit community college campus
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the dental school building itself is fairly new and quite nice though
 
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