Calling all UCLA dental students

[torobcheh21]

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What up everyone,

Some know from my other thread that I'm trying to decide between UCLA and UOP right now...I thank God every day for the option but I need to make a decision pretty soon.

I've heard from some alumni students from UOP but I haven't heard from many UCLA grads...for those that are at UCLA now, can you please chime in on how you like it? From what I've heard about UOP students...they're great clinicians, flat out. UOP doesn't have specialty programs so the DDS students get exposure to the complex cases. What do people say about UCLA?

I'm not sure if I want to specialize but if I do I want to make sure I'm picking a school that won't limit me. I know people say I could specialize coming from either but which one will make the process easier and why? If it is the P/NP system, how would I be able to distinguish myself when applying to residency programs? Letters of rec?

For those who attend UCLA or know people who do...do they produce good clinicians or do most students need to do a GPR? I hear this is because the complex cases go to the specialty students so the DDS students don't get that much exposure.

I would greatly appreciate some advice/ people's experiences.

Thank you

 

[dmdluffy]

Both schools are great. What separates UoP is obviously the three years instead of four, newer facilities (soon to be), and the likelihood you won't be the gum on the bottom of some professors shoe for the duration of your education. Specializing is more about how you perform versus which school you go to. Both will produce great clinicians though UoP seems to have the better reputation for pumping out GPs.

 

[John Durian]

I remember reading more in-depth threads comparing the schools, but I'm too lazy to search for them (but I recommend that you do if you want more info). For some reason, it always seems like SDN is flooded by UOP d-students and hopefuls in comparison to other schools. Anyways, the pros and cons

UCLA Pros
-P/F: Less stressful if you just wanna pass. This is not to say passing is easy.
-Decent specialization rates: Class of 2011 had 10 OS, 12 ortho, 14 pedo, 4 perio, 1 prosth. Will change due to boards being P/F? Who knows.
-Reputation: Name recognition across the country if you're into that
-Research: Google "David Wong UCLA"
-Location: West LA is cool. Weather is unbelievable year round (like 80s), 5 miles from a real beach (not like the muddy SF ones)
-Changing mentality?: I'm not sure if this is legit, but it seems like the majority of professors of old (ie, the ones that destroy you mentally) have been ousted. And the other day, I noticed on the intercom that they no longer just say our 3-digit student number but they actually said "Student-DOCTOR your-name 123, your patient has arrived," which to us at UCLA is like

UCLA Cons
-Pre-clinic and clinic: Old (endo, perio clinic are brand spankin' new though). Despite rumors, we do have digital radiographs, microscopes in endo clinic, etc. Preclinic professors are unbelievably chill imo
-Patients: Depends on your luck
-Expensive for a state school: $287k for 4 years (including cost of living)
-Honors: it's no longer a true P/F school

UOP Pros
-Strong clinical education: It rocks from what I hear
-Location: I'm biased. SF > LA

UOP Neutral
-3 years: You will be done one year early. However, due to rising tuition cost (plus living in SF and interest accumulation), you'll break even if lucky but most likely be in the red (again, search for that one old UCLA vs UOP where some strong accounting/number folks broke it down). Economy is still pretty bad out there.

UOP Cons
-Actual grades: You'll be competing against some bright folks. So if you're not top 10-20, IMO, it'll be harder to specialize. Not impossible, but harder.
-Cost: I heard it costs an arm-n-leg ($350k w cost of living)