Case Western (OOS) vs. Western U (OOS)

Started by RaagDent
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RaagDent

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I apologize for the long post. I just wanted to write out all my thoughts to provide context about my current feelings. Feel free to lmk if I need to clarify or specifiy things

School 1: Case Western (OOS)
Cost: 4 years (just tuition) = around 397K

  • Newer looking facilities in comparison to Western (from what I recall)
  • Campus looks a lot more inviting
  • Has specialty programs
  • I am not entirely used to the cold
School 2: Western (OOS)
Cost: 4 years (just tuition) = around 396K
  • From Arizona and have some family in CA
  • Weather is closer to home
  • Pomona is not the safest place as I heard from students during my tour so I probably would have to live in surrounding area which would contribute to commute
  • Does not have specialty programs
  • I believe Cali will be more expensive to live in in comparison to Cleveland but I could be wrong
Summary:
When interviewing at both schools, I found them to be at the same level of interest list. So far these are the only schools I have gotten acceptance at and I really want to decide one before the Jan deadline. I am very torn as on many issues, I feel like I have pros for both schools. So I would like some opinions based on what others heard or experienced at either school. I also don't know anything about name recognition and if one school has more/better recognition than the other.

Cost-wise, both schools seem to project to be the same tuition wise. I think California would be more costly to live in than Cleveland, however looking at the projected costs online, it shows to be only a relatively small difference. This is also offset by the fact that I would need to spend more moving from Arizona to Cleveland vs Arizona to Pomona. So cost-wise both seem to be par with each other

In terms of location. I have previously lived in Cali, so moving to Cleveland and experiencing a new environment interests me a lot. I loved the city when I toured and found the campus and clinic to be beautiful. Cleveland is cold however, which is not something I am used to at all being from a very sunny state. The weather will be a huge change for me. Pomona, on the other hand, is closer to home where I would be able to see my parents more easily as well as I have family in Cali, who I could rely on in case something were to happen. The only thing is Pomona is not as safe of a city, so I would have to live a bit farther away from the campus. However, the California weather is definitely a plus.

I felt both schools had pretty good curriculums (hence why I applied there) but I do want to hear if there is a marked difference that I should consider. Case Western has specialty programs at the school while Western U does not. I am not sure which is more beneficial to me. I am going into dental school with the ambitions of specializing so I would like to go to a school which would give me a better chance, even if I don't end up doing it. Both schools are technologically advanced and seem to have a good patient pool for clinical experience. I felt Case Western looked a little more modern than Western but not by much and I don't really know if it matters.
 
I apologize for the long post. I just wanted to write out all my thoughts to provide context about my current feelings. Feel free to lmk if I need to clarify or specifiy things

School 1: Case Western (OOS)
Cost: 4 years (just tuition) = around 397K

  • Newer looking facilities in comparison to Western (from what I recall)
  • Campus looks a lot more inviting
  • Has specialty programs
  • I am not entirely used to the cold
School 2: Western (OOS)
Cost: 4 years (just tuition) = around 396K
  • From Arizona and have some family in CA
  • Weather is closer to home
  • Pomona is not the safest place as I heard from students during my tour so I probably would have to live in surrounding area which would contribute to commute
  • Does not have specialty programs
  • I believe Cali will be more expensive to live in in comparison to Cleveland but I could be wrong
Summary:
When interviewing at both schools, I found them to be at the same level of interest list. So far these are the only schools I have gotten acceptance at and I really want to decide one before the Jan deadline. I am very torn as on many issues, I feel like I have pros for both schools. So I would like some opinions based on what others heard or experienced at either school. I also don't know anything about name recognition and if one school has more/better recognition than the other.

Cost-wise, both schools seem to project to be the same tuition wise. I think California would be more costly to live in than Cleveland, however looking at the projected costs online, it shows to be only a relatively small difference. This is also offset by the fact that I would need to spend more moving from Arizona to Cleveland vs Arizona to Pomona. So cost-wise both seem to be par with each other

In terms of location. I have previously lived in Cali, so moving to Cleveland and experiencing a new environment interests me a lot. I loved the city when I toured and found the campus and clinic to be beautiful. Cleveland is cold however, which is not something I am used to at all being from a very sunny state. The weather will be a huge change for me. Pomona, on the other hand, is closer to home where I would be able to see my parents more easily as well as I have family in Cali, who I could rely on in case something were to happen. The only thing is Pomona is not as safe of a city, so I would have to live a bit farther away from the campus. However, the California weather is definitely a plus.

I felt both schools had pretty good curriculums (hence why I applied there) but I do want to hear if there is a marked difference that I should consider. Case Western has specialty programs at the school while Western U does not. I am not sure which is more beneficial to me. I am going into dental school with the ambitions of specializing so I would like to go to a school which would give me a better chance, even if I don't end up doing it. Both schools are technologically advanced and seem to have a good patient pool for clinical experience. I felt Case Western looked a little more modern than Western but not by much and I don't really know if it matters.
don't look at tuition only
compare total cost of attendance...
 
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don't look at tuition only
compare total cost of attendance...
Looking at both schools website estimations. This is what I found:
Case Western : 529,738
Western: 559,727

I do see the 30K difference which is definetly a big consideration. I just wanted to know if there was any opinions one way or another other than cost. My parents have told me they would help me if I thought a more costly school would be more beneficial. I am pretty torn on the factors other than cost. Primarily does having specialty programs at the school make it more beneficial for specializing or is that not a huge difference.

Thank you in advance for all your responses
 
Looking at both schools website estimations. This is what I found:
Case Western : 529,738
Western: 559,727

I do see the 30K difference which is definetly a big consideration. I just wanted to know if there was any opinions one way or another other than cost. My parents have told me they would help me if I thought a more costly school would be more beneficial. I am pretty torn on the factors other than cost. Primarily does having specialty programs at the school make it more beneficial for specializing or is that not a huge difference.

Thank you in advance for all your responses
will you have anyone helping you finance school? No dental school is worth >500k
 
Looking at both schools website estimations. This is what I found:
Case Western : 529,738
Western: 559,727

I do see the 30K difference which is definetly a big consideration. I just wanted to know if there was any opinions one way or another other than cost. My parents have told me they would help me if I thought a more costly school would be more beneficial. I am pretty torn on the factors other than cost. Primarily does having specialty programs at the school make it more beneficial for specializing or is that not a huge difference.

Thank you in advance for all your responses
$30k difference is less than others are facing
proximity to friends/family and weather would make that up easily...