Feedback from current students about VCU and UIowa

[jlf1042]

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I was accepted at both and would like to learn as much as possible about these schools before deciding.

OOS for both, VCU will be more expensive, but I'm more concerned about:
-clinical experience
-helpfulness of professors
-relationship between classmates
-specializing someday? (Does it matter when picking a school??)
-things to do/whats it like in each city
-Pros, cons, anything else, etc


Definitely a good problem to have, but I'm slightly neurotic 😛, so I need to make sure I know everything before I make a decision! Thanks!

 

[goffdent]

UIowa:
- clinic experience is decent. Various peds, operative, prosth, endo, oral surgery, perio, special care...
- Most professors are pretty helpful, some are more difficult because they expect more from you, but are very good at what they do (which means getting you to know your stuff)
- classmates have a very collaborative personality. Often multiple study guides are distributed to the whole class, the class has planned events like picnics and bar crawls, ski trips, etc..
- wouldn't worry about this right now.. Plenty of good chances to specialize
- lots of decent local restaurants, some shows, biking, etc.
- pros: operative clinic on patients during second year, good faculty, good student atmosphere, renovations (can be good and bad)
- gets cold in winter, and hot and humid in summer.

 

[Roto Picante]

I go to VCU and love it for many of the same reasons list above for UIowa. That being said, I can't emphasize enough GO TO THE CHEAPEST SCHOOL. You will regret it later if you don't. I don't care how cold it gets in the winter.

 

[jlf1042]

Thanks, both of you, for your responses. That seems to be the case that both are such great schools, it seems I cant go wrong as far as the education! Money is definitely an important factor, I have to crunch the numbers more. Oh, and I'm from upstate NY, I assure you I am quite used to the cold

 

[DentPre]

From what I hear, I would recommend VCU. I was in a similar situation as you, jlf1042. The tuition and fees are coincidentally, nearly the same.

 

[Screwtape]

From what I hear, I would recommend VCU. I was in a similar situation as you, jlf1042. The tuition and fees are coincidentally, nearly the same.

I am interested why you would recommend VCU over Iowa, it would be helpful if you could expand on that. Personally, I interviewed at both schools this cycle and was very impressed by both of their clinics and state of the art facilities. Both seemed to have a very close knit family feel among both the students and faculty. If you received iowa's oos scholarship then iowa must be considerably cheaper for the OP. If they are indeed the same price then I think the most differentiating factor is the area/ city the schools are in. Iowa is in a Midwest college town while VCU is in a southern city. Both with pros and cons depending on the person. Best of luck to you!

 

[Roto Picante]

Richmond VA is 2 hours from the beach, 2 hours from DC, 1 hour from mountains/hiking, great bike trails, lots of civil war and revolutionary war history, great food and dining, 50 dollar round trip bus ride to NYC or Boston, 6 hour drive from Myrtle beach, the Outer Banks, NYC, NJ, and has great places for singles to live and socialize as well as great communities for those with young families.

My wife has loved it here. We are far from home but have been able to experience a lot of great things.

I feel my education and clinic experience has prepared me well for the "real" world, as well as can be expected from 95% of dental schools.

All that being said GO TO THE CHEAPEST SCHOOL. You can deal with anything for four years as long as you will be a DDS or DMD when you are done. If the difference is less that 20000 total dollars, consider all the other factors. If it is more than that, go to the cheaper school.

 

[jlf1042]

That is exactly why VCU is so appealing! Location!! I seriously can handle the cold, the question is do I want to? The actual schools themselves both seem amazing. I have family in Iowa though so that's a plus there (and cost, still havent crunched the numbers). Screwtape, have you chosen yet or are you having a similar issue??

 

[goffdent]

That is exactly why VCU is so appealing! Location!! I seriously can handle the cold, the question is do I want to? The actual schools themselves both seem amazing. I have family in Iowa though so that's a plus there (and cost, still havent crunched the numbers). Screwtape, have you chosen yet or are you having a similar issue??

The cold really isn't that bad..

 

[jlf1042]

The cold really isn't that bad..

Im sure it isnt, its prob better than where I am now, just being super picky

 

[Screwtape]

Both are legit.

 

[jlf1042]

Yea I mean VCU and UIowa were the most impressive to me as well. Moreso than my state school (UB). I finally did the math and yea Iowa is SO so so much cheaper with scholarship. At this point the cost seems to be the deciding factor so there's a good chance ill be seeing you in the fall 😎