Marquette (OOS) vs. VCU (OOS)

[fangsaremythang]

#help

also, the reasoning behind your choice would be greatly appreciated

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[predent2151]

#help

also, the reasoning behind your choice would be greatly appreciated

I only interviewed and got accepted to VCU. Although not attending I did think it was a solid program with high specialization rates if that interests you. The only concern I had about the program is that a lot of students actually said a lot of their courses were easy which could be a good thing or bad thing. Also don’t forget they’re getting a brand new school in two years I think. Just putting that out there hope it helps!

 

[fangsaremythang]

I only interviewed and got accepted to VCU. Although not attending I did think it was a solid program with high specialization rates if that interests you. The only concern I had about the program is that a lot of students actually said a lot of their courses were easy which could be a good thing or bad thing. Also don’t forget they’re getting a brand new school in two years I think. Just putting that out there hope it helps!

Thanks for your input! I had actually heard the same thing about classes being "easy." But I think I heard this type of thing mentioned at Marquette (or maybe a different school, can't remember) as well. It was along the lines of "the classes aren't hard but what makes it difficult is the amount of material/work there is at one time." I'm not sure if that's what they mean when they say VCU classes are easy or not.

 

[predent2151]

Thanks for your input! I had actually heard the same thing about classes being "easy." But I think I heard this type of thing mentioned at Marquette (or maybe a different school, can't remember) as well. It was along the lines of "the classes aren't hard but what makes it difficult is the amount of material/work there is at one time." I'm not sure if that's what they mean when they say VCU classes are easy or not.

I heard it more along the lines of the tests are stupid easy causing grade inflation to increase residency placement rates. Then again it could all be untrue. I just remember hearing it.

 

[Kingfish23]

I know somebody who is a D1 at VCU right now and they’ve said that several students have been removed from the program for failing a course, no remediation. They have a very heavy focus on clinical education and the rigorous curriculum of dental school makes it challenging to say the least. I haven’t heard about their classes being easy at all. VCU is a great school, but very challenging. I don’t know anything about Marquette. Attend whichever school is cheaper, imo.

 

[fangsaremythang]

I heard it more along the lines of the tests are stupid easy causing grade inflation to increase residency placement rates. Then again it could all be untrue. I just remember hearing it.

Yeah, I had a feeling it was more along those lines too. Thanks again! Congrats and good luck to you at the school you decided on.

 

[fangsaremythang]

I know somebody who is a D1 at VCU right now and they’ve said that several students have been removed from the program for failing a course, no remediation. They have a very heavy focus on clinical education and the rigorous curriculum of dental school makes it challenging to say the least. I haven’t heard about their classes being easy at all. VCU is a great school, but very challenging. I don’t know anything about Marquette.

Thanks! That's what I love so much about VCU is how clinically driven they are. In the end that's what our patients are going to benefit from. Do you happen to know the cost for OOS?

 

[Kingfish23]

Thanks! That's what I love so much about VCU is how clinically driven they are. In the end that's what our patients are going to benefit from. Do you happen to know the cost for OOS?

The estimate that I have from my friend is 460k OOS tuition. It’s very expensive lol is Marquette cheaper?? I would attend whichever school is cheaper.

 

[fangsaremythang]

The estimate that I have from my friend is 460k OOS tuition. It’s very expensive lol is Marquette cheaper?? I would attend whichever school is cheaper.

Ouch!! My stomach turns at the price... Admittedly, I am really bad at figuring out prices for school but during the financial aid speech at Marquette, they said the average for OOS is around $252k but, she stressed that she hates saying that because the average includes people with $0 debt because of military scholarships and others with careless spending. The debt range given was >$50k-356K. I think most common is around 300k.

 

[fangsaremythang]

The estimate that I have from my friend is 460k OOS tuition. It’s very expensive lol is Marquette cheaper?? I would attend whichever school is cheaper.

Is the 460k including living and food or literally just tuition?

 

[Twinkletoes68]

VCU is a good school by that price tag is dangerous...

 

[Kingfish23]

Is the 460k including living and food or literally just tuition?

Everything. Their tuition is somewhere near $70k a year making it comparable to Tufts and BU. I’m not sure about cost of living near Marquette, but Richmond can be pricey in some areas. Like Twinkletoes68 said, it’s a good school but it’s verryyyyyy pricey for OOS students.

 

[Auntymarkovnikov]

The estimate that I have from my friend is 460k OOS tuition. It’s very expensive lol is Marquette cheaper?? I would attend whichever school is cheaper.

I agree with you. Cheaper school always wins imo

 

[Kingfish23]

Ouch!! My stomach turns at the price... Admittedly, I am really bad at figuring out prices for school but during the financial aid speech at Marquette, they said the average for OOS is around $252k but, she stressed that she hates saying that because the average includes people with $0 debt because of military scholarships and others with careless spending. The debt range given was >$50k-356K. I think most common is around 300k.

300k for dental school is a pretty good number for going OOS honestly. I’m looking at paying 400k+ wherever I go so I would go with the cheaper choice, like #BigHoss would say.

 

[fangsaremythang]

Thanks for your feedback! Seems like I have some stuff to look into. I was pretty set on VCU but now I am confused... I also didn't know that VCU doesn't offer remediation (hopefully I don't need it but still). I wonder more about the people who were removed from the program. I know Marquette has really available tutoring which is really nice and they mentioned that remediation does occur sometimes. The thing is I'm a Florida baby and always have been so winter scares me a bit. I've been able to deal with about 20 degrees (prefer not to but can) but that's about as low as I have ever been in. I digress....

 

[Kingfish23]

 

[fangsaremythang]

Haha I’m also a Florida person and the winter in Virginia can be brutal sometimes, but Tennessee gets pretty cold too. My Uber drivers kept telling me how much it snows there sometimes. I love Tennessee personally. I’ve been there a few times and interviewed at UTenn and I loved it! The food in Tennessee is incredible, especially the chicken and waffles and BBQ. Richmond is pretty artsy and trendy, especially compared to Tennessee.

Oh hey, fellow Floridian! Yeah, I loved the artsy feel and all the museums and stuff Richmond has to offer. I didn't get to explore too much but some friends of mine that have been there said they could see me loving it. Marquette is actually in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (not sure if you thought it was in Tennessee or you were just mentioning it haha). Milwaukee was also pretty "hip" and artsy in some areas like "third ward" and I had some pretty good food there. But.... I came on a "warm day" and it was like 35 degrees. It wasn't bad but the fact they said it was a warm day... They also asked me during my interview if I was ready for the winter because what I was experiencing was not accurate hahah they said normally it feels like needles piercing you.

 

[Kingfish23]

Oh hey, fellow Floridian! Yeah, I loved the artsy feel and all the museums and stuff Richmond has to offer. I didn't get to explore too much but some friends of mine that have been there said they could see me loving it. Marquette is actually in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (not sure if you thought it was in Tennessee or you were just mentioning it haha). Milwaukee was also pretty "hip" and artsy in some areas like "third ward" and I had some pretty good food there. But.... I came on a "warm day" and it was like 35 degrees. It wasn't bad but the fact they said it was a warm day... They also asked me during my interview if I was ready for the winter because what I was experiencing was not accurate hahah they said normally it feels like needles piercing you.

Oh wow I totally thought it was in Tennessee, how embarrassing hahaha. Wisconsin is colddddd. Go Pack! Haha

 

[fangsaremythang]

Oh wow I totally thought it was in Tennessee, how embarrassing hahaha. Wisconsin is colddddd. Go Pack! Haha

Go pack? I don't have nearly enough clothes! I think you mean go shop! hahah I will have to buy the ice scrapers for the car window

 

[Kingfish23]

Go pack? I don't have nearly enough clothes! I think you mean go shop! hahah I will have to buy the ice scrapers for the car window

Pack is short for the Green Bay Packers! The cold is only temporary, but student loan debt is forever lmfao

 

[fangsaremythang]

Pack is short for the Green Bay Packers! The cold is only temporary, but student loan debt is forever lmfao

ok now I embarrassed myself! but amen to that statement. wish it wasn't an issue.

 

[Life of Pablo]

It's times like these that I like to compare which university has the better sweatshirt to make my decision.....

Marquette>VCU imo

 

[Auntymarkovnikov]

It's times like these that I like to compare which university has the better sweatshirt to make my decision.....

Marquette>VCU imo

Wow you’re speaking my language

 

[fangsaremythang]

It's times like these that I like to compare which university has the better sweatshirt to make my decision.....

Marquette>VCU imo

you see, I'm more of a grey person though... just another thing to add to my pros/cons list

 

[jing jing e]

I say marquette. it's extremely hard to get instate tuition in virginia. also richmond isn't the cheapest/safest/cleanest place to live. i did the saep program at vcu and the classes were not easy at all. wisconsin only requires 12 months of residence for instate tuition (and is cheaper than vcu instate). i wanted to go to marquette but their oos acceptance is so stingy. also i think marquette has a lot of florida students for some reason

 

[fangsaremythang]

I say marquette. it's extremely hard to get instate tuition in virginia. also richmond isn't the cheapest/safest/cleanest place to live. i did the saep program at vcu and the classes were not easy at all. wisconsin only requires 12 months of residence for instate tuition (and is cheaper than vcu instate). i wanted to go to marquette but their oos acceptance is so stingy. also, i think marquette has a lot of florida students for some reason

thanks for your feedback! did you learn that many students get dropped from the class at VCU? it seemed like they had a great mentoring/tutoring service so that comment above surprised me. do you know if the Marquette price I mentioned above was accurate?

 

[jing jing e]

oos for vcu is around 380k with everything included. they say they do counseling if it goes over 400k but what's that gonna do? i doubt they pay you thousands for going to counseling sesh. oos for marquette is slightly less i think. and instate for marquette is definitely cheaper. a little over 200k. vcu is slightly less than 300k. judging cost just by tuition is not accurate at all. richmond is a rather expensive city.
at vcu every year there's one or two that drop out cuz of personal issues. just like other schools they try and let students retake classes if they fail (i think it's not rare for ppl to fail).
unless it's a heavily research oriented school i doubt clinical experience will matter by much (unless the school offers no specialty then you get to do a lot of specialty stuff). all the dentists i talk to say they learn the most when they start working.

 

[jing jing e]

oos for vcu is around 380k with everything included. they say they do counseling if it goes over 400k but what's that gonna do? i doubt they pay you thousands for going to counseling sesh. oos for marquette is slightly less i think. and instate for marquette is definitely cheaper. a little over 200k. vcu is slightly less than 300k. judging cost just by tuition is not accurate at all. richmond is a rather expensive city.
at vcu every year there's one or two that drop out cuz of personal issues. just like other schools they try and let students retake classes if they fail (i think it's not rare for ppl to fail).
unless it's a heavily research oriented school i doubt clinical experience will matter by much (unless the school offers no specialty then you get to do a lot of specialty stuff). all the dentists i talk to say they learn the most when they start working.

I just heard about how hard vcu is. Apparently 3 to 5 people drop out every year (out of 100) due to academic difficulties. the reason why you hear there's a grade inflation is because the smartest and hardest working people attend state schools cuz of low cost and their work ethic gets them A's. I can vouch for extremely rigorous class. I was part of their summer dental program last summer and the classes were really really tough. Not many of us, if not none of us, could've survived without TAs' help. They were like angels

 

[fangsaremythang]

I just heard about how hard vcu is. Apparently 3 to 5 people drop out every year (out of 100) due to academic difficulties. the reason why you hear there's a grade inflation is because the smartest and hardest working people attend state schools cuz of low cost and their work ethic gets them A's. I can vouch for extremely rigorous class. I was part of their summer dental program last summer and the classes were really really tough. Not many of us, if not none of us, could've survived without TAs' help. They were like angels

Thanks! I should have probably mentioned that my main concern with money is the tuition and fees cost. Fortunately, I will have my living and household expenses taken care of. This discrepancy between the classes being too easy and too hard is weird... I assume most schools are hard because the amount of knowledge we must know in the shorter amount of time but I can't imagine it being unfair and I think the tutoring and teacher/TA office hours (like you said) would be a good help at VCU.

 

[UCSFx2017]

I graduated from VCU in 2017. None of the classes are as difficult in concept as the upper level science courses you took in undergrad. The difficult lies in the sheer number of classes you are taking at once. Instead of taking >15-18 credits/semester in college, you are now taking >34 credits/semester in dental school. So if someone were to describe the ease of dental school, it would be the aspect that the content is not difficult to grasp.

While the tests in dental school require rote memorization and plug-and-chug like any course in undergrad, the amount of information is greater. This is why you hear dental students say dental school is hard. There are many days where they had to attend lecture and study all day from 8-5 and then practice in the lab from 5-9.

The specialization rate is entirely class dependent. My class had 11 students ultimately match into OMFS (3 of whom matched after 1 year of GPR or preliminary internship). Another 10 matched into Pedo. The class above me had 3 match into OMFS. The class below had 0 match into OMFS.

Almost every class including my own, has had 1-2 people quit entirely or repeat a year of dental school. Reasons ranged from personal to academic performance usually in a science course. If you put in the time, you will get through dental school.

I recommend attending the most affordable school which you would calculate with fixed costs which includes tuition and fees. Compare the two school's fixed costs and determine the difference. From there, you would then calculate variable costs like cost of living. Tentatively choose the cheaper school unless the variable cost (cost of living) is significantly more than the difference in fixed costs.

 

[fangsaremythang]

I graduated from VCU in 2017. None of the classes are as difficult in concept as the upper level science courses you took in undergrad. The difficult lies in the sheer number of classes you are taking at once. Instead of taking >15-18 credits/semester in college, you are now taking >34 credits/semester in dental school. So if someone were to describe the ease of dental school, it would be the aspect that the content is not difficult to grasp.

While the tests in dental school require rote memorization and plug-and-chug like any course in undergrad, the amount of information is greater. This is why you hear dental students say dental school is hard. There are many days where they had to attend lecture and study all day from 8-5 and then practice in the lab from 5-9.

The specialization rate is entirely class dependent. My class had 11 students ultimately match into OMFS (3 of whom matched after 1 year of GPR or preliminary internship). Another 10 matched into Pedo. The class above me had 3 match into OMFS. The class below had 0 match into OMFS.

Almost every class including my own, has had 1-2 people quit entirely or repeat a year of dental school. Reasons ranged from personal to academic performance usually in a science course. If you put in the time, you will get through dental school.

I recommend attending the most affordable school which you would calculate with fixed costs which includes tuition and fees. Compare the two school's fixed costs and determine the difference. From there, you would then calculate variable costs like cost of living. Tentatively choose the cheaper school unless the variable cost (cost of living) is significantly more than the difference in fixed costs.

Thank you so much for your response! I really appreciate it. Everything you mentioned makes complete sense and is really helpful. I am going to make a few calls tomorrow to really figure out the costs/fees. Thanks again and congrats on your success!

 

[ncide]

We've lost quite a few students from my class because of poor academic and clinical performance. I don't know where people get the idea that we are an easy school, because that's just not true. 30% of my class had a final failing grade in operative the first year, before the professor placed a curve, and quite a few people were on academic probation (or were let go) because of didactic courses.

 

[fangsaremythang]

We've lost quite a few students from my class because of poor academic and clinical performance. I don't know where people get the idea that we are an easy school, because that's just not true. 30% of my class had a final failing grade in operative the first year, before the professor placed a curve, and quite a few people were on academic probation (or were let go) because of didactic courses.

When you say your class lost quite a few people was it because they just didn't put in the effort, utilize office hours/tutoring, and time manage very well? I just can't imagine getting to dental school and then getting let go unless it was the absolute last resort I guess

 

[ncide]

When you say your class lost quite a few people was it because they just didn't put in the effort, utilize office hours/tutoring, and time manage very well? I just can't imagine getting to dental school and then getting let go unless it was the absolute last resort I guess

I don't know the specifics. I think the coursework is doable but you have to put considerable amount of time to be successful. There is a lot of material between all the classes you take. As far as didactics go, I don't think it is difficult to get Bs, let alone pass, if you put in the time.

 

[fangsaremythang]

I don't know the specifics. I think the coursework is doable but you have to put considerable amount of time to be successful. There is a lot of material between all the classes you take. As far as didactics go, I don't think it is difficult to get Bs, let alone pass, if you put in the time.

yeah, that's what I imagined. thanks for your input and good luck with the rest of school!

 

[WheatLom]

Please be careful as some may say not to go to a certain school cause they themselves might be waitlisted. Take opinions with pinch of salt

 

[fangsaremythang]

Please be careful as some may say not to go to a certain school cause they themselves might be waitlisted. Take opinions with pinch of salt

absolutely! thanks for the input just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to overlook anything and then do even further research