Maryland (IS) vs. Penn

[Maximus32]

Any input would be helpful. Given that price is not a factor, would both schools give comparable clinical experiences for students wanting to practice general dentistry? I realize most recent grads will have slow hand skills anyway, so are the differences among schools' D3/D4 clinical years negligible? I'm essentially deciding between lifestyle vs. relevance of curriculum for future GPs.

UMD: Pros - Potentially more clinically focused, closer to home, D4 clerkships
Cons - Already lived in Baltimore for 4 years, not as dog friendly, lukewarm impression of faculty during interview day

UPenn: Pros - Better vibes and prettier area, more campus life as all the schools are clustered together, new city, Honors in clinical dentistry, new dean (not sure what this will mean for the curriculum)
Cons - More studying during D1/D2 because of medicine-focused curriculum (e.g. I don't feel the need to learn renal disease diagnoses but I will have to learn this), potentially less clinically focused

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[yaya97]

Like what's being said in other threads about Penn, we have a new dean now who is a lot more clinically focused, so there are changes in the clinics occurring to make all of us stronger there. I've spoken to some D4's about it, and they are liking the changes so far. By the time my class gets to clinic, the experience is going to be totally different and better. There is a lot of studying during the first two years, but everyone helps each other out so it's fine. There are also a lot of students that do general dentistry from our school (and there is a general dentistry club), so if that's your goal, you won't be alone. I don't really know much about Maryland, so I can't comment on them.