Penn vs UoP

[Witness21]

Sorry to be one of those guys, but I'm finally down to a decision and I'm curious as to everyone's opinion. I am out of state for both by the way, and didn't receive any scholarships. I'm not sure yet if I want to specialize.

I also realize both are great schools and I probably can't go wrong either way, but if anyone else had to make the same decision let me know.

My only trepidation with each school is that Penn's clinical education isn't as strong as UoP, but Penn's curriculum will be less intense than UoP's because it's not 3 years.

Thanks for the help!

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[dentalaee]

Touch decision to make. UOP is known to produce great clinician, however this is done in three years... I can only imagine how crazy the schedule is for UOP students. But in the end, you can get your DDS in 3 years compare to 4 - which is a big plus! Penn is known for sending good amount of its graduates to specialty programs and still produces great clinicians. The only bad thing I heard about UPenn was that it is VERY competitive environment.

 

[Charmm]

tough decsion? are you kidding me?
Penn is a great school, UOP doesnt even have med school, at UOP interviews students are encouraged not to talk about the R word ( research !)
I'm californian too, but it seems people are totally overestimating the dental schools here. Penn is a leader in health sciences in the WORLD. They get a lot of funding from NIH, they prepare you well for general denstistry or residency if you want.

 

[adizzle87]

Pacific's program emphasizes the humanistic model and everytime I went there it was reflected in the faculty and students. Everyone seemed pretty happy and faculty even joked around with students in lecture. That along with the fact that you can get out in three years is a huge plus.

It's no surprise to me that Penn is a very competitive environment. At most Ivy's theres a bit of pride that goes with attending prestigous schools - generally speaking people are used to being #1 and some tend to prioritize that. I hear their facilities are a little older but that could have changed since I last heard.

 

[Witness21]

Yeah I agree about the students. At Pacific, everyone was very friendly and happy, seemed like a big family. Not as much at Penn, but they were friendly too. But that stood out about UoP and I like that.

I'm wondering if it will be a large disadvantage coming from UoP if I want to specialize at a school on the east coast.

 

[agent2362]

Yeah I agree about the students. At Pacific, everyone was very friendly and happy, seemed like a big family. Not as much at Penn, but they were friendly too. But that stood out about UoP and I like that.

I'm wondering if it will be a large disadvantage coming from UoP if I want to specialize at a school on the east coast.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=704934

yeah witness, I hear ya on how tough a decision it is...but we gotta make it really soon since the May 5 deadline is coming up.

You can specialize from UoP no problem too if you want (this last year UoP and Penn BOTH sent 6 guys into OMFS and two guys at UoP got into Parkland which is one of the best and most competitive). UoP may or may not be easier to specialize from. Think about it: most people are at UoP because they want to get through school as fast as possible and just work as a GP. Most dont want to specialize at UoP, but i would argue that too many want to specialize from Penn. So it seems that UoP would be the obvious choice, except their crazy fast curriculum scares the heck outta me. Talk to armorshell. He's from UoP and he's one BAMF for sure.

message me if you want and maybe we can talk more.

 

[wanttobedmd]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=704934

yeah witness, I hear ya on how tough a decision it is...but we gotta make it really soon since the May 5 deadline is coming up.

You can specialize from UoP no problem too if you want (this last year UoP and Penn BOTH sent 6 guys into OMFS and two guys at UoP got into Parkland which is one of the best and most competitive). UoP may or may not be easier to specialize from. Think about it: most people are at UoP because they want to get through school as fast as possible and just work as a GP. Most dont want to specialize at UoP, but i would argue that too many want to specialize from Penn. So it seems that UoP would be the obvious choice, except their crazy fast curriculum scares the heck outta me. Talk to armorshell. He's from UoP and he's one BAMF for sure.

message me if you want and maybe we can talk more.

I think that the deadline is May 1st.

 

[armorshell]

tough decsion? are you kidding me?
Penn is a great school, UOP doesnt even have med school, at UOP interviews students are encouraged not to talk about the R word ( research !)
I'm californian too, but it seems people are totally overestimating the dental schools here. Penn is a leader in health sciences in the WORLD. They get a lot of funding from NIH, they prepare you well for general denstistry or residency if you want.

I don't know what you're talking about. UoP doesn't have a med school? Who cares? Is there any way in which that could negatively affect your dental education? As far as research and NIH funding, see my first point. (Despite the fact that UoP actually has the largest craniofacial/skull library in the US, and robust research programs in CL/CP genetics and dental stem cells).

I myself had more research than I could possibly handle pitched to me by faculty during my tenure at UoP, and I can confidently say that getting into a competitive residency from UoP shouldn't be a problem.

 

[armorshell]

I'm wondering if it will be a large disadvantage coming from UoP if I want to specialize at a school on the east coast.

There's a bunch of people in my class (and previous graduates) doing residencies on the east coast. I count 10 just from my class (and obviously most people are staying locally, because they plan on staying in CA forever).

 

[Witness21]

Oh, nice work agent. I didn't see your previous thread on this topic.