eliotphs said:
I got accepted into UCSF. So, I already looked for apartment. And all preparations were pretty much done to go to San Francisco. But, yesterday I heard that I was selected as Dean's Scholarship students from Penn. It's almost $100,000 worth. Actually, I got the better impression at Penn than at UCSF during my interview. This situation makes me so confused....how can I do? I would appreciate any tips and advice~!
Hey Eliotphs,
I was in a similar situation as you. I got my acceptance from UCSF late January but still did my interview at PENN in early February b/c of all the great things I have heard of their program. But unlike you I had a better impression at UCSF than at PENN.
After my PENN interview, I also got a Dean's Scholarship offer along with my acceptance but ultimately I turned it down. Here were some of my reasons:
- I want to practice in CA as a GP or as a specialist so I didn't want to worry about taking the boards again (one of the docs I used to shadow for had to do this after completing his dds education at Columbia. it was a big hassle for him (and his wife) because he had to take a year off to prepare for the boards. some people actually took off 2-3 years so i've heard).
- I thought Philly was pretty boring. No offense but I enjoyed SF a lot better. I actually stayed with a friend for 4 days when I was doing my PENN interview and I found the city very, um, "limited". I liked Columbia just b/c you get to live in NYC but didn't get any scholarship from them so it was rather an easy decision for me to choose SF.
- As for the reason why I had a not-so-good impression of PENN: the student guide who gave us a tour of the school (she was actually very very nice) was very frank w/ us with her experiences at PENN and she said she really didn't like the whole grading system (letter grade) which creates a very competitive atmosphere during your 4 years there. She said the neighborhood is not so safe and the cost of attending PENN (which I believe is one of the highest if not the highest in the nation) was burdening her a lot mentally which I guess doesn't apply here necessarily. The student panel luncheon towards the end of the interview expressed similar dissatisfaction with PENN so I realized that it wasnt just one person's opinion. They had other complaints too but I'm sure all schools have their shortcomings.
- UCSF has a smaller class (UCSF 80 vs Penn's ~100). I thought I'd enjoy the smaller class environment better. Can you imagine 100 Personality Type A people going at it to be on the top end of the grading curve....all 4 years? Yeah, that's what some of the PENN students told me.
But to be fair: I really enjoyed PENN overall and its campus. And the deans that I talked to made a very good case for PENN. But in the end it was a tough decision and I decided to go to UCSF b/c of all the aforementioned reasons and because I hope to settle down in Nor Cal. I think building that crucial network while at school will come very handy as a dentist...as a specialist, especially.
Oh yeah with UCSF P/NP grading system, you get to pad a lot of extracurricular activities onto your resume, which will help you stand out among other applicants when applying to specialty programs. But then again getting straight A's at PENN would look pretty damn good as well.
Good luck with your decision!
