San Antonio or Temple!?!?

[sony102]

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hi All,

I have acceptance offers from San Antonio (my state school) and Temple. My parents want me to go to San Antonio (for obvious reasons: closer, cheaper...) but I really don't like their laptop curriculum, I am more used to studying out of real books and I think I will be more productive that way. Also at san antonio there isn't as much emphasis on clinical dentistry as Temple. money is not an issue for me, I am getting loans anyway. I understand that temple is no where near San Antonio in technology but we were told renovations are coming in 2011 at Temple.

Please let me know what you think, it's very tough to decide, this is my last attempt to get feedback from people, after this I have to decide very soon

best wishes to all

 

[Boat on the Chesapeake]

San Antonio in-state is far far cheaper than Temple out of state. Unless you are very financially secure, the difference in cost (plus interest) is pretty significant in the long run.

 

[whlee84]

san antonio! hands down

 

[dent2009]

The tuition difference is ~100K+ (and interest). That reason alone would point me towards San Antonio. I'm sure you'll become a competent dentist regardless of where you go. Save that money.

Then again, I hear you about laptop curriculum - it's one of the biggest reasons why I turned down UMDNJ. I couldn't handle staring at my laptop screen all day/night.

 

[Danny289]

I am waiting for SA lol, it is better for me if you choose temple. one more seat, more chance for me 😀. But for sure San Antonio is better, no doubt. 100k+ is lots of money. if it was Harvard or Columbia, it was different story(at least for me). if you are more comfortable with traditional study method you can buy all text books and study your hard copy, it will be couple thousand dollors not 100K+! "for drinking one glass milk every morning, you don't need by a Cow". maybe we will be classmate.

 

[jaypea65]

San Antonio hands down for me. The cost would be the deciding factor. A dentist, is a dentist, is a dentist. Most likely you will not feel ready to practice no matter what school you attend. At least that is what my dentist friend tells me. It will take you years to pick up your speed,feel comfortable, and to perform top-notch work.

 

[dent2009]

Your dentist probably hasn't heard about Temple's rigorous clinical requirements and how it prepares you to practice right out of school. Though it will take anybody some time to reach that top-notch level, you'll be way ahead of many other newly graduated dentists. Dentists I've shadowed were always impressed with Temple GPs readiness and quickness while maintaining quality work (remember, time=money) as opposed to UPenn GPs. If you wanna become a GP, Temple's the way to go but there's always options to specialize as with other schools.

San Antonio hands down for me. The cost would be the deciding factor. A dentist, is a dentist, is a dentist. Most likely you will not feel ready to practice no matter what school you attend. At least that is what my dentist friend tells me. It will take you years to pick up your speed,feel comfortable, and to perform top-notch work.

 

[cobalt31]

i think you should go to wherever you will be happiest - if you are looking to get out of TX and try something new for a while, and don't mind the extra $$, temple may be a good choice for you. however, i find it hard to believe that its worth all the extra money. i was trying to decide between SA and a school 100k+ more expensive that i liked marginally more, but in the end its just not worth it in my opinion. i still liked SA a lot.

you can ALWAYS get textbooks at SA - it'll cost you a little more, but not 100k more! buy them used online. keep in mind all the "textbooks" on your laptop have hardcopy versions in print. plus, some of the big reasons i liked SA is their clinical setup - i don't know why you think they are weak in that regard. the fact that you lease instruments (if one breaks, just go get another one), they schedule patients for you, and you get your own operatories were big selling points for me.

also, i can't speak for SA, but grew up by philly and it's not that great of a city 😛

 

[DROCKINDAHOUSE]

I know several dentists, one orthodontist, and two oral surgeons who all told me flat out that I should attend SA. The reason that each of them gave was the competency of their graduates. They each told me that new SA graduates often took less time to adapt to life in the real world because they often had better clinical skills (pt. interaction, endo, perio, crown prep, etc) than graduates from other TX schools.

Of course, such assessments are purely subjective but its hard to argue with the opinions of at least 6 different dentists, all of whom have been in practice over ten years.

 

[cobalt31]

were they all SA graduates?

 

[DROCKINDAHOUSE]

The general dentist I work for and the orthodontist are.

Maybe it isn't too biased of an opinion then. You have to consider the fact though that they were responding to my question of "which Texas school to attend?"

 

[EcoRI]

Having attended Temple I can say it is an excellent clinical school. There is a huge number of patients available so you will have no problems getting patients…..getting them to show up is another story. With that said I would go to the cheaper school. Dental school is becoming way too expensive! I'm glad I like dentistry. I don't think I could find another job that paid enough for my student loans and other bills.

 

[Fido00]

As a current student at SA, I can tell you that I am not the biggest fan of having the textbooks on laptop, but most of what we study is handed to us in printed notes. I usually only use the textbooks as supplements to my studying. Additionally, having the computerized versions of books makes them searchable, and much lighter to carry.

 

[ttom]

hi All,

I have acceptance offers from San Antonio (my state school) and Temple. My parents want me to go to San Antonio (for obvious reasons: closer, cheaper...) but I really don't like their laptop curriculum, I am more used to studying out of real books and I think I will be more productive that way. Also at san antonio there isn't as much emphasis on clinical dentistry as Temple. money is not an issue for me, I am getting loans anyway. I understand that temple is no where near San Antonio in technology but we were told renovations are coming in 2011 at Temple.

Please let me know what you think, it's very tough to decide, this is my last attempt to get feedback from people, after this I have to decide very soon

best wishes to all

I wouldn't think twice about SA! I know, I might be biased because I'm a current SA student, but I chose SA over other TX schools (and out of state schools). Like you, I like to study from hard copy and write down my own notes. Guess what, SA courses all have hard copy manuals that they give you at the beginning of class. The manual alone is sufficient for studying, the books are only supplementary. You'll be surprised how much more efficient you'll be studying when using the laptop! You have all the books at your fingertips, with press of a button you can search through all of them. Try doing that with the hard copy books.
Now, with clinics...does Temple give each student an operatory? Have you seen other schools clinics? At SA, each student get his/her own operatory ROOM, not a little station like other schools.

 

[drpsuedonym]

hi All,

I have acceptance offers from San Antonio (my state school) and Temple. My parents want me to go to San Antonio (for obvious reasons: closer, cheaper...) but I really don't like their laptop curriculum, I am more used to studying out of real books and I think I will be more productive that way. Also at san antonio there isn't as much emphasis on clinical dentistry as Temple. money is not an issue for me, I am getting loans anyway. I understand that temple is no where near San Antonio in technology but we were told renovations are coming in 2011 at Temple.

Please let me know what you think, it's very tough to decide, this is my last attempt to get feedback from people, after this I have to decide very soon

best wishes to all

Wrong wrong wrong. Money is not an issue right now since you are getting loan money. When you're repaying those loans, it will most definitely be an issue. Who is that one person on sdn whose signature reads "Memo to predents: loan money is not the same as lottery money" or something like that. I would definitely say go to SA, and like someone else said, you can always just buy a hardcopy of the textbooks if it bothers you. The books wont cost you $100K. And if you want something different and don't want to live in TX forever, move after school instead of during.