UC vs. CSU

[LLUdental]

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In general, would dental schools prefer you go to a UC or CSU during undergrad?


thanks..

 

[DentalHopeful28]

Uc

 

[PointEstimate]

I'm guessing you mean University of California vs California State University, judging from your location. However, the following advice is sort of universal.

My two cents: dental schools don't care too much where you got your degree so long as you have good grades (oGPA, sGPA) and good DAT scores. I think the prestige of undergrad plays so small of a deciding factor that it doesn't really matter for all practical purposes from the perspective of the applicant. Just study hard, get involved in something dental related (e.g. shadowing, research, volunteering, etc), and enjoy college.

People from UC's get rejected and people from CSU's get accepted. The reverse is also true. Cream always rises to the top.

 

[monkeyteeth]

I'm guessing you mean University of California vs California State University, judging from your location. However, the following advice is sort of universal.

My two cents: dental schools don't care too much where you got your degree so long as you have good grades (oGPA, sGPA) and good DAT scores. I think the prestige of undergrad plays so small of a deciding factor that it doesn't really matter for all practical purposes from the perspective of the applicant. Just study hard, get involved in something dental related (e.g. shadowing, research, volunteering, etc), and enjoy college.

People from UC's get rejected and people from CSU's get accepted. The reverse is also true. Cream always rises to the top.

+1. Although a large portion of CSU will join the workforce after getting their degrees. Each system works differently. UC system will give you hard *ss exam and curve like crazy ( on some majors such as biochem, physics, chem, bio). It is not uncommon for people who get 50/100 on exam to set the curve for the entire class. The CSU system often will give you a much more realistic exam (stuffs that are covered in lectures or in the book) but will not curve the grade. I went to a CSU myself and did not regret that decision because I think the professors at my school were much more friendly and approachable ( since class size is smaller). The UC system has a bigger endowment ( Berkley and LA) and gets more name recognition. With that being said, it's all depend on you because lot of my friends got accepted into graduate programs and professional ones at UCSF, UOP, Stanford, UCI, Notre Dame, Purdue, Chicago... Just study hard and make sure your profile represents you as a well rounded person ( research, volunteer, leadership, shadow/ dental experience...)

 

[LLUdental]

thanks for all the input guys! Might as well just go to a CSU and save money while I'm at it. Like you said, being well-rounded is what really matters..

 

[mid]

Look for what schools in either system are big feeders to dental school and go to one of those.

 

[herpderps]

regarding "feeder" schools, if you take a look at USC's class profile, UCLA, UCI and UCR are noted as top feeder schools; however, no csu's appear

Even a non-CA school, i.e. tufts, will note UCB, UCLA, and UCI as top feeder schools. Again, csu's are not part of the list


http://dentistry.usc.edu/programs/dds/class-profile/
http://dental.tufts.edu/admissions/dmd-program/incoming-class-statistics/

 

[Timpson]

I went to a CSU and currently attend USC. A CSU is what you make of it, just make sure to do well on the DAT and your undergraduate institution won't matter very much, in my opinion. There are plenty of CSU students here at USC.

regarding "feeder" schools, if you take a look at USC's class profile, UCLA, UCI and UCR are noted as top feeder schools; however, no csu's appear

Even a non-CA school, i.e. tufts, will note UCB, UCLA, and UCI as top feeder schools. Again, csu's are not part of the list


http://dentistry.usc.edu/programs/dds/class-profile/
http://dental.tufts.edu/admissions/dmd-program/incoming-class-statistics/

 

[lnngu]

I went to a CSU and currently attend USC. A CSU is what you make of it, just make sure to do well on the DAT and your undergraduate institution won't matter very much, in my opinion. There are plenty of CSU students here at USC.

+ 1

I went to a CSU and was also offered a spot at Tufts. The feeder thing quoted by herpderp is probably more due to the type of student who usually enroll at CSU vs UC than it is due to the school itself.