Ucla...ucsf....

[ohgee]

Hello...

I was very excited today as I received a call from UCSF, that I've been taken off the waiting list and am accepted to their program!
Now...I have to make a decision in 15 days to choose between UCLA and UCSF, and I am wondering if you guys can help me out...

I know generally the goods and bads about both schools, but I just want to clarify something....


1. Is UCLA a better school if I intend to specialize into Ortho, pedo, or oral surgery programs? I heard UCLA is a better specialty school because of its PASS/NOPASS system and students there has high Board Schools. I favor Pass/No pass, I guess getting a Pass in a class is better than getting a C.

2. What is the patient pool for UCSF and UCLA? I ask many people, some says UCSF is better, some says UCLA is better.

3. I intend to come back to SoCal after dental school, would it be better for me to stay in UCLA, for better networking purposes?


The reason I ask these questions is that my girlfriend is going to school in Oakland, and she wants me to go with her to Bay area. Generally, I had a great impression with UCSF, but I want to keep my option open. I will go to UCLA if going there will enhance my chances to specialty, but also provide excellent clinical training....

Thanks! Your answers will help me a lot!

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[DesiDentist]

UCSF > UCLA

go for the feel. The feel is the zeal. Your girlfriend there, man that is a steal. So is Tinkerbell. Now you can tell, why I ringed UCSF's Bell.

C = DDS

P= DDS


P is lower than C in the alphabet, don't forget.

Listen to your heart, try that for the start.

DesiDentist

 

[LateComer]

Congrats Ohgee!

Well, long distance relationship is NOT an easy thing, especially for four years! But UCLA is likely to give you better clinical training and more opportunity to pursue your specialty.

 

[dentisttobe]

ohgee,

Ditto to LateComer's statement!!!

DesiDentist,

what the hell was that about the P is below the C thing??? If you don't have something substantiated to say, then don't say it at all. 🙄

dentisttobe

 

[perfectsmile]

I think you should pick UCSF over UCLA. I heard you get a better patient pool in SF, and that LA doesn't have a good patient pool because in a nice area, usually people there have money and don't have to go to students. I think UCSF is slightly cheaper than UCLA too. Both are very competative schools.
Also, I heard UCLA is harder and more vigorous, which I personally feel that if you are given more free time 😴 you may be a happier student. I feel being happy is most important.
Also, the city seems nicer, you can't beat SF for places to visit and things to do. Also, your girlfriend is up here. I have been in a long distance relationship (4 hr drive) for almost 2 years and I will tell you it is very hard. We only see each other every other weekend. My dad went there and he loved it and said he felt he was ready right after graduation.All in all, I think you will be happier up in SF. And for specializing, I'm sure if you truly want to specialize you can from UCSF, which is an awesome school.
Make sure you make the right choice. Remember, where will you be happier?

 

[DesiDentist]

Originally posted by dentisttobe


what the hell was that about the P is below the C thing??? If you don't have something substantiated to say, then don't say it at all. 🙄

dentisttobe

Take a chill pill dude. We all know that P = C, a C is pass a P is pass. I can say whatever I choose. P does come after C in the alphabet, take a chill pill, dental school hasn't started. No need to be anal already.

Desi

 

[Pebbs]

hey ohgee,

I think you just took my spot! I sent in my letter to ucsf last friday to withdraw my spot there. I was basically facing the same dilemma as you...had to choose between ucla and ucsf.

i liked both schools a lot...and after i received my acceptances, i was actually leaning towards ucsf. i chose ucla in the end for a number of reasons.

My family is in socal...you can't beat having mom's home cooking every weekend or even during the week when you're stressed out or feeling down.

my boyfriend is in socal too...my boyfriend and i already did four years of long distance during undergrad (i was at ucla and he was up north), so i wasn't about to do another four years of that again...it was not fun at all...but then again, you will be pretty busy with school anyways.

the thought of dealing with muggy weather for most of the year was not too appealing. i loooooooovvve the sun and the wonderful weather here in socal...and you can't beat westwood village and diddy reese!

i spoke to my dentist and he told me that if you want to practice in socal then it's best to start developing a network down here...he was probably the biggest influence in my choosing to go to ucla (and this was coming from a guy who went to usc!). he also said not to worry about patient pool because no matter where you go, you'll be scrambling around for patients...loma linda has the BEST patient pool in the state and at the interview, even the students there said they have to scramble around for patients for particular procedures. it's just a part of going to any dental school...besides, i've got plenty friends and family down here who have promised to be my guinea pigs!

both schools are excellent and it really winds down to where you'll feel more comfortable. the thought of living in sf for 4 years was really exciting, but i would just be too far away from everyone who means anything to me and i'm just deep down a socal fan.

dentisttobe...i'm officially going to be your classmate! it's awesome to see someone so gung-ho about ucla - definitely very cool.

hope i've helped some...best of luck to you ohgee...it's a win-win situation.

 

[dentisttobe]

Hey Pebbs,

Yep, SoCal rocks! I am a SoCal native and I can't see myself anywhere else. I definitely have ucla pride and I can't wait to meet you in the fall!

dentisttobe

 

[tinker bell]

The rumor about patient pool at UCLA is probably truth. I met about a dozen of bruins in the past weekend, and they all told me the same thing.

About UCSF, the official patient number is 144,000/yr. What I like most about my school is that it has a two months summer between the first year and second year. So, I can get a break and do whatever I want to for two months. UCLA doesn't have summer break after first year.

At UCSF, even everyone says that we are a research school, students are not required to do research in our curriculum. So, for ppl who only want to be clinicians, they don't have to do research.

UCSF has 11 community clinics, from northern to southern CA. You will never run out of patients. Even if you want one patient for a specific procedure, you can always go to the sattelite clinic and find one.

UCLA, you have to do research. Oh-gee, keep in mind that you want to specialize, so you'll have to do research regardless where you gonna go. However, if you only do research for fun or for money or for a letter of rec, it's different than doing research for credits. Which can be very stressful if you land in a bad lab.

Just remember that the different bt PASS/NO PASS and grading system, is that a D is pass. However, if what I think is right, a PASSING GRADE is C and above.

Don't worry about socializing and networking yet. As you might change your destination 4 years from now. Also, UCSF has regional alumni meetings every few months. I already went to two of them (one in Sacto in Feb, and one in LA last weekend). Surprisingly, the LA meeting is soooo crowded. There were about 200 ppl attended (at least). I met about 20 of my new classmates down there. Also, I got to talk to many dentists in SoCal. They seem to be very nice and be willing to hook us up. UCSF is a very old school, and there are an incredible number of alumni almost every where in the state of CA, so I wouldn't worry about networking. My dentist went to BU dental school, her family is in LA. However, she chose to open her office right in the Bay Area, and her office is full of patients.

Even so, if you plan to specialize, you might not even get to do specialty in LA, so how are u bruins plan to do your networking in LA during that time?

What's special about UCSF is that it's the only health professional campus in CA. Our library is mostly stocked with health related stuff. No undergrads. We have six schools in the campus (nursing, medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, dental, and the graduate divisions). Interactions between the six schools are very tight. And PT students are very helpful when it comes to Anatomy. So are the pharmacy students, they're nice to pair up with for some pharmacology class.

My favorite thing about UCSF is that it has a huge van pool system going to almost every town in the bay area. I live 40 miles from the school and the van pool took only 45min in rush hour time to get to school. And housing outside of SF can be pretty cheap. I know some dental students do live in the east bay and commute to school. SF also has a good public transportation system, so you won't need a car.

SF is not a sunshine city. It can be cold, and foggy. But there aren't that many hot day at all. The Bay area is sublime, with so many outdoor things to do. The school is 5 min from the Golden Gate Park, and it's a great place to go look at flowers and reduce stress.

Ohgee, I wouldn't advise anyone doing long distance relationship. You have a chance to be with your g/f, so don't pass that chance. Lots of ppl want to be in your spot, but can't.

Good luck regardless where you want to go. Both are UC schools and both are great.

 

[alexii]

Doesn't UCLA give pass (C & B) and Pass w/ Honor (90%+).
And it make a difference by getting many pass w/ honor compare to just few pass w/ honor.

 

[w3chen99]

The Pass/No Pass system at UCLA works like this:

Get above 70% and you get a PASS.

If you get lower than a 70% grade in the class, you get a NO PASS. However, You get to take the final again (I think as many times as necessary) and if you pass, you get a MARGINAL PASS.

If you get in the top 10% of your class, you get a HIGH PASS (called EPR, I think).

The thing is, there is no difference between MARGINAL PASS, PASS, AND EPR on your transcript. ALL of them will apear as Pass. The only people that can see the 3 types of passes are the people at UCLA ONLY. The only advantage of having lots of EPRs is when you are trying to get letters of rec....get lots of EPRs and you can get a sweet letter of rec from the dean.

Thus, if you are applying to specialty programs outside of UCLA, they'll never know if you have 20 Marginal passes and 0 EPRs. They all look like Passes.

 

[ohgee]

Thank you guys so much for your response.😀 😀

I just talked to a dentist who went to UCSF for dental school, and specialize at UCLA. She likes UCSF better because she thinks that UCSF cares more about their students, and students (when she's there) are generally pretty happy with the school.....

I have a quick question for those who knows....

I know a lot of students choose to specialize post-dental, but the figure that the schools give out are included with GPR, I am wondering the stats for ortho/pedo? Anyone know?

The pass/no pass system for UCLA is really appealing. Are the grading in UCSF straight or curved?. I am pretty confident that I can absorb the information taught in class and do a good job on the test, but I am not sure how I will do RELATIVE to other students....

Thanks! You guys are been so helpful!

 

[tinker bell]

Ohgee, how do you know about coomparing between you and other students? Noone can answer that question for ya, because no body knows all your classmates. You'll find out the answer hopefully by the end of the first year.

About UCSF takes good care of their students, I can be sure that only excellent private schools would do the same. I have been with the school for one year, and they take good care of me. Let just say they know about my stuff more than my parents know. They know where I'm going for interviews, etc....And they prepare me for those trips....Besides my parents, nobody can care more about me than the school. I just love their philosophy. I can tell you that the support that they give to us is unbelievable.

All of those numbers going to specialty posted are for sure included the GPR dentists. I know that this year D4 at UCSF, they do very well. My numbers might not be accurate, but a D4 told me that 4 endo, 4 pedo, 4-5 ortho, 6 perio, and 4 OMS. I need to ask again, bc I wasn't interested in specialty, so I never go number hunting. But my impression was that those are good numbers out of total 82 grads.

My dentists told me that when she graduated from UCSF years ago, half of her class went into specialty. You guys won't believe the number, but it was 14 ortho for the class of 1987. They were probably the smartest class ever.

Hey, hopefully it will repeat for the class of 2007

Just work hard and hope for the best to come. Who's gonna know what will happen four years from now?

 

[hopefully]

oh gee,

first of all, congratulations! you're really fortunate to have the choice between 2 awesome schools. here's my 2 cents: go to a school where you can see yourself being the happiest. don't choose a school just because you think that you may be able to have a better chance of specializing, because the truth is you don't really know since you can't go to both schools. if you're happier, you may even do better in school. let's say if you pick a school solely on the premise that you can specialize, it creates a lot of pressure on yourself. i think it would be a good idea for you to visit both schools one more time and talk to a lot of the current students or even sit in on some classes. granted you're very busy i'm sure, but you want to make a decision that you can be confident about since it will affect the next 4 years of your life. good luck on your decision.

 

[tinker bell]

Hopefully gave the best advice. Yeah, go to the school that you like most. As you might change your mind about where you will practice, specialty or not.
I will definitely not gonna consider any specialty until I do all of my research carefully and see my board score.

Either way it's gonna be a good choice. After all, they are all UC.

 

[ohgee]

Thanks a lot for your guy's advice. Finally, I decided to attend UCSF!! Woo hoo!!

 

[tinker bell]

Congrats ohgee. That's an excellent decision.