Uconn (OOS) Vs UF (OOS) Vs Temple Vs Tufts Vs Pitt (IS)

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KashKy

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Hello, Im looking for guidance on picking a school. Any advice is appreciated, particularly from students interested in specialization or who attend any of these schools, especially UF and UConn

School 1: UConn (OOS) TCOA 350K
Pros:
  • Pass/Fail
  • Very easy to Specialize
  • Supportive student community
  • Not too far from home
  • Relaxed area
Cons:
  • More expensive than my #2 option (UF)
  • Mediocre Clinical experinece
School 2: UF (OOS) TCOA 250K
Pros:
  • CHEAP 250K
  • Decent Clinical
  • Florida weather
  • REALLY CHEAP
Cons:
  • Not Pass-fail
  • Seemingly Low specialization rate
  • Far from home
  • Seemingly has a gunner culture
School 3: Tufts TCOA 600K??????

Pros:
  • Seem to care about students
  • Boston seems cool to live in
Cons:
  • Almost 600K TCOA???? WTF??????
  • No pass-fail
  • Low specialization rates
School 4: Temple TCOA 380K

Pros:
  • Excellent Clinical
  • Close to home
Cons:
  • Not pass fail
  • Pretty bad area
School 5: Pitt (IS) TCOA: 430K
Pros:
  • Close to home
  • I know a lot of current students
  • Good community
Cons:
  • Too expensive for a state school
Summary: I was blessed to receive 7 acceptances on December 15th, but now I'm left with a pretty difficult choice. It's mostly UF vs Uconn, but I included the others in case there is something I don't know. I omitted 2 schools with lesser reputations. I'm quite confident that I want to specialize after shadowing a super GP and multiple specialists, which is making me lean toward UConn due to the P/F curriculum giving me more time to prepare a competitive application. But I have to consider the possibility that I might realize a specialty is not for me.

I have decent stats (3.75, 25AA) and I'm URM from a pretty humble background, so I think scholarships COULD be possible though I am not expecting anything

TLDR, UConn is my #1, but more expensive
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Is 100k worth it to you in the end? Both are state schools, both you can specialize coming out from them. Just need to put in the work. Gunner culture is a class by class basis. My class isn’t like this at my school but some other classes could be. It really depends on how you interact with the class and the culture that’s set when you start.
 
Ryxndek said:
Is 100k worth it to you in the end? Both are state schools, both you can specialize coming out from them. Just need to put in the work. Gunner culture is a class by class basis. My class isn’t like this at my school but some other classes could be. It really depends on how you interact with the class and the culture that’s set when you start.
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I think it may be, because I'm not sure If I can outrank a class of UF dental students, especially if I end up pursuing a competitive specialty. Thank you for your input!
 
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KashKy said:
Hello, Im looking for guidance on picking a school. Any advice is appreciated, particularly from students interested in specialization or who attend any of these schools, especially UF and UConn

School 1: UConn (OOS) TCOA 350K
Pros:
  • Pass/Fail
  • Very easy to Specialize
  • Supportive student community
  • Not too far from home
  • Relaxed area
Cons:
  • More expensive than my #2 option (UF)
  • Mediocre Clinical experinece
School 2: UF (OOS) TCOA 250K
Pros:
  • CHEAP 250K
  • Decent Clinical
  • Florida weather
  • REALLY CHEAP
Cons:
  • Not Pass-fail
  • Seemingly Low specialization rate
  • Far from home
  • Seemingly has a gunner culture
School 3: Tufts TCOA 600K??????

Pros:
  • Seem to care about students
  • Boston seems cool to live in
Cons:
  • Almost 600K TCOA???? WTF??????
  • No pass-fail
  • Low specialization rates
School 4: Temple TCOA 380K

Pros:
  • Excellent Clinical
  • Close to home
Cons:
  • Not pass fail
  • Pretty bad area
School 5: Pitt (IS) TCOA: 430K
Pros:
  • Close to home
  • I know a lot of current students
  • Good community
Cons:
  • Too expensive for a state school
Summary: I was blessed to receive 7 acceptances on December 15th, but now I'm left with a pretty difficult choice. It's mostly UF vs Uconn, but I included the others in case there is something I don't know. I omitted 2 schools with lesser reputations. I'm quite confident that I want to specialize after shadowing a super GP and multiple specialists, which is making me lean toward UConn due to the P/F curriculum giving me more time to prepare a competitive application. But I have to consider the possibility that I might realize a specialty is not for me.

I have decent stats (3.75, 25AA) and I'm URM from a pretty humble background, so I think scholarships COULD be possible though I am not expecting anything

TLDR, UConn is my #1, but more expensive
Click to expand...
you sure florida is only $250k???
2019 data has OOS as $400k
 
KashKy said:
I think it may be, because I'm not sure If I can outrank a class of UF dental students, especially if I end up pursuing a competitive specialty. Thank you for your input
Click to expand...
I have some friends at UF and they love it there. Congrats on getting an acceptance there as OOS I was unable to grab an interview from them. Their students tend to do well in terms of specializing, but obviously, it is case by case. The biggest advice current dentists and specialists have given me is that students who are capable of specializing will end up doing so regardless of the school they attend. At the end of the day, it comes down to how motivated you are to seek out the right opportunities.
 
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fishy19_ said:
I have some friends at UF and they love it there. Congrats on getting an acceptance there as OOS I was unable to grab an interview from them. Their students tend to do well in terms of specializing, but obviously, it is case by case. The biggest advice current dentists and specialists have given me is that students who are capable of specializing will end up doing so regardless of the school they attend. At the end of the day, it comes down to how motivated you are to seek out the right opportunities.
Click to expand...
I appreciate the insight about UF, maybe the culture isn't as bad as what I've heard. I've heard the same thing from dentists and specialists, but the same ones were shocked when I mentioned that some schools are pass-fail
 
KashKy said:
What data did you use to calculate this? I used ADEA explorer, and UF allows you to transfer in-state.
Click to expand...
spreadsheet in @Ryxndek signature
sorry, it lists the change to IS after one year as $318,316
 
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macsak said:
uconn is $323,809
Click to expand...
So 320 vs 250. I'd say the 70K is worth it for pass-fail and super high specialty rates right? Also, Uconn has an integrated curriculum with the med school, so If I choose to go OMFS that would help.
 
KashKy said:
So 320 vs 250. I'd say the 70K is worth it for pass-fail and super high specialty rates right? Also, Uconn has an integrated curriculum with the med school, so If I choose to go OMFS that would help.
Click to expand...
no, comparing it apples to apples (using the same 2019 spreadsheet), it's 318K to 324K
 
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With 7 acceptances, take the most expensive one off the board unless you get a serious merit scholarship or HPSP. Besides, if a school gave you a merit scholarship, you can dump the most expensive school that doesn't.

Find out if student support services are located within the school or run by the university (or both... then how do they relate to each other).

Be picky.

Florida weather includes hurricanes. Climate change makes hurricanes more intense. The "Florida man" memes... but no income tax!
 
UConn or UF. I love the Florida weather, so I'd choose UF. What specialty do you want to do?
 
Mr.Smile12 said:
With 7 acceptances, take the most expensive one off the board unless you get a serious merit scholarship or HPSP. Besides, if a school gave you a merit scholarship, you can dump the most expensive school that doesn't.

Find out if student support services are located within the school or run by the university (or both... then how do they relate to each other).

Be picky.

Florida weather includes hurricanes. Climate change makes hurricanes more intense. The "Florida man" memes... but no income tax!
Click to expand...
What do you mean by student support services?
 
OncePreDent said:
UConn or UF. I love the Florida weather, so I'd choose UF. What specialty do you want to do?
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Based on my shadowing, OMFS seems the most interesting. But supposedly everyone says that
 
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Ryxndek said:
Some universities have pre health student advising. You can go there and tell them your situation. If your school offers this, chances are someone has had a similar issue so they may be able to help you out
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Oh so ask the advisor at my undergrad. Will do thanks!
 
Ryxndek said:
If they’re a pre health advisor, sure. Otherwise they might have a separate advisor to that is familiar with professional health schools
Click to expand...
The pre-health advisor here is great. I'll ask them
 
KashKy said:
Based on my shadowing, OMFS seems the most interesting. But supposedly everyone says that
Click to expand...
IDK if residency programs take it into account but if you want omfs P/F would be really nice. It absolutely sucks having to put in hours and hours of extra study to get straight As in all your classes while worrying about CBSE when someone at a P/F just has to make sure they don't bomb their exams and they will graduate their class on the same level as all their classmates. On the other hand that also means your CBSE is the most objective metric in your app so you have to perform. I would say do P/F if it makes financial sense and the school fits your wants and needs, then put that extra time you have into CBSE or living life depending on what specialty you wanna do
 
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KashKy said:
What do you mean by student support services?
Click to expand...
At the dental schools, you want to know about learning support services, psychological services, financial aid, clerkship placements, career/residency services, advocacy services (in case you need them when it comes to appealing a class failure or requesting a LOA), and IT/technology... among other things. Some schools will have an office specifically for dental students, others lump them with other health professional programs, and others keep the resource as university-wide.

Your prehealth advisor may or may not know about dental school specific resources, but I don't know who your advisor is.
 
Anonamoose said:
IDK if residency programs take it into account but if you want omfs P/F would be really nice. It absolutely sucks having to put in hours and hours of extra study to get straight As in all your classes while worrying about CBSE when someone at a P/F just has to make sure they don't bomb their exams and they will graduate their class on the same level as all their classmates. On the other hand that also means your CBSE is the most objective metric in your app so you have to perform. I would say do P/F if it makes financial sense and the school fits your wants and needs, then put that extra time you have into CBSE or living life depending on what specialty you wanna do
Click to expand...
This is my exact line of reasoning! Standardized tests tend to be my strong suit as well...
More points for Uconn! If the COAs are really both around 320, then the difference would only be 70K and I feel that worth it
 
Mr.Smile12 said:
At the dental schools, you want to know about learning support services, psychological services, financial aid, clerkship placements, career/residency services, advocacy services (in case you need them when it comes to appealing a class failure or requesting a LOA), and IT/technology... among other things. Some schools will have an office specifically for dental students, others lump them with other health professional programs, and others keep the resource as university-wide.

Your prehealth advisor may or may not know about dental school specific resources, but I don't know who your advisor is.
Click to expand...
This is a great point. I will reach out and ask the top 2 schools about this.
 
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KashKy said:
This is my exact line of reasoning! Standardized tests tend to be my strong suit as well...
More points for Uconn! If the COAs are really both around 320, then the difference would only be 70K and I feel that worth it
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that is still a good price (which is sad but true), and for the lifestyle of pass/fail that is a pretty great reason. More time to enjoy school, learn as much as you can, instead of worrying about an A versus A- changing a class rank. Just kill the CBSE and you'll do great. Congrats on getting into school!
 
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Anonamoose said:
that is still a good price (which is sad but true), and for the lifestyle of pass/fail that is a pretty great reason. More time to enjoy school, learn as much as you can, instead of worrying about an A versus A- changing a class rank. Just kill the CBSE and you'll do great. Congrats on getting into school!
Click to expand...
Thank you! I appreciate the advice
 
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KashKy said:
Based on my shadowing, OMFS seems the most interesting. But supposedly everyone says that
Click to expand...
I agree with @Anonamoose if you are interested tin OMFS you will have a lot more time to study for the CBSE most likely. I am currently at a P/F program and it feels like the people who are interested in OMFS are studying more for that than our actual dental school course work lol
 
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OncePreDent said:
I agree with @Anonamoose if you are interested tin OMFS you will have a lot more time to study for the CBSE most likely. I am currently at a P/F program and it feels like the people who are interested in OMFS are studying more for that than our actual dental school course work lol
Click to expand...
Thanks. I think I'm gonna choose uconn given this. It just streamlines the whole process
 
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