UCSF (OOS) vs. Houston (OOS) vs. UTHSCSA (OOS) vs. VCU (IS)

[dentistry190]

Really struggling to choose between these four schools. While I am not sure if I want to specialize or not, I would definitely prefer if I can keep that door open. Other factors that I'm looking into are a class that isn't super cutthroat, the clinical experience, and of course the cost (which generally should be San Antonio < Houston = VCU < UCSF). And while it would be nice to be closer to home, it's not necessarily a huge deal for me to go someplace else for school.

UCSF
Pros:

• H/P/F Grading - less sense of competition among students?
• Relatively high specialization rate
• Would be cool to live in San Francisco
• Nice weather
• Good reputation
• Good potential for research

Cons:

• Would be the most expensive of the schools (In-state after 1 year, but tuition + cost of living is still higher)
• Would be moving across the country
• Clinical isn't as strong?

Houston
Pros

• OOS Tuition is cheap - comparable to VCU in-state
• Family atmosphere
• Beautiful facility
• Houston seems like an interesting place to live
• Potential to get student housing close to the dental school

Cons

• Letter grades / ranking
• Would likely bring car due to how spread out Houston is, and I heard Houston traffic is bad

San Antonio
Pros

• Cheapest overall cost, when factoring in tuition and cost of living
• Clinical building is beautiful
• Enjoy the sort of "suburban" setting

Cons

• Letter grades / ranking
• I heard the students are more competitive?
• D1/D2s are in an older, separate building from the D3s/D4s

VCU
Pros

• In-state tution
• Closest to home
• Enjoyed the student atmosphere

Cons

• Letter grades / ranking
• The facilities are relatively older
• Cold in the winter

Would love to hear you all's perspective on which school to choose, both if money was factored in AND if money wasn't. Thanks for all the help!

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[deleted903013]

San Antonio because it's the cheapest. Work hard and you can specialize from anywhere.

 

[Whopper And Fries]

Even with money factored out, I think the cheaper school options you have are excellent choices-- UCSF would really only make sense if you lived nearby and (IF COMPLETELY FACTORING OUT MONEY) the other school options you had were subpar in terms of education. But all three programs are amazing, and letter grading is not always a bad thing so i dont see it as a con. You have some REALLY nice options for so much smaller cost.

 

[wolfgangfuhry]

I would choose the school in the city/state you would want to practice in for networking purposes if money isn't an issue.

 

[DCGstudent]

Even with money factored out, I think the cheaper school options you have are excellent choices-- UCSF would really only make sense if you lived nearby and (IF COMPLETELY FACTORING OUT MONEY) the other school options you had were subpar in terms of education. But all three programs are amazing, and letter grading is not always a bad thing so i dont see it as a con. You have some REALLY nice options for so much smaller cost.

Just out of curiosity why do you say the Texas schools are “subpar”?

 

[macsak]

Just out of curiosity why do you say the Texas schools are “subpar”?

they said IF they were subpar, but they are "amazing"