UCSF vs UCLA competitive

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fungames

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Just curious: which school is harder to get into- UCSF or UCLA? For some reason, I thought UCSF was more difficult to get into but no idea why.

Share your opinion!
 
I would think UCSF...their supplemental app is insane. But both schools are top notch and regarded as one of the best dental schools in the nation. Also, each dental school focuses on slightly different things so that's something else to consider too. Don't think just because you go to X school and it has a "prestigious" name, you will get a better education there compared to another school that may not be as well known.
 
Yeah obviously going to an ivy league dental school over a cheaper state school would be a dumb decision. prestige means nothing.
 
I would think UCSF...their supplemental app is insane. But both schools are top notch and regarded as one of the best dental schools in the nation. Also, each dental school focuses on slightly different things so that's something else to consider too. Don't think just because you go to X school and it has a "prestigious" name, you will get a better education there compared to another school that may not be as well known.


You didn't think UCLA's 11 paged supplemental was insane as well??? XD
I haven't heard from UCLA at all though, only UCSF. 🙁 I think they tend to take high GPA from undergrad/high DAT people.
 
Just curious: which school is harder to get into- UCSF or UCLA? For some reason, I thought UCSF was more difficult to get into but no idea why.

Share your opinion!

Hey, you can send me a PM if you'd like to know as I do not wish to stir any arguments on here.

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UCLA's supplemental is way more intense than UCSF's...

To each their own....I personally thought UCSF's supp app was overburdening


To OP:

I think the couple circumstances where it really matters where you go, "prestige" vs. cheaper and less prestigious school (not that they always go hand in hand), is if you are either planning on specializing or going into academics to be a professor. Prestige would most definitely matter then...look at the professor rosters at dental schools. They're usually graduates from very prestigious dental schools.
 
UCLA's supplemental is way more intense than UCSF's...

Agree 100% that UCLA's secondary was much harder than UCSF's....but in response to OP, I definitely think that both schools are very, very competitive. UCLA has slightly GPA/DAT averages, but that does not necessarily make it "harder" to get into, as I'm sure we've all seen people here on SDN get rejected from UCSF with extremely high numbers, and get accepted to UCLA with slightly lower numbers. Nobody can tell you definitively which school is harder - but both definitely do a thorough review of the applicant as a whole and it's important to be very well-rounded to be accepted to either. Can't go wrong either way !
 
I graduated from UCSF this past June and from what I remember, in regards to GPA/DAT, your GPA needs to be high. They do tend to look at your GPA trend too. My GPA overall when I applied was a 3.36, but for 5-6 semesters I got nothing lower than a 3.7-3.8 GPA. My DAT scores were 20-21 overall with 22 on PAT. In addition to that, I was a Bioengineering major and I worked at the American Dental Association for six months as a research extern.

UCSF values DIVERSITY ( I mean in all areas). If you are the typical applicant (Biology major) with average grades (3.3-3.4), they might not look at your application very highly. The students the admission committee looks for is a well balanced applicant that is adaptable and can learn on their feet. Hope that helps! Good luck!
 
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