In terms of curriculum, what I got from interviewing at both is that UMDNJ is wild about their clinics (that was basically all they talked about), so they are more clinically orientated. They start patients at the end of their first year I think. SB, on the other hand, has a mix - we take classes with the med students and start with patients the fall of our second year. We started morph and operative pretty early (Sept-Morph, Oct for Operative), while some schools haven't done any dental technique classes yet (I'm looking at you Harvard... I think I heard the same for Penn too). I know at least one person who is from NJ and chose SB over their state school. You can gain residency after one year. A lot of factors to consider besides just money. Where do you want to live and what kind of program do you want to be in?