UMich or UF

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TeethNStuff

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UMich is a better Program from what I've gathered, but would cost about 100k more than UF. I'm out of state for both schools and can claim instate after first year at UF, but not at UMich. Factoring in reputation, cost, and location (Ann Arbor vs Gainsville) Where would you choose to go?
 
UMich is a better Program from what I've gathered, but would cost about 100k more than UF. I'm out of state for both schools and can claim instate after first year at UF, but not at UMich. Factoring in reputation, cost, and location (Ann Arbor vs Gainsville) Where would you choose to go?
UF
easy...
 
Can't speak on the quality of michigan at all but I am in your same situation and, after having been there for four years of undergrad, I would pay an infinite amount of money not to go to UF or Gainesville ever again. I have heard and seen many bad things about UF--faculty are unresponsive, students are competitive and not collaborative, boof a** facilities, etc. Their general attitude was bad as well; they seemed to know that people want to go there and put in 0 effort to make you feel welcome as a result. I'm a hater for sure, so take all that with a grain of salt, but definitely look into student culture at UF if that is something that's big for you.
 
Disagree about the student culture at UF. I loved Gainesville. Faculty are not unresponsive. Of course some are, but that is every school. Some students may be competitive, but it is a class of over 90, so you have a large mix of personalities. Having gone to undergrad at one place (and spent lots of time in that dental school and have friends who stayed for dental school), dental school at UF, and residency at a third school, UF is easily the best institution I have been at.

This is not to say Michigan is not a good school! But I was very happy in my time at UF.
 
Disagree about the student culture at UF. I loved Gainesville. Faculty are not unresponsive. Of course some are, but that is every school. Some students may be competitive, but it is a class of over 90, so you have a large mix of personalities. Having gone to undergrad at one place (and spent lots of time in that dental school and have friends who stayed for dental school), dental school at UF, and residency at a third school, UF is easily the best institution I have been at.

This is not to say Michigan is not a good school! But I was very happy in my time at UF.
Some people absolutely love it! I fear UF and I (and Gainesville at large) just didn't vibe with each other. I did tour there in undergrad though and the students leading the tour all but told us to rethink going there. I have heard that their class had a particularly bad culture to it, though, and other classes may not have it so bad. OP, there's something for most people at any school 🙂
 
Can't speak on the quality of michigan at all but I am in your same situation and, after having been there for four years of undergrad, I would pay an infinite amount of money not to go to UF or Gainesville ever again. I have heard and seen many bad things about UF--faculty are unresponsive, students are competitive and not collaborative, boof a** facilities, etc. Their general attitude was bad as well; they seemed to know that people want to go there and put in 0 effort to make you feel welcome as a result. I'm a hater for sure, so take all that with a grain of salt, but definitely look into student culture at UF if that is something that's big for you.
My oldest son graduated from UF a couple years ago and is finishing his ortho residency this summer. My other son graduates from UF in May and starts his ortho residency in July. They were OOS and had great experiences at UF from a clinical standpoint, with their classmates and thoroughly enjoyed their time in Gainesville. In addition, their education was top notch and I never heard a complaint about the culture.
 
Are you 100% sure that you will be able to about claim in state tuition after the first year at UF. That wasn’t the case for me when I was choosing which program to attend…I was told that it “could” happen. I spoke to a D2 and D3 and they told me that they were not able to get in state…but this was about 6 years ago…hopefully it has changed.
 
Are you 100% sure that you will be able to about claim in state tuition after the first year at UF. That wasn’t the case for me when I was choosing which program to attend…I was told that it “could” happen. I spoke to a D2 and D3 and they told me that they were not able to get in state…but this was about 6 years ago…hopefully it has changed.

This is a great question to pose. It is quite a risky assumption when evaluating options provided each state has different reclassification requirements, some more strict than others. Review each state’s applicable policies- they are not trivial especially if you will have any financial links to family (i.e. on a parent’s car insurance, a parent being a co-signor on a car loan, a lease in a parent’s name or with a parent as a co-signor, etc). My advice would be for others to evaluate their options based on the full OOS costs (after applying any scholarships, if applicable) for the entirety of dental school as a result. That’s what I did!
 
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This is a great question to pose. It is quite a risky assumption when evaluating options provided each state has different reclassification requirements, some more strict than others. Review each state’s applicable policies- they are not trivial especially if you will have any financial links to family (i.e. on a parent’s car insurance, a parent being a co-signor on a car loan, a lease in a parent’s name or with a parent as a co-signor, etc). My advice would be for others to evaluate their options based on the full OOS costs (after applying any scholarships, if applicable) for the entirety of dental school as a result. That’s what I did!
Both of my sons were able to get in-state tuition after their first year. They had to do certain things such as get a Florida driver's license, register to vote, etc. The dental school was very helpful in helping the OOS navigate the process.
 
Both of my sons were able to get in-state tuition after their first year. They had to do certain things such as get a Florida driver's license, register to vote, etc. The dental school was very helpful in helping the OOS navigate the process.

Depending on the state, simply changing licenses or voter registration may not be sufficient. It’s important to be familiar with applicable states’ policies prior to even accepting an offer.
 
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Depending on the state, simply changing licenses or voter registration may not be sufficient. It’s important to be familiar with applicable states’ policies prior to even accepting an offer.
I was only referencing my sons experiences at UF since that was one of the schools in question. There were 5-7 things they had to do to become a Florida resident and it amazed me how helpful the dental school was in guiding them through the Florida residency process. One of the main reasons, in addition to it being a good/respected dental school, they chose to go to UF was the almost guaranteed in-state tuition after the first year if they did what they needed to do. It worked great for them as it did for every other OOS in their classes. However, that was a few years ago and I agree that one needs to speak with current OOS D1 students to see if things have changed.
 
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