UNC (IS) vs ECU (IS)

[severage]

Hi everyone,

I've been accepted to both UNC and ECU for dental school, my top 2 choices. But I'm having a lot of trouble deciding which one.

ECU is naturally a bit cheaper, and before financial aid ECU will cost me a total of around $200k over 4 years, while UNC will cost $300k. But UNC has the #2 ranked DDS program in the US. ECU's facility is newer and more technologically impressive, but UNC is more established and still very very nice. ECU's mission of providing service for rural regions sounds great to me, but I could easily do that while at UNC.

Will it be easier to specialize if I got to UNC over ECU? As in, does prestige/rank matter for specializing afterwards? Or will specializing if I so choose be just as easy at ECU?

And lastly, does anyone know about the NHSC loan for service in NC, where I think they pay $14k a year for 4 years if you practice in NC for 4 years after graduation? Is that something I apply for before entering dental school or after I've already graduated?

Many thanks in advance.

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[Bigjt1420]

Prestige/rank is a huge scam played out throughout the nation when it comes to college and dental school (not so much medical or law school). It truly doesn't matter where you went/go. Every dental school is required to teach you the same thing because it is accredited by the ADA. Therefore, to answer your questions: No, it will not be easier to specialize if you went to UNC over ECU. It will be the same -- you'll need to have a high GPA and do well on the specialty exam. Rank doesn't matter for specializing.

Go to ECU and save $100,000, I urge you!

 

[doktorinprogres]

Prestige/rank is a huge scam played out throughout the nation when it comes to college and dental school (not so much medical or law school). It truly doesn't matter where you went/go. Every dental school is required to teach you the same thing because it is accredited by the ADA. Therefore, to answer your questions: No, it will not be easier to specialize if you went to UNC over ECU. It will be the same -- you'll need to have a high GPA and do well on the specialty exam. Rank doesn't matter for specializing.

Go to ECU and save $100,000, I urge you!

Yeah um source? Go on over to the Dental Residents section of sdn and look through matchlists. It definitely is looked at. At one school I talked to the ortho guys and the program director didn't want to write letters for kids who weren't top ten in the class.

For the OP, if you think you might want to specialize go to UNC. If you're pretty sure general dentistry then go to ECU. I think its a complete lie to say that specializing is just as easy from ECU. It is possible to specialize from any school. That does not mean that it's the same difficulty.

Also UNC has nice breaks in the summer. That's built in time for you to go extern and/or study for ADAT/CBSE etc. ECU meanwhile has 9 days between terms?

 

[Bigjt1420]

Yeah um source? Go on over to the Dental Residents section of sdn and look through matchlists. It definitely is looked at. At one school I talked to the ortho guys and the program director didn't want to write letters for kids who weren't top ten in the class.

For the OP, if you think you might want to specialize go to UNC. If you're pretty sure general dentistry then go to ECU. I think its a complete lie to say that specializing is just as easy from ECU. It is possible to specialize from any school. That does not mean that it's the same difficulty.

Also UNC has nice breaks in the summer. That's built in time for you to go extern and/or study for ADAT/CBSE etc. ECU meanwhile has 9 days between terms?

You literally made my argument for me. "... the program director didn't want to write letters for kids who weren't top ten IN THE CLASS." Notice it doesn't mean top 10 from Harvard, from UCLA, from Washington. Top 10 in that specific schools class. I can promise you, just like undergrad, it doesn't matter as long as you have the numbers. If you get a 4.0 and a high entrance exam score for your given specialty and you went to ECU, I promise you you'll get the spot over a 3.5 and decent exam score and went to UNC.

 

[BlackThought]

UNC is not a school that pumps out people going into specialties. It's much more geared towards making a competent general dentist. The basic science curriculum overall tends to be on the weaker side, but clinical education is top notch for the most part.

 

[doktorinprogres]

You literally made my argument for me. "... the program director didn't want to write letters for kids who weren't top ten IN THE CLASS." Notice it doesn't mean top 10 from Harvard, from UCLA, from Washington. Top 10 in that specific schools class. I can promise you, just like undergrad, it doesn't matter as long as you have the numbers. If you get a 4.0 and a high entrance exam score for your given specialty and you went to ECU, I promise you you'll get the spot over a 3.5 and decent exam score and went to UNC.

I think I mixed up you talking about schools ranked against each other vs class rank. But I still believe certain factors such as how much time off a school has and having a medical curriculum etc are imp (unc has the first not the second). I personally think having the recommendation letter from a program director of the specialty you're interested in holds significant weight. Seeing as ECU only has a ped's specialty that makes it tough. Also there's a big difference in those gpas you put at the end.

Interestingly on an anecdotal note there are whispers that ECU is developing a more prepared student for general dentistry just based on the sheer number of reps/patients being seen in their clinics.

 

[severage]

I think I mixed up you talking about schools ranked against each other vs class rank. But I still believe certain factors such as how much time off a school has and having a medical curriculum etc are imp (unc has the first not the second). I personally think having the recommendation letter from a program director of the specialty you're interested in holds significant weight. Seeing as ECU only has a ped's specialty that makes it tough. Also there's a big difference in those gpas you put at the end.

Interestingly on an anecdotal note there are whispers that ECU is developing a more prepared student for general dentistry just based on the sheer number of reps/patients being seen in their clinics.

I've heard that as well, the massive amount of clinical experience leads me to believe they're extremely prepared for general dentistry upon graduation.

I'm not sure if I want to end up specializing, but if I do, will that be more difficult at ECU? I know UNC has professors from all specialties, while I don't believe ECU does, but I'm not positive.

 

[PreDentToBe]

There was a thread somewhere last year that a current ECU student put together about residencies/specialties. If I remember correctly, it's that there were a few people who sent into prestigious specialty programs. But I have to 2nd what everyone else said too about ECU students get more practice. They aren't competing with residents for patients and the entire 4th year is out doing mini-residencies and seeing 6+ patients a day

 

[doktorinprogres]

UNC doesn't have a lot of breaks during summer, they're taking multiple classes while seeing patients. I'm not sure about ECU's summer schedule.

You sure about that? Looking at their calendar, D2 year for example there's free time from Dec 14-Jan 2, April 18-May 6, and July 12-Mid August. I'm not sure what their extramural rotation requirements are in D3 yr but it seems as though that could be used for externships. Anyone who goes there feel free to correct me.

 

[c1234]

A D4 I talked to today said the breaks get a bit shorter as you move up, but he said his summer before the D4 year consisted of 2 two-week breaks. ECU gets off 1 week in between each term more or less.

 

[Charcot-Marie-Tooth]

You sure about that? Looking at their calendar, D2 year for example there's free time from Dec 14-Jan 2, April 18-May 6, and July 12-Mid August. I'm not sure what their extramural rotation requirements are in D3 yr but it seems as though that could be used for externships. Anyone who goes there feel free to correct me.

Yes, we do get more/longer breaks. They do get progressively shorter each year (as we get more clinical responsibilities). We get a 3 week Christmas break, and an even longer break after summer semester 1st year. Along with that we have a full week for Spring break, with another break between spring and summer semester.
After 3rd year you do have your 2 extramural rotations, which is really nice. If you want to do OMFS for example, the school will let you spend one of those externing.
So, there is surely enough time to study for boards, CBSE, do research, extramural rotations, vacation, or whatever you want.

 

[WolfPackSigeEp]

Go where you think you'll be the happiest. I can't stress that enough. Dental school is Dental school. As others have mentioned, UNC gets longer breaks, which I envy. However, every school has their perks. Ive enjoyed the clinical experience and the three 9-week CSLC rotations. I've had the chance to practice dentistry throughout the state, and this helped me decide where I'd like to practice.

UNC is a great school, with all of the specialties.
ECU is a great school, with 2 residencies.

Either way, you will become a dentist in 4 years. Congrats!