UNC (OOS) vs UPenn (w/scholarship) vs UCSF (OOS w/scholarship)

[dental10101]

School 1: University of North Carolina (OOS)
Pros:

• Can convert to in-state
• Class size ~88
• Pass/Fail, but will start Honors Pass / Fail for our class (93 is High Pass)
• Very solid community outreach and research initiatives
• Strong clinical program
• Rank “2”

Cons:

• Honors Pass Fail now
• Don’t know much about their specialization rates

School 2: University of Pennsylvania
Pros:

• 10k/year Dean's Scholarship
• Ivy Reputation
• High specialization rate
• Good network of alumni
• Philly area is supposed to be really nice

Cons:

• Graded, unranked
• Big class size, ~150
• Most expensive, but not by that much

School 3: University of California - San Francisco (OOS)
Pros:

• Pass/Fail, optional honors
• Convert to in state after first year
• Small class size ~60
• San Fran is beautiful and food options are great (Im vegetarian)

Cons:

• Lower specialization rates reported recently (I thought this school was known for specialization)
• Facilities are not updated

Summary:
I am having a hard time deciding which dental school to pick. I am out of state for each program and hope to specialize in the future. The cost difference between the schools is UCSF (~365k) < UNC (~396k) < UPenn (~469k)
*all of these are estimated with the in state conversion and/or scholarship

Let me know your thoughts about each program and please do not just say cheapest cost is not a huge factor for me right now!

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[macsak]

School 1: University of North Carolina (OOS)
Pros:

• Can convert to in-state
• Class size ~88
• Pass/Fail, but will start Honors Pass / Fail for our class (93 is High Pass)
• Very solid community outreach and research initiatives
• Strong clinical program
• Rank “2”

Cons:

• Honors Pass Fail now
• Don’t know much about their specialization rates

School 2: University of Pennsylvania
Pros:

• 10k/year Dean's Scholarship
• Ivy Reputation
• High specialization rate
• Good network of alumni
• Philly area is supposed to be really nice

Cons:

• Graded, unranked
• Big class size, ~150
• Most expensive, but not by that much

School 3: University of California - San Francisco (OOS)
Pros:

• Pass/Fail, optional honors
• Convert to in state after first year
• Small class size ~60
• San Fran is beautiful and food options are great (Im vegetarian)

Cons:

• Lower specialization rates reported recently (I thought this school was known for specialization)
• Facilities are not updated

Summary:
I am having a hard time deciding which dental school to pick. I am out of state for each program and hope to specialize in the future. The cost difference between the schools is UCSF (~365k) < UNC (~396k) < UPenn (~469k)
*all of these are estimated with the in state conversion and/or scholarship

Let me know your thoughts about each program and please do not just say cheapest cost is not a huge factor for me right now!

cheapest
well, UNC and UCSF are close enough
where do you plan to live/practice in the future?
where do you live now?
which school is closest to your friends/family?

 

[macsak]

cheapest
well, UNC and UCSF are close enough
where do you plan to live/practice in the future?
where do you live now?
which school is closest to your friends/family?

and i'm not sure this is true-

• Philly area is supposed to be really nice

 

[dental10101]

cheapest
well, UNC and UCSF are close enough
where do you plan to live/practice in the future?
where do you live now?
which school is closest to your friends/family?

Im from IL so all the places are pretty far away. But I am pretty open to living in a new place basically wherever my career takes me

 

[Ryxndek]

Personally I would choose UCSF or UNC for the smaller class size. I've heard UCSF is a solid program and has good specialization rates

 

[macsak]

Personally I would choose UCSF or UNC for the smaller class size. I've heard UCSF is a solid program and has good specialization rates

UNC is also a solid program, and has some of the best specialty programs

 

[Ryxndek]

I would toss out Penn, yes it's an Ivy league, but at the end of the day do patients really care where you went to school? As long as you do a good job I think they'll be grateful regardless of where you went. Besides, Penn is really expensive, and you get 50 more PASS students after your second year making your total class size 200. 200 vs. 88 vs. 60 students....

 

[OncePreDent]

I would choose UNC; never been to North Carolina but have only heard good things. Plus, living expenses for UNC should be less than San Fran for 4 years.

 

[macsak]

I would toss out Penn, yes it's an Ivy league, but at the end of the day do patients really care where you went to school? As long as you do a good job I think they'll be grateful regardless of where you went. Besides, Penn is really expensive, and you get 50 more PASS students after your second year making your total class size 200. 200 vs. 88 vs. 60 students....

but but but but but "prestigious"...

 

[dental10101]

I would choose UNC; never been to North Carolina but have only heard good things. Plus, living expenses for UNC should be less than San Fran for 4 years.

interestingly enough housing near ucsf is not too bad compared to what housing in SF is. Based on talking to students what each of them pays on avg is approx the same across the three schools

 

[dental10101]

I would toss out Penn, yes it's an Ivy league, but at the end of the day do patients really care where you went to school? As long as you do a good job I think they'll be grateful regardless of where you went. Besides, Penn is really expensive, and you get 50 more PASS students after your second year making your total class size 200. 200 vs. 88 vs. 60 students....

Ahh yes that’s true no patient will care but it’s more just about that connectivity to the school and network that comes with going to an IVY ya know

 

[Ryxndek]

Ahh yes that’s true no patient will care but it’s more just about that connectivity to the school and network that comes with going to an IVY ya know

I guess that would depend on where you plan on practicing. If in the east coast that would make more sense, for me personally I’ll be practicing in Midwest and UMN graduates 70%+ of the states practicing dentists so getting a job within that network is more beneficial for me than going to an Ivy League since practice owners that went to the U know what to expect out of graduates. So hopefully it will be an easier transition.

So just take into account on where you plan on practicing! Idk of many UPenn graduates moving to Midwest lol, so the network here may be slim. But maybe not so much on east coast!