UNC??

[waiting]

hey,

i'm a recent North Carolina resident and am applying to the dental school for this fall...I've spoken with an admissions guy at UNC and he's really tried to sell me on the school by telling me how it's supposedly 3rd or 4th in clinical training, and 2nd in research funding.....just wanted to get general feedback on what you know/have heard about UNC???? also, i plan to move out to Cali after residency....if so, do you think I'd be better off paying more and going to a California school or studying here and then moving out? Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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[crimson]

An alum from my undergrad school whom I was talking to this week was very positive about UNC's program. he's at another school doing his oral surgery residency and from what he told me UNC requires many more procedures before graduation (=better prepared to start practice after graduation) and they are also building a brand new facility. there is also a lot of research funding and hence more opportunities to do something cool.
haven't been there myself, but just my 2 cents.
by the way, 99% of dentists I have spoken to have mentioned the importance of having the smallest debt load as possible -- cali is expensive bro! it sucks, but I would go to SF in a jiffy, but the prospect of ~$100,000-150,000 in debt makes me unchill.
How do you like NC man? Is it too southern? or is the chapell hill area chill? (I don't mean to sound offensive at all -- just want to get another 2 cents worth of opinion).

 

[waiting]

crimson,

thanks for the info on UNC...yeah, they were 2nd in the country in NIH funding last year so I guess that's where all the opportunities come from that your friend was talking about. I agree with the debt thing too....honestly, from everything I've heard it's supposed to be a great program. My only hesitancy is the prospect of staying in N.Carolina for another four years! I grew up near Boston and really hate it here in the 'triangle' area....Chapel Hill is a cool, beautiful college town and pretty lively, but that's all there is....I'm working at Duke right now and Durham is also a nice college town, but I'm into to the big city scene and more cosmopolitan/diverse areas....Raleigh (the only major city in central carolina, about 15-20 min. from C.Hill or Durham) sucks in that regard....oh well, I got a feeling though that if I get into Chapel Hill that money will do the talking in the end...

 

[Gil]

UNC is a good school, I haven't heard anything negative about the school.

I'm at UOP in SF, and I really like the school. I'm mainly interested in acquiring a strong clinical education, and I strongly believe that UOP provides that. I will have about $180K in debt when I'm done, but it's a 3 yr school. The going rate for a fresh grad in the bay area is about $100k/yr, so the year saved will help reduce that debt. Also the default rate on loans among UOP grads is very low with over 99% of the loans being repaid... this says a lot about how successful UOP grads are.

Another good school in SF is UCSF. Since you're out of state, it will be harder to get in. UCSF is a very good school though, and I'd compare it closely with UNC.

One thing you've got to consider is that California grads are probably given a little favoritism during boards. I've heard this from many sources, but this shouldn't deter you from graduating in a different state because there are many dentists in cali who did not graduate in cali. Good Luck.

 

[waiting]

thanks gil and crimson for your replies....

Gil...i hear you on the 3 yr. deal and I'd also heard about that low default rate on loans amongst Pacific grads. I just finihsed my 15 ques. UCSF secondary last week and my Pacific app. went out then too....Bay Area is where I plan to settle down, so it'll be very tempting if I get in there. I'd also heard about Cali residents getting favoritism on boards. I've heard Calif. generally has one of the toughest boards period. I don't know, I've got my UNC interview coming up in a couple weeks, I'll see how I feel about the school after that!

Thanks again