Unc

[Sam Spade]

Hey, I've just joined SDN and have been unable to post or read interview feedback for UNC. Have others experienced this problem? Anyone interested in, or knowledgeable of, UNC willing to share their impressions? I'm trying to learn about the school and will appreciate any replies on this topic. Thanks!

Sam Spade

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[vishal_k32801]

I think you will have to just wait until Mr. JAAP contacts you.
Try to contact him, he is a NC resident, all sold on NC Dental School and had a fantastic interview. Good luck friend.

 

[mard]

Sam,

mlsripathy also interviewed there last Saturday, you can PM her for the feedback. are you going to be there for the 1/10 interview?

 

[mlsripathy]

Welcome Sam Spade!
I interviewed at UNC last Saturday, and really liked the school. They started the entire process at 7:45am, and everybody was done by 1pm. Even though there were around 70 candidates to be interviewed, the visit / interviews were very organized. Each candidate had 3 interviews, 1 was a student interview and the other 2 were faculty interviews. Each interview took about 25 minutes.
We also had a very short tour of the school, a financial aid presentation, and a presentation about the history of UNC dental school, and the history of dentistry.
Please contact me if you have any specific questions.
Good luck!!

 

[NewNameForGoogleBot]

Carolina is one of the top 5 schools in the nation. Excellent clinical education, all of the specialties are available if that's what you want (and they seem to like their own students to a certain extent).

The professors are as good as they get from talking with current students. The textbooks used around the world for operative dentistry (Sturdevant) and orthodontics (Proffit) are written by Carolina profs.

At my interview the students were happy and helpful and the admissions staff were cool as well. Brand new clinics and pre-clinic lab as well as new classrooms with more renovations in progress (although they didn't seem to affect the school in an adverse way as they were in a different building).

UNC ranks 3rd in NIH funding for research with $8.3 million in 2002 (the average school recieved $2.5 million).

Chapel Hill is a great place to live - nice weather, UNC basketball, beach or mountains 2 hrs away. If you've only heard about Southern hospitatlity - wait till you experience it.

Despite what many say, UNC will give you residency after your first year. They told us that 94% of the students had residency by their second year and 100% by their third. I won't even mention the cost of in-state tuition here because it's obscenely inexpensive.

Downsides: Very hard to get into out of state. I heard they don't teach as much towards the national boards. That's about it. If you have any more questions - fire away.

 

[mlsripathy]

During my interview I was told that up to 20% of the seats are for out-of-state students. There were many out-of-state applicants interviewing on that day.

 

[Sam Spade]

Hey, thanks everyone for your prompt and informative responses. I haven't read much regarding UNC on this webboard, so I began this thread hoping to generate some discussion for those interested. I interviewed at UNC in October and was very impressed with the school, for many of the same reasons mentioned by jaap. However, I only applied to a few schools and am not confident that I have a strong basis for comparison. So far, I've interviewed at UNC and Buffalo and loved both. It may be that I am just overly excited to be entering dental school next year.

Jaap raises several important questions. I'll address each individually.

(1) DENTAL SCHOOL RANKINGS
At UNC, we were first told that the ADEA does not condone dental school rankings on account of the inadequacy of such surveys to provide a sound measure of a program's capacity to produce successful professionals, and secondly, that these rankings should not be a consideration in a prospective student's evaluation of a dental program. Ok, agreed. So then they proceed to present their own #1 and #2 national rankings by these so-called "unreliable" sources. Please. How much importance will you place on this factor in making your final decision? Will you enroll at a "Top Five Dental School" if you receive an offer, no matter what? Does anyone really care about rankings?

 

[Sam Spade]

(2) LOCATION AND RESIDENCY
Obviously these are major issues for me, in regards to both practical and personal matters.

1. Anyone have experience establishing NC residency?
I've also heard that residency can be obtained within the first year of school, or may even be implemented retroactively - for tuition purposes - at the beginning of the second year.

2. Is it crazy to matriculate at a public school as a nonresident if you have no original intention to stay in-state following graduation? Is the dental curriculum at UNC tailored to state requirements to deliberately make it more difficult to practice elsewhere? At the time of application, I simply have no idea where I would like to be when I grow up, and naturally, I would prefer that my selected dental school not predispose me to a course of perpetual obstacles should I decide to relocate.

3. Would you travel a great distance from your home and essentially everything that's important to you for a dental school?

4. Southern hospitality? Please don't take offense at this question, but let's be clear about this. Frankly, I'm apprehensive of perceived North-South cultural differences and all that I've heard about "Yankees" in the South being pegged as rude, lazy, spoiled, dishonest,and unprincipled outsiders. I've seen too many "WE DON'T CARE HOW YOU USED TO DO IT UP NORTH" bumperstickers to be entirely relieved of this suspicion. Would I feel unwelcome in the South because I'm from New York?

That's all I have right now. I hope that others contributing to this forum can relate to these issues, whether or not they are considering UNC. Thanks everyone for your open and honest opinions, and best of luck come December 1.

Sam Spade

 

[no2thdk999]

Sam Spade I went through your situation exactly several years ago. I'm going to try and answer below.

Originally posted by Sam Spade
(2) LOCATION AND RESIDENCY
Obviously these are major issues for me, in regards to both practical and personal matters.

1. Anyone have experience establishing NC residency?
I've also heard that residency can be obtained within the first year of school, or may even be implemented retroactively - for tuition purposes - at the beginning of the second year.

I had to do this. As a resident of SC I moved to Charlotte for a year before dental school so my wife could go to vet school at the same time (no vet school in SC) What you need to do is register to vote, get a NC drivers license, register your car, be involved in the community, and look like your going to live there a long time (i.e. don't vacation every weekend back home)

2. Is it crazy to matriculate at a public school as a nonresident if you have no original intention to stay in-state following graduation? Is the dental curriculum at UNC tailored to state requirements to deliberately make it more difficult to practice elsewhere? At the time of application, I simply have no idea where I would like to be when I grow up, and naturally, I would prefer that my selected dental school not predispose me to a course of perpetual obstacles should I decide to relocate.

I don't think it's crazy, you will get a first rate education, in first rate facilities, save money, and get to live in a great area of the country. The curriculum is not tailored to make it harder to practice elsewhere. They will spend SOME time getting you ready for the NC boards, but they are similar to other regional boards. The only downside I have found to not going to the school in the state where I practice is the networking I missed out on. No dentists in my town went to UNC and most went to MUSC so they already have a bond based on that. Not a big deal and I wouldn't change what I did.

3. Would you travel a great distance from your home and essentially everything that's important to you for a dental school?

Probably not. It was only a half day's drive for me.

4. Southern hospitality? Please don't take offense at this question, but let's be clear about this. Frankly, I'm apprehensive of perceived North-South cultural differences and all that I've heard about "Yankees" in the South being pegged as rude, lazy, spoiled, dishonest,and unprincipled outsiders. I've seen too many "WE DON'T CARE HOW YOU USED TO DO IT UP NORTH" bumperstickers to be entirely relieved of this suspicion. Would I feel unwelcome in the South because I'm from New York?

You will be pleasantly surprised at the South's gracious hospitality. Several of my classmates were from the northeast and west and we all got along swimmingly. The attitude you are concerned with is reserved for just the rude, lazy, spoiled, and dishonest Yankees and Ted Kennedy. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised once you get to know us and our sisters/wives.

That's all I have right now. I hope that others contributing to this forum can relate to these issues, whether or not they are considering UNC. Thanks everyone for your open and honest opinions, and best of luck come December 1.

Sam Spade

Sam Spade good luck and feel free to PM me if you want any specifics

Rob

 

[Sam Spade]

Thank you, Rob.

Your insights are invaluable, and I sincerely appreciate that you have taken the time to respond so thoroughly to my inquiries. Did you spend a year in residence before applying, in order to be considered in-state for admission preference, or did establishing residency affect only your tuition? In the case of the latter, do you have any advice for getting admitted as a nonresident? What year did you graduate, and did you return to SC immediately following graduation? Sincerest gratitude.

Sam Spade

 

[Sam Spade]

PS, Thank you also to Jaap, especially, and other posters. There doesn't seem to be as much interest in UNC in this forum as I had anticipated, but I hope that people will continue to post comments and information for those that are preparing for interviews or offers of admission from UNC.

 

[no2thdk999]

Sam Spade,

I was accepted to MUSC my senior year in college. I turned them down and moved to NC after graduation. I applied to UNC only having lived there 4 months but as long as you will have lived there 1 year before you will begin matriculating you can apply as an instate resident.

My wife was accepted to the vet school at NCSU as an out of state resident and after the 1st semester was considered a NC resident. It helps to marry a NC resident.

As far as getting in out of state I won't be much help. Basically you need to look incredible on paper and interview well. I think they only took 7-10 my year. I don't think the out of staters in my class all got in state residency after one year. I would be very careful with what they tell you about that. I'd try to get something in writing.

I returned to SC the day after graduating in 01. I never took the NC boards.

Rob