Univ of Michigan or UPenn???

[Hysteria24]

at michigan they claimed that they have high rates of specialization and of course that's something i'm interested in as well. interestingly at penn, they provide paperwork showing the directions recent graduates went, including specialization. that was impressive.

http://www.dent.umich.edu/about/aboutschool/news/grad2008/index.html

Look over on the right and it shows that 20.4% of the class of 2008 went on to specialize (not including GPR/AEGDs). I don't know how that stacks up with the number you have for UPenn, but based on what I've seen around SDN these seem average.

Anyone have any stats of other schools to compare?

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[dentstd]

If you read carefully, I was specifically talking about the MAJOR graduate programs, a.k.a. business, law, medicine.

Anyway, these rankings and stats do not matter to the op. He was just asking for some advice on each school, but this thread beat the topic to dead lol. Once again, good luck with your decision and you really can't go wrong with either school

What she listed are mostly graduate programs. Business, law, and medicine aren't "graduate" programs, they're "professional" programs. Regardless, Michigan is stronger in the dental and biomedical sciences than Penn. Penn just has a stronger name.

 

[mlletoof08]

Thanks for all the info. I will take everything into consideration. Does anybody know if UMich offers a tuition stabilizer plan?

 

[Hysteria24]

Thanks for all the info. I will take everything into consideration. Does anybody know if UMich offers a tuition stabilizer plan?

I had to look up what that was (http://www.sfs.upenn.edu/paying/paying-tuition-stabilizer-program.htm).

My guess (and only a guess) would be no.

 

[mlletoof08]

Thanks Hysteria24 for digging it up. Since both programs seem comparable, I am trying to factor in all the costs. For both schools, do students learn most of the procedures before they start seeing patients in their 3rd year?

 

[Hysteria24]

For both schools, do students learn most of the procedures before they start seeing patients in their 3rd year?

I know UMich has a "vertically integrated clinic," meaning you will be teamed up with other upperclassmen and start assisting with patients procedures immediately in the first semester. As you learn more in the pre-clinic lab those will then be transferred to what you are allowed to do in the real clinic (not sure whihc procedures and when). If I'm not mistaken they start doing cleaning/prophys on their own patients very quickly (I think end of second semester).

 

[mlletoof08]

Thanks Hysteria24! You are so helpful!

 

[BigDentoncAMPus]

Haha... this is pretty entertaining. I normally don't post often but I had to comment. As a current Michigan student I can say everything Hysteria just said is true. We were up in the clinic assisting the very first week.

My advice would be to look at both schools and look at the curriculum and their class schedule. Don't worry about the tuition difference too much. Both schools will prepare you well enough to pay it back and you might as well enjoy your next four years. At Michigan you will be lucky to have 2 days a week without at least one exam or quiz that day. Compare that to UPenn's schedule and see what works best for you. I will also say that the D3's and D4's are VERY happy and relaxed here. I've never seen people so happy...seriously! So there's light at the end of the tunnel here, but it's nonstop exams until you get there.