University of Michigan (UoM) or Southern California (USC)

[eshopmachine]

I got in to both University of Michigan and University of Southern California. Both schools are great, but I don't know which one to choose from. USC is in warm California but there's recently many negative post about it. UoM is a great school, minus the cold.
Anyone can give me some advice? 😕

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[JennDDS]

I got in to both University of Michigan and University of Southern California. Both schools are great, but I don't know which one to choose from. USC is in warm California but there's recently many negative post about it. UoM is a great school, minus the cold.
Anyone can give me some advice? 😕

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=593963

UoM! Don't even bother to think about USC!

 

[iJackTeeth]

stay away from USC

"class of 07" still in clinic trying to graduate? thats just crazy!

 

[xhamburgersamx]

UOM is a great school, go there "cheaper" public school, what's holding you back and why USC?

 

[sdooner30]

UM!! Hail to the Victors!

 

[cherr1pop]

As others have said, UoM no doubt. USC is warm, but I'm sure you can buy whatever you need (coats, gloves, scarves, hats) with the tuition you save by going to UoM.

 

[eshopmachine]

thank you all of your kind reply. The one think that hold me back from UoM is because it's not in California and I plan to practice in California after, that means I have to take the board again. My dentist said that his friends have hard time passing the California Board after graduating from out of state school. Family is another reason that motivate me to stay within California. However, hearing negative aspects of USC in recent post, I am really don't know where to go now...😕

 

[Ranelar]

Meh, if you can pass the board in one region, you should be able to pass in another right? I'm doing the same thing, Tufts for school, and practice on the west coast. I wouldn't worry about it, I would enjoy UoM.

 

[rollredroll]

go to michigan...i guarantee a national championship in football in 5 years

 

[baccarack]

I would think about it before you go ahead and make a decision. The boards are going to be the MOST stressful time of your life - do you really want to repeat it a month later? Are you from Cal or out of state for both?

 

[eshopmachine]

I would think about it before you go ahead and make a decision. The boards are going to be the MOST stressful time of your life - do you really want to repeat it a month later? Are you from Cal or out of state for both?

I am from Cal. I am aware of the difficulty of passing the board in CA, because some friends of my dentist took 2-3 years to pass it.

 

[Doc Ock]

Obviously some of the recent posts about USC are over done and there are a fair number of USC haters out there...so take what you read with some grain of salt.

Board examinations can be a bit regional....dentistry is NOT the same in all areas of the country. California accepts California boards and Western Regional boards. There is reciprocity if you hold another license in another state. Be aware that if you go to an out of state school, you will not be taking your board exam in the friendly confines of your own institution (which can mean flying in patients to the board venue or scrambling around for patients at that venue).

UM is a great school. USC was a great school and will be again. Other schools are not immune to change or to problems (UPenn for example fired their Dean this last summer).

So look over the schools again and base your decision on what you see there rather than what you read here.

 

[Doc Ock]

Oh yeah, I understand that USC graduates do well on the Western Regionals (good pass rate).

 

[Doc Ock]

If you go to the Western Regional website you can see these facts:

www.wreb.org

Graduating 2008 seniors who took WREB's exam this year:

U Mich- 5 graduating seniors

USC- 146 graduating seniors

2009 DENTAL EXAM LOCATIONS, DATES AND FEES
Exam Location Exam Date Application Deadline Exam Fees
VA Commonwealth University • Richmond, VA March 12-15
Thursday-Sunday January 26 $1830
University of Colorado • Aurora, CO March 13-16
Friday-Monday January 26 $2023
New York University • New York City, NY March 19-22
Thursday-Sunday February 2 $1600
University of Iowa • Iowa City, IA March 20-23
Friday-Monday February 2 $1755
Loma Linda University #1 • Loma Linda, CA March 20-24
Friday-Tuesday February 2 $1680
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) • Los Angeles, CA March 26-29
Thursday-Sunday February 9 $1905
Tufts University • Boston, MA March 27-30
Friday-Monday February 9 $1630
Creighton University • Omaha, NE April 2-5
Thursday-Sunday February 17 $1730
Boston University • Boston, MA April 2-5
Thursday-Sunday February 17 $1625
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) # 1 • Las Vegas, NV April 4-7
Saturday-Tuesday February 18 $1805
Temple University • Philadelphia, PA April 16-19
Thursday-Sunday March 2 $1855
University of Missouri, Kansas City (UMKC) • Kansas City, MO April 16-19
Thursday-Sunday March 2 $1510
Baylor College of Dentistry • Dallas, TX April 17-20
Friday-Monday March 3 $1730
University of Louisville • Louisville, KY April 23-26
Thursday-Sunday March 9 $1730
Case Western Reserve University • Cleveland, OH April 23-26
Thursday-Sunday March 9 $1680
University of Texas at San Antonio • San Antonio, TX May 1-4
Friday-Monday March 17 $1730
University of Oklahoma #1 • Oklahoma City, OK May 1-4
Friday-Monday March 17 $1880
University of Texas at Houston • Houston, TX May 14-17
Thursday-Sunday March 30 $1730
Oregon Health & Science University • Portland, OR May 22-25
Friday-Monday April 7 $1780
University of the Pacific (U of P) #1 • San Francisco, CA May 29-June 1
Friday-Monday April 13 $1840
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) • San Francisco, CA May 29-June 1
Friday-Monday April 13 $1914
Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health • Mesa, AZ June 4-7
Thursday-Sunday April 20 $1660
University of the Pacific (UofP #2) • San Francsico, CA June 5-8
Friday-Monday April 20 $1840
University of Southern California (USC) #1 • Los Angeles, CA June 5-8
Friday-Monday April 20 $1977
University of Southern California (USC) #2 • Los Angeles, CA June 12-15
Friday-Monday April 27 $1977
Loma Linda University #2 • Loma Linda, CA June 12-16
Friday-Tuesday April 27 $1680
University of Washington • Seattle, WA June 17-20
Wednesday-Saturday May 1 $1730
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) #2 • Las Vegas, NV August 12-15
Wednesday-Saturday June 26 $1805

 

[Ranelar]

Neat, so you can take it at your own school? Look at the Michigan board as practice for the western board 😛

 

[Crew07]

I am tired of all the USC haters.... PBL is freakin awesome. I did my undergrad the same way. I never went to class, I would follow the lectures at my own leisure and study on my own. I have a few friends that are at USC and they love it. One of them is a fourth year that is done with all his requiments and has nothing to do till he graduates in May. USC offers time for students to have a life and family. many people have to sit in lectures ALL day EVERY day to learn. They don't have the ablilty to learn independently. Go to USC.... I promise a championship in .... two years!

 

[gryffindor]

I am from Cal. I am aware of the difficulty of passing the board in CA, because some friends of my dentist took 2-3 years to pass it.

Your friends were trying to pass the CA boards under the old system where the state of California administered it's own licensure exam and it truly was stressful and difficult for everyone, not just out-of-staters. Just recently (2006?), California started accepting the results of the WREB for licensure which makes it a lot easier to get a California license so I wouldn't be worried about trying to pass CA boards because it is a non-issue now. WREB is probably offered at Michigan or a nearby school so you won't even have to go to California to take it. Just choose the cheaper school and you won't regret your decision.

 

[DiNoZeRo2o9]

If you are super motivated, going to USC wouldn't be that bad. If you need your hand held, U of M 100%. Personally living in Cali I wouldn't want to leave and I would choose probably the Cali school solely for location. Don't really wanna live in Michigan.

 

[Dentgirl09]

Michigan. Just bc of the bad rep that USC has. It may not all be true... but clearly there are serious problems with the program that need to be fixed before it becomes people's #1 choice.

Def do your research, talk to students, etc. B/c sure you might be hard working and go to USC thinking you're more motivated so youll be fine..... but in reality... dschool is A LOT of work if you're planning on doing well. You are gonna get worn down by the amount of work, you don't want to have to think about other things. You want the rest in place for you so that you can do your part and the school does theirs.

Right?

 

[Oracle DMD]

don't be foolish. stay away from USC! i'm no hater either. but when THEIR OWN STUDENTS cannabalize their rep....i'd be worried. at 100K per year their own students say they can't graduate in 4! that's not my opinion, that's straight from SEVERAL students at USC. i'm from southern cal and love it there but there's no way i'd gamble on whether or not they fix the problems in the next 4 years. if you're gonna go to the most expensive school in the country, you should at least be able to graduate on time! hell for 100k/year i'd expect top level education and equipment too.

 

[La Dentista]

Michigan for sure. You will absolutely love the atmosphere and the surrounding areas too when you have a chance to get off campus. You will have to deal with the ice-age we're seemingly getting every winter now... but I think it's a small price to pay paired up against to the cons of your other choice.

 

[huk1985]

Yes, as much as I despise alma mater now, only thing USC's got over UM is, their football team and the weather.. (at least gathering from the postings on SDN and from my friends who's at UM dental)

 

[Riley1]

UoM! It's too much of cost and risk to go to USC. UoM is a better choice school than USC.

 

[seaweed719]

I am tired of all the USC haters.... PBL is freakin awesome. I did my undergrad the same way. I never went to class, I would follow the lectures at my own leisure and study on my own. I have a few friends that are at USC and they love it. One of them is a fourth year that is done with all his requiments and has nothing to do till he graduates in May. USC offers time for students to have a life and family. many people have to sit in lectures ALL day EVERY day to learn. They don't have the ablilty to learn independently. Go to USC.... I promise a championship in .... two years!

The biggest problems with USC are its clinic and cost, not PBL (even though the majority of predents I talked to didn't like PBL).

 

[seaweed719]

To the OP:
Go to the cheapest school. If you spend more time viewing the threads on dental students forum and talking to newly graduated dentists, most of them will let you know the biggest factor in choosing dental school is cost.

I wouldn't want to bet my $400,000 (plus more if you include loan interests) on a school with questionable reputation and clinical experience.

 

[peRsEVERENCE]

Hey i was in the same boat as you last year. I would really consider USC, with the -12 degree every morning, my face feels like it's on fire cuz it's so cold. All this snow everywhere makes it so you can't really go anywhere. Kinda depresssing, wishing i was in Sunny So Cal right now! USC isn't as bad as people say, i only went for the money, but U o Michi is no joke, they just pump u with all this info, a bit overwhelming....whatever you choose, don't regret it next year!

 

[youngmc27]

I got to USC and I love it but the cost can be overwhelming. I am sure it will be more so once I start to pay on the loans. Only you can decide what is best for you. I don't think either school is better than the other you are still a dentist no matter where you go.