UNLV vs UMich

[LifeLineBlue]

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Hey everyone, I've been trying to make a decision between these two schools for the past several weeks but I wanted to gather some more advice before I ultimately make my deposit. Any honest advice would be deeply appreciated!

Price is the ultimate decision factor for me, however, these schools will come out costing practically the same with negligible difference, sooo... here it goes.

UNLV:

• Location: I live in Cali (LA), so Vegas is about a 5 hour drive, as opposed to a 5~6 hour flight. I would also ultimately end up practicing in California
• Weather: I can definitely handle the heat more than the freezing temperatures
• Specializing: I've seen some impressive statistics on students who were able to specialize after graduating
• Patient Pool: Plentiful
• Stress: I've read posts about students being stressed and overworked? IMO, I believe any other curriculum would be just as strenuous

UMich:

• City: Ann Arbor. Awesome.
• Curriculum: I feel the dental curriculum is better organized and structured.
• Well-Known: Umich has a great reputation, (better for specializing?)
• Patient Pool: Have read that the patient pool is not "great" (competition with UDM)
• Weather: Again, not a fan of the cold, however, experiencing a real winter would be a "cool" change

Are there any other factors I'm forgetting to consider? Thank you again SDN, I really need some opinions/advice right now haha!

 

[Weakfart]

Mich, if the only con is being cold, then it's a small con. You will adjust fine and the benefit is sweater weather!

 

[hugomaaf]

I am re-posting a similar response from someone else, hope it helps.

1. Family support

Living closer to home sometimes means a lot more than you would expect in the highly stressful environment. I know lot of people goes to school in UNLV will drive back to CA when ever they have a break. Sometimes a little hug and homemade food can completely recharge you.

2. Post grad program
The fewer post graduate program the school have, the better it is for me, it means no competition for patients between the post grad residents and DS student, you can get all the weird case u want (that u can handle).

U can compare the schools in their programs along with potential patient pool.


3. School support
The school support is extremely important, do the school provide student extra help to get them through school? Did the professor being helpful even outside the school?

I was in an fund raising event that host by the UNLV DS student on a sat morning, turns out about 7-8 faculty members shows up to run at the event. No a huge deal but it does show what kind of people you will be dealing with the next 4 years.



I never be to Umi, so all I can say is the experiences I had with other dental schools.

Hope you can find the one you want.

 

[predental75]

While Michigan winters can be a bit brutal, the summers are AMAZING. Lake Michigan and the northern parts of the state are beautiful. It doesn't even feel like a lake at times, and more like an ocean. With all this said, UMich is a full year program so realistically there won't be tons of time to be enjoying and/or despising the weather.

I might be biased because I grew up in the state and am attending UMich next year. But do what feels right and go where you think you will be the happiest. Good luck!

 

[Danielqta]

UMich is pretty legit! My dentist came from there. How's pricing for either school?

 

[LifeLineBlue]

Thanks everyone for the responses, Ill take everything into consideration!

UMich is pretty legit! My dentist came from there. How's pricing for either school?

They are literally 5-6k apart, tuition alone. When I include housing, transportation, etc., both schools almost have the exact same price tag haha

 

[PersianCzar]

I'm considering UofM too. The ADEA 2014 books profile on UofM estimates Cost of Living at 29K per year. Is that really the case? It also states U of Colorado is 17K per year, and that's by Denver. Is cost of living in Ann Arbor really that high?