UOP or UCLA?

[classof201X]

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Hi everyone,

Let me start off by saying I've already read every "UOP vs UCLA" thread that already exists. I am extremely undecided between these two amazing schools and I also realized that I am incredibly lucky to have earned an acceptance at both these institutions. That being said, PLEASE help me decide!

This is part of what someone else posted in another thread in 2011, which I thought was pretty useful:

UCLA University of California in Los Angeles
Pros: Prestigious name, great staff, great school, excellent research/post grad opportunities PLUS you get to live in LA and have bragging rights over your friends and their friends.
Cons: Weak patient pool, relatively new program (5 years I think), not the best place to live/study in terms of security and safety, stuck up students from what I hear.

UOP University Of the Pacific
Pros: Student oriented school (faculty and staff), major clinical emphasis, strong alumni society, excellent reputation, 20 years experience with the IDS program, amazing job offers upon graduation, undisputable camaraderie among students/faculty/staff, Dean Dugoni is the Past President of the ADA & AADS among many other committees/associations and organizations. Oh yeah, SAN FRANCISCO, SAN FRANCISCO, S. A. N. F. R. A. N. C. I. S. C. O. ! (Do I sound too biased ?)
Cons: Expensive, less post grad/specialty opportunities than UCLA, very intense 24 month program, reputed as a "rich-kid" school, living in San Fran is in fact very pricy … but I still sympathize with whoever is going to NYU.


A few things about me that might show why I'm undecided:
-I currently live in the Bay Area but I am from Southern California and miss it dearly (I love So Cal weather!!!)
-Cost is not really a concern because I plan to apply for a military scholarship and am quite confident that I can obtain it
-I do not have plans to specialize, but I am afraid of severely hindering my chances to specialize when I can attend a school that has them all laid out for me to explore (just in case!)
-Honestly, I am a little terrified of a 3 year program, but I definitely see how great it would be to get done "early"
-I am very friendly/outgoing and while I will take dental school seriously, I would like to have a social life of some sort
-I had great interactions with students at both schools, they all seemed pretty happy!

Anyone with any useful information PLEASE share it, I am so uncertain right now.

Also, sorry to everyone who is rolling their eyes at this post and wants me to shut up. But I could really use the insight!

THANK YOU🙂

 

[scvpredent]

i think i read the same threads as you, i am undecided too!!! anyone have any advice? Bueller?

 

[circa86]

pretty sure ucla has been around since the 60s. and i wouldn't consider westwood/beverly hills unsafe

 

[ojyarumaru]

UCLA area is definitely safe and is one of the nicer parts of LA (west side). I'd pick UCLA if you're in-state... the quality of education you get from the two are really good, but cost wise, UCLA is definitely much cheaper...

 

[ushaseos]

Westwood is a pretty upscale safe area. LA as a whole is way more dangerous that SF, but if you stick to places around campus you'll be fine. Students are all overachievers so there are going to be a few who are jerks. One one of the older topics I read there was one class that was full of a-holes so it is a risk you'll run if you do decide to go there.

Specialization is not something against UOP. You can do it there probably quite a bit easier since not as many folks will be pursuing specialization so you'll have more opportunities. Also their lack of residents for specialties means you'll be doing tons of challenging clinical stuff. The super compressed coursework can be taxing but if I remember correctly there is enough variety to keep yourself from going insane.

Overall, you can't go wrong with either. This was the decision I was hoping to toil with but UoP gave me no love 🙁. Still I can't deny it is a fantastic school and I'd still consider going there...very seriously consider going there if they'd let me!

EDIT: Also I think UCLA's new streamlined curriculum is something UoP was impleting into their own. You can be sure UCLA's academic stuff is no lesser. Their clinical experience however is only adequate, while UoP is very much beyond adequate.

 

[teett]

I personally would choose UOP ...

 

[punchdrunk7]

Being in school and having the chance for one less year of school would be an amazing feeling!!!! I turned down my acceptance to UOP to attend U of L. I love it here and chose to attend based on the amount of money I would save. However I think the one exception to price is one less year of school. This means one more year of income compared to all 4 year schools. You still get two years in the clinic so you won't be less qualified in any way. That was one thing people told me and I think its false.

 

[tmirchel]

If you are seriously going to join the military go to UOP. 3+3=6, 4+4=8. I was going to UOP until I got into my state school and I was filling out military applications. I would start now because 3 years go fast. Both with be good schools. Good luck.

 

[503224]

Overall, you can't go wrong with either. This was the decision I was hoping to toil with but UoP gave me no love 🙁. Still I can't deny it is a fantastic school and I'd still consider going there...very seriously consider going there if they'd let me!

Aww, hearing this makes me 🙁. But you're in at some great places!

 

[503224]

Being in school and having the chance for one less year of school would be an amazing feeling!!!! I turned down my acceptance to UOP to attend U of L. I love it here and chose to attend based on the amount of money I would save. However I think the one exception to price is one less year of school. This means one more year of income compared to all 4 year schools. You still get two years in the clinic so you won't be less qualified in any way. That was one thing people told me and I think its false.

👍 Especially if you're thinking you most likely will not specialize.

If you are seriously going to join the military go to UOP. 3+3=6, 4+4=8. I was going to UOP until I got into my state school and I was filling out military applications. I would start now because 3 years go fast. Both with be good schools. Good luck.

👍👍

 

[katy5787]

First, let me start by saying that both are great schools and you can't go wrong with either one! It's really going to come down to personal preference/goals.

I'm a current 4th year at UCLA and going to UCLA has been the best 4 years of my life! It is a lot of hard work, but I know it will pay off. I'm so happy I decided to go here for dental school. Living in LA is SO FUN!! We definitely make time to go out and enjoy LA when we can, which is pretty often as long as you stay on top of your school work. You can easily do something at least once a weekend (sometimes more) if you are good at time management. Westwood is VERY safe! I walk to and from school every single day, sometimes late at night, and I've NEVER felt unsafe. The school is surrounded by Brentwood, Bel Air, and Beverly Hills, so we have some very rich neighbors haha. Also, UCLA SOD has been around for many years (since the 60's). Some of the negatives of living in LA are the fact that living costs are expensive and traffic is awful.

The patient pool is somewhat weak, but given that, I am already almost done with all of my clinical requirements (which are extensive) and I still have about 6 months left before graduation. If you are good at patient management and work hard, you will have no problem graduating on time. Also, I feel that our clinical experiences are very strong and well-rounded. I've compared notes with friends from other dental schools all over the country and I truly believe that I am just as strong (if not stronger in most cases) clinically as any other 4th year dental student in the country. If you go to UCLA, you will be well prepared both clinically and didactically.

UCLA has a great name! If you are thinking about applying to a specialty or even a GPR/AEGD, going to UCLA can only help you. Obviously, we all work really really hard and do all of the things that people applying for specialties do, but the UCLA name gives you an extra advantage when applying to post-doc programs. So far this year, my classmates have been extremely successful in getting interviews at the most prestigious residency programs. So far, everyone has gotten into a program for next year, including 13/13 students matching for ortho. We will see how things go when we find out the match results for the rest of the candidates in January, but I am willing to bet that we will be very successful. There are other schools that have great names too (Penn, UCSF, Harvard, etc.) and while going to one of these schools definitely isn't necessary to get into a residency program, it can only help.

From what I know, most UOP students want to do general dentistry and the school is more geared towards this. However, I also know that there are plenty of UOP students who do specialize. If you work hard at any dental school, you can get wherever you want to go.

Hope this helps! In the end, either will be great! Dental school is really all about what you make of it!

 

[UCSFx2017]

First, let me start by saying that both are great schools and you can't go wrong with either one! It's really going to come down to personal preference/goals.

I'm a current 4th year at UCLA and going to UCLA has been the best 4 years of my life! It is a lot of hard work, but I know it will pay off. I'm so happy I decided to go here for dental school. Living in LA is SO FUN!! We definitely make time to go out and enjoy LA when we can, which is pretty often as long as you stay on top of your school work. You can easily do something at least once a weekend (sometimes more) if you are good at time management. Westwood is VERY safe! I walk to and from school every single day, sometimes late at night, and I've NEVER felt unsafe. The school is surrounded by Brentwood, Bel Air, and Beverly Hills, so we have some very rich neighbors haha. Also, UCLA SOD has been around for many years (since the 60's). Some of the negatives of living in LA are the fact that living costs are expensive and traffic is awful.

The patient pool is somewhat weak, but given that, I am already almost done with all of my clinical requirements (which are extensive) and I still have about 6 months left before graduation. If you are good at patient management and work hard, you will have no problem graduating on time. Also, I feel that our clinical experiences are very strong and well-rounded. I've compared notes with friends from other dental schools all over the country and I truly believe that I am just as strong (if not stronger in most cases) clinically as any other 4th year dental student in the country. If you go to UCLA, you will be well prepared both clinically and didactically.

UCLA has a great name! If you are thinking about applying to a specialty or even a GPA/AEGD, going to UCLA can only help you. Obviously, we all work really really hard and do all of the things that people applying for specialties do, but the UCLA name gives you an extra advantage when applying to post-doc programs. So far this year, my classmates have been extremely successful in getting interviews at the most prestigious residency programs. So far, everyone has gotten into a program for next year, including 13/13 students matching for ortho. We will see how things go when we find out the match results for the rest of the candidates in January, but I am willing to bet that we will be very successful. There are other schools that have great names too (Penn, UCSF, Harvard, etc.) and while going to one of these schools definitely isn't necessary to get into a residency program, it can only help.

From what I know, most UOP students want to do general dentistry and the school is more geared towards this. However, I also know that there are plenty of UOP students who do specialize. If you work hard at any dental school, you can get wherever you want to go.

Hope this helps! In the end, either will be great! Dental school is really all about what you make of it!

I've read your past posts and it says that you've been accepted to UPenn and UCLA. You decided on attending UCLA even though your fiance at the time lived on the east coast. Is your fiance financially supporting you in California, making the decision to attend UCLA even better, or was that factor irrelevant?

 

[katy5787]

I've read your past posts and it says that you've been accepted to UPenn and UCLA. You decided on attending UCLA even though your fiance at the time lived on the east coast. Is your fiance financially supporting you in California, making the decision to attend UCLA even better, or was that factor irrelevant?

I was accepted to a bunch of different dental schools 4 years ago, but I was trying to decide between my top choices which were Pitt, Penn, and UCLA. I'm from PA, so Pitt would have been in-state for me. I decided to go to UCLA to try something really different because I had lived in PA my whole life. Not to get too personal, but I was always paying for dental school on my own and actually my relationship didn't end up working out, but choosing to go to UCLA has been the best decision of my life and I don't regret it for a second. For me, it turns out that my in-state school and UCLA would have been approximately the same price when it is all said and done because CA lets you become an in-state resident after 1 year, so I only paid out-of-state tuition at UCLA for 1 year. My sister goes to Pitt for dental school right now and we have compared financials, and basically it works out to be very very similar in cost when you include tuition and all living expenses.