Well Bres,
I dont know that much about Maryland, but I can tell you about some of the pluses about Upenn. I actually applied to both, but canceled my Maryland inteview becuase I had already gt into Penn, and it was so late. If you want to specialize, I would say Upenn right away. Upenn has one of the top placement rates into specialties in the nation. hey placed something like 15 people into ortho last year alone! They also have a brand new mutlimillion dollar facility called the RObert Schattner center, which is supposed to be one of the biggest facilities in the nation. Upenn is Ivy league, which also affords some recognition if you plan on practicing anywhere else other than the east coast. THe nice thing about Penn is that they divide the curriculm into research and cliinical, so you have expsoure to both, and let you take elective classes in parts of the field that you are more interested in. They also have many programs such as the dual DDS/MBA program, where they will pay the tuition to any business school you choose. The downside to Penn is the price, as tuition is around $42,000, but I dont know how much Maryland's is. I hope this helps some, let me know if you have any questions.
