USC...Anyone?

Started by sara25
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sara25

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Hello ladies/gentlemen:

I am wondering if there is anyone here who is currently attending USC School of Dentistry. If so, would you be soooooo kind as to send me a PM or answer on this thread....I have a couple of questions that I would like to get answered. Your help would be MOST appreciated! 😀
 
can you please make it public and not PM. I am very interested in ANY info about USC.
 
Hi Shawn,

Sure! No problem. I would be more than happy to share any information that I get.
Do you mind me asking whether you have been accepted or a future applicant?
What in particular are you interested in? Maybe we can exchange some info. 😎
 
I interviewed at USC this year (october), and I am waiting for a response on my status. Apparently, the adcoms at USC just finished reviewing the apps today (tuesday) and have decided on the acceptances. Letters should go out tomorrow.

I am just a big USC fan, always have been. My mentor graduated form USC in the early 90's and I have heard soooo much about that school, I'm just dying to go there.

I will gladly pay the high tuition and commute from my home in the SF Valley. That way, it cost me roughly 50k/year, which is what it would cost me to go to a 30k school and move out (rent).

Got my fingers crossed and my hopes up.

How about you?

BTW, I am also seriously considering UNLV (which i am interviewing at in Jan). Its close to home and I would love to live and start a life in NV. They give you sooo many incentives (i.e. no state taxes, exploding population, cheap real estate ect.) If you cant make it there, you cant make it anywhere!
 
Hey Shawn. Vegas is a great place to live. I really enjoy it. You can own your own home for sure here (vs. Cali). They are in need of dentists and especially specialists. The last continuing ed seminar I went to with work said there are only 27 orthos here for over 1.5 million people!!! So there is a need... Real estate is still reasonable, but going up VERY quickly. (My home went up 60K in 1.5 years).
 
i am a third year student at usc (the og class-wide PBL guinepig)....does that count?
 
Hello everybody,

I have been accepted into USC's IDP dental program. It was such a great relief to get that letter.
YELLOWMAN, of course you count. My question for you is actually about the PBL situation. I have heard alot of negative things about it...could you shed some light on it. In general, do you like it? Any advice...pros and cons...etc.
ANY help would be appreciated.

SHAWN, I hope you get your letter soon. It's such a great feeling. Especially since you really want to go there. BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!!! Although, UNLV is also a good choice.
 
propel, First off CONGRATS!!

Is IDP the international dentist program? Also, did you receive a physical letter in the mail? If so, when? Was it a fat package or a thin standard letter?

I am very anxious as you can tell.
 
Can someone one tell about the teaching methods in USC ? I heard their system of teaching is completely different from other schools. For instance, they have less lectures and more group works.
 
what's IDP? I know of ISP (International STudent prog)....so I am assuming they are the same.

As for PBL? Nothing must to say other than teh fact that it's problem based LN as the name suggests. THey give you a problem and you go solve it by doing whatever reserach neccessary. Usually end up reading a bunch of books, journals on line sources etc.

Pros: Saves time. No lec to fall asleep in. You learn a hell of a lot cuz you end up reading everything. YOu retain more cuz you study everythin on your own. USC give you A LOT of time off to study for part I boards cuz they want to have a lot of students specialize

COns: You pay hell of a lot of money to have you teach yourself. YOu sometimes have to work with people you can't get along with (remember PBL is a group session based system). Some things they expect you to learn would be better off being a lecture system. Because it's a self-taught system, if you are not a motivated student, you'll slack off and won't learn anything.

That's all pros/cons i can think of this late, but basically PBL rewards both the gunners and the lazies. Gunners cuz you're going to learn everything and the lazy people cuz they won't study anything and get by just passing hte tests. We have a good number of both types of people with a few in between.

In terms of effectiveness......out of around 140 students, 43 of them got 90 or above on part I boards.....almost a third. To be exact, my class (2005) had two people in 97, four in 96, five in 95, and at least 6 or 7 in 94. THose are some solid numbers in any school. PErsonally, I like PBL. I can honestly say i learned a lot, and my GPA and my board score (95) reflect that. Clinically PBL is a bit weak, but it's getting better by the year. For eg, class of 2007 is getting some very good dental anat/waxing course that my class never got to take. So the prog is definitely improving as time goes.....
 
Hello everybody!

To answer some of your questions:

The program into which I was accepted is the ASPID, IDP, ISP...the international dental program. Take your pick...I have heard all of these mentioned.

First, I received an email from the program coordinator telling me that I was accepted. A couple of days later, I received a package (a relatively thin one) in snail mail.

I have no idea how they conduct things in the regular program, but it maybe the same.

Thanks Yellowman for all your input. I definitely appreciate it. I guess I'll have to wait and see for myself how I like the program.

Yellowman, could you tell us a little about your financial aid (loans) that you got. Any suggestions? I am obviously new to this, and would like to know ANYTHING I can to proceed with it.

Thanks for all your help guys.
 
Anything on USC would be helpful to me also. I may go down to the school itself in a few days and speak with some people there. Someone I know is in their first year there, though I have not spoken to them in some months now.

To all: how would it compare (pros & cons) to UCLA and UOP? Without the obvious reasons (LA vs SF vs Westwood) and costs?

Just curious
 
Hello Mromar,

Here's what I can offer you about USC/UCLA/southern california. First of all, do you live in CA? I get the impression that you maybe from Northern CA?

Anyway, I do know someone who is finishing up their 2nd year at UCLA. She was also accepted to USC/UCSF/NY. She chose UCLA because she lives in southern california and also because for the regular program, it's apparently much cheaper for UCLA than USC..something like half the price from what she told me. But she told me that if she had known about this problem (lack of patients), she would have gone to UCSF instead. Their clinic patients have to pay $7 each time they visit the clinic. Therefore, for obvious reasons, they have a problem with finding patients. UOP..I don't know much about. Seems like a good school...i applied there, got an interview..but didn't go. So, can't help u too much there.

By the way, if there is someone out there who is at UCLA...could you share your experiences.
 
Originally posted by Yellowman
i am a third year student at usc (the og class-wide PBL guinepig)....does that count?
Click to expand...

Yellowman, what type of interactions do you have with Dr. Malamed?

We're right in the middle of the Pain Control course that he's teaching us (from November-January), and having a pretty good time with him.

He certainly knows his stuff and is an excellent lecturer.

I'm curious as to your opinions and interactions with him at USC?

EDIT: Also, is Phil L. in your class (I don't want to divulge his last name on an internet forum)? I believe he is a DS3 now.
 
I'm not knocking USC, but it has problems with both its clinic and dental program. I heard that students spend only 40%-45% of their time in clinic seeing patients. Their PBL program was inspired by Harvard, but they still seem to score lower than UCLA students on the boards. BUT, the good thing is that USC allows 1-1.5 months for their students to study for the national boards versus a couple of days for UCLA students. But the UCLA students still score higher than USC students...yet, once again.

BUT, USC has a great alumni program which will help you seek employment after you finish there. And it is in CA, which is really nice, but the area that the school is in, is really scary. Some of the things you should weigh when deciding your choice of dental schools. Good luck to you.
 
Bucktooth,

I know students both in USC and UCLA....and I can tell you that those in USC are much happier than UCLA. As far as the area goes, well....it actually is not as bad as it sometimes get portrayed. I don't know where you are currently, but I can tell you that the area of USC is actually not as bad as some of the other dental schools. The students at USC are very cautious and look out for eachother. In UCLA, alot of times, their guards are down and they are oblivious to their surrounding. Luckily for me, though, I only have a 2 year program to fulfill. I also live relatively close to USC, and won't have to live on the campus itself or very close to it. But neverthelss, you should definitely consider all aspects of a school before making a final decision. After talking extensively to both USC and UCLA students, my choice was clear. UCLA was lacking in alot of aspects that USC is strong. UCLA's IDP program is only 3 years old....as opposed to USC's program that has been around for many years.
 
All these comments about board scores and X school scoring higher than Y school are ridiculous. Certainly a student from EITHER school could CRUSH the Boards if they desired to do so.

One school may prepare students better than another for the Boards (although this is SO difficult to prove), but the final score is up to the testee.
 
Gavin,

You are absolutely, 100% correct. It is always the individual and his/her motivation that sets those statistics. :clap:
 
Originally posted by predentchick
Hey Shawn. Vegas is a great place to live. I really enjoy it. You can own your own home for sure here (vs. Cali). They are in need of dentists and especially specialists. The last continuing ed seminar I went to with work said there are only 27 orthos here for over 1.5 million people!!! So there is a need... Real estate is still reasonable, but going up VERY quickly. (My home went up 60K in 1.5 years).
Click to expand...

Hey predentchick,

If you live in Vegas, why are you going to Indiana?
 
geez i don't know where to start.....lemme see

bucktooth: your assessment is partially correct. Yes it is correct that ucla almost always gets higher board avg than usc. But you have to look at the reason why. UCLA tends to accept people with higher GPA and DAT avg than USC students. UCLA also takes less # of students per year. Basically, they end up with a small class comprised of hard-core gunners (book smart people). This is good as the board avg will obiviously be high. Look at harvard....they accept under 50 people, but their board avg is always high (i heard this years avg was 94.5). Is it because Harvard's prog is so superior that it cannot be compared to any other program in teh country? Absolutely not. They accept people with a history of extremely high academic acheivements and these people usually end up doing well on boards. As someone who studied and did well on part I boards, I can ASSURE you that what you learn in school doesn't really reflect how well you will do on boards. If you are a motivated student, 4 or 5 months of hard studying will be all that's needed to do in boards.....end of story.

Gavin: Malamed is def a character. Unfortunately, due to the new PBL curriculum, we haven't had any formal lectures with the guy. He did conduct our anesthesia rotation our second year and that's about all the contact I've had with him on personal level. He also conducts an IV sedation team ( he selects 8 juniors every year) which is supposed to be really cool, but unfortunarly, I wasn't able to get into the selective due to some BS circumstances, but that's another story.....in conclusion, the guy know his **** and has a sense of humor......but he tends to like pretty females rather than loud mouth male figures like myself.....

Shawnone: The reason I say clinical training isn't the PBL strong point is that due to the change in curriculum from traditional to PBL, there also has been some changes in faculty personnel as well as teaching curriculum. Thus during this chaotic shift, my class 2005 got a bit behind in terms of pre-clinic schedule. But this delay is already being addressed for class of 2006. But the general consensus from the seniors who are traidiotnal students is that their pre-clinical training was a bit more rigorous than ours. However, again, I expect the clinical training to improve over time. Remember, PBL is still a new program and school is still trying to adjust to it.....BUt on teh bright side, the patient pool at usc seems to be pretty good. A few of my friends are having a hard time finding pts but that hasn't been the case for me. Granted most of my pts aren't very good cases, (even if they are, they can't afford all the tx), I have enuf pts to keep me busy.

and whoever asked about the financial situation. USC is expensive.....period. I am on FULL loans and I've basically lost track of how much I am borrowing. I really don't know what else to tell you other than that. THis is why UCLA is so attractive and competitive. It's basically 50% in cost to what USC is.....and that's why UCLA tends to be more selective in who they choose....because they can be. THey are reputable school at a bargain price tuition.


I am tired now......I was at school for 17 hours and I have a long day tomorrow.....
 
Yellowman,

Thanks for your great insight. 17 hour day..ha? WOW! I better start sleeping alot now...just to have some on reserve.
Anyhow, thanks for the info. , as always, it's very helpful.🙂
 
I haven't posted for a while, but I'm a first year at USC-and I absolutely love it.

I haven't read a lot of the other posts, so I don't know exactly what has been said, but my impression after 3 months has been that while the PBL system here is not completely worked out, it has definetely improved in the last 2 years.

Please don't hesitate to ask any questions that you have, and I will try and answer them-although it may be not instanteous since I have finals coming up and I need to be studying (yeah right, I gotta go snowboard, workout or go to the bars!)
 
HELLO booshwa,

Welcome to our little chat thread. It is nice to see that you are satisfied with USC. It seems to me like PBL is on its way to great improvement. In general, could you tell me what percentage of your time is spent on PBL and what percentage is spent on lectures from the professors? Is it a good balance?
 
Originally posted by Yellowman
Gavin: Malamed is def a character. in conclusion, the guy know his **** and has a sense of humor......but he tends to like pretty females rather than loud mouth male figures like myself.....
Click to expand...

So true, so true. Still, his lectures have been a blast, and word has it that he'll be back to teach us actual technique in the clinics. All we're getting right now is didactic from him, yet still fun (except the fact that I'm a loud mouth male 😀 ).
 
Originally posted by propel
HELLO booshwa,

Welcome to our little chat thread. It is nice to see that you are satisfied with USC. It seems to me like PBL is on its way to great improvement. In general, could you tell me what percentage of your time is spent on PBL and what percentage is spent on lectures from the professors? Is it a good balance?
Click to expand...

PBL 99% of the time, lectures <1%. As far as learning, the only lectures I've had have been in gross anatomy (for 4 hours), and some really short ones in tooth morphology and in radiology rotations. At times, it would be nice to have some lectures, but then again, it is now Sunday, I have finals next week and I have been playing all weekend-and am about to pick up a book for the first time this weekend (until Alias comes on that is). But it is somewhat frustrating to know how much money I'm spending on an education when I learn all the material on my own.

On the other hand, my impression is that other first year students from other schools are doing little but study, and I'm already beginning to screen patients, have been waxing for over a month, etc... (I may be totally wrong here, so my apologies).

But I'm loving school right now, so that is what is important I guess. And we have a great football team, nice weather, and I and still work out every day of the week if I want to.
 
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