I really am having trouble deciding between the two. Any help is great! I do want to work in Socal and want to specialize in ortho. Just worried about PBL for USC but I know that the alumni network is one of the best. Does anyone know how hard it is to specialize out of USC?
USC or UOP?!
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Isn't UOP ~310k and USC ~400k ?
If that's the case then choose UOP !
It's cheaper, shorter, and does not use PBL
If that's the case then choose UOP !
It's cheaper, shorter, and does not use PBL
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Woah UOP!!! They gonna work you hard in those 3 years though!!
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It's alot of info to pack in a3 year period, 4 years alone is quite difficult
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UOP is an amazing school! I think it has a great rep over USC!
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They don't just skip a year to let you graduate in just three years. They cram that last year into the first three years. It's tough but people manage and still specialize. It's a good school.
USC should be the last school you consider aside from the new unaccredited dental schools or if you have HPSP.
uop is one of my dream schools because i have friends who say they love it there, it's only 3 years, in san francisco, cheaper (you also make money a year earlier too).... yes, it may be a bit tough because everything is condensed into 3 years, but i feel like the outcome is worth it.
and i honestly would put usc as my lowest backup as well. price is high and their reputation has taken a hard hit (after speaking with usc dental alumni and current students). of course this is my personal opinion and i may be totally wrong. i do have a friend at usc who does like it there though so take my words lightly.
and i honestly would put usc as my lowest backup as well. price is high and their reputation has taken a hard hit (after speaking with usc dental alumni and current students). of course this is my personal opinion and i may be totally wrong. i do have a friend at usc who does like it there though so take my words lightly.
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Duh...UOP...
that's one of the reasons... supposedly the students had a low national board passing rate. the school received a warning or something. honestly, i heard this from other dental students (who don't go to usc)... so i may be totally wrong here. i'm not trying to speak badly of any school. just telling you what i heard.
I know tons of people who have specialized out of USC, it's hard work like at any school but I know have friends in OMFS, Perio, Ortho, and Pedo that have graduated while I was there. I don't know any of the rates though.
UOP Tuition is $310K and Cost of Attendance (COA) is $414k
USC Tuition is $301K and COA is $401k
USC is accredited and on a regular accreditation schedule with a few years left before the next evaluation
The last two years have been over 90% first time pass rate on the boards, I don't know what the stats were like before that.
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UofP for sure! UofP is renown for it's clinical practice. USC, to me, is really just a back up school if I couldn't get into a place like UofP. A lot of people have been saying that you do not really do much in the PBL program and having invested so much money in a school to having to work PBL groups is such a waste of money. UofP produces one of the best general dentist because they do not have any specialty programs, but that doesn't mean you cannot become an orthodontist. Realistically if you want to specialize, UofP is a great way to because it is 3 years, and specialization is 2-3 years. So you save time, money, and you are in a great place and can still practice in socal if you want. *Keep in mind that socal is oversaturated with dentists of any sort*
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Just want to offer advice to people choosing schools. Either school will prepare you well enough, there are great dentist from both schools. Choose what is important to you, make a ranking system. Ex
1) cost
2) proximity to home
3) PBL vs traditional
4) what ever other reasons
*note dental school is very much an individual effort, you get out what you put in. That is the bottom line. Don't drink the cool-aid about all the great technology/reputations/bs that schools sell. Every school says there the best. Its been said here before and multiple times, GO TO THE CHEAPEST SCHOOL, unless money isn't an issue. If schools are comparable in price, then refer to you importance list. You will learn more in your first year of private practice than you learned in dental school.
1) cost
2) proximity to home
3) PBL vs traditional
4) what ever other reasons
*note dental school is very much an individual effort, you get out what you put in. That is the bottom line. Don't drink the cool-aid about all the great technology/reputations/bs that schools sell. Every school says there the best. Its been said here before and multiple times, GO TO THE CHEAPEST SCHOOL, unless money isn't an issue. If schools are comparable in price, then refer to you importance list. You will learn more in your first year of private practice than you learned in dental school.
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Sorry but I'll have to disagree with the specializing comment you made. You SHOULD have 2nd thoughts about UOP if you want to specialize. I am not saying it's impossible, it's possible but it's be that much more difficult compare to other schools. From my own personal experience. 3 types of people who can specialize here at UOP
1. You're a genius who can read everything once or twice, and gets it and don't really forget what you study.
2. You're not a genius, but you're one of those people who doesn't need sleep. You might not be as gifted as some of your classmates, you make it up with sleep. I can't do that. I can't go to school 8-5, work in SIM lab 5-9:30. And only sleep for 4 hours per day, and wake up at 4 or 5 AM to study everyday for 9 month.
3. You have AMAZING reading speed. You have to be able to study SO much at Pacific. 1st year is 2 years crammed into 3 quarters (4th quarter is really chill.) If you can't read fast enough, it kind of hard to review all those material by the time finals hit you in the face. You're still learning new material up till the Mon of finals week, which is Wed, Thurs, and Fri. You'll be expecting to take 6-10 finals in those 3 days. Which some of the classes are cumulative over 3 quarters. My grades always took a major hit after finals just because I simply don't have time to review everything. There is no shortcut, the professors WILL test you on everything since qt 1.
Back to poster's subject. I can't say much for USC cause I don't go there. I only know 2 people who go to USC currently. One of them absolutely loves the program and is doing really well. The other one hates it, but he still is performing well in school. So you either love PBL or you think it's a complete waste of your time and money. Those 2 didn't have a choice, that's the only school they got into.
Here what I think about Pacific.
I will graduate in 6 months from Pacific Dugoni. The experience I am getting from my school. I can't give it less than 2 thumbs up. I really enjoy the clinically experience I am getting here at Pacific. After snooping around and asking what my other friends are doing at their dental schools. I truly feel that my clinical experience is a notch above theirs.The school lets the students do just about everything other than major oral surgery cases. I have already done 4 molar root canals where as other schools don't let their students touch those cases. They go directly to the endo residents. I've done 4 perio surgeries, and restored couple implant cases. We CAN place implants here at Pacific as student if you work with certain OS faculty. I even have 2 classmates who are treating their patients with invisialign. So the opportunity is definite there, if up to you as student to see if you want to take on certain type of cases.
Gotta be honest, a lot of students stay away form implants because it does not count toward your graduation requirement and some cases take a really long time till completion. We rather focus on other things so we can graduate on time.
You should def pick Pacific in my opinion
I personally am enjoying my experience at USC greatly. Don't want to specialize so I don't care about getting A's so I shoot for B's. I think there are alot of things here to get involved in that translate into real world clinical skills. The atmosphere is a lot of fun and you have time to enjoy yourself outside of school or pursue other interests. A former student here started a dental equipment company while in school. He is now a millionaire and hasn't picked up a handpiece since graduation.
The negatives I can say about USC are the price of course, disorganized nature of the program, and PBL which can waste quite a bit of time to teach you basic information. But the environment is laid back which is nice not having the extra stress to deal with.
With UOP I can say that I am impressed that they are able to graduate dentists a year early. They also have a pretty good reputation for clinical skills in California. I would say the only negatives are that the program is more stressful, and you don't have access to the other facilities in a university since UOP's main campus is in Stockton.
The negatives I can say about USC are the price of course, disorganized nature of the program, and PBL which can waste quite a bit of time to teach you basic information. But the environment is laid back which is nice not having the extra stress to deal with.
With UOP I can say that I am impressed that they are able to graduate dentists a year early. They also have a pretty good reputation for clinical skills in California. I would say the only negatives are that the program is more stressful, and you don't have access to the other facilities in a university since UOP's main campus is in Stockton.
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I fail to see why this is a question. Uop wins in every way.
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UoP
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If I could do things over, I would prefer to go to a school with many programs (undergrad+med+pharm+dent+non-science). Nothing wrong with being around with Dental Students all day long, but it's like being in a bar with everyone talking about the same old thing.
It's nice to get perspectives/make friends outside your career. I had to make an actual effort to meet non-dental students due to my school being a only dental school.
It's nice to get perspectives/make friends outside your career. I had to make an actual effort to meet non-dental students due to my school being a only dental school.
I have no idea what you are talking about considering that both schools are relatively the same price. Successful dentists come from both schools. The current president of the CDA is a USC alumni. Now if you want to yap about our football team I don't have much to defend. So tell me Yappy what great institution are you attending?
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Did you get into dental school yet?
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Yeah... our football team will beat up your football team any day.
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Ok, so I just did a quick calculation. If you have 50k of undergrad debt and attend usc or uop, at 7.3% interest, do a GPR, and then attend a residency program that costs 200K (most of them do), you will have 900k of debt. WTF??? Is any else not worried about this???
I am! The cost is pretty much terrifying me, now that I've sat down and punched out all the numbers.
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Just curious if the OP has made his decision?
If I were to be accepted to both of those schools, I would choose UOP, but that maybe because I am bias and I am from NorCal. Even then, UOP is 3 years, a bit cheaper, and it's San Francisco!
If I were to be accepted to both of those schools, I would choose UOP, but that maybe because I am bias and I am from NorCal. Even then, UOP is 3 years, a bit cheaper, and it's San Francisco!
Hey guys, thanks so much for all your help! It seems like most people are saying UOP. I am still deciding, however because I want to specialize, and I want to stay in LA I feel like USC still may be the better option. For those of you saying you can't get a good job after USC, why do you say that? And does anyone know if it is easier to specialize at one school over the other?
I know at least 50 graduates of USC from the last two years, they all have jobs or are in a residency so the idea that you can't get a job is bogus. As far as specializing goes, no one really knows 100% how it's going to work at any school now that boards are pass/fail, there are a few ideas floating around but that's a whole different issue for a different thread.
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The 2 main issues you seem to be struggling with is: Specialization Opportunity vs Dental Experience
From what I've stumbled upon on SDN, there seems to be more disgruntled students at USC than at UoP, mostly due to USC's PBL thing as well as complaints of a few unfriendly faculty. The only complaint from UoP students is the heavier curriculum, but the idea of graduating early, state-of-the-art facilities, and clinical prowess seems to outweigh the didactic stress.
With regards to specialization, you have to keep in mind that everyone is exposed to the same curriculum at UoP so if you end up at the bottom of your class, there's no one to blame but yourself. Therefore, I don't think it's valid to say it's harder to specialize at UoP, unless you're comparing UoP to a school known for specializing such as an ivy or UCLA. Even then, with boards being pass/fail, I'd rather go to a school with grades so that I don't have to later stress out wondering if my 2 months of research experience will make me more competitive than the guy with 1 month of experience.
Disclaimer: Just my 2 cents worth of speculation with no personal experience from either school.
From what I've stumbled upon on SDN, there seems to be more disgruntled students at USC than at UoP, mostly due to USC's PBL thing as well as complaints of a few unfriendly faculty. The only complaint from UoP students is the heavier curriculum, but the idea of graduating early, state-of-the-art facilities, and clinical prowess seems to outweigh the didactic stress.
With regards to specialization, you have to keep in mind that everyone is exposed to the same curriculum at UoP so if you end up at the bottom of your class, there's no one to blame but yourself. Therefore, I don't think it's valid to say it's harder to specialize at UoP, unless you're comparing UoP to a school known for specializing such as an ivy or UCLA. Even then, with boards being pass/fail, I'd rather go to a school with grades so that I don't have to later stress out wondering if my 2 months of research experience will make me more competitive than the guy with 1 month of experience.
Disclaimer: Just my 2 cents worth of speculation with no personal experience from either school.
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Agreed.
UoP does have "great" clinical skills; however, by the time that anyone graduates, everyone (from every school) is still "inadequate" when it comes to time/proficiency/skill. That's why alot of people go into GPRs, and AEGD in order to get more experience.
However, that being said, theres alot more then "name" etc when it comes to finding a job in Dentistry. It's about what you can offer/connections that will get you much further then "name." You'll find out in Dental School
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That's great to hear. I was getting scared for a bit because of all the negativity towards USC that there was something I should know . For anyone who is at USC now, why did you choose it over your other choices?
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In all honesty, both schools offer excellent clinical training. The main difference is that UOP is 3 years. I believe that is the main advantage of UOP. Unless you have some serious aversion to PBL, it shouldn't matter because the boards are pass/fail now. It seems that the environment at USC is very laid back, which is not the case at UOP (3 years--intense). Also, the COA at both schools is very similar, so cost doesn't factor into this. In this case, I guess it really is an issue of "go where you would be happier." Also, USC doesn't rank its students, so that could be a boon to you and your career. I believe that UOP does rank.
Just something to think about. g'luck with whatever you decide.
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To the OP, which one did you end up choosing?
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