I would normally advise for the cheapest school when it comes to most private schools, but I advise the opposite in your situation. You already have roots in CA with housing, so the cost difference is almost negligible. USC also doesn't close as many doors to specialize. My real decision, however, comes from the fact that I would avoid LECOM if at all possible. LECOM doesn't provide exposure with specialists in dentistry and claims to be Pass/Fail but releases grades if you're applying to residencies since its reputation alone isn't enough to warrant an interview. LECOM also doesn't have a very good location, which I know very well having lived nearby for many years. I normally wouldn't consider location an important factor, but it's worth mentioning when you already have roots in CA. The most important factor in your case from where I stand is that LECOM has a mostly negative reputation among dental school administrators/ professors / students for many reasons. Anecdotal evidence is that one of my professors (OMFS) actually told me how he advises every pre-dent to avoid the school and reapply if it's their only acceptance. He was especially opinionated because one his family members attended the school and needed to transfer dental schools due to the lack of competency from faculty and administration at LECOM. He had to pull some strings to allow that too. Overall, I think that's a rather extreme scenario. LECOMs positives are that it's relatively cheap for a private school and an acceptance is an acceptance, but you can see why I would choose USC considering you have the option.
P.S. PBL is going to be a pain anywhere you go that has it.
Another LECOM student here.
"LECOM doesn't provide exposure to specialists." It does. They work in our clinics every day. See power5643's post above. Our second graduating class will be graduating in two months, and they have a lot of students going into specialties. Same with our first graduating class.
"LECOM doesn't have a very good location." As far as the patient pool goes, the school only needs enough patients for the D3 class since the D4 students relocate to either north Florida or northwestern Pennsylvania. LECOM is located in the Bradenton/Sarasota area (over 100,000 people - with many below the poverty line and in need of affordable dental care). Some patients even drive in from Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Venice. Our D3's schedules are booked out a few weeks in advance. The only time they don't have patients is if a patient cancels last minute. If you're talking about location in a general sense, I'd have to disagree there as well. There's tons to do here and some of the best beaches in the US. To each their own, I guess.
"LECOM has a mostly negative reputation among dental school administrators/ professors / students for many reasons." I'd love to see that poll. It's easy to pick on a new school that doesn't have thousands of alumni to defend it. However, it seems like the only ones complaining about it are people on SDN who don't even attend LECOM. The dentists who work here and the students who attend here actually really like LECOM. It's a positive environment that provides rigorous training. Does it have its issues? Yeah. But in the time I've been here, I've seen the administration continually making changes to improve the school.
"Anecdotal evidence is that one of my professors (OMFS) actually told me how he advises every pre-dent to avoid the school and reapply if it's their only acceptance." Good luck getting into a single school next year. I doubt any school would touch you after turning down your only acceptance because you thought you were too special.
"He was especially opinionated because one his family members attended the school and needed to transfer dental schools due to the lack of competency from faculty and administration at LECOM. He had to pull some strings to allow that too." So... some brand new student didn't like the school so he had his rich uncle pull some strings? That seems a little silly.
To the OP, choose whatever school you want to go to. Just know that most of the crap flung at LECOM is bogus. USC is a great school, and so is LECOM in my opinion. My fellow classmates and I have really enjoyed it so far. You won't go wrong choosing either one.
*Side note, our current D4 class just took the live patient board exam with a 98% pass rate!
