USC vs UCSF vs UOP ; HELP !!!

[shaikova]

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Pls, guys do you know which school is the best of those 3 for the International Dental Program. Since I have already been a graduate dentist from another country It's precios for me if I can get more insights and more experience out of the 2 year program and not just a basic education.
USC will be the cheapest for me, sicne I have more friends to rely on in L.A., but if San Francisco schools are better I'd have speared more money I think.
I need to be in a nice and motivating student environment.

Thank you so much for the help.

 

[Francisco]

Pls, guys do you know which school is the best of those 3 for the International Dental Program. Since I have already been a graduate dentist from another country It's precios for me if I can get more insights and more experience out of the 2 year program and not just a basic education.
USC will be the cheapest for me, sicne I have more friends to rely on in L.A., but if San Francisco schools are better I'd have speared more money I think.
I need to be in a nice and motivating student environment.

Thank you so much for the help.

Take your chances, I am not aware of your stats but at least try to get in, in as many as you can, then you can decide, I would say all of the California schools are great, I liked USC a lot when I had my interview there. so far others say the other schools are great too. so just give your Boards and see how it goes with the interviews.

Merry Xmass

 

[naina]

hi ,
i agree with francisco ,i felt USC is best ,clinicals are best,inspiring environment,comparitively less fees than other schools and i liked the USC campus.
naina.

Take your chances, I am not aware of your stats but at least try to get in, in as many as you can, then you can decide, I would say all of the California schools are great, I liked USC a lot when I had my interview there. so far others say the other schools are great too. so just give your Boards and see how it goes with the interviews.

Merry Xmass

 

[mrcanine]

HI,
I simply loved USC 😍 .

 

[akmount]

Keeping campus, cost, program etc in mind, personally I would rank ..

USC - 1
UOP - 2
UCLA - 3
UCSF - 4

 

[dentoclan]

I too really liked the environment at USC. I have been to other schools for interviews but found the students at USC looked to be very happy with their program, learnings, teaching methods., etc. For me the priority would be 1) USC 2) UOP 3) Loma Linda 4) UCSF 5) UCLA

 

[Meggs]

Have you been admitted to all programs?

If I had to go trough it again, my priority would have been:
1.The one that accepts me
2.The one that accepts me
3 The one that accepts me

I think everyone should calm down, wait until they have all acceptance letters, and then start deciding where to go. 🙄

The faster you decide, the faster the waiting list moves. 👍

 

[dentoclan]

Thanks for stating the most obvious facts and opening the eyes of every one to the world of banal existence. These forums are for discussions and not to keep the doors shut. Sorry if I sounded harsh but please re-read your post and you would realize what I said here. And for the record, some of us do have more than one admission.

 

[KOUA]

Thanks for stating the most obvious facts and opening the eyes of every one to the world of banal existence. These forums are for discussions and not to keep the doors shut. Sorry if I sounded harsh but please re-read your post and you would realize what I said here. And for the record, some of us do have more than one admission.

I agry with Meggs. It is not easy to get into any of them. I think u should get in first then talking about where to go.

 

[international]

Keeping campus, cost, program etc in mind, personally I would rank ..

USC - 1
UOP - 2
UCLA - 3
UCSF - 4

Hi,
When i saw this one, i thought, just leave it, but later i felt like posting, which i couldnt stop. Can u justify, what are the reasons behind ur ranking. Can anyone tell me other than fees, what is so good in USC. I am asking not to pick USC, but because i dont know much about it.
I hope u guys dont mind.

International

 

[shaikova]

Thank you very much guys for your opinions.🙂 The thing is that I'm accepted to USC, and for the other 2 I'm on the wait list....From my interviews and my orientation at those schools, I liked the most UOP followed very close from UCSF. USC scares me a little bit with their PBL Program....they don't have lectures...., it's student centered....and it seems as if you can't feel in one family with the professors or instructors.... I didn't meet any clinical instructor there.....Since I believe a dental education should educate a person as a whole...I think communication is very important....., and I don't find this in USC.....At least this is my feeling....
Since there may be a move on the wait list...I still wished to hear some other opinions...., cause first impressions from the school are one thing...and reality is a total different story....

Though I have graduated from another country,....here dentistry is very different and I wished to gain a better clinical experience , but also a round knowledge.... I'm aiming for now to be a general dentist..., but I need to be exposed more to the different specialties..., so that to extend my knowledge....

Thank you

 

[KOUA]

Hi,
When i saw this one, i thought, just leave it, but later i felt like posting, which i couldnt stop. Can u justify, what are the reasons behind ur ranking. Can anyone tell me other than fees, what is so good in USC. I am asking not to pick USC, but because i dont know much about it.
I hope u guys dont mind.

International

The good thing about USC is that they give oportunity to those people who does not have "199score" on part 1 , but very good with their hands.
Is it not more important?
I think it is.

 

[dentoclan]

These are the inputs I got through my research talking to communicating to current USC students as well as my own dentist who was from their regular program
1) From the selection itself the emphasis is put on how good your Hand skills and clinical orientation is and the program is more tuned to make good clinicians that can start practicing right after DDS rather than going through the AEGD programs
2) The Patient pool and exposure is higher on an average
3) Fee is more realistic and is in tune with what they charge the regular 4 year students
4) Less Theory
5) Emphasis on better communication and Team skills through the PBM sessions methodology
6) Availability of the faculty readily for any clarifications or demos (I heard there is a Prof allocated in the clinicals for every 8 students)
7) Huge Alumni (The statistic I heard is more than 40% of the practicing dentists in Cal belong to USC. Ofcourse, its of less importance if I want to practice outside Cal)
8) The new Dean is doing lot of good stuff and is enhancing the quality in all respects. Also he is emphasing on new research initiatives
9) More vibrant Campus in terms of Arts, sports, Culture and facilities (Dont know if it matters to us!!) as it is a multi faculty university like UCLA
10) PBM (Case Studies) methodology that seem to fit very well, esp for the international students as we dont need to go through the theory classes again and better spent on patients

On the other hand I heard the following negatives too
1) The neighborhood is not so safe as it is in Downtown (But they said the crime rate has gone down drastic in the recent past due to several measures)
2) Away from Bay Area, which is what I would have preferred
3) Less university owned family housing
4) PBM methodology that might not be best fit for some of us. Some of us might prefer to sit in classroom and listen to the professor than learn through a real life case study
5) The first 6 months is very tough life due to long hours in labwork

This is what I heard. Please correct here if any of these is incorrect as all of us would have been doing research regards all the schools and is important to get the information corrected.

 

[KOUA]

These are the inputs I got through my research talking to communicating to current USC students as well as my own dentist who was from their regular program
1) From the selection itself the emphasis is put on how good your Hand skills and clinical orientation is and the program is more tuned to make good clinicians that can start practicing right after DDS rather than going through the AEGD programs
2) The Patient pool and exposure is higher on an average
3) Fee is more realistic and is in tune with what they charge the regular 4 year students
4) Less Theory
5) Emphasis on better communication and Team skills through the PBM sessions methodology
6) Availability of the faculty readily for any clarifications or demos (I heard there is a Prof allocated in the clinicals for every 8 students)
7) Huge Alumni (The statistic I heard is more than 40% of the practicing dentists in Cal belong to USC. Ofcourse, its of less importance if I want to practice outside Cal)
8) The new Dean is doing lot of good stuff and is enhancing the quality in all respects. Also he is emphasing on new research initiatives
9) More vibrant Campus in terms of Arts, sports, Culture and facilities (Dont know if it matters to us!!) as it is a multi faculty university like UCLA
10) PBM (Case Studies) methodology that seem to fit very well, esp for the international students as we dont need to go through the theory classes again and better spent on patients

On the other hand I heard the following negatives too
1) The neighborhood is not so safe as it is in Downtown (But they said the crime rate has gone down drastic in the recent past due to several measures)
2) Away from Bay Area, which is what I would have preferred
3) Less university owned family housing
4) PBM methodology that might not be best fit for some of us. Some of us might prefer to sit in classroom and listen to the professor than learn through a real life case study
5) The first 6 months is very tough life due to long hours in labwork

This is what I heard. Please correct here if any of these is incorrect as all of us would have been doing research regards all the schools and is important to get the information corrected.

This is what I am talking about 😳

 

[shaikova]

Thank you Dentoclan, for sharing your research...it is really very helpful to me....!!!

Good luck to all of you, guys!

These are the inputs I got through my research talking to communicating to current USC students as well as my own dentist who was from their regular program
1) From the selection itself the emphasis is put on how good your Hand skills and clinical orientation is and the program is more tuned to make good clinicians that can start practicing right after DDS rather than going through the AEGD programs
2) The Patient pool and exposure is higher on an average
3) Fee is more realistic and is in tune with what they charge the regular 4 year students
4) Less Theory
5) Emphasis on better communication and Team skills through the PBM sessions methodology
6) Availability of the faculty readily for any clarifications or demos (I heard there is a Prof allocated in the clinicals for every 8 students)
7) Huge Alumni (The statistic I heard is more than 40% of the practicing dentists in Cal belong to USC. Ofcourse, its of less importance if I want to practice outside Cal)
8) The new Dean is doing lot of good stuff and is enhancing the quality in all respects. Also he is emphasing on new research initiatives
9) More vibrant Campus in terms of Arts, sports, Culture and facilities (Dont know if it matters to us!!) as it is a multi faculty university like UCLA
10) PBM (Case Studies) methodology that seem to fit very well, esp for the international students as we dont need to go through the theory classes again and better spent on patients

On the other hand I heard the following negatives too
1) The neighborhood is not so safe as it is in Downtown (But they said the crime rate has gone down drastic in the recent past due to several measures)
2) Away from Bay Area, which is what I would have preferred
3) Less university owned family housing
4) PBM methodology that might not be best fit for some of us. Some of us might prefer to sit in classroom and listen to the professor than learn through a real life case study
5) The first 6 months is very tough life due to long hours in labwork

This is what I heard. Please correct here if any of these is incorrect as all of us would have been doing research regards all the schools and is important to get the information corrected.

 

[dentoclan]

Not a problem Shaikova. I was just sharing whatever I came to know which is what this forum is for. I forgot to mention a couple of points:

11) That the clinicals on real patients starts from the 5th month onwards which apparently is much early compared to other schools
12) The ASP program, after first four months, is totally integrated into the current 3rd year regular program

 

[denzel]

I am a foreign trained dentist from India and I want to apply for
the Advanced Program for International Dentists that is offered by
California Dental Schools. I would like to apply for the DUGGANS Gateway program to train for the practical test administered by various CA Dental Schools. I would like to know if any one enrolled in the DUGGANS program to prepare for the practical tests administered by USC, UCLA, UCSF, UOP and LLU. Please let me know if anyone found this program useful. The fee is around 8000USD for the Gateway program and I dont mind spending it if it helps in the practical test but I dont want to waste the money if the program is of no use, the DUGGAN website mentions that the Gateway program is useful for students trying to do well in the practical test administered by CA dental schools,
Thank You,

 

[Ann 03]

for the practical exam in school ,u can buy the necessary equipment and practice at home. duggans is good . but i really dont know whether u should put in so much money for the practical exam. the duggans video is really good and helpful. see if u can borrow frm some1 who already has taken duggans for the bench.