UTHSCSA Vs UCLA

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drmssara

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Hi guys,

Iam a foreign trained dentist and have been accepted at both schools to join the third year of dental school after NDBE part 1 and part2, an interview and a clinical bench test. My soft spot is for UTHSCSA because of the lower tuition. But would be great to hear different views on which choice to make...

Thanks!
 
Hi guys,

Iam a foreign trained dentist and have been accepted at both schools to join the third year of dental school after NDBE part 1 and part2, an interview and a clinical bench test. My soft spot is for UTHSCSA because of the lower tuition. But would be great to hear different views on which choice to make...

Thanks!

cant go wrong with UTHSCSA. UCLA has small patient pool compared to UTHSCSA. (so I've heard).
 
UTHSCSA, isn't tuition cheaper for instate residents?

Edit: sorry, of course it is. Also, both are great schools. Depends on where you want to live for a bit.
 
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UTHSCSA is $252k for OOS, and UCLA is $335k for OOS. Given that dsmssara is an international applicant, he'll have to pay the OOS fee for all 4 years at UCLA, because that residency that is granted after a year generally, is only granted to US citizens. These numbers were pulled from Doc Toothache's excel doc, but can also be found in the ADEA guide book. Good luck 🙂
 
UTHSCSA is $252k for OOS, and UCLA is $335k for OOS. Given that dsmssara is an international applicant, he'll have to pay the OOS fee for all 4 years at UCLA, because that residency that is granted after a year generally, is only granted to US citizens. These numbers were pulled from Doc Toothache's excel doc, but can also be found in the ADEA guide book. Good luck 🙂

another reason to go for UTHSCSA!
 
UTHSCSA is $252k for OOS, and UCLA is $335k for OOS. Given that dsmssara is an international applicant, he'll have to pay the OOS fee for all 4 years at UCLA, because that residency that is granted after a year generally, is only granted to US citizens. These numbers were pulled from Doc Toothache's excel doc, but can also be found in the ADEA guide book. Good luck 🙂

Oh side note, these costs are for all 4 years, obviously OP won't pay as much because it's only gonna be for 2 years
 
Aside for lower tuition, what would make one choose UTHSCSA over UCLA? Any perspectives on getting into a specialty program after dental school or how the letter grade versus h/p/f works would be very helpful.
 
ucla is honors/pass/fail..it is very competitive. the materialism of LA tends to rub on to the people. their clinic is old and outdated and it is hard to find patients because it is in a wealthy area. housing is also very expensive if you are looking to have a single room or studio
 
Aside for lower tuition, what would make one choose UTHSCSA over UCLA? Any perspectives on getting into a specialty program after dental school or how the letter grade versus h/p/f works would be very helpful.

There shouldn't be any other factor besides tuition cost, honestly.
 
$200K- $2301 a month for 10 yrs @ 6.8% = $27,612 a year
$250K- $2877 a month for 10 yrs @ 6.8% = $34,524 a year
$300K- $3452 a month for 10 yrs @ 6.8% = $41,424 a year
$350K- $4027 a month for 10 yrs @ 6.8% = $48,324 a year
$450K- $5178 a month for 10 yrs @ 6.8% = $62,136 a year

As yourself how much you make right now, don't try to imagine how much "a dentist can make" and think of what you will likely make and see if you have 30, 40 or 50 thousand dollars to pay towards student loans every year for 10 YEARS!!!! That is a LONG TIME my friends, think it over very hard before making your decision.
 
Any UCLA or UTHSCSA students out there... what is the student body like at your school? How competitive are your classmates?
 
I go to UCLA. I would say our class is very cooperative, friendly and willing to help each other. There is a TON of class note/ study guide/ resource sharing, which definitely helps. With that being said, the average DAT AA of our class is over 22 so most of my classmates are obnoxiously bright and hard working and an honors grade can be difficult to get but by no means is it impossible. You just have to dominate any given course (always upper 90's). With that being said, the name recognition, research, and leadership opportunities at UCLA go a long way with specialties and in general most everybody matches regardless of how many Honors or passing grades they have received.
 
thanks for your reply! since boards are pass/fail and grades are also h/p/f, when you say that most people match into a specialty, how does that work? do you think it's the brand name and prestige of UCLA that plays a big role?

Thank you!
 
Since the boards only recently became p/f, to be honest it's hard to tell what affect it will have on applicants; however, based on the experience of upperclassmen (who actually didn't even have the honors designation at all that was created in the wake of the boards going p/f), they generally based their applications on involvement in things like organized dentistry, service, leadership, research, or even teaching dentistry to the undergraduates here. Also, there are "tracks" that involve extra classes, experiences, and mentors for those interested in ortho or OMFS. There are a lot of opportunities to get involved and it seems like most people develop their own "brand" involving what they care about most. Board scores were obviously a big part of the package so we'll see what happens but the extracurricular opportunities combined with the name recognition are probably the main factors in the high match rate.
 
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