UW vs UoP vs USC

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imkelseyc

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I was fortunate to get accepted into some of my top choices for schools. I'm having a hard time narrowing it down and choosing one. I also have been considering going to my post-december interview at UCLA, but I need to put a deposit down either way, just in case. Not sure if I want to specialize yet.

UW:
close to family and friends
cheapest of the choices
Numerically rank students
Graded on 4.0 scale
No lectures recorded
Old facility
New dean and the school is in debt, but people said it wouldn't affect incoming students
Have lived in Washington my whole life, Seattle isn't very new

USC:
very technologically advanced
High tuition
group based learning, but not sure how I would learn in that environment
living in LA would be cool
students seemed as if they weren't stressed

UoP:
3 years
Very clinical
Integrates online curriculum
Case base learning that integrates medical sciences
I think numerically graded (?)
Also have a lot of family in north cal
Could live with my aunt in Richmond and commute since UoP is near BART
Highest tuition out of all 3
 
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I'd suggest going to the University of Washington, it's a great school and it would save a significant amount of money in the long run.
 
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Definitely the cheapest program which I believe would be UW, every program you mentioned is also fantastic so its not like going cheap is going to hurt your career at all.

If you're worried about facilities and falling behind technology wise, I would keep in mind you're going to learn a ridiculous amount when you're out of school and actually practicing as well.
 
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Never USC.

And your pros for USC are so insignificant USC shouldn't even be up for comparison tbh
 
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jacbbc said:
Why do you say never USC?
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nvm didn't see you say that pitt was more expensive. USC is like 600k after 4 years isn't it? People are just letting themselves be ripped off at that price. I feel sorry for the multiple USC grads and future grads that have like 600k debt making 120k in supersaturated LA since Cali people would rather stay in Cali with a terrible income/living ratio. Those people would have been better off financially as teachers..
 
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I just looked at UW's website and saw that for the four years, UW will cost about 290K for tuition and fees. UOP is 390K for tuition and fees. Living expenses are comparable between the two places depending where you live. I guess what you should ask yourself is going into your fourth year of dental school at UW, will saving 100K in tuition be worth it? For me, I'd argue that it wouldn't be worth it, because the average entry level income is 120K. Yeah, you pay interest on your loan, but at least you are out of school working. That's been my thought process anyway
 
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chives_irvine said:
I just looked at UW's website and saw that for the four years, UW will cost about 290K for tuition and fees. UOP is 390K for tuition and fees. Living expenses are comparable between the two places depending where you live. I guess what you should ask yourself is going into your fourth year of dental school at UW, will saving 100K in tuition be worth it? For me, I'd argue that it wouldn't be worth it, because the average entry level income is 120K. Yeah, you pay interest on your loan, but at least you are out of school working. That's been my thought process anyway
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120K pre-tax or post-tax?
 
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CFKazu said:
Wouldn't that make UW a better option financially?
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I suppose that depends on what the individual wants. A lot of individuals would be left with somewhere between 75K-100K after taxes, but before paying loans. So again, if its 100K you are saving... but you made a reasonably comparable amount... I guess it depends what you want. Something else to consider, UoP would put you a year closer to starting a retirement fund. I talked to a lot of dentists about if its worth getting through school a year earlier if you pay more, most of them said while it is important to go to the cheapest school, getting into the workforce and starting earlier on your retirement is a great option.
Again, I suppose it all depends on what the individual wants, because there isn't really a right or wrong answer. The OP got into some great schools and can do well at all of them if they put in the effort (BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED)
 
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Congrats on your acceptance! I am a first year at UOP currently. If you have any specific questions about the school or would like my thoughts on my education here thus far, feel free to direct message me. Either way, the most important thing is that you just made the biggest step towards becoming a dentist/specialist. Good luck!
 
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chives_irvine said:
I suppose that depends on what the individual wants. A lot of individuals would be left with somewhere between 75K-100K after taxes, but before paying loans. So again, if its 100K you are saving... but you made a reasonably comparable amount... I guess it depends what you want. Something else to consider, UoP would put you a year closer to starting a retirement fund. I talked to a lot of dentists about if its worth getting through school a year earlier if you pay more, most of them said while it is important to go to the cheapest school, getting into the workforce and starting earlier on your retirement is a great option.
Again, I suppose it all depends on what the individual wants, because there isn't really a right or wrong answer. The OP got into some great schools and can do well at all of them if they put in the effort (BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED)
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Totally agree. Moreover, while money is extremely important, for me I judged schools by ADEA's provided stats for how grads from each school were able to pay back their loans. Oddly enough, while certain schools, especially UOP, are significantly more expensive there seems to be no correlation between school cost and time it takes grads to pay back their loans. Obviously there are a lot of factors that play into the time it takes to pay back loans but nonetheless it was interesting to see that.
 
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jbarnett2020 said:
Totally agree. Moreover, while money is extremely important, for me I judged schools by ADEA's provided stats for how grads from each school were able to pay back their loans. Oddly enough, while certain schools, especially UOP, are significantly more expensive there seems to be no correlation between school cost and time it takes grads to pay back their loans. Obviously there are a lot of factors that play into the time it takes to pay back loans but nonetheless it was interesting to see that.
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Where did you find these stats? I would be very curious to see these as I have also been accepted to UoP and am deciding! Thanks 🙂
 
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Thanks for everyone's responses! They've been really helpful with helping me get closer to making a decision. I think USC is out of the option for me because of cost, but I am still juggling UW vs UOP. They're both great schools, I just have to figure out if an extra year of income balances out the extra cost of UOP, or not.
 
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