Where are my UCLA classmates (Class of 2009)?

[ecdoesit]

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i have to say this. after all i have posted, u still want your fiance to come to ucla sod?!! interesting.

like drbhbie7 said, it is hard to say now. i could definitely tell she will be getting into ucsf for sure cos of her research there. i m sure u know this. if u want a ballpark, i m impressed with her stat. one thing is community service(maybe from the volunteer letter). and cos we donno how many more (or less) people will be applying to our school, it is hard to tell this early. like other sch application, lot of waiting time

very important notes: please dont tell student affairs people that i have scared u all. otherwise, i will be in so much trouble that i will not be able to post on sdn ever again. (well, hopefully not that serious since i still have freedom of speech), but i might get disciplined. also, there are things that we have to keep quiet from telling sch officials. do not violate this rule, otherwise, ur whole class will be in trouble. (for example, if someone is absent, u dont go to reveal that. this is not the biggest deal, but just keep this in mind) also consult with upperclasspeople first and slowly learn how things works around here.

Hi all.

Please help me out. I am currently a UCLA med student (class of 08) and my fiance is applying to UCLA Dental this next season (for fall 06).

We are a bit curious about her chances.

She is a bio major at at UC school. Her overall gpa is a 3.36, but this is not very reflective, because she did not do so well her first two years. She has been on the Dean's List (gpa >3.5 for the past 6 straight quarters). Which we are hoping they will take into consideration (do they???).

Her DAT is 20 AA, 19 TS, 20 PAT

She has done a couple years of dental research, earning a 3rd author paper, and an international award at a dental research conference. She was president of her dental club and a couple other extracurriculars (standard dental volunteering etc.). She spent a summer doing dental research at ucsf and will be returning there this summer for their dental summer program. She has letters from the two dental researchers (who are both dds/phd's), two science profs, and a volunteer letter.

Please give me input all! Especially if you found yourself in this situation, mostly, the gpa part, which has us worried (do they look at the trend???).

Thanks, feel free to PM me if this is more appropriate.

Thanks!

 

[ecdoesit]

Just want to share with you something I wrote to my whole class. I just watched star war yesterday. what a movie. our school is like the chancellor. with something that we care the most, i.e. being a great dentist, could this tilt your judgement and join the dark side? i can say this cos i majored in bioengineering. Obviously, this msg is intended for ucla students, so some of the wording is more descriptive than others.
Main point to remember: Be active

Hello everybody,
Yes, we are 2nd year. Do you have a yea-whatever kind of feeling? I hope you all have done well on your tests. I did ok, but I certainly didn’t enjoy the written morphology test nor the operative and micro tests when studying doesn’t help. On the other hand, with over half of our class failing fixed prosth. Sometimes I wonder is it our inability with our hands or our laziness not to practice or the problem with our teaching staff. How could we improve? Our ultimate goal is not to join the “party” but to get check-offs and pass the class and forget about it.

Does anything above matter? How important is it to get the perfect 7/8 crown that we are not likely to do one in real life. Seriously, I remember more about Dr Fisher’s yelling at us in class more than what I remember from Cranial nerves. I find little motivation to strive because school doesn’t really matter. I found something that is quite meaningful though. That is research. I am in the middle of talking with Dr. Wong and Dr. Wolinsky about a possible thesis project. I know not that many people enjoy research, but it is still essential. Take saliva testing as an example. How many people fear the pain to collect blood from a needle(i.e. that titer tests)? They will be able to use saliva as a media. If it lives up to it potential (which is highly likely), besides u can show up in these poster presentations, something to talk about at ur interview, you could actually brag about it in front of your patients. Besides the automatic thought that all UCLA graduates are genius, I just feel patients could connect knowledge with us and appreciate that I care about reducing pain for them. With all these being said, just want to let you know that this summer is the best time to work on a research project. In additional to the board, who knows what they will add on to our curriculum next year. If you don’t start now, you are likely to lose this great opportunity. (this sounds like an seen on tv commercial, doesn’t it?) Check out the hallway, check out the website, find out what disease interest u. Email professors. Be active. Tackle them on the hallway. Schedule an appointment with them. Talk with them. And start. And email me back saying you have fun doing research: priceless.
Obviously, spending many hrs on my projects may affect my school work. I am not saying those EPR people should give up their EPR to start research nor those who haven’t done so well, risking their P for doing research. I m asking those in the middle. You get the same grade whether u score a 89 or a 70. Does it worth ur time to get that 19% than a person with a 70%? Could u utilize that time to do something that actually further our knowledge in the profession and benefit us in the long run?

Just want to conclude by saying, I want to get away as far from sch as possible like most of us. But this is something that takes time to think about and some time to gather information. I just want to share with you and place it in ur mind somewhere. So once sch starts, u make the decision whether u just let my msg sits there or actually act.

We all will be tomorrow’s leader. As always, look at things objectively and act on the best available choice. Feel free to email me back with feedbacks. If you have further questions about a particular PI, we could definitely sit down and chat and share our comments to help each other out.

Sincerely,
Eric

 

[drhobie7]

So you wanna do research do you? Hehehehe. Kidding. Research is great if you are doing something you like. Otherwise, I'm not so sure it's worth it. Some residencies don't even care about it. Interestingly, patients don't really know or care too much about your intellect and technical skills. They want to know if you'll hurt them, work quickly, and make them feel comfortable. Obviously if your restorations fail or don't function properly that's bad too. I would wager the most successful (financially) dentists out there were nowhere near the top of their classes. I know this to be fact in 3 instances in Los Angeles.

Failing fixed? *giggle* Hehehe. Um, don't worry about that. This was only your first quarter of fixed. The first 2 years of dental school you are perpetually in the hardest part of the learning curve because you never get the chance to learn anything really well. You guys should enjoy the summer. Think of it as the summer before you started dental school, except you have to study the week of finals. Ah, summer. I'm going to reclaim mine after July 11th. But for now, it's 2:30pm and I haven't left my desk. BOARDS HO!!!

 

[ecdoesit]

Of cos, we will learn all those patient management skill in the summer. I m just saying that I will give as much things that my patients could also brag when they are having the "my dentist did this and that" talk.

Ironic that I m appointed to fundraising chair, yet there are much more to just money. That's why I will work closely with other committee chairs to integrate fun and fundraising to asda. Right now, we have a strong team. Just need to recruit more people to get involved. And I think we could make a successful chapter this year.

So you wanna do research do you? Hehehehe. Kidding. Research is great if you are doing something you like. Otherwise, I'm not so sure it's worth it. Some residencies don't even care about it. Interestingly, patients don't really know or care too much about your intellect and technical skills. They want to know if you'll hurt them, work quickly, and make them feel comfortable. Obviously if your restorations fail or don't function properly that's bad too. I would wager the most successful (financially) dentists out there were nowhere near the top of their classes. I know this to be fact in 3 instances in Los Angeles.

Failing fixed? *giggle* Hehehe. Um, don't worry about that. This was only your first quarter of fixed. The first 2 years of dental school you are perpetually in the hardest part of the learning curve because you never get the chance to learn anything really well. You guys should enjoy the summer. Think of it as the summer before you started dental school, except you have to study the week of finals. Ah, summer. I'm going to reclaim mine after July 11th. But for now, it's 2:30pm and I haven't left my desk. BOARDS HO!!!

 

[ecdoesit]

check this out
http://www.slickdeals.net/?site=slickdeals#p6199
another $750 off dell laptop.
btw, no mean to sell anything, except laptop is a requirement.

 

[jk5177]

Ironic that I m appointed to fundraising chair, yet there are much more to just money. That's why I will work closely with other committee chairs to integrate fun and fundraising to asda. Right now, we have a strong team. Just need to recruit more people to get involved. And I think we could make a successful chapter this year.

I'm going to ask a newbie question: What is this organization that you are referring to? Recruit people to what? Is it a fraternity?

What do ou think are some of the best groups to join for DS1's?

mucho gracias senoir

 

[jk5177]

Curious.

Useful of second language for the next four years? Spanish? French? Chinese?

 

[balance]

Curious.

Useful of second language for the next four years? Spanish? French? Chinese?

Farsi (Persian) will come very handy in LA.

 

[ecdoesit]

In California, a 2nd or 3rd language is always a good idea. Since our state has like ~40% hispanics, it is wise to learn spanish. we do have elective courses taught by dr Maggiore(sp chk. he is a very cool clinical professor). u will see him at venice clinics. highly recommended to chat with him.


As for the different organization, ASDA(the american student dental association) is really strong, and friendly cos we always have free lunches to students. in past recent yrs, the organized dentistry have teamed up(the tripartite system: ADA, CDA, and ur local county dental society) and ASDA(if you are dental student) team up to work together to work on issues such as loan consolidation, national boards, etc. there are abundance of opportunities here. i have been to the asda regional conference at denver early this year and learned a great deal. and our local chapter is perhaps one of the best, if not the best, chapter in the nation. with 12 different committees, we do things from community service, legislative lobbying, predental advising/mentor, mentor for graduating dentists, free lunches, vendor fairs, more and more. we are pretty much self-sustained, so we need to get people to join and work together to build on top of this successful organization. this is still very early summer. i just want to be the first one to brainwash you =) so keep thinking of these four letter words: ASDA. ASDA. ASDA. Read it ten times when you go to bed, etc. etc. jk.

like what i have said earlier this wk to my peers, we all are going to future leaders in the profession. this is a really good opportunity to learn and show ur leadership. this is also something that is awesome on ur resume. the skill, however, is still the most important thing u will acquire. for yr 1, there are two positions for ASDA representative. They basically serve to relay information from different committee(mainly lunch and learn=free lunch) to other classmates. i dont want 88 of u electing for that positions, but that doesnt mean u cant help out at different committees. workload varies upon ur request. when i started, i didnt know much, so i was paired with a 2nd yr. she taught me many things, also not just asda stuff, but the lab stuff too.

just $-wise, if u join ASDA and pay $65 annual fee or whatever that is, once u get out, ur first yr of ADA/CDA/local society due is $0. (this is over 1000 dollars). then ur 2nd yr is 25%, 50, and 75...

I know two frats. Alpha omega(kinda strong in UCLA, but not that much elsewhere) and we have the delts (good question what the 3 greek words are). they are huge at USC, and they pay us good money to see them, etc. i dont know that much about frats, so i will let them brainwash u later.

we have IM sports. asb usually do fun things like ski trip, student appreciation day(free breakfast first come first serve style), bunch and bunch of specialty clubs, different clinics(venice, health fair, SCC(south central), UMMA(forgot), LADS(latinos)) keep in mind that u dont have to belong to a particular ethicity to join. also we have sch visits... and recently, they have us be the TA for wax-up and operative prep. man, i had so much fun being the instructors. (i think i have more fun than the student, scary). of cos u should have ur own class events. and, "last but not least" the american women dental society, something that i donno that much about. i m sure i miss a bunch of other things, but that doesnt mean they are not fun or unimportant.


All-in-all, 4 letters: ASDA.

 

[jk5177]

Farsi (Persian) will come very handy in LA.

Farsi? How come Farsi? Should I be familiar with the Middle Eastern culture?

 

[atlanta478]

Farsi? How come Farsi? Should I be familiar with the Middle Eastern culture?

Any extra language that you know will help you to penetrate another group of potential patents, especially the older generation of that echelon. I say, Spanish would be the best one for California. Farsi is probably good for SoCal, as well as Korean, Russian or Hebrew.

 

[balance]

Farsi? How come Farsi? Should I be familiar with the Middle Eastern culture?

If you are going to be in Westwood for the next 4 years, it would be very beneficial to learn Farsi and the Middle Eastern culture, although, Persians do not consider themselves Middle Eastern.

Of course, Spanish is the must know language in California.

 

[toothpixie]

So you wanna do research do you? Hehehehe. Kidding. Research is great if you are doing something you like. Otherwise, I'm not so sure it's worth it. Some residencies don't even care about it. Interestingly, patients don't really know or care too much about your intellect and technical skills. They want to know if you'll hurt them, work quickly, and make them feel comfortable. Obviously if your restorations fail or don't function properly that's bad too. I would wager the most successful (financially) dentists out there were nowhere near the top of their classes. I know this to be fact in 3 instances in Los Angeles.

Failing fixed? *giggle* Hehehe. Um, don't worry about that. This was only your first quarter of fixed. The first 2 years of dental school you are perpetually in the hardest part of the learning curve because you never get the chance to learn anything really well. You guys should enjoy the summer. Think of it as the summer before you started dental school, except you have to study the week of finals. Ah, summer. I'm going to reclaim mine after July 11th. But for now, it's 2:30pm and I haven't left my desk. BOARDS HO!!!

Now THAT'S what i like to hear. Thanks, drhobie7. Our big sib class rox. You guys have always been so encouraging and supportive all throughout our first year-- i only hope we can be the same for the c/o 2009 when we're in the thick of it. 😀
Best Wishes to you for Boards! We're all rootin' for you guys!

 

[ecdoesit]

I was on the news!

I was on the ADA News on the June 20th edition on page 8. I have standing behind Dr Sekiguchi. And Dr. Russell Webb's right. Please remember that Dr Webb, the president of CDA, is an UCLA alumni. The UCSD Free Dental Clinics and Predental Society were celebrating the new renovated Pacific Beach clinic. Tell you the truth, it is nicer than our clinic. Not because it is new that we have a microscope, soon to have digital xray, and the luxury that everything works(unlike in the past). It is because we can provide free dental care to homeless and low income families in a place without a dental school. And this is the only program ran by undergraduates.

Special thanks to Dr. Beck(at Dr Sekiguchi's right.) She is the founder of 2 clinic sites (Downtown and Pacific Beach). At each site, we have free medical, dental, pharmacy, and acunpunture. Plus, she is very involved with the church(which is kind enough to donate their facility to us to do the job) and spread her reach into the less fortunate group in San Diego.

Of cos, Dr. Silverstein(Dr Sekiguchi's left) Btw, Dr Sekiguchi is last year's ADA president and a professor at USC. Back to my dental advisor, Dr. Sekiguchi, he is just amazing. Taking over a group of 20 some predental students and guide us to expand our organization to over 120 students within 2 yrs. We have weekly lectures from deans from different schools. Dr Dugoni was one of the speaker. And Dr. Bibb and Dr Sander have been there as well. Besides the 3 free dental clinics which average operates twice a week each, we assist Thousand Smiles to go down to Mexico to treat kids with cleft lip and cleft palate. We have the Oral Health Ambassador program where we teach OHI to the public. And we had a booth at the CDA conventions. I must be missing tons of things. Envy at those at UCSD? Dont be. There have been meetings that UCLA and/or USC students could volunteer down there. You could definitely spend some time down in san diego while getting your requirement done. the huge benefit is that we will have a more diversed group of people. http://www-acs.ucsd.edu/~ucsdfdc/

I also heard the rumor that I was on CDA update as well. So with my asda regional trip picture on ASDA newsletter, I was on all three within a year. That's pretty impressive, since I havent done much.

And, just as important, Dr. David Wong, the associate dean of research, is also everywhere (ADA, CDA, NY Times, Washington Post, different magazines). His saliva research is one of the hottest topic in UCLA and perhaps the whole country. I am one of the very lucky people who get the opportunity to start on a project with him and with Dr. Wolinsky(the head of the clinical side of saliva project and also the director of graduate study at SOD). Alright, I am done with my brainwashing post. If you have any questions, feel free to ask it here cos my pm has 99 msg already. http://www.saliva.bme.ucla.edu/

 

[ziptree]

Most important language patient-wise is Spanish. Theres not too many Persian patients here @ UCLA.

Buy a laptop, keep on top of your studies, find me for tips in lab, study hard for those damned EPRs, study hard for boards. Think carefully about who you want to run for for class positions. Oh, do your paperwork on time.

^ most important things to remember for (at least the first year) of dental school.

 

[balance]

Does anyone know when the first day of orientation for the class of 2009 is? Thanks

 

[jk5177]

Does anyone know when the first day of orientation for the class of 2009 is? Thanks

It is either September 12th or 13th. What is the exact date? I don't know. The exact academic date is Monday 9/26, 10 am, dental morphology & occlusion, RT421A. So says the green schedule they mailed to us.

I don't have housing yet. Anyone in the same boat? How do you plan to paddle? (ie... solve your housing problem)

Oh. Anyone know if UCLA is bike friendly? I'm from Nor Cal, and that is popular, but my impression of So. Cal is that, the place is very.... should I say full of cars.

How's everyone with the teeth collection? Is it true that we don't need them till the Winter Quarter?

 

[ecdoesit]

Good news, guys. You may not have histo during fall quarter.
So, no need to read up at the website.

But, pm me if you want to know what this but is.
If you want to be happy till the real news come, dont pm me

 

[drhobie7]

Good news, guys. You may not have histo during fall quarter.
So, no need to read up at the website.

But, pm me if you want to know what this but is.
If you want to be happy till the real news come, dont pm me

Hehehe, even I'm curious now. Eric we gotta go down to Brew Co and grab a beer before things really get crazy for you guys.

 

[ecdoesit]

this is what i heard. for some reason, the 3rd yrs showed us grimmace when we talk about this summer for us. r we expecting something really hard?

thank god that we have a reasonable and systematic bench instructor this quarter. actually, i think all our instructors are great this quarter. glad that they are sticking around till end of the series.

so any tips to do a temporary? i need to join the party.

a hint to the "but", i think the 1st years are going to have fun with the med students during fall.

Hehehe, even I'm curious now. Eric we gotta go down to Brew Co and grab a beer before things really get crazy for you guys.

 

[drhobie7]

this is what i heard. for some reason, the 3rd yrs showed us grimmace when we talk about this summer for us. r we expecting something really hard?

thank god that we have a reasonable and systematic bench instructor this quarter. actually, i think all our instructors are great this quarter. glad that they are sticking around till end of the series.

so any tips to do a temporary? i need to join the party.

a hint to the "but", i think the 1st years are going to have fun with the med students during fall.

I wonder if that means they'll only have to go to school for 2 hours a day like the med students. 🙂 Probably not.
I thought summer was sweet. I seriously didn't study at all until the week of exams.
Hmm, tips for temporaries....I think the best way is to have someone show you how they do it person. I'd be happy to do this after the 11th. Not sure if you can wait that long. But if so let me know.

 

[ecdoesit]

well, i better find u the second after the board be4 u r drunk. what time will it be over?

i m wondering the same thing. let see how many students will we lose to med sch next year.

btw, any tips on pharm? the main reason i m a DDS(or a surgeon) is that i cant deal with medicine. is it a class that remember once and remember for the board and refer to drug index class?

I wonder if that means they'll only have to go to school for 2 hours a day like the med students. 🙂 Probably not.
I thought summer was sweet. I seriously didn't study at all until the week of exams.
Hmm, tips for temporaries....I think the best way is to have someone show you how they do it person. I'd be happy to do this after the 11th. Not sure if you can wait that long. But if so let me know.

 

[drhobie7]

well, i better find u the second after the board be4 u r drunk. what time will it be over?

i m wondering the same thing. let see how many students will we lose to med sch next year.

btw, any tips on pharm? the main reason i m a DDS(or a surgeon) is that i cant deal with medicine. is it a class that remember once and remember for the board and refer to drug index class?

Pharm is really straightforward as far as what you have to know. It's all memorization. Obviously, some drugs are more important for us to know than others. Local anesthetics, sedatives, antibiotics, autonomic nervous system drugs are more important than antiepileptics, renal clearing, hypoglycemics, and lipid lowering. You do need to know them because patients will be taking them, but you can just look them up in a drug book/PDA. It's super fast and accurate, unlike my recall memory. 🙂 The most important thing to take away from pharm is a general idea of each class of drugs. Also there's not much pharm on boards. Some scattered antibiotics questions perhaps, but there's no pharm section.

I don't know when the board exam ends. Probably around 5pm I'm guessing.

 

[cool fillings]

Just wondering...

Who all on here (class of 2009) has purchased their laptop yet?
and...
Who has signed up (or perhaps taken) their CPR/BLS class yet?

Can't wait to see you all Sept. 14-ish!

 

[ecdoesit]

the makeup exam is on july 26th, so do get drunk. i will do some more practice next week.

hey, do u know ur CPC teammates yet? Let me know if you have patients scheduled so that i could help assist you.

another horror question, do u happen to know how many "graduated" students have summer school this year? while that is not as surprising as they add on those labwork for us. will we be the first dental school to achieve a 5 yr program?

Pharm is really straightforward as far as what you have to know. It's all memorization. Obviously, some drugs are more important for us to know than others. Local anesthetics, sedatives, antibiotics, autonomic nervous system drugs are more important than antiepileptics, renal clearing, hypoglycemics, and lipid lowering. You do need to know them because patients will be taking them, but you can just look them up in a drug book/PDA. It's super fast and accurate, unlike my recall memory. 🙂 The most important thing to take away from pharm is a general idea of each class of drugs. Also there's not much pharm on boards. Some scattered antibiotics questions perhaps, but there's no pharm section.

I don't know when the board exam ends. Probably around 5pm I'm guessing.

 

[drhobie7]

the makeup exam is on july 26th, so do get drunk. i will do some more practice next week.

hey, do u know ur CPC teammates yet? Let me know if you have patients scheduled so that i could help assist you.

another horror question, do u happen to know how many "graduated" students have summer school this year? while that is not as surprising as they add on those labwork for us. will we be the first dental school to achieve a 5 yr program?

OK cool. I'll see if there are a few people in my class who would be willing to come up to lab one day and give you guys some tips on fixed. I bet most people who take the board on Monday would be more than willing.

I haven't looked at the CPC listing yet. I'm hoping that in about 2 weeks I'll have some stuff lined up. I should have bocu crowns to do. I did a recall prophy last week and found a ton of work that has to be done. Now the trick is persuading the patient to do it. Seriously, I could nearly finish my crown requirements on this patient alone!

You guys won't have any problem graduating. If the PPID (international students) can do it you definitely can. They spend this entire summer taking all the major classes and labs we took. They have, no joke, over 20 classes each with a final! I can't believe I even bitched about winter quarter. So they basically have to graduate without the benefit of a 2nd year-4th year crown and the summer quarter to do patient care. They all do it no problem. The people who are super-seniors (and there might be about 4-5 of them) are probably in that position due to their own mistakes and mismanagement of patients. Don't worry about that. There is soooo much dentistry to do out in the clinic.

Alright, last minute boards studying time....

 

[umc27]

A couple of questions...

Do ya'll bring your laptops to class everyday?

And has anyone received their financial aid packet yet?

 

[ecdoesit]

i bring my laptop to sch everyday bcos i will use it in the research lab as well. get a rolling backpack cos the laptop is kinda heavy. it depends on which class. like biochem and physio, histo, anatomy, it is better to use their handouts. some classes like Evidence based dentistry, biomaterial, all the labs, etc are better with laptop in my opinion.

financial packet, we have funded summer quarter. more important than the fin aid packet is tell your parents to set aside a credit card preferably one that either give u cash rebate or 0% APR. because you have to pay for your kit right away(while tuition can be excused). that was a huge confusion in the past years. just be ready for that. also, there is a installment plan with about 200-300 interest(that once you sign up, the interest is fixed no matter how soon u pay it off)

A couple of questions...

Do ya'll bring your laptops to class everyday?

And has anyone received their financial aid packet yet?

 

[Literati81]

I purchased my laptop (Dell Inspiron 600) early this year...missing the $700 off coupon by 5 minutes due to a computer glitch. Just a tip: If you haven't bought a laptop and have some cash to blow, buy an Lenovo/IBM.

Does anyone have the number for the CPR class? I can't find my papers...again. 😳

Thx!

Just wondering...

Who all on here (class of 2009) has purchased their laptop yet?
and...
Who has signed up (or perhaps taken) their CPR/BLS class yet?

Can't wait to see you all Sept. 14-ish!

 

[ecdoesit]

We got out of lab meeting today.
I want to reinforce that I am a US citizen with full right of speech.
My post reflects what I saw/heard at the dental school for informative purpose only.
If I have any adverse emotion, it only reflects how I feel that particular moment. I have no intention to anti-school, but I am anti-particular course chairs. I truly believe our school is one of the finest in the country, but there are just someone just have to make life so miserable for us and causes us to cram rather to learn.

 

[gatszu]

for financial aid, do first year get the whole ~56k, or do we need to get private loan to cover some of that? also, how much is the dental kit? thanks.

 

[ecdoesit]

most people if not all get all 56K. I donno anyone taking out private loans. The dental kit is about 10-11K plus ur (laptop which is not included in the kit nor financial aid)

for financial aid, do first year get the whole ~56k, or do we need to get private loan to cover some of that? also, how much is the dental kit? thanks.

 

[drhobie7]

for financial aid, do first year get the whole ~56k, or do we need to get private loan to cover some of that? also, how much is the dental kit? thanks.

Dental kit is about $15,000 for the first year, $5,000 for second year. You get as much financial aid as you prove you need. This does not cover your $1000/month lease on that new Porsche. We're talking reasonable expenses. Some people I know took out small private loans, but not many. I'm not sure why you'd need to unless you have an expensive lifestyle.

 

[jk5177]

Received offer for Weyburn.

Weyburn, here I come!!!

Should I bring up my bike and and a basket to it for easy commute around campus?

What do you guys think of the usefulness of a car?

 

[drhobie7]

Received offer for Weyburn.

Weyburn, here I come!!!

Should I bring up my bike and and a basket to it for easy commute around campus?

What do you guys think of the usefulness of a car?

It's a pretty quick walk (10-15'). Biking will make it quicker (5'). I lived near there and biked to school 1st year. I rode on the sidewalk the entire time because drivers here are loony. A car is essential in LA. Plus, you get a good deal on parking over there. $70/month I think.

 

[fleisch]

Hey Class of 2009!! (and those of you in 2008!)...
I have been keeping up with all the posts on here, but haven't posted in a while...I just recently moved up here to LA from Arizona where I went to college, and can't wait to start school in September! I just finished collecting all my teeth (I have around 190-200), and have finished most everything we need to do except for the purchase of a new laptop (which I think I will wait till September to do), and the completion of the CPR class (Is anyone doing it in late August? Where?? Any tips on that?)

Just wondering where you all are living, and if anyone would like to get together. Two of the guys I interviewed with both were accepted and I have been in touch with them as well, so we could make it a party! I live out in Brentwood, so I would love to have people over to my apt! 🙂 Let me know, PM me if you want! Can't wait to meet all of you in Sept!🙂
~Lauren~

 

[odontastic]

1st year dental kit for 2008 was $10,264.22, including tax. The classes above us worked with the school to reduce it. This does not include loupes ~$600 or the laptop computer that you must purchase through the school.

 

[odontastic]

I renewed my Weyburn contract for a second year. I allow myself 15' for walking, but I sometimes take the Campus Express Shuttle which stops at both Weyburn & CHS every 8-10 min. Including waiting times, there is little difference between walking & riding.
Parking at Weyburn is readily available and secure, but most spaces are tandem parking and you'll need to share your car keys with another resident.

 

[drhobie7]

1st year dental kit for 2008 was $10,264.22, including tax. The classes above us worked with the school to reduce it. This does not include loupes ~$600 or the laptop computer that you must purchase through the school.

Damn! You guys are stoked we worked with the administration to bring that kit cost down! We paid over $15,000!

 

[ziptree]

I renewed my Weyburn contract for a second year. I allow myself 15' for walking, but I sometimes take the Campus Express Shuttle which stops at both Weyburn & CHS every 8-10 min. Including waiting times, there is little difference between walking & riding.
Parking at Weyburn is readily available and secure, but most spaces are tandem parking and you'll need to share your car keys with another resident.

odontasic...who are you? lol.

Anyone who hasn't already bought their laptop, I recommend spending a little extra for something light....very very light. It gets tiring lugging a huge 7lb monster in your bag...it doesn't seem that heavy, but trust me, after months, it gets heavy, especially with all your other papers and books and whatnot.

 

[gatszu]

for laptops, how big a screen is needed/ideal for what we do in dental school? i suppose bigger is better. but bigger size = heavier. laptops that are under 4lbs have screens that are usually 12". any opinion? Thanks.

 

[ecdoesit]

now they have those "fat" screen like scretched screen. my roomate has one. it is so cool. and remember that the bigger the screen the more battery it takes.

tablet is nice too. we have this guy using it. i think it is a great idea. costly, but money well spent.

there is no ideal laptop for UCLA. their lecture halls isnt designed to have 89(lecturer has 1 too) laptops running. Get extra batteries. i hope later on in the clinic, we will use our laptop.

get a rolling backpack! i said this many many times. then ur 20 lbs laptop wont be hurting u. hehe


i have the same question
"odontasic...who are you? lol."

for laptops, how big a screen is needed/ideal for what we do in dental school? i suppose bigger is better. but bigger size = heavier. laptops that are under 4lbs have screens that are usually 12". any opinion? Thanks.

 

[ziptree]

for laptops, how big a screen is needed/ideal for what we do in dental school? i suppose bigger is better. but bigger size = heavier. laptops that are under 4lbs have screens that are usually 12". any opinion? Thanks.

i have a 15". i like the size, but its ~7.6lbs....too heavy.

a 12" is a little small, but its light (not the dells...the dells are always heavy).

if you have a desktop you plan to bring to keep @ your apt, i recommend buying the lighest damn 12" laptop you can to save yourself some back ache.

tablet PCs are cool too, but i feel no real justification to spend that extra money for one...unless you're rich, which, by all means, get me one too. =)

to eric...yes, we use our laptops later in clinic? for what? start checks...and what else? soap notes...both of which could easily be done on a 486 25mhz computer. heh.

waste of money.

and thats all for my drunk/buzzed rambling of the day.

 

[ziptree]

jk5177: hello Jason, my little sib.

heh.

 

[ecdoesit]

hey, ziptree,
we are not suppose to talk about our horror stories to our little sib. and we just learned the soe and the E is for excellence! and pls dont ask what does s and o stands for. (System of excellence?)

and the support guy is going to leave us this friday and the sch is not planning to hire a new guy to replace him.

ya, we do need our laptop for soe system
if u dont record it at the system, u wont get credit for what u do!
and i dont think our cubicle is big enough for a desktop. it barely has room for an assistant.

i have a 15". i like the size, but its ~7.6lbs....too heavy.

a 12" is a little small, but its light (not the dells...the dells are always heavy).

if you have a desktop you plan to bring to keep @ your apt, i recommend buying the lighest damn 12" laptop you can to save yourself some back ache.

tablet PCs are cool too, but i feel no real justification to spend that extra money for one...unless you're rich, which, by all means, get me one too. =)

to eric...yes, we use our laptops later in clinic? for what? start checks...and what else? soap notes...both of which could easily be done on a 486 25mhz computer. heh.

waste of money.

and thats all for my drunk/buzzed rambling of the day.

 

[ziptree]

read closely next time, eric.

i said if they were bringing a desktop to keep at their apartment...which means in their rooms at home...NOT at school...then they would probably be using that system more often than their laptop.

in which case, buying a small laptop for the convenience of not having 10lbs on your back would be worth it.

however, if all you're going to rely on is your laptop, and no desktop, then i recommend buying one with a larger screen for games, movies, general web browsing.

i barely use my laptop at home. i have a desktop, why bother with the laptop?

so, new lesson of the day...read carefully.

 

[ecdoesit]

veo veo.
tengo que leer mas cuidadosamente o
voy a leer mas cuidadosamente.

having two systems is bad. cos nick will just ask me to turn on the laptop and access pubmed for our hw assignemnt
then you get two system running at the same time.
and then, we realize the sch no longer pays for so many journals, so we cant find anything suitable for our ebd class.
i will have to find that article tom morning to finish that assignment
(btw, this is by far not a horror story)

read closely next time, eric.

i said if they were bringing a desktop to keep at their apartment...which means in their rooms at home...NOT at school...then they would probably be using that system more often than their laptop.

in which case, buying a small laptop for the convenience of not having 10lbs on your back would be worth it.

however, if all you're going to rely on is your laptop, and no desktop, then i recommend buying one with a larger screen for games, movies, general web browsing.

i barely use my laptop at home. i have a desktop, why bother with the laptop?

so, new lesson of the day...read carefully.

 

[ziptree]

why boot up two systems?
load up your desktop, log into your current ISP, whether it be dialup, DSL, cable, or whatever the heck you use...
and then run the UCLA VPN client....why use the laptop?

 

[ljca]

I was wondering just how strictly they enforce the requirements (they seemed very stringent at the interview) because my current laptop has all the requirements except for 1.60 GHz processor (mine is 1.50 GHz) and 4 years of Lim. Warr. and Damage Coverage (has anyone purchased this independently from your laptop purchase?). I'm so close.... 🙁

 

[bbpower]

ecdoesit + ziptree --> 2 bickering babies.. Please steer away from them!! J/K!

I don't think they are that strict w/ the requirements. So long as you have the SOE system and a good antivirus program installed and working, you should be good to go. I'm not the type to bring my laptop to school often.. probably will when I start going into clinic more. So choose a laptop that makes you happy. 👍