Where would you go, UCLA or UCSF?

[ToofFairy]

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Hey,

I know this is a popular topic and I was hoping to hear your response on which school you would attend and why.

I was fortunate enough to gain acceptance to both schools, and I recogize that my decision to pursue a school is based on my own interests/values and the vibe I got off the school. But I am eager to hear everyone else's thoughts just in case there was something I left out in my decision making process.

 

[Darce101]

UCLA . . anytime, anyday.

Hey,

I know this is a popular topic and I was hoping to hear your response on which school you would attend and why.

I was fortunate enough to gain acceptance to both schools, and I recogize that my decision to pursue a school is based on my own interests/values and the vibe I got off the school. But I am eager to hear everyone else's thoughts just in case there was something I left out in my decision making process.

 

[UCLAzy]

ucla just introduced honors. things are starting to get really competitive to get that mark, according to some d1's. duno about sf

 

[Tufts R Us]

ucla just introduced honors. things are starting to get really competitive to get that mark, according to some d1's. duno about sf

how does the honor system work? it would suck if classes are curved...

 

[UCLAzy]

honestly, not sure. it may be the top X% of students in the class, or it may mean passing the class with a certain percentage. alls i know is it distinguishes you from the rest of the class who only receive a pass [or fail]. this is also new for the d1's graduating in 2014.

 

[UCLAzy]

also, i only know this cuz someone was complaining to me about their life haha. they also told me not to go here because its too stressful, but it's midterm season for everybody including myself..and during this time people often hate the school they attend =P.

but anyways, the h/p/f is legit and might be something to think about when considering these two schools, since there is not much that distinguishes them other than location [aka both are bomb.com]

 

[amcmahon]

I think the honors varies on the course.. Some instructors say if you get >90% in my class.. others will say the 5 most outstanding students (so even if you get the highest grade you might not get H)

 

[ToofFairy]

When I reviewed over the cost of attendance stuff they gave us, it seems that UCSF students pay 9-months of tuition during their 1st and 2nd years, whereas UCLA students pay 12-months of tuition for the last two years. Does this mean that UCSF students get the first 2 summers off? Does anyone know for certain?

Also, UCLA has no summers off.

 

[corpus luteum]

When I reviewed over the cost of attendance stuff they gave us, it seems that UCSF students pay 9-months of tuition during their 1st and 2nd years, whereas UCLA students pay 12-months of tuition for the last two years. Does this mean that UCSF students get the first 2 summers off? Does anyone know for certain?

Also, UCLA has no summers off.

UCSF gets 1 summer off (after the first year). Then after that it's year-round. Still 12 months of tuition for the last 2 years. Both are great schools... LA (and LA weather!) would be awesome!

 

[tigger23]

I am going through the exact same thing as you. I got in to UCLA on December 1st and was all set to go there, but then I got in to UCSF last week. I've been going back and forth between the 2 schools and have no idea what I'm going to do. What are the top 5-10 things to take into account when picking a dental school? Is the only major factor, in regards to the programs/schools, differentiating UCLA from UCSF is that UCLA has pass/fail/honors whereas UCSF only has pass/fail?? Any advice about the 2 schools would be greatly appreciated!! It seemed like the students I met at both schools were very happy there

 

[aphorth88]

Is the only major factor, in regards to the programs/schools, differentiating UCLA from UCSF is that UCLA has pass/fail/honors whereas UCSF only has pass/fail?? Any advice about the 2 schools would be greatly appreciated!! It seemed like the students I met at both schools were very happy there

UCSF has pass/fail/honors. During the interview day, they said that with the first 2 years, if you get scores that are high enough, you can get letter of... recommendation? commendation? something like that. then in the 3rd/4th year, you get get honors which will help you if you want to specialize.

 

[PreDental88]

I am going through the exact same thing as you. I got in to UCLA on December 1st and was all set to go there, but then I got in to UCSF last week. I've been going back and forth between the 2 schools and have no idea what I'm going to do. What are the top 5-10 things to take into account when picking a dental school? Is the only major factor, in regards to the programs/schools, differentiating UCLA from UCSF is that UCLA has pass/fail/honors whereas UCSF only has pass/fail?? Any advice about the 2 schools would be greatly appreciated!! It seemed like the students I met at both schools were very happy there

Several things I've taken into account when deciding which school to attend is cost, program/facility, housing options, and location.

I am more fond of the facilities at UCSF, they are newer, the sim lab and clinic have huge windows that open up to the view of the city which can make going to school everyday very pleasant. They recently reconstructed the bottom floors to one of the buildings and it's very technology savvy, with card-scanning access to all the rooms. I think UCSF is a little cheaper than UCLA, but that difference doesnt matter to me since it's not substantially different. I also like how friendly the locals are and the many things one can do in SF city. I'm not a fan of the traditional San Francisco housing architecture. The close proximity to neighboring houses and vertical expansion seems like it would be very noisy. Also, I've been so dependent on my car that being without one would be a big adjustment and many students/staff recommend not bringing your car to UCSF.

I really like the location of UCLA, not many other cities can rival the weather in LA. LA is within relatively reasonable driving distance to San Diego, Orange County, and Las Vegas...if one were to find time to enjoy such activities. I actually like the fact that I wouldn't get summers off at UCLA because we are exposed to more material and it highlights the learning differences that sets UCLA apart from other programs. I like the housing options in LA compared to SF, but I'm not a fan of the traffic during commuting hours. The facilities in LA aren't as new or nice as UCSF, but they aren't terrible. Im also not a fan of the lecture rooms at UCLA, I could see why sleeping during lectures would be so tempting. The free Venice clinic allows students the opportunity to gain further experience, and possibly, on more unique cases that can prepare students for more difficult cases.

I hope that gives you some insight on what I was looking for in both programs. Either path you choose, you can't go wrong. Good luck!

 

[UCSFDentistry]

This is definitely a popular forum post. Check out the others for more info.

Some key differences:
-Ucsf I think has a better reputation. Always been at the top for research and NIH funding. And I know there is no dental ranking system, but look at their nursing, pharmacy, medicine rankings. Pretty nice.
-Ucla has better weather. Being a Ucla alumni, I can tell you that the weather was always good!...*sigh*
-There were so many extracurricular activities to get involved in at Ucla. I can assure you that you will have fun!
-Ucla campus is beautiful. I can remember countless times that movies were filmed their or in Westwood.
-Ucla has about 50% of their class enter specialties while Ucsf has about 25%( both stats excluding gpr/aegd's).
- Ucsf has better facilities. Actually, I have heard that Ucla's arnt very good at all. A little outdated.
- I think Ucsf is more involved in community dentistry and helping underserved populations.
- I have heard that Ucla is way more stressful first year.Some of my friends said that at Ucsf the first year is chill and a good transition from undergrad.
Hope this helps....😀

 

[ToofFairy]

Gosh...could this decision be any harder..thank you for all your input everyone!

 

[2ne1]

This is definitely a popular forum post. Check out the others for more info.

Some key differences:
-Ucsf I think has a better reputation. Always been at the top for research and NIH funding. And I know there is no dental ranking system, but look at their nursing, pharmacy, medicine rankings. Pretty nice.
-Ucla has better weather. Being a Ucla alumni, I can tell you that the weather was always good!...*sigh*
-There were so many extracurricular activities to get involved in at Ucla. I can assure you that you will have fun!
-Ucla campus is beautiful. I can remember countless times that movies were filmed their or in Westwood.
-Ucla has about 50% of their class enter specialties while Ucsf has about 25%( both stats excluding gpr/aegd's).
- Ucsf has better facilities. Actually, I have heard that Ucla's arnt very good at all. A little outdated.
- I think Ucsf is more involved in community dentistry and helping underserved populations.
- I have heard that Ucla is way more stressful first year.Some of my friends said that at Ucsf the first year is chill and a good transition from undergrad.
Hope this helps....😀

i heard the same thing. even though its p/f, ive heard from students that ucla itself is pretty stressful. there still is competiton between classmates since many students want to specialize. requirement is pretty high in ucla. i heard 2nd year is the most stressful year.

does ucsf have better reputation though? ucla has the same reputation as ucsf if not better. thats just my opinion.

 

[Machiavelliansm]

I think the honors varies on the course.. Some instructors say if you get >90% in my class.. others will say the 5 most outstanding students (so even if you get the highest grade you might not get H)

Can you elaborate on this? Top grade = honors for sure, no?

 

[corpus luteum]

Another thing you may want to consider is that UCLA has an undergraduate campus and other graduate schools outside of the health sciences, while UCSF does not. This has a few implications...

-At UCLA, you would have the opportunity to take a course you were interested in outside of the health sciences. (Perhaps a foreign language or music class?)

-They have a program for teaching/mentoring undergraduates who are interested in dentistry, if teaching is something you might be interested in while in dental school and/or in the future.

-If you choose to do the joint MBA degree, you would get your MBA from UCLA(!)... it would look much better than an MBA from USF (where you would get your MBA if you chose to do the joint degree at UCSF)

-In general, you could have that college campus feel if you so choose-- sports games, partying, etc

Just a few thoughts! Also, about the competitiveness of your classmates... I've heard whether at UCLA or UCSF, it really depends on the people in YOUR particular class (i.e. c/o 2015). I've had a friend at UCLA tell me her class is extremely collaborative and team-spirited. So I wouldn't base your decision on that... I don't think there's really a way to tell.

 

[amcmahon]

Like, the more of a brown nose you are may increase your chance of getting an H. But I think the other system where if you get a certain % in the course is the more likely method.

 

[Machiavelliansm]

Like, the more of a brown nose you are may increase your chance of getting an H. But I think the other system where if you get a certain % in the course is the more likely method.

Hmmm, apparently the criteria for an EPR are the following:

1. Knowledge of subject
2. Qualify of performance
3. Professional behaviour
4. Quantity
5. Patient management

source: http://www.dent.ucla.edu/Curriculum/GSD/Student Handbook with Addendum (Version 2).pdf

Seems pretty subjective but probably only applies to pre-clinic/clinic course. I hope the basic science classes strictly have percentage cutoffs.

 

[superspike]

Hey,

I know this is a popular topic and I was hoping to hear your response on which school you would attend and why.

I was fortunate enough to gain acceptance to both schools, and I recogize that my decision to pursue a school is based on my own interests/values and the vibe I got off the school. But I am eager to hear everyone else's thoughts just in case there was something I left out in my decision making process.

From friends of mine that had the choice, they both chose UCLA and are really happy that they did. There is a lot more opportunity at UCLA to go on to a specialty and get to know the professors.

Also, I went to UCLA as an undergrad and when I talked to the dental students there they really feel like they do fulfilling work with the surronding community and with undergrads. Plus the weather will keep you happy🙂

 

[DrDientes]

I had to make this choice and went with UCSF. I am from SoCal and wanted a change. I am glad I chose UCSF I couldn't be happier here. We have a significant amount of students from UCLA in our class and they are also happy with their choice. Both schools are great. We are doing Crown/bridge and Class 1 and 2 amalgams now, while I hear UCLA just started drilling class 1 table top recently. Either school will be great, but you can really specialize from any school as long as you put the work in. If UCSF only a got 25% specialization rate last year, it must have been because only so many of the 88 students pursued it, not because we couldn't place in residency. UCSF has just as great of a name as UCLA so I highly doubt that just because you go to UCLA you are more likely to specialize.

 

[ucla06]

Both are great schools. I went to ucla so I can speak more towards ucla but I know residents and graduates from ucsf. I will make a few points. Hopefully they give you something to consider.

1. Brand name of the school doesn't matter for dentistry. Dentistry is 90% pt management and personality. If name does matter to you ucsf has the slightly better name in medicine but they are the same in dentistry. However, ucla is a world class university with every type of grad school and athletic program...a lot of average people outside of SF/CA have never even heard of ucsf but people everywhere know what ucla is. Case in point, I had to teach my swype keyboard to type ucsf but ucla was preloaded.

2. You can specialize easily from either school. That's more up to you rather than your school. Schools love graduates of either school.

3. Ucla eprs do not matter. Gunners may go for them but no one outside of ucla admin or specialty programs will ever see them. It does not go on your transcript or dean's letter of rec. My class all worked together to pass classes and there was nothing cutthroat about us. However, every class will take on their own personality. I can't imagine another school's didactic curriculum being tougher than ours but everyone survives. Don't let that scare you off. You are going to school to learn.

4. Ucsf weather is okay. Ucla weather is awesome.

5. Ucla's clinics run great. There are plenty of patients to see. The school is in westwood but patients come as far as 2 hours away to be treated.There is never a shortage of chairs as long as you are responsible to reserve your chair.

6. Ucla doesn't require you to waste your time or sign in for attendance for clinic if you don't have a patient like ucsf. Also ucla has no production requirement like ucsf does.

Obviously I'm somewhat biased but I ultimately respect both institutions. I go to ucla basketball and football games regularly and love the beach so ucla was great for me. As a dental school I think ucla is second to none. With that said dental school in general sucks and I am so glad to be out!

Hey,

I know this is a popular topic and I was hoping to hear your response on which school you would attend and why.

I was fortunate enough to gain acceptance to both schools, and I recogize that my decision to pursue a school is based on my own interests/values and the vibe I got off the school. But I am eager to hear everyone else's thoughts just in case there was something I left out in my decision making process.

 

[JBieber]

Both are great schools. I went to ucla so I can speak more towards ucla but I know residents and graduates from ucsf. I will make a few points. Hopefully they give you something to consider.

1. Brand name of the school doesn't matter for dentistry. Dentistry is 90% pt management and personality. If name does matter to you ucsf has the slightly better name in medicine but they are the same in dentistry. However, ucla is a world class university with every type of grad school and athletic program...a lot of average people outside of SF/CA have never even heard of ucsf but people everywhere know what ucla is. Case in point, I had to teach my swype keyboard to type ucsf but ucla was preloaded.

2. You can specialize easily from either school. That's more up to you rather than your school. Schools love graduates of either school.

3. Ucla eprs do not matter. Gunners may go for them but no one outside of ucla admin or specialty programs will ever see them. It does not go one your transcript or dean's letter of rec. My class all worked together to pass classes and nothing of cutthroat about us. However, every class will take on their own personality. I can't imagine another school's didactic curriculum being tougher than ours but everyone survives. Don't let that scare you off. You are going to school to learn.

4. Ucsf weather is okay. Ucla weather is awesome.

5. Ucla's clinics run great. There are plenty of patients to see. The school is in westwood but patients come as far as 2 hours away to be treated.There is never a shortage of chairs as long as you are responsible to reserve your chair.

6. Ucla doesn't require you to waste your time or sign in for attendance for clinic if you don't have a patient like ucsf. Also ucla had no production requirement like ucsf does.

Obviously I'm somewhat biased but I ultimately respect both institutions. I go to ucla basketball and football games regularly and love the beach so ucla was great for me. As a dental school I think ucla is second to none. With that said I dental school in general sucks and I am so glad to be out!

At my interview, I believe Dr. Bibb told us epr's now appear on your official transcripts. This was a recent change.

 

[ucla06]

That's entirely possible. I just had transcripts sent out this last PASS cycle and that wasn't the case. I know if you apply to ucla post grad programs they will see it.

At my interview, I believe Dr. Bibb told us epr's now appear on your official transcripts. This was a recent change.

 

[UCSFDentistry]

I had to make this choice and went with UCSF. I am from SoCal and wanted a change. I am glad I chose UCSF I couldn't be happier here. We have a significant amount of students from UCLA in our class and they are also happy with their choice. Both schools are great. We are doing Crown/bridge and Class 1 and 2 amalgams now, while I hear UCLA just started drilling class 1 table top recently. Either school will be great, but you can really specialize from any school as long as you put the work in. If UCSF only a got 25% specialization rate last year, it must have been because only so many of the 88 students pursued it, not because we couldn't place in residency. UCSF has just as great of a name as UCLA so I highly doubt that just because you go to UCLA you are more likely to specialize.

I agree. I did ucla undergrad and I definitely wanted a change. Tends to be that way for a lot of students. There were quite a few ucla students on my interview day. But, being honest, if I never experienced ucla undergrad I would chose ucla. It was a great experience.

 

[corpus luteum]

Gosh...could this decision be any harder..thank you for all your input everyone!

Haha.. what are you leaning towards, ToofFairy?