UOP vs UCLA

[sspeacock]

I hope everyone had a good December 1st!
I wanted to get your input on the pros and cons of UCLA and UOP, my top schools. Really struggling here and need some perspective. Any feedback helps!

At this point, I'm trying to get input on the general feel of the schools, if people enjoy their social life at these schools, and whether they feel the school opens many doors to them both to specialize or to become a competent GP.

Here's an in-depth look at what I'm weighing:

• Quality of life/experiences
  1. I want to be able to enjoy my life outside of school but also have freedom to pursue research/internships. I know a 3yr program isn't the best for that and am dreading the workload.
  2. I'd like to move somewhere new-- I've lived in LA my whole life.
  3. I attended private undergrad and absolutely loved the similar close-knit vibes between students/faculty that UOP gave. I also love that they seem to run their school well.
  4. I love that UCLA dental is part of a larger campus. I like that college bubble feeling of being in a community and sharing common spaces. I make friends by exposure, which is easier when you share living areas and study spaces. UCLA has libraries (I practically lived at my undergrad lib) and grad student housing, whereas UOP has neither. Oddly enough, it's a big turn-off and I feel like it's easier to lose your peers in SF outside of UOP doors.
• Academics
  1. I'd be foolish to say I want to specialize at this point, but I want to keep that door open. I really loved shadowing my oral surgeon! I know UCLA has great match rates.
  2. On the other hand, I love that UOP is strong clinically. Working with my hands is one of the most appealing things about dentistry to me and I can't wait for that part. On the chance that I don't want to specialize, I want to be ready to be a GP out of school.
  3. Not to bag on UCLA at all, and maybe it's a symptom of P/F/H, but some students I talked to seemed a little unenthusiastic about learning. I do best in environments where people are passionate to do well even when no one's looking. I do not want to go to a school where people shrug about studying and only care to do the minimum to pass. I get that dental school is hard, but apathy is contagious to me.
  4. I don't like that UOP has such a large class size.
  5. BUT I know UOP has friendly, accessible professors, which is extremely important to me. I don't know about UCLA.
  6. I wasn't able to shadow a UOP class, but the microbio UCLA class I shadowed was a little uninspiring. The professor didn't really engage and he spoke on and on over a very unhelpful, minimalist ppt. Maybe this is the nature of didactic classes, but I do better in lectures that are a tad more interactive.
• Cost
  1. Of course I'm taking cost into account, but at this point I'm figuring the cost difference will only become apparent once I'm given financial aid. No idea which school will give me more aid, but I got the first interview of the season for UOP and got UCLA's 10/13 date.

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[Life of Pablo]

My personal opinion -

Go to UCLA. Although specializing out of both schools is possible, I think a 4 year curriculum would be easier than a 3 year curriculum. UoP is a great school, but it’s known for producing general dentists which is fine if that’s what you want to be. Most of all, UCLA is much cheaper than UoP. I think UoP will be around 480k.

 

[GDragon_1988]

UCLA

 

[Trave_]

Not to bag on UCLA at all, and maybe it's a symptom of P/F/H, but some students I talked to seemed a little unenthusiastic about learning. I do best in environments where people are passionate to do well even when no one's looking. I do not want to go to a school where people shrug about studying and only care to do the minimum to pass. I get that dental school is hard, but apathy is contagious to me.

I didn't get that vibe when I interviewed. Everyone seemed excited and engaged compared to UoP where students seemed a little more bogged down by the 3-year curriculum. At UoP a student mentioned that the professors were a bit boring. I'd also say it'd be tough for UCLA students to not enjoy learning and have UCLA still be one of the top schools for specializing.

 

[amariesa]

In case you haven't thought about it, UoP allows you to be a dentist for a year earlier - so that is 1 year less interest and 1 year of income extra in comparison to the 4 year schools. I still like UCLA and havent been to UoP but that could be a 150k difference right there.

 

[sspeacock]

I didn't get that vibe when I interviewed. Everyone seemed excited and engaged compared to UoP where students seemed a little more bogged down by the 3-year curriculum. At UoP a student mentioned that the professors were a bit boring. I'd also say it'd be tough for UCLA students to not enjoy learning and have UCLA still be one of the top schools for specializing.

I guess it all depends on who you speak to and also when your visit was! I visited UOP at the start of the year so people were still very perky but I visited UCLA later in the season and got a spiel of "I'm thankful for P/F because the bare minimum is fine since I don't want to specialize." It could just be the specific individuals I talked to and the fact that they had a test that morning (yikes).
You do bring up a good point about people gunning for MORE years of school-- you can't dive into specializing without having some passion for academics.

 

[sspeacock]

In case you haven't thought about it, UoP allows you to be a dentist for a year earlier - so that is 1 year less interest and 1 year of income extra in comparison to the 4 year schools. I still like UCLA and havent been to UoP but that could be a 150k difference right there.

You're definitely right-- I'm waiting on financial aid/scholarships before I even consider weighing the costs. Who knows, they may come out even and then I'll have more of a dilemma of choosing.

 

[asdf1234qad]

In case you haven't thought about it, UoP allows you to be a dentist for a year earlier - so that is 1 year less interest and 1 year of income extra in comparison to the 4 year schools. I still like UCLA and havent been to UoP but that could be a 150k difference right there.

I'd like to add to that 150k is likely an underestimation. This is a common mistake I see a lot when people debate the worth of HPSP/NHSC and residencies. The difference in income caused by delay of career should not be based on starting salary. It should instead reflect your income at the time of retirement, which could vary wildly, but will in most cases be much much higher.

 

[Trave_]

I guess it all depends on who you speak to and also when your visit was! I visited UOP at the start of the year so people were still very perky but I visited UCLA later in the season and got a spiel of "I'm thankful for P/F because the bare minimum is fine since I don't want to specialize." It could just be the specific individuals I talked to and the fact that they had a test that morning (yikes).
You do bring up a good point about people gunning for MORE years of school-- you can't dive into specializing without having some passion for academics.

All good points! For what it’s worth (probably not much hah), I interviewed with them on back-to-back days so it was around the same time academic calendar-wise.