UOP vs UCSF (IS)

[AlecJ]

School 1: UOP
Pros:

• 3 year program. I plan to specialize so saving a year to reach my end goal sounds appealing.
• The facility is beautiful and very modern
• Extremely supportive and kind faculty. I felt so welcomed by the staff from the moment they called to let me know about my interview, and that continued while I was there for my interview and again when I was told I got in.

Cons:

• With a 3 year program, I worry that I will be overworked with schoolwork, and lack any sort of work/life balance
• Not the best location when compared to UCSF
• Letter grading and a more competitive environment as students are ranked

School 2: UCSF (IS)

Pros:

• Big name school (In my head UCSF seems to have a more prestigious reputation just for the name of UCSF alone. I was told that UCSF is the “Harvard of the West Coast”, but is any of that true?)
• Pass/Fail grading (could be pro or con)
• Better location
• Smaller class size (only 60 according to admissions)
• Better learning environment as students are not ranked amongst each other

Cons:

• 4 year program
• Facilities seem more dated/less modern compared to UOP*
• Lacking in clinical experience?
• Much less personable compared to UOP— first person I ever spoke to was when I got my acceptance. Everything else was via email and the interview was pre-recorded via Kira Talent

*Everything has been virtual for UCSF so I have yet to see the campus in-person

Summary:
Given that both of these schools are in SF, my main focus is the difference in grading systems, 3 year program vs 4, and what will put me in a better spot to specialize.
With regards to differences in cost, it is not something I am super concerned about right now as I don’t want to go to a school just because it is cheaper; however I would still love your input because I haven't looked much into the cost difference between the schools.
Some other things I am considering is that my family is in LA and I am very close with them, so I would like some free time to occasionally see them, which I worry I wouldn’t get if I went with UOP. However, I have taken 2 gap years, so I am a little eager to finish school sooner, which I would get with UOP, so I am very torn on this 3 vs 4 year program.

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[todentornottodent]

I guess I'd just say accurately assess how smart you are. If you can handle UoP + specializing, do that. If you don't think you can, do UCSF. P/F will relieve a lot of stress and increase how easy it is to match. Maybe look into specific specialties too? UoP does have good track record of getting people into ortho. But I feel like for OMFS, UCSF is better.

UoP, I think, won't be competitive. Most everyone there wants to do GP.

 

[Boat on the Chesapeake]

UoP $130-140 x3 years = $411k Dental Programs Cost of Attendance

UCSF $54k x 4 years = $212k
(Edit: plus $40k for instrument fees)

School of Dentistry 2021-22 | UCSF Office of the Registrar

registrar.ucsf.edu

That’s not a small difference, $200kish (edit:160kish) is a HUGE difference and with interest over the life of the loan(10-20 years) that’s worth more than year of most specialty income. The year quicker at UoP won’t “save” you any money and won’t set you up for specialty better. You’d have more time to do extracurriculars, research, get good LOR, and have a good specialty pipeline at UCSF.

UoP only makes more sense if you wanted to be a GP and someone else was paying for it.

 

[princeafrica]

UCSF is cheaper and has a good track record with getting into specialities.
Pick UCSF and don't look back

 

[todentornottodent]

If you've decided, what'd you decide?