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Ubc Vs. Ut


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I was hoping to hear from the community (pre-dents, currents students, etc.) what their thoughts are on these two universities. Every year we seem to see a comparison on this forum between UWO and UT, but I haven't found anything that really provides an in depth comparison of UT with other schools, like UBC.

 

Because opinions on the city, lifestyle, and costs will vary from person to person, I would prefer to hear more about other aspects, like the teaching staff, facilities, name recognition, research opportunities, etc. I know that UBC's dental program ranked higher this year but, overall, I would still say that UT has more clout. Moreover, as the largest and oldest school, UT offers many research and specialization opportunities that other schools can't match. With that said, I found UT to have fairly old facilities and it didn't seem like much was being done in terms of renewing the building/clinic. UBC has a brand new building and the facilities seem top notch. UBC class sizes are also smaller, which I believe provides more personal time with professors.

 

Anyways, I understand that there are numerous limitations (no one has done the DDS at both schools, so it's difficult to compare), but I'd nonetheless appreciate any input. Thank you!

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From what I heard the PBL style is crap and come board exam time UBC students may struggle more trying to make up for the didactic knowledge they weren't taught in traditional style. Completely hersay and I did not go to UBC. Take that for what its worth (i.e very little).

 

No one cares what dental school you come from as long as long as you have the degree, the license, and a good personality that patients like.

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Went for interviews with UBC and UofT, and I was really amazed at the difference in facility between the two. Overall UBC just seems to be a better school in general, and the UofT labs were something you see in the 50's.

 

Again I heard bad things about PBL, but statistics show UBC grads perform just as well on boards. Now whether that be due to them studying more because PBL is holding them down, or PBL is good itself, remains in the air. I personally feel if you are smart enough to get into dental school, you shouldn't have a problem with boards as long as you keep up with the courses.

 

In the end I chose UBC, starting this Fall, so will update once I have more first hand experience :)

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One difference is tuition. UBC is about 56 to 60K per year while Toronto is 42 to 48K per year.

 

Anothet difference is location. I think this is the most important factor - which city do you prefer, where is your family currently living at, etc.

 

Any school in Canada is great.

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One difference is tuition. UBC is about 56 to 60K per year while Toronto is 42 to 48K per year.

Anothet difference is location. I think this is the most important factor - which city do you prefer, where is your family currently living at, etc.

Any school in Canada is great.

Exactly, having the opportunity to go to a Canadian dental school is a privilege in itself. Every school has its problem but at the end of the day you will learn to be a great dentist!

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Im wondering how the 95 people class size factors in at uoft. Seems high.

 

Sometimes you will have to wait in line in lab and getting scrubs and etc. but it's a big school with bigger facilities so overall it works out.

Becomes 120 with the IDAPP program in years 3 and 4 and that's when you usually split 60 and 60 so technically it gets smaller in those years.

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Went for interviews with UBC and UofT, and I was really amazed at the difference in facility between the two. Overall UBC just seems to be a better school in general, and the UofT labs were something you see in the 50's.

I thought the exact same thing! I was a little disappointed with UT's facilities, especially when compared to UBC's newer building; however, I read yesterday that UT will be spending $30 million in upgrades that will include the clinic (slated for completion in Spring of 2018).

 

For me, neither tuition nor the city are big factors. I also understand that each dental school in Canada is outstanding, but to me that doesn't eliminate the status of each school in the public's eye. I would say that, worldwide, UT certainly has more pull. With that said, I've read repeatedly that school reputation is really inconsequential for specialization.

 

So the question is, price and city being equal, which is objectively the better school? (Education, facilities, staff, opportunities, name)

 

Thank you everyone, and I really appreciate the positive vibe in this thread!

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Dental school is really what you make of it.

No school will really give you an advantage, if you want to specialize in a certain area, you will figure out where best to put your efforts to get in to that specialty no matter what school you are at.

There is no "clout" to be had, really, just appropriate effort put in by individuals to achieve their goals, and every dental school in Canada will allow you to do that.

I went to McGill and we each got out of it what we put in to it. Those who wanted to specialize are all specialists now.

The only thing that stood out with my program at the time was how much ortho we did and that we all graduated with Invisalign certification, which was nice.

I really like your response and your way of thinking. I'd like to ask if you had the chance to choose between different schools when you applied and, if so, how did you go about making the decision? Did you primarily focus on family/city/cost?

 

I'd be curious to know how you (or others) went about making a decision on which school to attend.

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page 15

 

Although, i'm not sure if this is set yet...I think it's still a "plan"

 

Could be years before we see any sort of changes

They said, because $11 million is coming from the government, that the majority of the renovations must be complete by the Spring of 2018.
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Thanks team. Yeah they said April 2018 but I think that's just some of the renovations? No way the clinic will be renovated by April 2018.

Agreed, but this nonetheless means that UT will have outstanding facilities in the near future. This only makes my decision all the more difficult!

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Yeah, UofT's also working on some other stuff re: strategic plan. Things like revising the DDS program, including a potential AEGD residency, etc. Steps in the right direction for sure. I just hope this doesn't lead to increases in tuition aha.

A few years of increased tuition for the renovations is a small price for the upgraded facilities. Now I'm really jealous of uoft and their plans it's about time!!!!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I can't speak for UBC since I never researched into it, but being a student at U of T dent, I can give you my opinion. 

 

Yes, U of T has very olddddd and beaten down facilities and it looks like it's from the 1950s cuz it probably was, but it has all the things you need to learn and practice. It doesn't matter how fancy your drilling set up is, your skill development is what will make you a good dentist. Indeed, we have every specialty offered at the school, so you can get more exposure to those aspects and their expertise. Our lectures are being taught by licensed specialists, and almost all of the instructors/demonstrators are currently also in private practice, so they are great resources for asking questions and learning from. It gets extremely frustrating sometimes because every one you ask tells you something different, but I guess they each have something different to offer, and honestly, that's what dentistry is about. There is a goal, a final result you want, and every person may have their own ways of getting there so it's pretty cool to learn from each other. 

 

I was accepted at both U of A and U of T (I'm from Alberta originally), and I chose U of T more for the city and experience. I love it here :) 

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I can't speak for UBC since I never researched into it, but being a student at U of T dent, I can give you my opinion. 

 

Yes, U of T has very olddddd and beaten down facilities and it looks like it's from the 1950s cuz it probably was, but it has all the things you need to learn and practice. It doesn't matter how fancy your drilling set up is, your skill development is what will make you a good dentist. Indeed, we have every specialty offered at the school, so you can get more exposure to those aspects and their expertise. Our lectures are being taught by licensed specialists, and almost all of the instructors/demonstrators are currently also in private practice, so they are great resources for asking questions and learning from. It gets extremely frustrating sometimes because every one you ask tells you something different, but I guess they each have something different to offer, and honestly, that's what dentistry is about. There is a goal, a final result you want, and every person may have their own ways of getting there so it's pretty cool to learn from each other. 

 

I was accepted at both U of A and U of T (I'm from Alberta originally), and I chose U of T more for the city and experience. I love it here :)

 

How is the clinical education at U of T?

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I only applied to McGill because I was IP, fairly confident I would get in, didn't want to move anywhere other than Montreal, and I was pretty okay with moving forward on other career paths if it didn't work out.

 

I made the least researched and least school oriented decision possible. Lol.

 

As I said above, you get out of your program what you put into it. What kind of dentist you are by the end of dental school has far more to do with the student than the school.

 

At McGill our facilities were soooooo oooooooold and crappy, we spent way too long in med school, which meant that we had very little time studying actual dentistry, my particular year had a massive staff strike that gave us a VERY rough start in our first clinical year and I myself had surgery in 3rd year and missed 2 months.

 

I still managed to learn everything I needed to know to practice effectively, and that I didn't know, I learned on the job like everyone does.

 

If your decision is going to be based on facilitating your future career, then I would prioritize the school closest to where you want to end up, because it's easier to network when there's geographic proximity.

 

Other than that, all other factors will have more impact on your dental school experience and not so much your actual outcome.

 

Dental school experience is a whole other issue.

I'm very happy with how McGill trained me, I just hated every bloody second of it.

 

Thank you very much Malkynn, your detailed response really helped me to make a decision on which university was best for me. I appreciate you taking the time to write everything up!

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  • 10 months later...

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