Question about USyd

[tmlkbg 1]

Hey,

I was hoping if someone could tell me more about the dental program at Sydney. I've applied but I seriously don't know much about the program. I was looking at the testimonials on Oztrekk and the students that went to Sydney stated the program is really disorganized. I'm sure every dental program has their flaws but I would be lying if I wasn't worried after reading some of these comments. 

Hope someone can provide their input. Thanks!

[mandok 1]

Its got good reputation though (especially in Australia). I would take it over UoM or UWA (the worst in Australia).

[QBDent 0]

How would you rank the dental schools in Australia if you had to rank them in order of ones you'd be most interested to attend

[TheDiabeticDentist 18]

On 5/23/2020 at 5:54 AM, mandok said:

Its got good reputation though (especially in Australia). I would take it over UoM or UWA (the worst in Australia).

Why is UWA the worst?

[QBDent 0]

Also, does anyone know what the Calendar year is for Dentistry at any of the schools offering the 4 year doctorate level programs. 
is there a 4 month summer break like there is in Canada where you could travel back home, or is it 12 months of school all year round?

[McMarauder 80]

On 5/23/2020 at 3:54 AM, mandok said:

Its got good reputation though (especially in Australia). I would take it over UoM or UWA (the worst in Australia).

I think the reputation of the dental schools depends on who you ask and who that person has been exposed to.    When I was looking for work in Sydney and New South Wales, so many of my interviewers straight up said "I offered you an interview because you didn't go to USyd".    On the flip side, my classmates in and around Melbourne and Victoria had a hard time securing positions because Melbourne grads were seen as "not confident".  I've worked with good and bad dentists from all around the world,.  The reputation of your dental school does not matter  after you start gaining work experience.

[canadianman 3]

7 hours ago, QBDent said:

Also, does anyone know what the Calendar year is for Dentistry at any of the schools offering the 4 year doctorate level programs. 
is there a 4 month summer break like there is in Canada where you could travel back home, or is it 12 months of school all year round?

University of Melbourne is a 4 year program and is basically a 10 month program. You start in late Jan or early Feb. You get 2-3 weeks for winter break in June and finals are late Nov. Plus supplementary exams in Dec if you fail. 

[QBDent 0]

Agreed about the reputation aspect and at the end of the day you could train almost anywhere and be a good dentist if you are motivated. Just as I try to separate between the schools the only metric I have to look at right now is what the schools global rankings are. How would you decide between the schools if you had the choice?  Thanks for the info about the school years, appreciate it

[canadianman 3]

I only got an offer to Melbourne, but you can look at cost of tuition, cost of living, and where do you want to live. If you have family in those locations. In the end you graduate with the same degree and it depends who you are and how you use it. 

[yampotato 1]

On 6/12/2020 at 10:21 PM, canadianman said:

I only got an offer to Melbourne, but you can look at cost of tuition, cost of living, and where do you want to live. If you have family in those locations. In the end you graduate with the same degree and it depends who you are and how you use it. 

Do you think it’s still a wise choice to go out of country and pay 400k+ for dentistry due to the impact from covid? I’m just very curious. 

[canadianman 3]

On 8/14/2020 at 5:30 PM, yampotato said:

Do you think it’s still a wise choice to go out of country and pay 400k+ for dentistry due to the impact from covid? I’m just very curious. 

I would have loved to go to dental school in my province, but due to a combination of GPA, DAT and interview, I didn't get in after two cycles :/. Everyone's situation is different, but for me, Melbourne was always my second choice. I am lucky to have family here, which helps with the move. I applied as earliest as possible right after I finished my 3 year bachelor degree as I didn't want to take a gap year. My tuition was about 85k, plus 4-6k for instruments and loops for first year. 

The covid situation is pretty rough especially in Melbourne which recently announced stage 4 lockdown, ending all face to face learning. Second semester was suppose to be mostly pre-clinics and now my Thursday's and Friday's are completely free till the government reassesses the covid situation again in September.

If situation is similar to right now by January, I'd say it would not be wised to go out of country. Not even sure if they will let you in, cause I have a few classmate that when back home overseas back in April due to the lockdown and lectures being online and now the school is asking them to come back for pre-clinic, but the Australian border wont let them come back even though they have letter from school. I would hope international travels is allowed by January so the next year students are able to come here. For my situation, I thought it was wise to study overseas or else I'd still be in Canada. I think about the extra money as paying for the experience in a whole new country and the loss of income if I were to wait another year to try again in Canada, not knowing if I would get in or not. Eventually everything will be back to normal or at least close to it. 

I hope this helps! You can always PM me  

[dgdg1 0]

anyone get any updates from Syd?