University of Southern California Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry

8 out of 10

3 out of 10

4 out of 10

8 out of 10

10 out of 10

No questions, just a mock PBL session. But here's a tip. If you are really interested in the program, during the mock PBL session, make it seem like you are good at going through the process and not just good at getting to the cause of the "problem".

NA

NA

60+ minutes

No change 😐

2

1 out of 10

5 out of 10

In a group

At the school

I didn't

The beautiful campus. All of the school spirit.

The nearly $90,000 price tag to go read textbooks and "learn for yourself".

More about PBL.

I would like to post this feedback from the perspective of some one who would not do well in the PBL program, because I don't feel like I would. I have no negative feelings toward PBL as a system or the school, I just don't think it's for me. I think lots of people could do very well in this system. However, I do very well in class lectures. I do very well with structured material. And I don't do well studying in groups. Basically I really don't think I would learn a whole lot if I didn't have some one expecting something of me. I wouldn't learn a whole lot if I didn't know what to spend the time learning and what not to. I asked a lot of questions and they really seem to be more interested in whether or not you can go through the process of learning for yourself through a "problem" than whether you actually figure out the problem or not. I asked whether some students slacked off even though members of their group were counting on them. One student replied "of course!" Then do you just miss out on the material that he was supposed to look up? I asked. "The material is all there if you WANT to look it up, but you don't have to." he replied. I was really confused by this mentality. I guess you just learn whatever you want to and retain as much or as little as you want to. I should probably rephrase that. I would probably just learn whatever I wanted to and retain as little as I wanted to in this kind of system. I just don't think I would be motivated enough to always be looking up what I'm missing because of other students in the group who slack off. Also, it doesn't seem like there is a whole lot of potential to set yourself apart as a good student. It seems like no one would know if you were busting your butt to learn all of this stuff because you don't really have an opportunity to prove it. Again, this would lead to me being very unmotivated and not becoming a very good dentist. If you are a person who learns well from textbooks and doesn't like being pushed, and is very self-motivated, you would probably do really well here. If you're very social you would also do well here. Again, this is not a knock on the school, it's just not for everyone and not for people like me. I'm sure they turn out great dentists, but they just wouldn't be able to make one out of some one like me. So make sure you know everything about the school and the program before you commit to it.

Other

Enthusiastic

Out of state

2-3 hours

Airplane

$101-$200

LAX

stayed with buddy

10 out of 10