Here is the pro/cons list that I give everyone thinking about Pitt (worked/researched/volunteered there for years in the dental school)
Pros:
1) Early clinical rotations first year - tissue charting, placing dental dam, getting introduced to specialties, assisting, etc. Probably not as much of this at Tufts, or about the same.
2) Academically strong, research available to you. Same for Tufts. Tufts students present lots of papers. (see admissions book)
3) Staff and students very cohesive and proud of their school. If you like college sports we have them and they are cheap to attend, and FUN! Tufts Dental students seem to ADORE their school. However, they are not near their undergrad campus.
4) Located on an undergrad campus, have a chance to meet pre-dental students and spread the word about dentistry and help people follow in your footsteps. Also have the libraries and restaurants there to use, younger girls to date, etc. Not near their undergrad campus. More of a downtown setting.
5) Beautiful sim labs and specialty clinics. Tufts has the same, if not nicer. Much better view.
6) Comp care clinics are nice as well, not brand new, but digital charting and digital radiography. From my observation, everyone loved the clinical instructors watching you. They were even nice to me as a researcher. Also, the people in the equipment dispensary are very pleasant. I can't say a bad word about the clinics. Got the same feeling from Tufts. Even the older clinics looked pretty nice. The attendings seemed so friendly and helpful!
7) City is low crime, low noise, and pretty much low key. Rent is dirt cheap. You can get a beer for $2 and pizza for $5, no Manhattan prices here. Parking is $20 a year on the street with an apartment lease, can't beat that. Boston is crazy expensive. You are looking at $800-1000 for rent ! I paid $400 for a huge house all utilities included. My friends pay $200-300 a person sometimes for nice places. Also, the PGH commute is not bad.
8) White coat ceremony is first year. Some schools do it later like before you enter clinic. Here, treated as a professional from day one. Not sure about Tufts.
9) Human cadaver lab - Not many schools have this, they use prosected cadavers or use embalmed cadavers (a la Bodies Exhibit). You actually get to dissect the facial anatomy yourself, pretty cool in my opinion. Not sure about Tufts. I think they mentioned a cadaver lab.
10) Every clinic has a secretary to do the scheduling and financial counselors that you drop the patient off at after the appointment. You won't be doing too much of that yourself.
11) The class size is 80 and mostly everyone is very helpful and cohesive as a class. There is a dental frat and lots of organizations to join, lots of alumni involvement. Tufts has a class twice the size and probably much more diverse! (private school)
Cons:
1) Weather can be pretty harsh, lots of rain and snow. Cloud cover galore. I have also heard Boston is cold and windy. Probably not much of a difference.
2) Block schedule - first year exams every week, sometimes twice a week (according to the D1s). I saw a statistic on here that Pitt has the 15th most class time of the 60+ dental schools. The curriculum is unforgiving. The Tufts students said exams weren't grouped together too bad. They said there was only one week where they had them all the same week.
3) Some things like waxing and teeth carving still going on. I know some schools have cut this out for you and have the lab do it - maybe a consideration? Expect lab work at any school!
4) Patient disappointment rate - In private practice this should be like 20% max, Dr. Etzel would only tell me it's 30% + at Pitt. Whoever said "I am concerned about getting patients to stay" may have been telling the truth. Not sure on this one, the clinics did seem to have a little down time, but mostly were always crowded. Tufts is a much larger metropolis and those clinics were full. I got the feeling Tufts had more patients and a more robust clinical experience in general. Also, the ADA exit survey showed that Tufts dental students were more confident in their skills on the average than other dental schools in the US.
5) Lack of rotations, externships, international opportunities - I could be wrong here, but I didn't really perceive an emphasis on getting the dental students outside of the friendly confines of the dental school. Not sure, ask a D3/D4. Tufts has plenty of opportunities - one month externship, community outreach clubs, etc. Read their dental magazine they give you, it shows you some cool places you can go like to work in prisons, etc.
