I recently got accepted to BU and USC. Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of the two schools? Where should I go?
USC or BU?
- Thread starter pooh77
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Do you like warm weather? Go to USC.
Do you like cold weather? Go to BU.
Do you like PBL? Go to USC.
Do you like lectures? Go to BU.
Do you like driving every where? Go to USC.
Do you like walking every where? Go to BU.
They're both pretty expensive schools. I got into both too and I chose BU. However, it's cause I liked the faculty and area more than USC. After my USC interview, I was stuck in traffic for 2 hrs. Never again.
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But LA does have chick fil a.... =[
Do you like cold weather? Go to BU.
Do you like PBL? Go to USC.
Do you like lectures? Go to BU.
Do you like driving every where? Go to USC.
Do you like walking every where? Go to BU.
They're both pretty expensive schools. I got into both too and I chose BU. However, it's cause I liked the faculty and area more than USC. After my USC interview, I was stuck in traffic for 2 hrs. Never again.
...
But LA does have chick fil a.... =[
People are pretty happy for being in dental school at USC, not sure about BU because I don't have any first hand experience. The students also help each other out a lot at USC from seniors to freshmen so it's a nice community.
You need your head examined if you are seriously considering BU over USC. Why would you put up with all the attitude, pretense, and nasty ma$sh0les, all in the crappiest weather in the nation. And don't get me started on traffic, especially in the winter when you lose half the driving lanes because the snow never gets removed in the city. And you can't depend on public transportation because bus/subway drivers regularly skip stops when things get congested, especially in the winter.
The clinical experience at BU is extremely cut-throat because of the limited patients and operatories; and for lectures, students only show up if the professor takes attendance that particular day. I've sat in lectures with fewer than 15 students, out of a possible 190, even though BU dental's official policy is that attendance at all lectures is mandatory.
Even if you attend 99% of all lectures (like I did), you may learn stuff, but the quality of instruction is pretty poor on average (probably influenced by the dismal attendance), especially by the medical school faculty that teach all of the general science/medical courses. Your success on exams relative to your classmates is entirely dependent on access to this or previous years' exam. Every year, the previous class passes down a CD/DVD with a collection of old exams. Other, more recent exams are distributed on a more restritive level, and having access to a particular exam can mean the difference between an A and an F, no exaggeration. That school's program is a mockery of education, ethics, and academic integrity. And Boston is way overrated.
And don't even get me started on APEX. It can be 5 months of hell as an indentured servant, or if you've got connections it could be 5 months of vacation at the beach. The most heavily weighted grades of your first and second years happens to be graded by either a stranger or a relative.
If you want a real dental education, USC for sure. BU is all show and theater, and an unnecessary ripoff. I was very shocked and disappointed with my education there.
The clinical experience at BU is extremely cut-throat because of the limited patients and operatories; and for lectures, students only show up if the professor takes attendance that particular day. I've sat in lectures with fewer than 15 students, out of a possible 190, even though BU dental's official policy is that attendance at all lectures is mandatory.
Even if you attend 99% of all lectures (like I did), you may learn stuff, but the quality of instruction is pretty poor on average (probably influenced by the dismal attendance), especially by the medical school faculty that teach all of the general science/medical courses. Your success on exams relative to your classmates is entirely dependent on access to this or previous years' exam. Every year, the previous class passes down a CD/DVD with a collection of old exams. Other, more recent exams are distributed on a more restritive level, and having access to a particular exam can mean the difference between an A and an F, no exaggeration. That school's program is a mockery of education, ethics, and academic integrity. And Boston is way overrated.
And don't even get me started on APEX. It can be 5 months of hell as an indentured servant, or if you've got connections it could be 5 months of vacation at the beach. The most heavily weighted grades of your first and second years happens to be graded by either a stranger or a relative.
If you want a real dental education, USC for sure. BU is all show and theater, and an unnecessary ripoff. I was very shocked and disappointed with my education there.
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Usc
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I interview at both schools, and I was more impressed with BU.
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BU for sure i have a lot of friends there and USC and all that goes to USC hate PBL and BU is way more organized and cheaper !
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BU!!! Wooo...we can be classmates 
! Plus Boston is sooo much fun..yes the weather can be eh but the city has so much to offer!!!
! Plus Boston is sooo much fun..yes the weather can be eh but the city has so much to offer!!!
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+1
If you're Jewish you get to skip taking test on their 'religious holidays.' Others must show up even if they're on a gourney at the hospital with their physician calling in. What a f%^#%$# place really and this really did happened.
If you're Jewish you get to skip taking test on their 'religious holidays.' Others must show up even if they're on a gourney at the hospital with their physician calling in. What a f%^#%$# place really and this really did happened.
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If you only go to 25% of lectures, you are probably better off learning through PBL. That way you know how to teach yourself what to study instead of relying on friends' notes or power points.
Or if half your immediate family died: the Dean tells you to submit your leave of abscence for the year by the end of the week (no refunds for tuition of course), or face expulsion for missing mandatory lectures and labs (talk about selective enforcement). Who cares about your dead family, I'm keeping your money, prolonging your graduation, and going to charge you even more, all while being an a$s and limiting your time grieving with your remaining family; and if you challenge my authority I will have you expelled.
2nd year students are humans too, even if one is a minority, that is non-Jewish, who practices an alternative lifestyle.
2nd year students are humans too, even if one is a minority, that is non-Jewish, who practices an alternative lifestyle.
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Who's the dean now?
The last dean (Dean B.) gave a bunch of people one week suspension because they walked late into his lecture; one that had been rescheduled last minute cause there wasn't enough lecture room and some didn't find out in time. A few awesome truly caring dentists there (usually foreigners) but a large number on a power trip.
I don't know who you are referring to as Dean B, but the Dean of the school for the last 4 years is Jeffrey Hutter, having previously served as an associate dean. He is a bigot, control freak, talking head with a napoleon complex, who arrogantly violates the most basic published policies/procedures/bylaws/and accreditation standards. He is the chair of the Commission on Dental Accreditation, which explains why the school gets away with everything they do.
The dean before him was Spencer Frankl for some 30 years until he died in 2007. His daughter still works for the school and has lots of power and influence. Nepotism and cronyism is just a fact of life there. She is a counselor at the dental school (without any qualifications), and has a history of breaching confidentiality, lying and back stabbing. It's ironic that the most unethical, untrustworthy, deceptive person I've ever known teaches the school's Ethics course.
The dean before him was Spencer Frankl for some 30 years until he died in 2007. His daughter still works for the school and has lots of power and influence. Nepotism and cronyism is just a fact of life there. She is a counselor at the dental school (without any qualifications), and has a history of breaching confidentiality, lying and back stabbing. It's ironic that the most unethical, untrustworthy, deceptive person I've ever known teaches the school's Ethics course.
