BU Students Help!!!!! More Info on BU

[bee3615]

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I'm trying to decide on whether to fork over the deposit and eventually be a part of the 2013 class. I am in love with the curriculum and the environment at BU, but I have some concerns.

1.As a current student, do you think it's been worth all the money you have spent so far, or that it's better to go to a cheaper school?

2.Is the struggle for patients by 3rd year students something that can be tolerated?

3. For specialty cases, are students given opportunities to work on them or are they automatically referred to grad students? If yes, are the grad student willing to work with the DDS students?

4. What is the average rent for ppl with roomates, and what are the best places to live in terms of price, security, and commute?

5. If you had to do it again, would you choose the same school

I know I have a LOT of questions, but I would really appreciate all inputs

 

[Cold Front]

1.As a current student, do you think it's been worth all the money you have spent so far, or that it's better to go to a cheaper school?

Well, this in not a big secret, but BU is a very expensive program compared to national average cost of attendance, and the city is also a big part of it. If you can attend somewhere cheaper, I would not go to BU - not because of the quality of education, but because of the cost.

2.Is the struggle for patients by 3rd year students something that can be tolerated?

It's all relative. The school will assign you enough patients to keep you busy, the challenge is whether the patients are reliable and provide good cases. In 3rd year, there are clinic didactic courses, so you will not be in clinic all the time - in fact, you have to schedule appointment in the treatment center when you and the patient are both available, which is another challenge. I am sure it's the same in many other programs.

3. For specialty cases, are students given opportunities to work on them or are they automatically referred to grad students? If yes, are the grad student willing to work with the DDS students?

I had a patient who needed full mouth reconstruction, so the school transferred the patient to the pros department, but this is not very common. Some cases are too advanced for 3rd year, or even 4th year students. However, there are instances when a patient needs an implant, you can work with a perio resident to place the implant. We also do rotations in OS, where we extract wisdom teeth and be able to perform surgical procedures, depending on the case and the complexity of the procedure. I have few cases lined up for veneers, which is something that you don't need a pros resident to assist you with.

4. What is the average rent for ppl with roomates, and what are the best places to live in terms of price, security, and commute?

It depends on which part of the town you want to stay. I would say it could range from $600-1,400 if you want to share an apartment with someone else.

5. If you had to do it again, would you choose the same school

Sure. BU was not my top choice when I applied, because I submitted my application really late in the cycle at the time (like December/January). My options were to either re-apply and take a year off with the hope of attending a cheaper school, or attend any school no matter the cost and finish school early. Other than the cost, the city and the school are great (specially faculty, with the exception of 1 or 2 - like everywhere else). We also have the APEX program in 1st and 2nd year, you intern at a private dental office in Boston or in your hometown, and get a feel of what aspects of dentistry interests you the most (this is a great opportunity to know if specializing is for them or not), and also learn how a private practice is run (the business side).

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Daurang]

BU should never be your top choice. If another school is at least $50K cheaper, take the other school. However, you will do just fine and be a great clinician if you end up at BU.

 

[Cold Front]

To the OP:

Class 0f 2013 tuition alone will be about $50k, plus about $25k for living expenses in Boston, don't forget another $10k for instruments, $5k for books, health insurance, and other fees... total for their 1st year will be about $90k. Tuition increases about 5% each year, so they will end up with close to $400k for the four years in school, and that's just the principal.

Interest (which is very high these days, about 7% for federal loans) while in school could be about another $20-30k over the years (unsubsidized alone), now you are looking at $400-450k.

This is why I tell pre-dents to strongly consider a cheaper school for cost purposes, specially those with undergrad debts. No one wants to graduate with $500k debt, regardless who tells you it's a good debt. You will be paying back over $3k a month for 30 years, or about $4k/month in 20 years, or if you think you can do it in 10 years, that's almost $6k/month. Some dentist don't even make that as a take home after taxes.

If one considers specializing after this scenario, it's even more debt, at least another $100k (with the exception of OS, which is 4 more years of school). All BU post-grad programs are $50k tuition + $50k instruments, living costs and other fees, each year! That's another $200k just to specialize, while their other loans (let's say it was high as $400-500k) is accruing interest along with their post-grad loans during specialization, that's another big number. Then life awaits them; home + car + practice + starting a family, how much extra loans do you need for those?

The private school high tuition trend is getting bad, ask folks at USC, NYU, Tufts, UPenn, etc... they will tell you the same thing.