BU vs. Tufts

Started by Predental7777
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
P

Predental7777

Full Member
10+ Year Member
If you had already deposited at BU and received a scholarship, but then just received an interview at Tufts, what would you do? Are these schools much different?

Has anyone out there attended either of these schools and can let me know any fundamental differences between the two? I feel torn because I really do love BU but I feel Tufts has a better reputation.
 
Well both are pretty reputable schools BU is ranked in the top 50 in the world, both are in Boston and only about 10 minutes from eachother. So you have to decide which campus you like more, and BU is a bigger campus people and space wise.
If you dont mind me asking, I was looking into tufts and BU as well. Whats your gpa/dat
 
Predental7777 said:
Thanks!

3.57/ 19 AA

I'm feeling like I should stick with BU. I'd be happy at either of these places but I've already deposited and I should go where money is offered ($10,000 per yr).
Click to expand...

Yeah especially with a scholarship like that. Thats pretty convincing for me haha. Grats on getting in btw.
 
Thanks and good luck to you during the application process. Any other inputs from people who attend(ed) either school?
 
Predental7777 said:
If you had already deposited at BU and received a scholarship, but then just received an interview at Tufts, what would you do? Are these schools much different?

Has anyone out there attended either of these schools and can let me know any fundamental differences between the two? I feel torn because I really do love BU but I feel Tufts has a better reputation.
Click to expand...

If you really love BU, and got a scholarship, you might as well stick with it. But for most people, I'd recommend visiting Tufts to see for yourself; they are VERY different schools, and it's located in a totally different part of Boston. Night and day in my opinion, but you'd have to see for yourself to know what I'm talking about.
 
somethinpositiv said:
If you really love BU, and got a scholarship, you might as well stick with it. But for most people, I'd recommend visiting Tufts to see for yourself; they are VERY different schools, and it's located in a totally different part of Boston. Night and day in my opinion, but you'd have to see for yourself to know what I'm talking about.
Click to expand...

How are they different educationally? Clinical experience, research, facilities, ect....
 
I'm in a similar position! I already sent in my deposit to BU but was just recently accepted at Tufts. I need help making this decision. Anyone's input/suggestions on both schools would be greatly appreciated! A major factor in my decision is which school can provide me with the better opportunity to specialize in Orthodontics, as I am very much interested in doing so. Although, at this point it's obviously tough to say whether or not I will actually end up specializing, as I realize that many people change their minds through their years at dental school. Also...to add to the madness...being from MA and having no in-state school I'm pretty much set on either Tufts or BU but I have also been accepted at Maryland. Any thoughts on whether or not it's worth going to Maryland over Tufts or BU??? Please please help me. Any and all advice is welcome and very much appreciated 🙂
 
Tufts is far superior to BU. Actually, take either Tufts or Maryland over BU.
 
Predental7777 said:
How are they different educationally? Clinical experience, research, facilities, ect....
Click to expand...

I've already been accused of being biased in the whole Tufts vs BU debate, so all I can say is that if you interview at both schools, and talk to students at both schools, you will realize the difference in clinical experience, facilities, stress, student happiness, ect.

Reading SDN opinions from all of us is useless really, the only way to really know is to suck it up and go to both interviews. One of two things will happen. Either you decide you love Tufts more, and end up coming here and it's good for your future. Or, you decide your initial thoughts were right and you love BU, which reinforces your initial decision to attend BU and in the end you have no regrets, no what if's.

Btw, if you got a scholarship from BU, you'd probably also get one from Tufts. Tufts Merit Scholarship is $6,000 per year and given to everyone who has a 3.5 overall GPA and a 21 DAT. You need to stay in the Top 20% of the class each year to maintain the scholarship, but you can still earn the scholarship if you don't have that GPA/DAT initially, as long as you are in the top 20%.
 
dancingdent02 said:
I'm in a similar position!. . .being from MA and having no in-state school I'm pretty much set on either Tufts or BU but I have also been accepted at Maryland. Any thoughts on whether or not it's worth going to Maryland over Tufts or BU??? Please please help me. Any and all advice is welcome and very much appreciated 🙂
Click to expand...

If you're already an MA resident is Boston that far of a trip for you? I feel like you don't have the disadvantage of having to pay for plane tickets/other amenities to make the trip to visit potential dental schools. The best way to feel comfortable about this decision would be to go look at both schools for yourself regardless of what SDN says about either of them.

This requires of course that Boston is in driving distance 😳
 
I have visited both Tufts and BU and I was very impressed with both. I'm leaning towards Tufts but I'm just wondering if anyone knows which of the two schools has a stronger education in ortho and will be able to better prepare me to specialize in ortho?
 
When i interviewed at BU the students at lunch told us that they have gotten to do some ortho including placing brackets. They said it was one of the few schools in the country that you actually can get involved in Ortho (not just watching).
 
I have interviewed at BU and haven't interviewed at Tufts, but from what I've been hearing from SDN and looking over both school's website I would go to the Tufts interview.

Pros of BU:
1. Faculty and students are very happy.
2. The didactic curriculum appears "relaxed" compared to most schools because of the lack of block testing.

Cons of BU:
1. I thought the facilities were outdated.
2. BUGSDM is not a big building yet there is a relatively large class size during D3 and D4 because the international students join giving a similar experience to D2 NYU students. As a result, I have heard students not having enough patients and/or chairs. In fact, I have heard the 10 week externship is to keep the clinic not as crowded.
 
pacific2013 said:
I have interviewed at BU and haven't interviewed at Tufts, but from what I've been hearing from SDN and looking over both school's website I would go to the Tufts interview.

Pros of BU:
1. Faculty and students are very happy.
2. The didactic curriculum appears "relaxed" compared to most schools because of the lack of block testing.

Cons of BU:
1. I thought the facilities were outdated.
2. BUGSDM is not a big building yet there is a relatively large class size during D3 and D4 because the international students join giving a similar experience to D2 NYU students. As a result, I have heard students not having enough patients and/or chairs. In fact, I have heard the 10 week externship is to keep the clinic not as crowded.
Click to expand...



i am not sure if this would be considered a con but they said during the interview that they don't have minimum # of procedures required for you to graduate. instead they just test you once to see if you're competent.

it seems to me that they can't get enough patients in due to the proximity of the other dental schools and thus have to resort to a one time test instead of letting students practice enough.

maybe it's a good thing that you don't have to do a procedure you already know but my feeling was that it was probably because they don't have enough patients and want you to graduate on time.

it's good to graduate on time but what if you're not as good at a certain procedure as you could have been if you had more practice? just because you're competent, doesn't mean you're excellent at that procedure
 
For the record, BU health campus has the sh*ttiest library I've ever been to
 
I just interviewed at both Tufts and BU 🙂

Tufts has REALLY nice facilities. They were also incredibly more informational and professional about their presentation, and I was impressed with the way everything seems to be well organized, even with their huge class size. It seems like a great school to go to, and it's in an awesome location.

BU did not impress me nearly as much - our student guide was super friendly, but he essentially gave the impression that there aren't very many requirements for the various specialty procedures so I would feel like BU might leave a student less competent than Tufts would. BU is also in a more dirty/dangerous location of Boston and isn't accessible by the subway.

Also consider that Tufts students are said to have a more "uptight" personality, whereas BU students are supposedly pretty social. Is that important to you? The only thing I heard about ortho between the two schools is that "everybody wants to do ortho," so I would recommend thinking about where it would be easier for you to do well in comparison to your classmates. Both are private schools, so both probably have a diverse and competitive student body. Where do you think you could get better grades? The research position you want?

Maybe you should try to get info on how big each of the grad ortho programs are, at Tufts and BU (postdoc programs typically take 2-5 ppl ish). You know, if you have the BU "vibe" going and its ortho program is bigger, I'm sure you have a better chance of acceptance. Especially if you get to know the faculty in the ortho dept, that's a foot in the door. 🙂 Since they both have ortho programs, think about where you would be happier, where you would fit in better. hope that helps!
 
Axoloti said:
Also consider that Tufts students are said to have a more "uptight" personality, whereas BU students are supposedly pretty social. Is that important to you?
Click to expand...

We have dental schools mixers between the school in Boston, so I've met plenty of dental students from BU, Harvard, and of course Tufts, and I can say that the students at all of these schools are really chill and really social.

I will say that out the three schools, Harvard parties the hardest (because of pass/fail?), but Tufts is the most social. By most social, I mean we have the most number of social events. Individually, the people at all three of these schools are really social and friendly 🙂
 
Axoloti said:
Also consider that Tufts students are said to have a more "uptight" personality, whereas BU students are supposedly pretty social. Is that important to you?
Click to expand...

Axoloti, you might have gotten that impression because the student interviewers are 4th year honor students who are also TAs. They're not necessarily representative of the rest of the school 😉
 
SoCalBlondie said:
Just got word that half of BU's 4th year students did not pass part II written boards. Not sure how accurate this is but it doesen't look good 🙁
Click to expand...

is this really true? where did you hear this?
what was the pass rate for other schools like?
 
Predental7777 said:
If you had already deposited at BU and received a scholarship, but then just received an interview at Tufts, what would you do? Are these schools much different?

Has anyone out there attended either of these schools and can let me know any fundamental differences between the two? I feel torn because I really do love BU but I feel Tufts has a better reputation.
Click to expand...


Yes, Tufts may appear to have a "better" reputation. However, you need to remember that it has been around much longer than BU's DMD program. That of course has its pros and cons. Tufts is more set in its ways and less likely to be flexible in terms of changing the way things are done in order to benefit their students. They are more likely to do whatever makes the school look best as to keep up the good reputation. BU being a much younger school is more flexible and is constantly evolving to give their students all that they need to exceed. I am speaking from interview experience and talking with many students at both schools. I have recently been accepted to BU. I've had some undergrad at experience at Tufts and was not impressed at all. I also saw BU as a much more friendly atmosphere.

Good luck!
 
number10 said:
Yes, Tufts may appear to have a "better" reputation. However, you need to remember that it has been around much longer than BU's DMD program. That of course has its pros and cons. Tufts is more set in its ways and less likely to be flexible in terms of changing the way things are done in order to benefit their students. They are more likely to do whatever makes the school look best as to keep up the good reputation. BU being a much younger school is more flexible and is constantly evolving to give their students all that they need to exceed. I am speaking from interview experience and talking with many students at both schools. I have recently been accepted to BU. I've had some undergrad at experience at Tufts and was not impressed at all. I also saw BU as a much more friendly atmosphere.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

The things that make schools look good are high pass rates on NDBE I/II, high pass rates on the NERB and other boards, high matriculation rates into specialties, and nice facilities.

If the school has managed to get you to pass the NDBE and regional board, I think they're doing a pretty good job.

But anyways, having said that, the curriculum DOES change at Tufts and is under constant review. I'm the D'13 VP and understand that much is being done to improve our experience. A major curriculum overhaul is slated to be finished around 2014, which seems like a long time, but is serious monetary/time investment given the size of the school.

What is nice about Tufts, I think, is that the admin is very receptive to student input.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.