I will hopefully be faced with the same decision that you are dealing with. I have been accepted to Maryland and I recently interviewed at Nova earlier this the month. I'm still waiting to hear back on a decision. I have spent some time thinking about the programs and where I can see my self in August however. I'm leaning towards Maryland, it has always been a top choice of mine and out of all the schools I've had the privilege of interviewing at because it over all hits most of the "things I'm looking for in a dental school" check list. I did not know as much about Nova going into my interview/visit but was was definitely impressed with a lot of what I saw.
These are some of impressions
Programs: Both schools are clinic based and seem to want to get you acclimated to clinic early. The first year students in both programs get some sort of clinic experience.
Maryland: What I liked most is that Maryland seems to embrace technology and uses it to enhance the learning experience of their students. During my interview we saw the schools online resources available to students which included replayable video lectures and downloadable podcasts etc so you can study on the go. This is something that I definitely plan on using.
Nova: Although it wasn't demonstrated it seems that lecture podcasts are also available although I'm unsure about lectures being recorded visually. What I really liked about Nova is that the students begin doing cleanings on one another sometime during their first year if I remember correctly. I see that as an early start on developing hand as well as patient interaction skills. The faculty members that I met were the most jovial compared to any other school I visited, perhaps the the amazing weather warms the heart lol.
Price:
Maryland: Its one of the cheapest schools I've visited. I live in the NYC area so I'd be out of state my first year. Listening to one of the facility members explaining the financial aid options she made it seem obtaining an instate residency status in doable. She did not give us the step by step process in doing so but said that you should not have problem gathering that information from classmates.
Nova: It's cheaper than I thought it would be. Its a little more than Maryland, but a plus side is that the difference in tuition between instate and out of state is negligible. A difference of only few hundred dollars a year so an out of state student does not really need to go through the hassle of becoming an state resident if they do not want to and they still wont be losing that much money. Cost of living may be a little higher, but I'd need to research housing in both areas more.
Facilities:
Maryland: Maryland had the best facilities that I had seen in any school. The whole building has a modern feel (I believe that is was built in 2006). A lot of the equipment looked new and in working condition. An example is in the lab room were the dental simulation manikins were held in NYU were a little bit worn. The cheeks were torn on some etc. Its understandable when you consider their class size and how many students probably use it but the same lab in Maryland just seemed more pristine and visually appealing. During the tour I was able to see some of the buildings such as the library, gym etc.
Nova: Their dental facilities were nice. They just had a new lab room and equipment added which was impressive, but overall Maryland seemed to offer more IMO. I was not a big fan of the library in particular. We did not do a full walk through but from what I saw it looked more so like my local library except for that fact that it had a 3D printer that seemed available for use.
Student Life: Basically what I got form speaking to the program ambassadors from each school was that you will be extremely busy as expected, but you will learn a schedule that works best for you and have opportunities to have your free time.
Maryland: The dental intramural teams seemed to have the most points compared to teams from other programs at the school.
Nova: The students did state that they found time to make it to the beach and spend a night out each week.
In both cases it just shows that you can have some free time and normalcy in your life if you can manage your time.
Location
Maryland: Being that I'm from, NYC Maryland is a lot closer to home. I can be back in 3 hours if for some reason I needed to be, plus moving there would be a little less hassle when it comes to transporting my stuff. The school is in a decent size city and the school is right by inner harbor area which has a nice draw. While it's not something that I'm too worried about, I've seen a lot of people bring up safety concerns. We were told that campus security is around if you feel unsafe going back to your apartment late at night etc. This does not seem to be an issue at Nova.
Nova: Obviously being in Florida I wouldn't have the option to just go back home on short notice. The area is amazing though. You can't go wrong with 80 degree weather in Feb. I drove around after my interview for a bit to get a better sense of the area. It's more residential with good amount of restaurants and stores near by campus so you shouldn't have to travel far to get anything that you may need. The beach is also close by but I did not get a chance to check it out.
Again these are just my personal opinions, but I suggest also making a checklist including what you're looking for in a dental school and see what you get from both programs, and be sure to write/type out your thoughts on each. That's basically what I did with this post and it was very helpful so thanks for making the thread lol
