Hey there Vixen,
Yep, my fortitude was sorely tested in second year, particularly because here at UB they want you to learn to do lab work too (fabricating FPDs and RPDs), whereas some other schools like NYU have eliminated those things from their programs altogether. It adds a LOT to your workload, and I have clocked at least 2 overnighters in the lab trying to complete those projects when time was particularly tight during midterm and final season for Microbiology and Pathology. Griffin actually found second year easier here at UB.. Then again I readily admit she's a better student than I.
If your friend is in the Class of 2004, yep we probably know him. We're a pretty tight bunch, having survived two years under a very challenging situation, with all the difficulties we had as the first class of guinea pigs for the experimental DVD-textbook curriculum.
Our location.. We share the UB South Campus with the medical school, nursing school, architecture school and a bunch of others. The School of Pharmacy is in the bigger North Campus where all the undergrads are.
The snow isn't as bad as I had feared... Only gotten snowed in once in 2000, and everyone missed the 80+ inch-storm in December 2001 because we were all away on Christmas break.
Advantages of UB: You get your own operatory at the end of 2nd year, you don't have to fight for a chair unlike some other more crowded schools like NYU. The facilities are relatively new, which makes experiences like Gross very tolerable. Tuition is pretty low as dental school goes if you are an NYS resident (major selling point), and cost of living is cheap. You can get a 2-bedroom apt. in a nice neighborhood for around $550-600 a month!
Disadvantages: You will have to manage your own patients, i.e. you have to call them up, cajole them to come in, you will have to reschedule if someone cancels on you. Other schools like NYU actually have secretaries who does all that for you so you can concentrate solely on performing dental work. The other major disadvantage I feel is the DVD-textbook electronic curriculum, but this is starting to permeate other dental schools as well (NYU, Tufts, UNC and a few other dental schools are using the same thing these days I think).
If I knew what I know now back when I was applying to dental school, UB would not be my ideal first choice, but still in my top three. Real life dictates that as an NYS resident, UB is my only real option... I couldn't pay through the nose like one of my sisters and her classmates did for NYU-- They all owed in excess of a quarter million dollars apiece when they graduated in 2000, no joke. I'm sick of Columbia, having done my 4 years of undergrad there, and I could forget Stony Brook-- They only take like 25 students and it's impossible for me to get in there. So out of the four NYS schools UB is pretty much it for me..
Anyway, good luck whichever school you choose!