Interview at Tufts next week!

I've been reading the reviews (DrDMD05, dds2b, among others), and I'm definitely liking what I hear. It seems that you are really enthusiastic about the school. It also sounds to me like you guys are really down to Earth, and that's what I'm looking for in future classmates (hopefully).
Anyway, I wanted to know if you had any idea about the success rate of students from Tufts getting into specialty programs and also about the neighbourhood the school's in. I'm concerned that it may not be in a safe area.
I would appreciate any last minute advice you may have for me in preparing for this interview. I'm booked into the SuisseHotel and would also like to know if this hotel is nice or should I book another one right away.
Finally (and sorry for rambling on), I'll be spending an extra day there with my Dad, and considering that this will be our first time in Boston, I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on interesting sites to see to finish off our day.

Thanks in advance.

[email protected]

 

Hey, thanks for such quick replies!
For Dante60, yes, UWO does stand for "Underwear, Women, and Orgies", or WESTERN for short.
I'm a seafood lover and am definitely looking forward to paying Legal Seafood a visit.
As for safety, I have a relative who went to Northwesten University Dental School and he told me that he heard TUSDM was in a cage(ie. metal detectors and heavy security). This is probably what got me all paranoid. Is there any truth to this rumour, or has he just confused it with Temple, as I suspect.

[email protected]

 

Hey Mike, I don't know who told you about Tufts, but you make it sound like it's in the ghetto...personally, I felt 100% safe and the students said the only bad thing about that area was the prostitution that goes on there (or used take place).

Most likely, your friend did mix up Tufts with Temple. I have a friend who drove from NY to Temple for an interview and almost got carjacked driving through one of those neighborhoods.

Good luck on your interview and check out some of the restaurants in Fanial Hall...I had a pretty nice Italian meal, but don't remember the name of the restaurant though.

Oh yeah, one more thing...the Mustangs suck and the T-birds rule...J/K

 

Hey Vroom, I guess you missed where I'm from...
Toronto..CANADA...home of Igloos and Eskimoes!

Thanks though, you guys relieved one of my fears.

Oh yeah, good news... I just found out that I got a couple more interviews in my future.... I was invited for one at the University of Western Ontario (London, Canada , for you Yankees), and at NYU. Anyone got the scoop on NYU? I hear a lot of mixed reviews.

[email protected]

 

Mike

Have you booked your dogsled or snowmobile ticket to get you to the airport yet? Don't forget to pack some moose meat to snack on or a flannel lunberjack shirt, you never know when a blizzard is gonna hit you right at the US-Canada border. Don't worry, once you hit US customs the temperature should be about 50 degrees celcius (that's about 90 degrees fahrenheit for you americans) hotter on the american side. Oh yeah...don't forget to tell them that your name is Joe and you're Canadian or else the customs guard might do a cavity search or a Rodney King on you...JK

UWO...I think they use the CDA standarized interview format. The interview should be a piece of cake...I took the CDA format interview at my school last month and it was pretty easy. Just know the basic questions and problem solving skills for dental interviews and you'll be fine.

NYU...I don't know much about NYU except that they have between 20-25 dropouts after first year. This isn't too high of a figure considering it's about 10% of the total class size. I know for a fact that about 10 students have dropped out of this years 2nd year dent class at Tufts, so this is about 7% or so. Most of these dropouts at Tufts had family problems or figured out that dentistry just wasn't for them.

good luck!

 

dds2b,

I'm sorry for taking so long to reply, but I was in the middle of fetching some Ice blocks to fill a gap in my roof when I was attacked by a Polar bear! I narrowly escaped death thanks to my hefty group of 12 dogs who promptly whisked me away on my sled.

First of all, what is this standardized CDA interview format you speak of and how can I find out more? Also, I've never heard of problem solving skills for dental interviews before.

Oh yeah, sorry if I missed it, but have you already accepted an offer anywhere yet... possibly Tufts?

Thanks for all the help,

[email protected]

 

I'll email you the details later tonite or tommorrow...I just stayed up all nite writing a paper. I don't want to get myself in trouble for posting the actual questions and stuff on here...you never know who's reading these posts.

 

After maris said that I would be interviewing for the alternate list at Tufts, I decided to call the school and see if this was true...

I was pretty disappointed to hear that in fact it was true, and I would like to know what my chances might be of getting in from the alternate list. I've heard so many good things about Tufts, and I know that if I come down to the U.S. to pay the big $$$, I don't want to be settling.

I'm still going to the interview and I'm gonna try and WOW them, but I would like to know if there is any point?

 

Hey Mike, you've got mail!

About Tufts, Maris summed it up pretty accurately...don't worry, there will be people withdrawing their acceptance soon since the deadline for the 2nd deposit is May 1st.

 

Hey dds2b, thanks for the message!

I've been trying to e-mail you but for some reason my system won't let me (something about "the recipient not being acceptable to my SMTP server"), but I'll keep trying.

 

I was wondering if Tufts is considered a strong Clinical or Research based school. From what I gather from previous posts, it seems that it's got a mix of both. I was wondering the same about NYU and Boston University, since I've now got a couple of interviews there too.

If the school is in the middle, does that mean that it is not very strong at either one?

 

No problem Mike

You can reach me at my hotmail account if you have any questions. [email protected]

Clinically wise, Tufts is not as strong as Temple, UOP or any other school with 'unlimited' number of patients. However, Tufts just built a brand new 76 chairs sim lab and if you want more patients, you have to actively pursuit your patients by calling and reconfirming appointments and updating your current situation with your mentors or people responsible for assigning patients to students.

If you're interested in research, there is ample opportunity to get involved if that's your cup of tea. They have an annual research day where students and faculty present their papers and the 1st,2nd and 3rd placed competitors will attend and present at the ADA convention or another dental meeting.

During the tour/interview at Tufts, M. Gonthier will have a question-answer period where you can ask him any questions you have. Be active, write a list of questions before hand, and the more questions you ask, the easier it is for him to remember you. My interview group covered about 25 questions...anything from costs, fin. aid, research, specialty placements, passing the Canadian NDEB since you might want to come back to Canada to practice, dorms, student:faculty ratio, affiliated hospitals, etc.

From what I see, Tufts does have a good mix of everything and it's in an awesome city too.

 

Thanks for the info dds2b,

I've tried your other e-mail address too (the one in your SDN profile), but I get the same message. I've had this problem before with hotmail accounts, but I didn't expect it with your UBC account. I'm not a computer wiz so I really am having trouble trying to figure out why I get this error message. I'm using Eudora and can't figure out what's wrong.