Interview at Tufts next week!

[Mike@UWO]

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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.

Mike@UWO

 

[Dante60]

Woohoo another Tufts enthusiast!

Re: Specialties; If you go to their website, you can find information on the number of grads who have been accepted into specialty programmes, but it doesn't tell you what the application numbers are. I'd say that overall, it's pretty good, concidering a large number of students do go on to specialize.

The neighbourhood isn't the greatest, and it's not some place I'd like to really hang around after dark. But it could be worse...

Prepping for the interview? Go check out one of the previous posts entitled "to DANTE60" - I told the poster all of the questions asked of me at the TUSDM interview.

Lastly, check out Legal Seafood!! Man, I had the best New England clam chowder there. Sooo good! And be sure to have lobster. Mmmmmmm!

Good luck with your interview, and that "UWO" wouldn't happen to mean that you're a student at Western, does it?

 

[DrDMD05]

good luck on your interview, and hopefully we will see you in august. 60 percent of the students scored 90 percentile or above last year on the national boards part 1. pretty good? no that's outstanding!
Boston with only a day huh? well there is Fanial Hall, Harvard Square, the Freedom Trail, Cheers (bar), Newberry St for its shopping and many restaurants(if you dont like seafood, but if you do you cant beat legal seafood).
If you are driving to boston and have a car i would stay outside of the city. look on yahoo for towns that line interstate 93 there are tons of hotels that are half to a third of the price of the ones around tufts and you would only have a 30 min drive. good luck and let us know how it goes.
DMD.

 

[Mike@UWO]

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.

Mike@UWO

 

[dds2b]

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

 

[Vroom]

dds2b,

I have to agree with you. I don't know why the city of Boston is getting such a bad rap. Downton Boston which has Tufts and Boston University (in the vicinity) is beautiful in some areas, and overall, I thought it was a fun, energetic, lively, and safe city. I spent a few days in the city sightseeing, visiting museums, and even went to a night-club and the whole time I never felt unsafe. The only problem I have with Boston City is that it is COLD. If you are going to go to dental school in Boston (Tufts U., Boston U., or Harvard U.), you better have a high tolerance for the cold weather. But other then that, it is a great place to live in my opinion.

Vroom

 

[Mike@UWO]

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.

Mike@UWO

 

[dds2b]

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!

 

[Mike@UWO]

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,

Mike@UWO

 

[Dante60]

ROFL!

Underwear, Women, and Orgies? HAHAHA.. I haven't heard that one.

Boston isn't cold. Ignore what these wimps are telling you. *grin* To be honest, I loved the city. It's gorgeous, and it's small enough that you can walk from one end of it to the other, literally.

I did. hehe. I started walking from the N/E Med Centre subway stop, and walked all the way to the harbour.

You better watch out, relying on your dogs to get you out of danger. I had to get away from an avalanche a few weeks ago, and the incident left my lead dog in a bender. He needed to have his axle changed.

Personally, I've already accepted to Tufts. That's where I want to be, barring a miraculous acceptance into UoT dents.... and now my grades are slipping because I'm no longer motivated. Slippage = going from an A to a C in under 4.6 seconds.

BTW - I think I may have the CDA outline around on me somewhere, but I won't be able to post it until later tonight because it's at home.

Good luck and we're rooting for you!

 

[dds2b]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by Mike@UWO:
dds2b,

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,

Mike@UWO•

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.

 

[maris]

I got accepted to NYU, Boston, and TUFTs (just so thankful to Providence since my apps. was completed only in Jan). Decided to choose Tufts based on cost, reputation, and location. NY is just a bit overwhelming for me. And I have not heard anything bad about TUFTS. What do you think? Does anybody think BU or NYU are better?

The best of luck for your interview Mike, Mark Gonthier will probably tbe the person that shows you around. He's the assistant Dean and is really nice. He seemed to know everybody. I asked him a lot of things, even stuffs about BU. Like why BU put a much higher number for their living expense (they based the cost on a 12 month projection where Tufts at 9 mths.

Since you are going in April, unfortunately you are going for an alternate spot. Where else did you apply? If you applied at BU, don't hesitate to call them an asked for an interview since you are going to be in the area. I did and got it. See also my post on BU v. Tufts for more info.

Are any of you guys going to Tufts? I would love to chat with future classmates. For those who also went to BU interview, what do you think of APEX?

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[This message has been edited by maris (edited March 30, 2001).]

 

[Mike@UWO]

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?

 

[maris]

Mike,
Yes, you do stand a chance

Comes May there'll be some people declining their spot. The number of decline in Tufts is lower since you get only $300 back out of the $1500 you put down (in my book it's called OUCH!!). But people who decline usually are those who get accepted at their state school. I think they rank people in the wait list. Call to make sure.

Prepare your thank you notes beforehand so it'll get to them ASAP. You want them to remember you when they assign a priorty number.

Keep in contact with them after your interview. The way I see it: UNSEEN + UNHEARD OF = FORGOTTEN

Come overprepared. Check out their website, it has tons of info (plus they'll asked your op. about it later it'll be bad to say I didn'even check it out)

The best advice I got is from a third year student at TUFTS in another list: Walk in the front of the group and asked intelligent questions (don't be too overbearing though)

You want them to know that if offered spot you'll take it.

During lunch there was a big number of students you can ask questions to, but they are mostly 1st and 2nd year since the last 2 years are busy. If you want to, ask to speak to a 3rd or 4th year.

The interview part is really relaxing, they don't have your stats, so i't doesn't feel like an inquisitition session. They just want to know how fun is it to have you around

I mentioned that I love swimming, and my interviewer told me about a swimming facility accross from the school. I guess I'll have my swimming suit ready in my locker.

One thing I didn't do, is I didn't asked to see their dorm facility. That was pretty dumb of me since I plan to live in the dorm.

Good Luck


[This message has been edited by maris (edited April 01, 2001).]

 

[dds2b]

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.

 

[Mike@UWO]

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.

 

[Mike@UWO]

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?

 

[dds2b]

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.

 

[Mike@UWO]

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.

 

[ParisAmel]

Hey all,

Thought I'd get in on the Boston chat

I'm going to BU this fall, and Mike, i can tell you that the interview there is really layed back and relaxed. Their whole point of view is to tell you the pros/cons about BU and give you the information you need to decide if BU and you are a good fit. I felt at home there, which is why I'm going there in the fall! Maris, let me know if you want to chat about BU too

Boston's an awesome city, I can't say enough about it. I'm thrilled to be staying here! Let me know if you or anyone else have any questions about the city, as I'm happy to chat about it- i've been here for over 3 years (and grew up close in NH), and I just love it.

Good luck to you Mike in your interviews- let us know how they go! If you do your homework on the school, you'll do fine

Have fun!

 

[maris]

PA,
Yes, I would love to chat about BU and Boston in general with you. You can e-mail me at [email protected] about how to contact you.

Maris

 

[maris]

Mike,
So what happened? How was the interview and did you like Boston? Best of luck.

 

[Brother Gob]

Did you get in?

 

[densaugeo]

This thread is 16 years old and the OP doesn't have an SDN account any longer