Michigan vs. Buffalo, please help!

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B0NKERS

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I've been thinking about this A LOT and because there were so many of these threads around, I didnt want to add another one but it's been driving me crazy and I am seriously asking for some help from all of you.. please.

I am in-state for Buffalo and obviously out-of-state for Michigan.

My main concerns are:

Tuition
Living Expenses
(Approximations: Buffalo $160,000 vs. Michigan $250,000)
Prestige
Specialty rate
Competition among dental students
Social life
Transportation around the area
Traveling to and from home (NYC)
Snowfall amount/Number of sunny days – depressing environment?!

if anyone has ANY insight on any of these or more even.. please feel free to share your thoughts..
 
B0NKERS said:
I've been thinking about this A LOT and because there were so many of these threads around, I didnt want to add another one but it's been driving me crazy and I am seriously asking for some help from all of you.. please.

I am in-state for Buffalo and obviously out-of-state for Michigan.

My main concerns are:

Tuition
Living Expenses
(Approximations: Buffalo $160,000 vs. Michigan $250,000)
Prestige
Specialty rate
Competition among dental students
Social life
Transportation around the area
Traveling to and from home (NYC)
Snowfall amount/Number of sunny days – depressing environment?!

if anyone has ANY insight on any of these or more even.. please feel free to share your thoughts..


There is no doubt that buffalo is the cheapest in terms of tuition and cost of living. I've heard Ann Arbor is relatively expensive (not NYC expensive). I visited Buffalo and really liked it. I think there is no doubt that it's a really great school, in fact some people would argue it's right up there with what most would think would be the top 5. I think Buffalo is slighty more depressing than say NYC. I am originally from Rochester and yes there are many gloomy days, but there are also sunny days as well (kind of like the city). I am not sure if Michigan would be any better in terms of the sunny days. In both cities you are going to get snow, in buffalo it will really snow. I think in the social life aspect it is what you make of it. If you are looking for a significant other, Michigan is a huge campus with many grad/professional schools. Travelling to and from NYC is so easy with Buffalo, you could take the train (long ride) or fly jetblue, and if you book it far in advance the flights can be super cheap (around $100 round trip).

I think in terms of Buffalo's academics, it's a strong school. I think if you want to specialize and you have the grades/board scores to back it up you will specialize.

Best of luck in deciding.
 
Thank you very much VClovesteeth05, I appreciate your detailed feedback. 🙂

Anyone else?
 
Anybody else have any last-minute advice? Any input is appreciated.

😕
 
um, let's see......Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo and........Buffalo 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 But, of course, you knew I was going to say that!

DON'T underestimate cost....review the many threads from this and the Dental forum talking about loans and such. a 100K difference is very significant, and a school that costs 300K will be $2000/month for THIRTY YEARS to pay back!

But, besides all that, Buffalo is EXCELLENT, though I know nothing about Michigan, so don't trust me a bit 😉 It matched everything I wanted; great academics and facilities, your own chair for the last two years, friendly, down-to-earth people, on a campus with ALL the other graduate programs, excellent library, and I LOVE the city and surrounding towns (it has the resources of a city, but is very cheap and people are friendly and it isn't enormously touristy. But I'm a country girl, so it's a small city for those used to big ones).
 
go to buffalo!! 😛
 
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