Michigan vs. In-State Dental School

[B0NKERS]

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The University of Michigan vs. SUNY Buffalo

I am in-state for Buffalo and obviously out-of-state for Michigan. I've been contemplating over and over whether Michigan is worth that extra $100,000+ loan. I am thinking that if I stay in New York after dental school, then Buffalo will be just fine... but what if I dont? What if I want to move out west in the future? Will that degree from Buffalo mean as much as one from Michigan out there?!

Some of 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 any current dental students have any insight on any of these or more even.. please feel free to share your thoughts.. I would really appreciate it.

 

[Mustt Mustt]

When is all said and done, 100K difference is not worth for any school. It would not be a wise choice to go to Michigan over Buffalo. Go to the chepest school possible because guess what you will have to pay that extra 100 grand back and your school name means jack in the real world. good luck.

 

[ncalcate]

I think that Mustt accurately described the financial reasons for attending Buffalo. $100k is a huge amount of money. So definitely think about that.

We do have a student in our class here at Buffalo who did his undergrad at UMich, was a Michigan resident, and was accepted to Michigan's dental school. He obviously chose Buffalo. And he would have qualified for in-state tuition at Michigan. So he had a pretty compelling reason or reasons for choosing Buffalo over Michigan.

Now, you shouldn't choose Buffalo just because this one student did, but I just thought I would mention it to you. Good luck in your decision.

 

[gryffindor]

Save your $100K.

Even if you don't stay in NY after graduation, you will be fine. We had a good chunk of people leave NY. Buffalo grads are located all over the country. Despite my Buffalo degree and being from Buffalo, I still got into a residency in a totally different part of the country.

Traveling to and from NYC will probably be cheaper and quicker from Buffalo than from Michigan. You would even have the option to drive, and flights are regularly found under $150.

Everything else you are concerned about is probably similar between both schools. Except for Michigan football & sports - there is no sport at UB that comes close to the amount of sports pride the people at that school have. If you are into that, maybe it would be worth the extra $100K to say you are a Michigan fan for life.

 

[B0NKERS]

thank you guys for the feedback..

but what about the social life/culture there? will there even be any time to socialize or will i be studying all the time? 🙁

 

[B0NKERS]

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

😕

 

[ncalcate]

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

😕

griffin really summed it up well. The only downside to Buffalo that I see is that there is no football team and that, from what I've heard, Ann Arbor is probably a bit more enjoyable than Buffalo. But in dental school you really don't have that much time to socialize. With the limited amount of time you have free, you'l have plenty to do. And when vacation hits, you can fly on JetBlue to NYC very easily. There are lots of students (possibly 10 or so in my class) from the NYC area who jump down to NYC a couple times a semester. Also, I'm not sure if Michigan has this, but at Buffalo there is the whole big brother/sister thing. During orientation, your big bro/sis will give you several years worth of old tests. It is a big help, and makes it so all first years are on the same level when it comes to having old tests.

And lastly, you've heard it already, the difference between $250K and $150K is huge. Don't underestimate that.

Good luck.

 

[Dr.Brutus]

The University of Michigan vs. SUNY Buffalo
What if I want to move out west in the future? Will that degree from Buffalo mean as much as one from Michigan out there?!

If you decide to go out west (some place warm and sunny...where the beer flows like wine and the women instinctively flock like the salmon of capistrano...), very few people will even know you went to Michigan or Buffalo, assuming you are talking of simply practicing out west.