Need some pros and cons on BU

[TomT]

Any pros and cons on BU you guys/gals can list for me? Attrition rates, tuition, location, reputation, and so on...

TomT

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[blankguy]

Any pros and cons on BU you guys/gals can list for me? Attrition rates, tuition, location, reputation, and so on...

TomT

Attrition rate? Are you worried that you are not going to take dental school seriously? The only time you should worry about that is if you plan on slacking off.
Tuition? Expensive? Sure, but I've never heard of anybody having trouble paying it off. (Unless you do something illegal)
Location? It is not in a great neighborhood but it has been getting better. Same general area as it's med school. Look up Boston Medical Center, it is in the same area as BMC.
Reputation? It is a fine school but it does tend to get overlooked because of Harvard and Tufts. Remember it is not the school but what you do in it that matters. In my research I've look at residency programs just for the heck of it to see if the residents tended to come from any particular school... among those that listed residents in post doctoral programs they came from practically every school the only pattern that I might have noticed is that some schools might pick their own students more than others, but that is a minor pattern.(This ought to answer any questions concerning specialization). Boston does try to give you real life experience through its APEX program, by which you work at a dental practice. The down sound of this is what if you get placed in a less than ideal dental practice. Some people have said it is the best thing at BU others have ripped it.

Let's face it. What is the point of all these schools? The point is which schools are going to give you the best running start into dentistry, because in the long run whichever school you go to you are still going to be doing thousands upon thousands of treatment in your career, and become very proficient at it.

The question you should be asking is: Is BU right for me? The way they run the curriculum, is it going to facilitate me excelling at BU? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell that a person with high rank a BU is generally going to be more respected than somebody who went to say UConn and ranked in the middle of bottom half.

 

[howui3]

Any pros and cons on BU you guys/gals can list for me? Attrition rates, tuition, location, reputation, and so on...

TomT

don't mean to be rude and TomT this is not personal, BUT, do people look where they post?

If you have a DAT question - post it in DAT Discussion Forum

If you have a pre-dent question - post it in Predent Forum

If you have a residency question - post it in Residency Forum

starting to make sense?
you will get more responses if you post it in the right place.

good luck.

 

[blankguy]

Move this thread to the pre-dental forum.

 

[786mine]

take your DAT first, son. then once you have done your interview you are worthy of asking such a question.

 

[TomT]

take your DAT first, son. then once you have done your interview you are worthy of asking such a question.

Listen up "son." If you want to give real sound and MATURE advice, I'll appreciate it, but what's up with the "worthy" bit. Can be taken in the wrong way and make you sound ... naive.

 

[TomT]

don't mean to be rude and TomT this is not personal, BUT, do people look where they post?

If you have a DAT question - post it in DAT Discussion Forum

If you have a pre-dent question - post it in Predent Forum

If you have a residency question - post it in Residency Forum

starting to make sense?
you will get more responses if you post it in the right place.

good luck.

You're totally right. Sorry about that. It was like 2 am and was freaking out. Taking DAT tomorrow morning.

 

[TomT]

Attrition rate? Are you worried that you are not going to take dental school seriously? The only time you should worry about that is if you plan on slacking off.

No no no. To ask about attrition rates doesn't coincide with thinking about slacking off. The reason I have begun to ask this question actually started after a good friend of mine got tossed out of NYU Dental! This is not a slacker, believe me. Basically it's guaranteed that a good 50 students will be asked to leave because NYUD takes in far more than they can accommodate. He is now in debt for that one year and probably cannot apply any where else. Why would one not ask such questions when you're career choice is at stake, money is a stake. Come on.


Tuition? Expensive? Sure, but I've never heard of anybody having trouble paying it off. (Unless you do something illegal)
Location?

Have you calculated how long and what it will really take for you to pay back ALL of your debts accumulated during the years of study? If you had a choice of going to a good school but cheaper than a great school, what would you choose? Of course it does depend on so many factors like motivation/intention. But, being practical, level headed and informed are not strange things to aspire to ... unless of course your idealistic and somewhat naive about what your life is going to be like after Dental school--which is fine because we do have to go through this sort of thing and we should be allowed the time and space to go through it. But to not be concerned with expense and paying it back is ???

It is not in a great neighborhood but it has been getting better. Same general area as it's med school. Look up Boston Medical Center, it is in the same area as BMC. Reputation? It is a fine school but it does tend to get overlooked because of Harvard and Tufts. Remember it is not the school but what you do in it that matters. ARE YOU KIDDING!!! In my research I've look at residency programs just for the heck of it to see if the residents tended to come from any particular school... among those that listed residents in post doctoral programs they came from practically every school the only pattern that I might have noticed is that some schools might pick their own students more than others, but that is a minor pattern.(This ought to answer any questions concerning specialization). Boston does try to give you real life experience through its APEX program This is great, thankx!, by which you work at a dental practice. The down sound of this is what if you get placed in a less than ideal dental practice. Some people have said it is the best thing at BU others have ripped it.

Let's face it. What is the point of all these schools? The point is which schools are going to give you the best running start into dentistry, because in the long run whichever school you go to you are still going to be doing thousands upon thousands of treatment in your career, and become very proficient at it.

The question you should be asking is: Is BU right for me? The way they run the curriculum, is it going to facilitate me excelling at BU? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell that a person with high rank a BU is generally going to be more respected than somebody who went to say UConn and ranked in the middle of bottom half.

Thanks for your help.

 

[howui3]

You're totally right. Sorry about that. It was like 2 am and was freaking out. Taking DAT tomorrow morning.

Good luck on the DAT, ir if you already done, hope you did well!

 

[TomT]

Good luck on the DAT, ir if you already done, hope you did well!

Thanks for the well wishing, but I'm going to have to take it again 😱 . I just got back from taking it and I BOMBED it. Man, I thought the real thing was MUCH harder than all the exams I did from Kaplan and Scholarware. What the ****. I didn't know what they were asking me. Nothing was straight forward. Topics were way off of what Kaplan emphasizes. You know what I feel like, I feel like some one came into my house, hit me over the head, took my wallet, ate my food and used my toilet and didn't bother to flush. I'm even too emabarrassed to tell you what I got. Basically I scored a good three points lower on every topic except Biology. I usually score real high on perceptual ability from kaplan and scholarware:22-24. On the the real ... an 18. Got any suggstions?

TomT 😡

 

[blankguy]

Thanks for your help.

People are just overdoing it with the expense of going to school. I was reacting to that. Sure it is expensive and as a result you should look a some lean years after school but to blow it up to the point that maybe shouldn't attend dental school or that "cheaper is always better" it's overracting. I have yet to hear anybody say "you get what you pay for". Which is better going to a more $$$$ but you feel right at home or cheaper school where you might not feel comfortable? Also the specialization bit gets overasked too. I think people should be more concerned at doing well in their predoctoral program because ultimately that will determine whether the doors for further study are open for them. This ties to the "you get what you pay for" bit. Sure it sucks that you have to spend the next 2 decades paying off what amounts to something like a home mortgage. But to keep bringing it up making it sound that it could be somebody's ruin is a bit too much. There definately overreaction on this. As I said I have yet to hear of somebody having trouble paying the debt back. It is an issue of spending few extra years paying down the debt when going to a more expensive school. I brought this concern of debt up to my premed advisor at my alma mater he responded "that's the way things are".

As to the OP. BU is a fine school you can't go wrong whether you go to BU or another school. People overdo it with discriminating schools on this board.

 

[TomT]

People are just overdoing it with the expense of going to school. I was reacting to that. Sure it is expensive and as a result you should look a some lean years after school but to blow it up to the point that maybe shouldn't attend dental school or that "cheaper is always better" it's overracting.

I do think that you've read into what I've posted a little bit too much. I didn't mean to come across as though I were "blowing up" the point about cost. I have to be concerned about it, however. I would most definitely choose an expensive school I am more comfortable with over a cheaper school I am not. That's just not debatable and was never meant to be. Based on what I have learned about NYU, for example (since this is now the issue), I would not want to go there. You can get tossed out (they accept more than they can accomidate), it is expensive (with all things factored in, your looking at at least 90K a year), and I hear that the overall experience sucks because of it being way too croweded.

I have yet to hear anybody say "you get what you pay for". But you see, I have heard this and how am I to know what is really going on unless I ask, like I'm doing. Which is better going to a more $$$$ but you feel right at home or cheaper school where you might not feel comfortable? More expensive, of course, but again, this is not what I was suggesting. Also the specialization bit gets overasked too. I think people should be more concerned at doing well in their predoctoral program because ultimately that will determine whether the doors for further study are open for them. Totally agree. This ties to the "you get what you pay for" bit. Sure it sucks that you have to spend the next 2 decades paying off what amounts to something like a home mortgage. EXACTLY!!!! But to keep bringing it up making it sound that it could be somebody's ruin is a bit too much WHO THE HELL HAS KEPT BRINGING IT UP. THAT WAS MY FIRST POST EVER ON THIS FORUM. No one has suggested that it is going to be someone's ruin. Too dramatic. I'm just asking and wondering about people's thoughts and ideas on the major subjects that we'll have to deal with. Maybe there's a good idea or something to consider i have never heard of before. Isn't that what the forum is for? Again, I am sorry but you have read into what I have said. Please don't add tone or context. There definately overreaction on this. As I said I have yet to hear of somebody having trouble paying the debt back. It is an issue of spending few extra years paying down the debt when going to a more expensive school. I brought this concern of debt up to my premed advisor at my alma mater he responded "that's the way things are".

As to the OP. BU is a fine school you can't go wrong whether you go to BU or another school. People overdo it with discriminating schools on this board Ahhh ... the real issue. So it is others who have overdone it and that you're reacting to. I was wondering why I was getting reamed for just throwing up the $. Thanks for your thoughts. .

👍

 

[TomT]

People are just overdoing it with the expense of going to school. I was reacting to that. Sure it is expensive and as a result you should look a some lean years after school but to blow it up to the point that maybe shouldn't attend dental school or that "cheaper is always better" it's overracting.

I do think that you've read into what I've posted a little bit too much. I didn't mean to come across as though I were "blowing up" the point about cost. I have to be concerned about it, however. I would most definitely choose an expensive school I am more comfortable with over a cheaper school I am not. That's just not debatable and was never meant to be. Based on what I have learned about NYU, for example (since this is now the issue), I would not want to go there. You can get tossed out (they accept more than they can accomidate), it is expensive (with all things factored in, your looking at at least 90K a year), and I hear that the overall experience sucks because of it being way too croweded.

I have yet to hear anybody say "you get what you pay for". But you see, I have heard this and how am I to know what is really going on unless I ask, like I'm doing. Which is better going to a more $$$$ but you feel right at home or cheaper school where you might not feel comfortable? More expensive, of course, but again, this is not what I was suggesting. Also the specialization bit gets overasked too. I think people should be more concerned at doing well in their predoctoral program because ultimately that will determine whether the doors for further study are open for them. Totally agree. This ties to the "you get what you pay for" bit. Sure it sucks that you have to spend the next 2 decades paying off what amounts to something like a home mortgage. EXACTLY!!!! But to keep bringing it up making it sound that it could be somebody's ruin is a bit too much WHO THE HELL HAS KEPT BRINGING IT UP. THAT WAS MY FIRST POST EVER ON THIS FORUM. No one has suggested that it is going to be someone's ruin. Too dramatic. I'm just asking and wondering about people's thoughts and ideas on the major subjects that we'll have to deal with. Maybe there's a good idea or something to consider i have never heard of before. Isn't that what the forum is for? Again, I am sorry but you have read into what I have said. Please don't add tone or context. There definately overreaction on this. As I said I have yet to hear of somebody having trouble paying the debt back. It is an issue of spending few extra years paying down the debt when going to a more expensive school. I brought this concern of debt up to my premed advisor at my alma mater he responded "that's the way things are".

As to the OP. BU is a fine school you can't go wrong whether you go to BU or another school. People overdo it with discriminating schools on this board Ahhh ... the real issue. So it is others who have overdone it and that you're reacting to. I was wondering why I was getting reamed for just throwing up the $. Thanks for your thoughts. .

👍

 

[philicity]

why has this thread been moved to DAT discussion??? 😕 c'mon, is it really that hard to figure out the right place? 😉

 

[blankguy]

Apologies to everybody since I seem to have unnecessarily jumping all over this simple request on information on BU.

Certainly if NYU is the only option it is then it is pointless to cry about expense, but as somebody who has yet to apply and be accepted anywhere it is better than nothing. The thing that I am griping about is that there are a zillion post saying "go to cheaper school" while avoiding a larger debt load is understandable it certainly is not the whole point of going to dental school.
I'm sorry to have vented on you over this but since I started it I will continue this in a civil manner. As to people that have heavy debt load, I have heard complaints about that so I am not talking out of sheer ignorance. I know somebody who went to BU and relied on private loans(OUCH!). But to blow this up to the point that it makes it sound like it might stop somebody from pursuing dentistry is plain ridiculous.

Going back to the whole point of this thread. The unique thing about BU is its APEX program however whether you are going to benefit from it seems to be a crap shoot. Some people say that it is wonderful others have ripped it as useless. Location of BU is in a worse neighborhood than the other 2 schools in Boston, Harvard(around Huntington Ave.) Tufts(near South Station across from Chinatown). The neighborhood is a little behind the others in urban development, it practically is a ghetto. I know because I've given the BU dental students a ride to their dorms. I think BU does tend to get overshadowed by Tufts because there is a general acknowledgement that Tufts is a stronger school and then you have Harvard.

Now could the moderator please move this thread to the pre-dent forum.