My aunt attended BU in the early 2000's and describes it as an experience she would never go through again, even if she was the one getting paid the tuition price to go through it. Ranging from cut throat environment to trying to get a decent patient for the National Board II, she made BU sound like a place that she just wanted to get in and out as soon as possible. Of course, when I interviewed there I was pleasantly surprised at how nice they were. Perhaps things have really been changing, or perhaps they put up a really good front and only let the more favored students interact with the interviewees.
My Uncle went through NYU GPR residency and describes it as a lot of work and always seeing patients (which is a good thing). With a class size of 300+, you would think that there is much competition for patients and such, but that didn't seem to be the case. Both of the schools don't seem to be reputed for producing "The best" clinicians directly from their dental school, but after residency, most dentists are excellent at what they do. Regardless of what school they are coming from.
I am in the same dilemma as you, and personally I will be attending BU this upcoming fall even 🙂. This is due not only to the fact that I really do want that "east coast" experience, but also because BU seems to have a huge potential for post doc advantages over many other schools that I interviewed at. I wasn't lucky enough to ever interview at P/F schools 🙁
