Tufts Acceptance vs USC Interview

[-Big Tuna-]

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I have an acceptance to Tufts and I just received an interview invite to USC. Should I even make the trip? I was wondering if someone could shed some light on USC? Any comparison or feedback is appreciated!

 

[8_man]

How much is Tufts?

And my gut says no to USC for 2 reasons:

1. Cost
2. PBL (heard firsthand from a USC dental grad that the curriculum did not prepare her well for boards).​

 

[predental21250]

How do you feel about Tufts?

 

[-Big Tuna-]

How much is Tufts?

And my gut says no to USC for 2 reasons:

1. Cost
2. PBL (heard firsthand from a USC dental grad that the curriculum did not prepare her well for boards).​

USC costs about 409k
Tufts costs about 402k
Source: ADEA guide to dental schools 2015-2016

How do you feel about Tufts?

I fell in love with the school on the interview day.

 

[predental21250]

I fell in love with the school on the interview day.

Then you have your answer. Looks like we will be classmates 🙂

 

[super frank]

I thought USC was closer to 500k?

 

[princessdentist]

When did you get your interview invite

 

[alexis yip]

I have this same exact dilemma!! From Interview Day, I realize that I love Tufts, and I would be very happy there. And yesterday, I received acceptance so I was super ecstatic about that, but 3 hours later, USC extends an interview invite to me, so that definitely put me in an awkward dilemma. USC would be about $470k. World reknown name and a smaller class size. Great for networking if you plan to practice in CA. Plus it's in sunny SoCal. But PBL sounds awful....Tufts, on the other hand, would be about $425k. Great comraderie in the school and emphasis on student wellbeing. Great clinical exposure. But it's in cold, historic Boston.
What I've decided to do is put down the deposit for Tufts, but still go to the USC interview to check out whether PBL/student body/campus would be a good fit for me. Definitely the more expensive route, potentially risking that $1500 deposit, but I don't want to limit my options.

Good luck! This isn't a bad position to be in, I'm told!

 

[tyjacobs]

I have an acceptance to Tufts and I just received an interview invite to USC. Should I even make the trip? I was wondering if someone could shed some light on USC? Any comparison or feedback is appreciated!

where are you from?

where are you looking to practice when you're older?

 

[alexis yip]

.

 

[whatupdentistry]

First year dental student at USC here to shed some light on PBL:
I almost didn't go to USC because of fear of PBL as most students I talk to were negative when I interviewed. Everyone's opinion is different but here is mine:
I actually like it! I do love science lectures but we have so much more free time than other dental students to focus on our preclinical classes. there's a lot less academic stress involved with PBL. All our facilitators that lead the PBL session in a group of 8 are dentists, PHDs, or medical doctors . Sometimes I wish we had lectures but I enjoy having extra time to focus on learning the procedures and doing lab homework. The downside to PBL is we have to study harder for boards. USC knows this and give us one whole month off from school are second year in July to use to study and take boards. With that being said, everyone passes so it may be harder to study but overall we come out of dental school clinically ready to practice.
As far a second your decision, if you love Tufts, I would just go there🙂 but there's my synopsis . Good luck!!!

 

[Jenney]

How much is Tufts?

And my gut says no to USC for 2 reasons:

1. Cost
2. PBL (heard firsthand from a USC dental grad that the curriculum did not prepare her well for boards).​

Yeah I heard the same thing in my interview. One of the reason I am not going to this school too.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Tufts. USC is one of the most disgustingly overpriced schools in the country especially for OOS. One year COA for them coming from OOS can almost cover 4 years at a texas school

 

[seaweed1]

I think you should definitely visit USC, at least! This is the next 4 years we're talking about - you want to be 100% sure you made the right choice and not 'what if'! Plus, I imagine that living in California is going to be so different than living in Boston. I think it's worth checking out.

 

[toofdoc22]

You know what the say about a bird in the hand...

 

[AlecGaro]

I felt the same way with my WesternU vs USC dilemma, but now I will be attending USC. If you asked me six months ago I would have never thought I would be attending USC, but I ended up loving everything about the school, faculty, curriculum, and patients.