TUFTS AMA

[pookey123]

Tufts Ask Me Anything

PM me if it's personal or you want help applying

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[Cubelife]

What are the things that you like and dislike about the school? Sorry my PMs were not working.

 

[OhioGuy42]

I’ll be attending in Fall! What classes should i be looking out for? Any tips for studying? Also, where do you recommend living?

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

What made you choose Tufts?

 

[pookey123]

What are the things that you like and dislike about the school? Sorry my PMs were not working.

Tufts has almost every speciality (notably no residency in oral pathology, but there are oral pathologists there) and some other elective/not-recognized residencies in esthetics and implant dentistry for example. Board exams are given at school so you don't have to travel anywhere on exam day. Hospital affiliation. The school is old and well-known, also well known internationally. International students seem to adjust ok. MA has good dental insurance compared to other states, Mass Health covers scaling/root planing and a lot of patients will have Mass Health insurance. The simulation clinic is nice. Yankee Dental Congress is close by and there are many other dental schools close by for socializing. The train (the "T") has a direct stop under Tufts. Boston is big on education, not a bad city to go to school in.

Tufts has numerous drawbacks including: tuition, cost of living, competitive environment w/ the majority of classes being taken for a letter grade. Most facilities for UG students suck. If you are planning on specializing you'll want to go somewhere else; every single PG program at tufts charges 100k+ tuition except for oral surgery which charges... 35k (your 60k salary - taxes/35k tuition= you live off of 25k). Merritt auditorium, the main lecture hall for every single class, had a bed bug infestation. The one and only student lounge (roughly 700sq foot lounge for 1000+ dental students in the building) was also shuttered for months due to bed bug infestation. Used to be a very nice lady who ran a soup restaurant next to the lounge. Soup store has been gone for years. Never replaced with anything; you can get lunch at the hospital or the library. Class year of 2020 will likely have delayed graduation and be forced to spend additional money on rent and tuition into the summer/fall this year. The PG clinics get all the advanced cases and even have nicer gloves. Limited to seeing 3 patients a day. Requirements are not the best; 3-4 root canals will satisfy endo graduation requirement, it just takes one procedure on one molar and you're all set. You get points just for assisting PG students upstairs. Stairs= inequality. All the best stuff is saved for those who are on higher floors. The administrators occupy the 15th floor of course. The scraps at the bottom 2-4 floors are relegated to UG students. Very difficult to get implant experience, only a handful of students are chosen for the implant selective. Selectives in general are far and few in between. Have to do a selective if you want to learn to use nitrous oxide or anything that specialists do. Humongous class size (up to 210 + 30-40 IS students come second year).

They are not very open about how much debt you will be in, and the challenges that you will face, and how many of your classmates won't make it. For the past 3 years the first-time board passing rate was about 70%... which is extremely bad. Roughly 1/3 of the class fails every year, pretty consistently for the last few years. (The pass rate ranges between 65% to 80%). The student affairs dept are a bunch of animals who are only looking out for themselves and they continue to throw students under the bus. 10 students from my class are gone already, and roughly a dozen more probably won't make it to graduation (some are just demoted to the class year below, but many of those students will end up getting dismissed later). One guy got kicked out for allegedly raping another classmate (he was a male stripper, but many don't believe he actually did it). Most people get kicked out for academic reasons or they have really bad hand skills and didn't improve. Imagine getting dismissed after you have accumulated 50k debt from undergrad, 70k from masters, and 240k from tufts; assuming 3 years of school post-undergrad, that's almost 400k of debt with no DMD to show for it. Your life is over, you are now doing IBR until you die and your chances of admission to a different graduate program are now less than 1% due to your tarnished academic record.

This isn't a joke; this was the harsh reality for roughly a dozen of my classmates, I'm expecting 12-20 won't make it to graduation and will have this happen to them. For those who were demoted, they have to pay for the semester that they retake which is 60-90k depending on their situation. The average indebtedness for those who graduated on time in 2019 was 360k. Future graduates are looking at 400k+ debt on average even if you do everything right (these numbers include people whose parents pay for school or who got a scholarship and have no debt). People who take out loans for everything (which is a lot of people; I know many people who request extra funds, you can ask for another 5-7k each year) can expect 500-600k of debt. 600k+ for D24 class.

Dentist incomes grew for the last 5 years, but due to coronavirus and increasing PPE costs, I would expect dentist incomes to fall in 2020/2021. Tuition will continue to increase 3-7% every year. The administration announced a pay freeze/ hiring freeze so clearly the school is broke. The D20 class year will be hurting enormously because the job market is so weak. Many students secured jobs very early (signed job offers in fall, but don't graduate until may). These jobs and in some cases residencies, will be put on hold because most 4th years likely won't be able to graduate until july.

Extremely old student body; average age is like 34. Over half the class has masters degrees yet a third of students fail their boards every year. Because students cheat/study only to pass tests and don't retain info for the boards. Tufts cares about money more than anything. Students care more about their grades than anything else. Infopack cheating scandal. Cheating scandals in 2012, 2014 and now 2020 related to online testing (they continue to let us take online exams, maybe because there is no other option. They sent a message to our entire class, but never followed up or said how many students were involved; idk what they did to address it.)

The coronavirus has highlighted many of the things that I dislike about Tufts. Tufts even told us that we were at "low" risk and made us keep coming in to school until March 16th. They even started running out of masks and ppe which was ridiculous. Tufts, Boston, and the entire state of Massachusetts are at "high" risk now. The administration did a really bad job and they pat themselves on the back anyway.

Generally you are so busy studying you won't really care. A huge plus is that 70% of classes are lecture captured so you can stay home and watch them instead of coming to class. The nutrition school and associated schools in the boston campus are also nice, although there is a lack of a "campus" feel and downtown/chinatown is busy//loud/crowded and has gotten really expensive over the years.

Hope this helps... if you are a D24 don't worry about the summer reading assignment it's just bs

 

[pookey123]

I’ll be attending in Fall! What classes should i be looking out for? Any tips for studying? Also, where do you recommend living?

study board practice questions for dental anatomy, the 200 question video series on youtube is the best. Read a lot, that class is an adjustment for many as it is the first "dental" class you'll take. Wax ups are easy don't worry about them. Practice a lot for operative, especially class 2 prep. Having good hand skills will help you a lot other courses. Most didactic classes first year are easy, but study a lot for neuro and anatomy especially. Most people live on the orange line and commute; chinatown is not as cheap as it used to be

 

[pookey123]

What made you choose Tufts?

I wish I went to a different school somewhere in the midwest

I called the dentists that I shadowed after I got in. One of the dentists I shadowed and knew very well when I was a pre-dent suggested that I go to Tufts because it is a well known school and would offer opportunities to specialize. Tufts' specialities all charge a lot for tuition and I don't think that was the best reason to pick a school in hindsight. If I could get a do-over I would still go to dental school but wish I would have picked the cheapest school I got into instead of tufts

 

[OhioGuy42]

How hard is it to specialize? Where do you recommend studying? They’re changing the boards so i guess that’ll all be different, but any other tips you recommend for first year?

 

[LaughingGas]

Tufts has almost every speciality (notably no residency in oral pathology, but there are oral pathologists there) and some other elective/not-recognized residencies in esthetics and implant dentistry for example. Board exams are given at school so you don't have to travel anywhere on exam day. Hospital affiliation. The school is old and well-known, also well known internationally. International students seem to adjust ok. MA has good dental insurance compared to other states, Mass Health covers scaling/root planing and a lot of patients will have Mass Health insurance. The simulation clinic is nice. Yankee Dental Congress is close by and there are many other dental schools close by for socializing. The train (the "T") has a direct stop under Tufts. Boston is big on education, not a bad city to go to school in.

Tufts has numerous drawbacks including: tuition, cost of living, competitive environment w/ the majority of classes being taken for a letter grade. Most facilities for UG students suck. If you are planning on specializing you'll want to go somewhere else; every single PG program at tufts charges 100k+ tuition except for oral surgery which charges... 35k (your 60k salary - taxes/35k tuition= you live off of 25k). Merritt auditorium, the main lecture hall for every single class, had a bed bug infestation. The one and only student lounge (roughly 700sq foot lounge for 1000+ dental students in the building) was also shuttered for months due to bed bug infestation. Used to be a very nice lady who ran a soup restaurant next to the lounge. Soup store has been gone for years. Never replaced with anything; you can get lunch at the hospital or the library. Class year of 2020 will likely have delayed graduation and be forced to spend additional money on rent and tuition into the summer/fall this year. The PG clinics get all the advanced cases and even have nicer gloves. Limited to seeing 3 patients a day. Requirements are not the best; 3-4 root canals will satisfy endo graduation requirement, it just takes one procedure on one molar and you're all set. You get points just for assisting PG students upstairs. Stairs= inequality. All the best stuff is saved for those who are on higher floors. The administrators occupy the 15th floor of course. The scraps at the bottom 2-4 floors are relegated to UG students. Very difficult to get implant experience, only a handful of students are chosen for the implant selective. Selectives in general are far and few in between. Have to do a selective if you want to learn to use nitrous oxide or anything that specialists do. Humongous class size (up to 210 + 30-40 IS students come second year).

They are not very open about how much debt you will be in, and the challenges that you will face, and how many of your classmates won't make it. For the past 3 years the first-time board passing rate was about 70%... which is extremely bad. Roughly 1/3 of the class fails every year, pretty consistently for the last few years. (The pass rate ranges between 65% to 80%). The student affairs dept are a bunch of animals who are only looking out for themselves and they continue to throw students under the bus. 10 students from my class are gone already, and roughly a dozen more probably won't make it to graduation (some are just demoted to the class year below, but many of those students will end up getting dismissed later). One guy got kicked out for allegedly raping another classmate (he was a male stripper, but many don't believe he actually did it). Most people get kicked out for academic reasons or they have really bad hand skills and didn't improve. Imagine getting dismissed after you have accumulated 50k debt from undergrad, 70k from masters, and 240k from tufts; assuming 3 years of school post-undergrad, that's almost 400k of debt with no DMD to show for it. Your life is over, you are now doing IBR until you die and your chances of admission to a different graduate program are now less than 1% due to your tarnished academic record.

This isn't a joke; this was the harsh reality for roughly a dozen of my classmates, I'm expecting 12-20 won't make it to graduation and will have this happen to them. For those who were demoted, they have to pay for the semester that they retake which is 60-90k depending on their situation. The average indebtedness for those who graduated on time in 2019 was 360k. Future graduates are looking at 400k+ debt on average even if you do everything right (these numbers include people whose parents pay for school or who got a scholarship and have no debt). People who take out loans for everything (which is a lot of people; I know many people who request extra funds, you can ask for another 5-7k each year) can expect 500-600k of debt. 600k+ for D24 class.

Dentist incomes grew for the last 5 years, but due to coronavirus and increasing PPE costs, I would expect dentist incomes to fall in 2020/2021. Tuition will continue to increase 3-7% every year. The administration announced a pay freeze/ hiring freeze so clearly the school is broke. The D20 class year will be hurting enormously because the job market is so weak. Many students secured jobs very early (signed job offers in fall, but don't graduate until may). These jobs and in some cases residencies, will be put on hold because most 4th years likely won't be able to graduate until july.

Extremely old student body; average age is like 34. Over half the class has masters degrees yet a third of students fail their boards every year. Because students cheat/study only to pass tests and don't retain info for the boards. Tufts cares about money more than anything. Students care more about their grades than anything else. Infopack cheating scandal. Cheating scandals in 2012, 2014 and now 2020 related to online testing (they continue to let us take online exams, maybe because there is no other option. They sent a message to our entire class, but never followed up or said how many students were involved; idk what they did to address it.)

The coronavirus has highlighted many of the things that I dislike about Tufts. Tufts even told us that we were at "low" risk and made us keep coming in to school until March 16th. They even started running out of masks and ppe which was ridiculous. Tufts, Boston, and the entire state of Massachusetts are at "high" risk now. The administration did a really bad job and they pat themselves on the back anyway.

Generally you are so busy studying you won't really care. A huge plus is that 70% of classes are lecture captured so you can stay home and watch them instead of coming to class. The nutrition school and associated schools in the boston campus are also nice, although there is a lack of a "campus" feel and downtown/chinatown is busy//loud/crowded and has gotten really expensive over the years.

Hope this helps... if you are a D24 don't worry about the summer reading assignment it's just bs

You nailed it!. Couldn't have said it any better

 

[pookey123]

About this stripper though... Was he part of the D22 class? Tried PMing you but your profile is set to private.

The male stripper was a D22

also: I think you should be able to PM me now if you want

 

[Blueshirts]

I heard tufts is going all online through fall, is that for sim labs and clinic too?

 

[OhioGuy42]

I heard tufts is going all online through fall, is that for sim labs and clinic too?

Yuppppp

 

[Blueshirts]

Yuppppp

Wow..I'm so sorry for all students there, that has to be very difficult to be facing with lot of long term uncertainty

 

[OhioGuy42]

Wow..I'm so sorry for all students there, that has to be very difficult to be facing with lot of long term uncertainty

Pretty sure it’s just the first years but not much we can do about it.. lots of schools are going online this coming semester but Boston/Harvard/tufts are especially bad due to Boston getting worse

 

[Dentalboithrowaway69]

how much debt are you in? how do yo plan on paying it back?

 

[Beckwith Wiedemann]

there are rumors floating around school about the dean of admissions who apparently is responsible for a lot of bad things going on at school

spill the tea pls

 

[LaughingGas]

lots of uncertainties about tufts' reopening, administration has not been doing a very good job, still protests going on outside, and there are rumors floating around school about the dean of admissions who apparently is responsible for a lot of bad things going on at school

spill the tea pls

yeah. if anything make another account just to tell us lol.

 

[UCLA MCDB]

lots of uncertainties about tufts' reopening, administration has not been doing a very good job, still protests going on outside, and there are rumors floating around school about the dean of admissions who apparently is responsible for a lot of bad things going on at school

What do you mean by a lot of bad things?? Can you elaborate more?

 

[pookey123]

how much debt are you in? how do yo plan on paying it back?

I thank god everyday for no interest on loans til sept 30th. really hoping that gets extended to the end of the year. if you have no money expect 550k-600k in loans from tufts whens all said and done. the "average" indebtness (which includes people whose parents pay or get scholarships was 360k in 2018 and hasn't been updated) however there are 65 D20s who haven't graduated yet who had to extend/renews their leases and pay another semester's worth of tuition. stuff adds up. I think I will have half a mil of debt roughly 450-500k by the time I graduate. keep in mind a LOT of students at tufts get held back, take 5 years to graduate or graduate late. that increases your COA by a lot. last 3 years average board failure rate was 30%, they haven't even told my class what our pass rate is (I think because it's so bad or because some people still haven't taken it) Tufts' excuse for our low class gpa is the number of masters students with good master's program gpas. what's the excuse for the terrible board pass rate? Why don't they publish our 4-year graduation rate? If they did, far fewer people would apply. the financial aid COA doesn't include interest. even with lower rates the interest is substantial and soul-crushing

edit: my plan is to skip residency and start working, if job outlook is good go for private practice and hope to build higher income through practice ownership. if bad, get a job at a health center non-profit and apply for PSLF

 

[pawprints8]

I thank god everyday for no interest on loans til sept 30th. really hoping that gets extended to the end of the year. if you have no money expect 550k-600k in loans from tufts whens all said and done. the "average" indebtness (which includes people whose parents pay or get scholarships was 360k in 2018 and hasn't been updated) however there are 65 D20s who haven't graduated yet who had to extend/renews their leases and pay another semester's worth of tuition. stuff adds up. I think I will have half a mil of debt roughly 450-500k by the time I graduate. keep in mind a LOT of students at tufts get held back, take 5 years to graduate or graduate late. that increases your COA by a lot. last 3 years average board failure rate was 30%, they haven't even told my class what our pass rate is (I think because it's so bad or because some people still haven't taken it) Tufts' excuse for our low class gpa is the number of masters students with good master's program gpas. what's the excuse for the terrible board pass rate? Why don't they publish our 4-year graduation rate? If they did, far fewer people would apply. the financial aid COA doesn't include interest. even with lower rates the interest is substantial and soul-crushing

edit: my plan is to skip residency and start working, if job outlook is good go for private practice and hope to build higher income through practice ownership. if bad, get a job at a health center non-profit and apply for PSLF

If you hate Tufts so much, why are you still here? You chose to take out the debt. You chose to go to a school with a big class size (which does have some benefits).

Professors have told us multiple times that the D22 class has the highest test averages in recent memory.

 

[frozenicecreamDMD]

If you hate Tufts so much, why are you still here? You chose to take out the debt. You chose to go to a school with a big class size (which does have some benefits).

Professors have told us multiple times that the D22 class has the highest test averages in recent memory.

I am not from Tufts but from a dental school with such a bad rep like being described. I guess some students drink the kool aid well and some can't drink the kool aid.

Whoever posts this made the decision to go to Tuft 4 years ago in 2016 with a day interview at tuft. If you don't notice already, a lot of dental schools put on a different face during interview days and reality sets in a big shock when school starts later.

I feel a lot of these ultra expensive dental schools sell the acceptances as the only tickets to being a dentists. My class only has a few <10 with Masters and their masters are not to pull up grades.

Let us all thank Pookey123 for exposing some insider's truth to Tuft's dental education. He/she does not gain anything from this and this is a forum with free speech so yea. If you are class of 2022 I am guessing you are just starting clinic now, wait until the frustration hits later then you will the Pookey 1234

 

[pookey123]

If you hate Tufts so much, why are you still here? You chose to take out the debt. You chose to go to a school with a big class size (which does have some benefits).

Professors have told us multiple times that the D22 class has the highest test averages in recent memory.

I never said I hated Tufts. I want to share information so that people have a better idea of what they're getting into and what issues students at the school are currently facing. It's ok if you disagree with my post; I'd just appreciate if if you could explain why. Fixing these issues will make tufts a better school for everyone.

Tufts does not include interest in their financial aid and cost of attendance projections. They also don't include future tuition increases in their COA estimates. With a 20 million plus budget deficit (as stated by the dean himself), what do you think the odds are that tuition will go up next year? Some of the other schools I interviewed at shared more financial information than Tufts did, but many gave similar presentations. They purposefully leave information out. There is currently a pay freeze, hiring freeze, travel budget freeze, and no budget for food or in-person events of any kind for the rest of the year. Even the cafe in the library is shut down and they are telling students they have to pack a lunch. They may announce pay cuts or layoffs next year. This kind of information is not shared by the school with pre-dents.

They also didn't tell students about the PDND program which gives 20 dedicated spots in the incoming class to students who pass 1st years classes. Increases class size by another 20. They said that class size was 200 when I interviewed, not 206, 209, or 220 (with PDND) or 240 (with IS in clinic). Again, I personally feel that there are more negatives than positives associated with a large class size. They could be more transparent.

So let's say you're a D22 with good grades. Did they ever tell your class how they did on boards? What about the other class years? What's more important, grades or actually getting your dental license? A 4.0 gpa doesn't matter if you can't pass boards. You might have passed and not thought much about it, but there are a significant number of students at Tufts who struggle to pass their board exams every year. 15-30% fail rate means there are dozens of students who have a hard time or get held back and have to pay another year's tuition. My point is that pre-dents don't think "it will happen to them" but it does happen to people, including people that I know very well.

 

[pawprints8]

I am not from Tufts but from a dental school with such a bad rep like being described. I guess some students drink the kool aid well and some can't drink the kool aid.

Whoever posts this made the decision to go to Tuft 4 years ago in 2016 with a day interview at tuft. If you don't notice already, a lot of dental schools put on a different face during interview days and reality sets in a big shock when school starts later.

I feel a lot of these ultra expensive dental schools sell the acceptances as the only tickets to being a dentists. My class only has a few <10 with Masters and their masters are not to pull up grades.

Let us all thank Pookey123 for exposing some insider's truth to Tuft's dental education. He/she does not gain anything from this and this is a forum with free speech so yea. If you are class of 2022 I am guessing you are just starting clinic now, wait until the frustration hits later then you will the Pookey 1234

He/she is a D22 as well, or at least applied and was accepted during the 2017-2018 cycle.

No school or job can tell you exactly what your time there will be like, especially when a pandemic hits. Of course one day isn’t enough to learn everything. Similarly, one person’s experience does not define how yours may or may not be.

I never said I hated Tufts. I want to share information so that people have a better idea of what they're getting into and what issues students at the school are currently facing. It's ok if you disagree with my post; I'd just appreciate if if you could explain why. Fixing these issues will make tufts a better school for everyone.

Tufts does not include interest in their financial aid and cost of attendance projections. They also don't include future tuition increases in their COA estimates. With a 20 million plus budget deficit (as stated by the dean himself), what do you think the odds are that tuition will go up next year? Some of the other schools I interviewed at shared more financial information than Tufts did, but many gave similar presentations. They purposefully leave information out. There is currently a pay freeze, hiring freeze, travel budget freeze, and no budget for food or in-person events of any kind for the rest of the year. Even the cafe in the library is shut down and they are telling students they have to pack a lunch. They may announce pay cuts or layoffs next year. This kind of information is not shared by the school with pre-dents.

They also didn't tell students about the PDND program which gives 20 dedicated spots in the incoming class to students who pass 1st years classes. Increases class size by another 20. They said that class size was 200 when I interviewed, not 206, 209, or 220 (with PDND) or 240 (with IS in clinic). Again, I personally feel that there are more negatives than positives associated with a large class size. They could be more transparent.

So let's say you're a D22 with good grades. Did they ever tell your class how they did on boards? What about the other class years? What's more important, grades or actually getting your dental license? A 4.0 gpa doesn't matter if you can't pass boards. You might have passed and not thought much about it, but there are a significant number of students at Tufts who struggle to pass their board exams every year. 15-30% fail rate means there are dozens of students who have a hard time or get held back and have to pay another year's tuition. My point is that pre-dents don't think "it will happen to them" but it does happen to people, including people that I know very well.

It would be great if schools included a column in the COA that includes interest. The reality is that some students have private loans, some have federal, some take loans for different amounts. There are plenty of calculators online for prospective students to students use and get a better idea of their specific financial responsibility

My class does not have anyone from that program. I do hope they adjust their admissions data to include it.

I don’t know when the school usually announces the previous year’s board rates. I also don’t know what the rate is at other schools. 15-30% sounds high, but do we know what the first time pass rate is at similar schools? I’ve never heard of someone getting kicked out from not passing and/or not eventually passing it. Pre-dents should be aware that you have multiple chances to take it.

My point is that it is very easy to complain and wish things were different. I do it too. It’s a lot harder to come up with reasonable solutions to the problems (e.g. how can they control the COVID situation in the city or the protests happening here?). Every school has their issues. I just don’t think it’s a great idea to paint a negative picture of a school without acknowledging that there may not be a better way to do things.

 

[LaughingGas]

As a consumer, even if the presentations given to predental is not legally incorrect, it's hard to brush off as if you were given a misinformation. Average debt is 380k, wow sounds great. What they don't disclose to you is what percentage of students take full amount or more, how many students don't have debt thanks to their rich parents or they chose to do military. It's your problem if you can't come up with the rent, when they disclose it is 1,300 given per month for rent when anywhere near the school it is at least 2k for one bedroom unless you find the hidden gems. They tell you class size is 200, but they don't tell you it's 200 when they admit first years; they don't disclose more people will be added second and third year. The list goes on and on and it is only fair to those that apply get the full information, not just partial information that is convenient for them.

 

[AONLINE]

When will you guys be back to clinic to work on patients? Do the students still plan to sue the school to get their money back?

 

[dentalbae]

Tufts Ask Me Anything

PM me if it's personal or you want help applying

Do you know what happened to the Assistant Dean of Admissions?

 

[pookey123]

When will you guys be back to clinic to work on patients? Do the students still plan to sue the school to get their money back?

D21 have been back in clinic since June. No new patients though. still going through backlog of existing patients. D22 are not entering clinic until Nov 1st. although some of them think they won't be in clinic for real until after winter break. Clinic is around 30-35% capacity. school's goal is to reach 50% capacity by 2021. Don't know when that's going to happen, but 50% is the max set by the state I think. according to dean Gonthier tufts is at 50% max through 2021. can use ultrasonics for cleaning starting next week because of new protocols though. so some things improving but definitely not back to normal.

The new elevator still doesn't even work... they have been promising it will be ready for like months lol. that and the new lobby were such gigantic wastes of money. Tufts laid off tons of clinical staff and everyone at the TDF (tufts dental facilites) satellite sites because all the clinical rotations got canceled. have bs zoom rotations now. but the lobby is so very pretty!

Students still grumble but I haven't actually heard of someone filing a lawsuit yet. people really should though. they doubled sterilization fees and increased tuition while providing less than half the education we used to get (and even before covid it was a rip-off)

 

[acvdental937]

Honestly, I really appreciate you doing this thread. I was just about to apply to Tufts because I heard great things from someone that graduated CO 2017. However, I don't want to spend another $200 applying if I won't be happy there - especially since so many questionable things are going on with the school. It would be hard to get this information without personally knowing a student there. Thank you for giving us an insider's perspective.

 

[pookey123]

Been getting lots of questions about specializing. I know that the number of students at tufts applying for residencies has skyrocketed, I believe it might be around 75-90% this year. The vast majority of tufts grads who do a residency end up doing 1 year gpr/aegd. I don't think the percentage of students doing speciality residencies has really changed much. I am big on sharing numbers/data that tufts admissions won't tell you. Here is the data for D18 graduates

 

[osMOLARity=D]

Tufts has almost every speciality (notably no residency in oral pathology, but there are oral pathologists there) and some other elective/not-recognized residencies in esthetics and implant dentistry for example. Board exams are given at school so you don't have to travel anywhere on exam day. Hospital affiliation. The school is old and well-known, also well known internationally. International students seem to adjust ok. MA has good dental insurance compared to other states, Mass Health covers scaling/root planing and a lot of patients will have Mass Health insurance. The simulation clinic is nice. Yankee Dental Congress is close by and there are many other dental schools close by for socializing. The train (the "T") has a direct stop under Tufts. Boston is big on education, not a bad city to go to school in.

Tufts has numerous drawbacks including: tuition, cost of living, competitive environment w/ the majority of classes being taken for a letter grade. Most facilities for UG students suck. If you are planning on specializing you'll want to go somewhere else; every single PG program at tufts charges 100k+ tuition except for oral surgery which charges... 35k (your 60k salary - taxes/35k tuition= you live off of 25k). Merritt auditorium, the main lecture hall for every single class, had a bed bug infestation. The one and only student lounge (roughly 700sq foot lounge for 1000+ dental students in the building) was also shuttered for months due to bed bug infestation. Used to be a very nice lady who ran a soup restaurant next to the lounge. Soup store has been gone for years. Never replaced with anything; you can get lunch at the hospital or the library. Class year of 2020 will likely have delayed graduation and be forced to spend additional money on rent and tuition into the summer/fall this year. The PG clinics get all the advanced cases and even have nicer gloves. Limited to seeing 3 patients a day. Requirements are not the best; 3-4 root canals will satisfy endo graduation requirement, it just takes one procedure on one molar and you're all set. You get points just for assisting PG students upstairs. Stairs= inequality. All the best stuff is saved for those who are on higher floors. The administrators occupy the 15th floor of course. The scraps at the bottom 2-4 floors are relegated to UG students. Very difficult to get implant experience, only a handful of students are chosen for the implant selective. Selectives in general are far and few in between. Have to do a selective if you want to learn to use nitrous oxide or anything that specialists do. Humongous class size (up to 210 + 30-40 IS students come second year).

They are not very open about how much debt you will be in, and the challenges that you will face, and how many of your classmates won't make it. For the past 3 years the first-time board passing rate was about 70%... which is extremely bad. Roughly 1/3 of the class fails every year, pretty consistently for the last few years. (The pass rate ranges between 65% to 80%). The student affairs dept are a bunch of animals who are only looking out for themselves and they continue to throw students under the bus. 10 students from my class are gone already, and roughly a dozen more probably won't make it to graduation (some are just demoted to the class year below, but many of those students will end up getting dismissed later). One guy got kicked out for allegedly raping another classmate (he was a male stripper, but many don't believe he actually did it). Most people get kicked out for academic reasons or they have really bad hand skills and didn't improve. Imagine getting dismissed after you have accumulated 50k debt from undergrad, 70k from masters, and 240k from tufts; assuming 3 years of school post-undergrad, that's almost 400k of debt with no DMD to show for it. Your life is over, you are now doing IBR until you die and your chances of admission to a different graduate program are now less than 1% due to your tarnished academic record.

This isn't a joke; this was the harsh reality for roughly a dozen of my classmates, I'm expecting 12-20 won't make it to graduation and will have this happen to them. For those who were demoted, they have to pay for the semester that they retake which is 60-90k depending on their situation. The average indebtedness for those who graduated on time in 2019 was 360k. Future graduates are looking at 400k+ debt on average even if you do everything right (these numbers include people whose parents pay for school or who got a scholarship and have no debt). People who take out loans for everything (which is a lot of people; I know many people who request extra funds, you can ask for another 5-7k each year) can expect 500-600k of debt. 600k+ for D24 class.

Dentist incomes grew for the last 5 years, but due to coronavirus and increasing PPE costs, I would expect dentist incomes to fall in 2020/2021. Tuition will continue to increase 3-7% every year. The administration announced a pay freeze/ hiring freeze so clearly the school is broke. The D20 class year will be hurting enormously because the job market is so weak. Many students secured jobs very early (signed job offers in fall, but don't graduate until may). These jobs and in some cases residencies, will be put on hold because most 4th years likely won't be able to graduate until july.

Extremely old student body; average age is like 34. Over half the class has masters degrees yet a third of students fail their boards every year. Because students cheat/study only to pass tests and don't retain info for the boards. Tufts cares about money more than anything. Students care more about their grades than anything else. Infopack cheating scandal. Cheating scandals in 2012, 2014 and now 2020 related to online testing (they continue to let us take online exams, maybe because there is no other option. They sent a message to our entire class, but never followed up or said how many students were involved; idk what they did to address it.)

The coronavirus has highlighted many of the things that I dislike about Tufts. Tufts even told us that we were at "low" risk and made us keep coming in to school until March 16th. They even started running out of masks and ppe which was ridiculous. Tufts, Boston, and the entire state of Massachusetts are at "high" risk now. The administration did a really bad job and they pat themselves on the back anyway.

Generally you are so busy studying you won't really care. A huge plus is that 70% of classes are lecture captured so you can stay home and watch them instead of coming to class. The nutrition school and associated schools in the boston campus are also nice, although there is a lack of a "campus" feel and downtown/chinatown is busy//loud/crowded and has gotten really expensive over the years.

Hope this helps... if you are a D24 don't worry about the summer reading assignment it's just bs

Oh my god. Tufts gave me an "inadvertent acceptance" last year on Friday, December 13th (Friday the 13th =D) and then emailed me that Sunday telling me I was denied. I already knew it was a blessing in disguise because I interviewed at my #1 choice this cycle but everything you described is nightmare-ish.

 

[predental21250]

All these stories are very interesting. I remember when I had my interview at Tufts, enjoyed my day there a lot. That admin that you keep talking about in your stories was someone that actually struck out to me as genuinely friendly and well liked. Surprised with all of these things said about him..

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

All these stories are very interesting. I remember when I had my interview at Tufts, enjoyed my day there a lot. That admin that you keep talking about in your stories was someone that actually struck out to me as genuinely friendly and well liked. Surprised with all of these things said about him..

It’s almost like interviews are the schools way to sell you an idea of how great it is and get you to go there. Hmmmmm.

 

[SigmaFS]

I thank god everyday for no interest on loans til sept 30th. really hoping that gets extended to the end of the year. if you have no money expect 550k-600k in loans from tufts whens all said and done. the "average" indebtness (which includes people whose parents pay or get scholarships was 360k in 2018 and hasn't been updated) however there are 65 D20s who haven't graduated yet who had to extend/renews their leases and pay another semester's worth of tuition. stuff adds up. I think I will have half a mil of debt roughly 450-500k by the time I graduate. keep in mind a LOT of students at tufts get held back, take 5 years to graduate or graduate late. that increases your COA by a lot. last 3 years average board failure rate was 30%, they haven't even told my class what our pass rate is (I think because it's so bad or because some people still haven't taken it) Tufts' excuse for our low class gpa is the number of masters students with good master's program gpas. what's the excuse for the terrible board pass rate? Why don't they publish our 4-year graduation rate? If they did, far fewer people would apply. the financial aid COA doesn't include interest. even with lower rates the interest is substantial and soul-crushing

edit: my plan is to skip residency and start working, if job outlook is good go for private practice and hope to build higher income through practice ownership. if bad, get a job at a health center non-profit and apply for PSLF

Hate to break the news, but CARES Act no interest provision only applies to borrowers in repayment, not borrowers in school. Check your loan servicer's website to confirm interest accrual.

 

[SuxDrugs&Rocuronium]

Hate to break the news, but CARES Act no interest provision only applies to borrowers in repayment, not borrowers in school. Check your loan servicer's website to confirm interest accrual.

That’s not true. I’m a D2 and the interest on my loans is frozen

 

[SigmaFS]

That’s not true. I’m a D2 and the interest on my loans is frozen

Below is the language of the Act. It's nuanced. But, the 0% interest rate is extended to borrowers who have their payments suspended. While in school, your loans are automatically deferred, no need to suspend the payment. Again, confirm on you loan service's website. If there's an interest rate other than 0% listed on the loan details, you're accruing interest.

SEC. 3513. TEMPORARY RELIEF FOR FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN BORROWERS. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall suspend all payments due for loans made under part D and part B (that are held by the Department of Education) of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.; 1071 et seq.) through September 30, 2020. (b) NO ACCRUAL OF INTEREST.—Notwithstanding any other provision of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), interest shall not accrue on a loan described under subsection (a) for which payment was suspended for the period of the suspension.

https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hr748/BILLS-116hr748enr.pdf

 

[Blueshirts]

Below is the language of the Act. It's nuanced. But, the 0% interest rate is extended to borrowers who have their payments suspended. While in school, your loans are automatically deferred, no need to suspend the payment. Again, confirm on you loan service's website. If there's an interest rate other than 0% listed on the loan details, you're accruing interest.

SEC. 3513. TEMPORARY RELIEF FOR FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN BORROWERS. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall suspend all payments due for loans made under part D and part B (that are held by the Department of Education) of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.; 1071 et seq.) through September 30, 2020. (b) NO ACCRUAL OF INTEREST.—Notwithstanding any other provision of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), interest shall not accrue on a loan described under subsection (a) for which payment was suspended for the period of the suspension.

https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hr748/BILLS-116hr748enr.pdf

I can confirm that my loans are also at zero percent for the time being, I'm also a D2.

 

[pookey123]

Tufts dental student (D3) committed suicide on Veterans Day. Very sad.

Remembering the life of Bailey Walterscheid

Bailey Walterscheid passed away. This is the full obituary where you can express condolences and share memories. Published in the Gainesville Daily Register on 2020-11-16.

obituaries.gainesvilleregister.com

if anyone is bullying or harassing you in dental school please reach out. tragedies like this are why I made this thread: How to Handle Harassment in Dental School

you don't have to suffer alone

 

[GushinGushin]

Tufts dental student (D3) committed suicide on Veterans Day. Very sad.

Remembering the life of Bailey Walterscheid

Bailey Walterscheid passed away. This is the full obituary where you can express condolences and share memories. Published in the Gainesville Daily Register on 2020-11-16.

obituaries.gainesvilleregister.com

if anyone is bullying or harassing you in dental school please reach out. tragedies like this are why I made this thread: How to Handle Harassment in Dental School

you don't have to suffer alone

My condolences for the loss @pookey123 . Do you what the particular cause was?

 

[deleted954913]

Tufts dental student (D3) committed suicide on Veterans Day. Very sad.

Remembering the life of Bailey Walterscheid

Bailey Walterscheid passed away. This is the full obituary where you can express condolences and share memories. Published in the Gainesville Daily Register on 2020-11-16.

obituaries.gainesvilleregister.com

if anyone is bullying or harassing you in dental school please reach out. tragedies like this are why I made this thread: How to Handle Harassment in Dental School

you don't have to suffer alone

Sorry to hear pookster, how is everyone holding up/the community at large. NYUCD suffered a somewhat similar issue I believe in 2018. I had not known the poor individual or much of the drama as I was coming back from medical leave, but it was quite the impactful event from what I hear. Even though it is a large class, still such an awful and debilitating source of moral and positivity. While I tend to internalize my own issues and live in a deluded wonderland within myself (somehow this works...), the mental health facilities do really need improvement. Not so much in technology but the methodology and intentions of the counselors/docs/whoever. Lot of shady business goes on at these "student centers'' from my hearing thru the grapevine.

 

[pookey123]

My condolences for the loss @pookey123 . Do you what the particular cause was?

I don't know the details.

 

[frozenicecreamDMD]

LOL are you still a student or you are expelled already?

this is defamation if it is not true but if it is true, I guess I am not surprised at dental school faculties nowadays anymore.

and where did you get all this information? you stalk your school dean that much?

 

[pookey123]

Tuft's match rate for the most recent cycle just posted by Dean Karimbux. see image

 

[frozenicecreamDMD]

Tuft's match rate for the most recent cycle just posted by Dean Karimbux. see image

and what is your point of posting this?

how large is TUFT class size? if it is 200+ I am not surprised to see 20% wanna do GPR/AGED. it is better to give a break down based on %class because all school have different class sizes.

 

[UCLA MCDB]

and what is your point of posting this?

how large is TUFT class size? if it is 200+ I am not surprised to see 20% wanna do GPR/AGED. it is better to give a break down based on %class because all school have different class sizes.

So people can see how many students go into residency programs.
Someone who is interested can do the simple math. Since it says D/IS, it's probably 220.
So # of students/220.

 

[frozenicecreamDMD]

So people can see how many students go into residency programs.
Someone who is interested can do the simple math. Since it says D/IS, it's probably 220.
So # of students/220.

lol what you said is just exactly what I said above. but thanks though.

 

[acvdental937]

lol what you said is just exactly what I said above. but thanks though.

You asked why pookey123 posted it.

 

[96asb]

when is the next round of interviews?