Tufts or BU

[dbangell]

Hi everyone,
I am currently accepted to both and struggling to make a decision. I know in the past there were many posts regarding to this, but most of them are few years old. I just want to ask this question one more time. Thanks guys.

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[NDPitch]

If you have absolutely no other cheaper option, and you're prepared to saddle up that debt and know what that entails, Tufts is a 100% no brainer. A far superior school, albeit prohibitively expensive.

 

[BigCountry]

BU is a far superior school hands down no question.

 

[Papasmurf1234]

I'm just curious....why is Tufts so much better than BU? (I'm really curious about your reasoning) I thought BU was more well known

 

[prehealthstudent69]

yes

 

[NDPitch]

There's been a lot of horror stories through the years about BU. Just search and read about them. I interviewed there last cycle, and a lot of the students confirmed the rumors as actually being true. Such as, having to pay for your patient's treatment when they can't foot the bill. It also doesn't help that BU is no where near public transportation. This makes most patients go to the Tufts/Harvard clinics (the orange line is basically at the front door of Tufts). If you ever visit BU, you'll probably notice that there aren't many patients around. As a result, students have trouble getting requirements done. In some cases, you can graduate there without having done a single endo case, because the grad program snatches every one of them up because they're in such high demand.

So yeah, try to go somewhere cheaper and that has better clinics. Tufts isn't cheaper, but I think you're spared some of the craziness that goes on at BU. Either way, just know that both schools sell you an awfully pricey piece of paper.

 

[IsaacYankem]

Tufts. Far less drama at that school, much less stress for students.

 

[BigCountry]

I still have no idea why SDN dumps on BU so much. Almost none of the rumors are true. Here is what I liked about BU: they give you 20 patients and schedule them for you...if you want more patients they will give them to you, you are certified in Invisalign when you graduate, the students and professors were all really nice and awesome, they teach through a private practice setting. They have a point system to fulfill requirements like a root canal is 50 points a cavity is 20 points( I just made those points up) I don't know if this system is that great but the students certainly got a lot of clinical experience. I don't know much about tufts besides I don't like some of the faculty there but it is a good school. But BU is a good school don't listen to all these idiot losers on this site.

 

[prehealthstudent69]

I still have no idea why SDN dumps on BU so much. Almost none of the rumors are true. Here is what I liked about BU: they give you 20 patients and schedule them for you...if you want more patients they will give them to you, you are certified in Invisalign when you graduate, the students and professors were all really nice and awesome, they teach through a private practice setting. They have a point system to fulfill requirements like a root canal is 50 points a cavity is 20 points( I just made those points up) I don't know if this system is that great but the students certainly got a lot of clinical experience. I don't know much about tufts besides I don't like some of the faculty there but it is a good school. But BU is a good school don't listen to all these idiot losers on this site.

Nice try BU faculty member

 

[BigCountry]

Lol I'm not a faculty member nor am I even going to BU. But I did interview there and thought it was nice. I'm not saying it's the best school ever but so many people who don't actually know anything talk smack about it and say how tufts is so much better, but what the heck is so great about tufts? They have nice facilities and they have block scheduling. Wow what an amazing school.

 

[jdye]

I interviewed at BU and loved it. Everyone just seemed so outgoing and friendly and I felt right at home. I wasn't invited to interview at Tufts though, so I can't compare the two, but everyone I met at BU (students, faculty, etc.) all seemed very happy with where they were. Since I'm from Massachusetts, I know a lot of alumni from BU dental who also really enjoyed their experience, although some say they didn't feel like they had enough clinical experience coming out.

 

[MacPreDent]

There's been a lot of horror stories through the years about BU. Just search and read about them. I interviewed there last cycle, and a lot of the students confirmed the rumors as actually being true. Such as, having to pay for your patient's treatment when they can't foot the bill.

What? Nobody HAS to pay for any of their patients treatment. I don't know anybody who does this (Only in my 3rd year though, yes BU). I suppose if you need some specific treatment to graduate and the patient is declining due to lack of funds it might be tempting to help them out, but I guess that is the case in any school. Faculty here openly says never to do that.

It also doesn't help that BU is no where near public transportation.
This makes most patients go to the Tufts/Harvard clinics (the orange line is basically at the front door of Tufts). If you ever visit BU, you'll probably notice that there aren't many patients around.

Subway is maybe a 10 minute walk from BU medical, plenty of buses stop right at it.

As a result, students have trouble getting requirements done. In some cases, you can graduate there without having done a single endo case, because the grad program snatches every one of them up because they're in such high demand.

As far as I know, no you cannot graduate without a single endo case. Some of my colleagues (3rd year) have already done a few.

So yeah, try to go somewhere cheaper and that has better clinics. Tufts isn't cheaper, but I think you're spared some of the craziness that goes on at BU. Either way, just know that both schools sell you an awfully pricey piece of paper.

Can't argue the money, it is expensive. Haven't notices any craziness though.
And the faculty want you to succeed and are very helpful if you're struggling. First hand experience in this

 

[NDPitch]

The way it was explained to me is that you don't get credit for your treatment until the bill has been paid. And if the patient doesn't pay, there's no credit, and so sometimes students pay the couple hundred bucks or whatever it was to get their requirement fulfilled.

 

[BigCountry]

Thank you macpredent for being the only rational sane person here and debunking all these stupid rumors. People look for sdn to learn truths and there are too many lies on here.

 

[Papasmurf1234]

Thank you macpredent for being the only rational sane person here and debunking all these stupid rumors. People look for sdn to learn truths and there are too many lies on here.

What do you expect? It's just a bunch of uptight predents...rumors are bound to congregate at these places.

 

[dbangell]

I did not say BU is a bad school, but just wondering how it compares to Tufts. Thanks for your guys inputs, really appreciate it.

 

[Papasmurf1234]

I did not say BU is a bad school, but just wondering how it compares to Tufts. Thanks for your guys inputs, really appreciate it.

You opened pandora's box

 

[longhornpride]

I'm a 4th year student at BU and I have yet to pay for anything. If you hear of a student having to pay for anything, it is usually the international students that are in the 2 year program. They have 1 year to complete all their requirements vs 2 like the dmd students. I don't know of a single classmate that actually paid for a patients treatment. This does not include the nerb patients. as far my understanding goes, almost every student at every school pays their nerb patient. that is mainly because you do not want your patient to no show for a $2000 exam. Endo is required for graduation and the predoc endo director is the best. He is constantly fighting for predoc cases but a lot of it seems to be out of his hands. Post doc will always try to steal a case but if you are a push over and let them, then you're to blame. It happened to me and I went and raised hell and got my case back. Public transportation is down the street and has never been an issue for any of my patients. Not enough patients? I had 60 patients as of August and begged my mentor to transfer half of them. I had too many and it was extremely overwhelming managing that many patients with limited chairs. As far as Tufts students being superior? My externship preceptor didn't seem to think so and he works with students from all 3 Boston dental schools(however that is more reflective on the students on that rotation than Tufts itself).

BU has it's fair share of headaches... getting chairs is one of them. Getting anything approved through the remo faculty is another headache. This is why remo is always the hold up as far as graduation requirements go. However 90% of the BS you guys keep re-posting over here is not true.

Also, I'll be the first to tell you to go to a cheaper school. I really gain nothing by telling you to go to BU. What you should do is make an educated decision by speaking students from the programs you interviewed at. Listen to what they have to say and find what is important to you. Then make a decision. The dumbest thing you can do is base your decision by what some student posted 5 years ago.

 

[Gaucho4Life]

Tufts. Far less drama at that school, much less stress for students.

much drama.
such stress.
so struggle.
wow

 

[vinnie83]

I'm currently a student at Tufts. I never interviewed at BU and don't know a whole lot about it other than some conversations I've had with BU students, but I'll try and provide what info I can. Also I think it is necessary to point out some generalizations about all dental schools as there are a lot of people on here who aren't in dental school trying to argue schools based on things they have been told and may not have the full picture. I felt that when I was interviewing every school gave me the exact same spiel.

if you want more patients they will give them to you

Every school you interview with will say that they have plenty of patients and it is never a problem. In reality it often isn't the quantity of patients that is the problem, but rather getting patients that need the procedures you are short on. I know students at many schools who are having issues getting the patients they need to graduate. This can be due to many factors such as the student not being vigilant enough about fighting for patients, faculty members not fighting for students in their assigned practice, and a small patient pool at the school. Patient population can vary quite a bit between schools, but most adjust their clinical requirements so that students can graduate. If you can figure out how many crowns, root canals, etc you need to graduate that is a good indicator of how much clinical experience you will get while in school.

the students and professors were all really nice and awesome

...along with the students and professors at every other school I interviewed at. Since starting school at Tufts there are people I have been even more impressed with and a few I really don't care for. Unless you got a really bad vibe at the interviews I'm not sure this should be a huge decision point.

they teach through a private practice setting

If by private practice you mean students are organized into group practices with a faculty overseeing them and efforts are made to keep the patients within the same practice I think every school does it this way.

They have a point system to fulfill requirements like a root canal is 50 points a cavity is 20 points....

...along with almost every other dental school in the country. It is now trendy to say that your school is considering moving away from a point system to a patient centered system where each student just has to treat their assigned patients to graduate. I have mixed feelings about this.

Tufts seems to be really great at preparing students for Part I's. If you want to be confident going into the exams and not have to do a lot of extra studying or have dreams of being a professional test taker for the rest of your life then that is a good thing. I'm not sure passing the boards is that big of a problem for most students regardless of school. Board prep material from Tufts is supposedly known for being very good and I get a lot of request from people at other schools for the material.

Tufts is also known for having a very comprehensive medical course that deals with medically complex cases and how they relate to dental treatment. I think it may be overemphasized in the curriculum, but my wife felt that she was somewhat underprepared in that regard when she went through dental school.

All dental schools will tell you that they are clinically based (because it's what students want to hear), but when you ask why they usually don't give a good answer. Talking to faculty at Tufts they usually point to the clinical requirements and (ironically) compare them to BU's requirements. Compared to say USC (which has a host of other problems) Tufts requirements are fairly unimpressive.

The two really positive things that stand out in my mind about Tufts (and for all I know are also available at BU) are:
1) How much students are willing to help each other out. Everyone is still competitive and works hard, but people will actually share notes, make google doc study guides for exams, etc. Based on my wife's experience in school I was expecting people to be cutthroat and going out of their way to screw others over. Also, my wife ended up taking her regional exam boards at Tufts last minute and several students and faculty went out of their way to help her find patients. At her school she was going to have to pay a classmate a few hundred bucks to use their backup patient (in addition to paying the patient) and pay a 1st year $500 to assist on a saturday.
2) How well run the school seems to be. With the exception of a class or two (which I think the individual instructors can be blamed for) I've had to deal with very few headaches and the few things I gripe about are the typical things most dental students complain about. When a problem is brought up by students the faculty actually listen and in many cases have made a serious effort to fix it or avoid it in the future.

Keep in mind that whatever school you go to you're going to graduate a dentist and no matter how much experience you get during school it will pale in comparison to the first 6 months on the job.

FYI, there is a class of 2016 student who transferred from BU to Tufts. Would be interested to get her take on it, but I'm not sure if she's on SDN.