Tufts or Columbia

[HollaBack]

OK these are the 2 schools that I knew from the beginning would be tough to decide between, I'm still completely undecided. Actually have to make my decision in the next day so any feedback will be extremely helpful. As of now I am leaning towards specializing, but who knows. I'm torn between the schools as well as these 2 great cities. Living on the west coast my whole life (currently in SD) I think either would be an awesome experience. I put a deposit down for Tufts and now debating to throw one down for columbia until I make my decision.

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[paolorossifan]

OK these are the 2 schools that I knew from the beginning would be tough to decide between, I'm still completely undecided. Actually have to make my decision in the next day so any feedback will be extremely helpful. As of now I am leaning towards specializing, but who knows. I'm torn between the schools as well as these 2 great cities. Living on the west coast my whole life (currently in SD) I think either would be an awesome experience. I put a deposit down for Tufts and now debating to throw one down for columbia until I make my decision. Help!

I don't see any contest between a school the likes of Tufts with Columbia. Even if you didn't want to spec. there are very few schools that offer the same quality of education as CU. Maybe deciding b/t UCONN or Harvard or PENN would be a hard choice, but go with Columbia over Tufts any day.

 

[MrBenny]

these two schools, in my opinion, are each arguably at the top of their respective specialty in training dental students. Tufts offers an extremely strong clinical program, while CU offers a very rigorous and solid academic foundation. Both cities are great. I ultimately chose Columbia because I wanted the strong academic focus they placed on learning dental medicine, not dentistry. If you want to specialize, it doesn't matter where you go, just do well at wherever you choose. either one, they are two of the most highly regarded schools in dentistry.

side note: of course, CU is an ivy league. call me shallow or stupid, but that did play a factor in my final decision (it came down to b/t tufts and CU for me too). but don't just let names and reputation be the sole basis for your decision.

 

[Tzips]

Just warning you to take paolorossifan's post with several grains of salt - he's just a bit hung up on Ivies . That's not to say the Ivies aren't good school - they're excellent - BUT only if that's what you're looking for (i.e., high focus on research/specialisation and didactics, and high tuition). If your goal is to become a really strong GP, Columbia is not for you. Now I'm not saying you couldn't be a great GP coming out of there, but it won't give you the most 'bang for your buck' because that's not their focus. Honestly, I pretty much decided that Columbia was not the place for me at my interview - I was not impressed at all with their clinics, and I have very little interest in research. That being so, why pay through my nose for it?

I know almost nothing about Tufts, so I'll leave that for someone with a bit more experience. I just wanted to point out that there are two sides to everything, so you shouldn't take paolorossifan's statements as unvarnished truth.

with your decision!