Tufts vs. ASDOH

[sayteeeeeeth]

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Hi, I have been fortunate enough to gain acceptance into the two schools. I am highly conflicted, because both schools are so great.
I'm OOS for both but they're private schools so it doesn't matter. Both are far from home as well.

1. Tufts
Pros: BOSTON,
unmatched alumni connection (though I'm not sure how significant of a role it plays when you're trying to practice)
Love the environment, and I'm an extrovert social buff so I love that the school is big in size (the more the merrier)
Various research program (I plan to do research in school)
Undergrad reputation

Cons: Not sure how extensive your clinical experiences are in your 3rd/4th clinical years.
Faculty-student ratio is a little bit high, so I'm not sure how difficult it will be to get the full support of faculty members.
Expensive (cost of living is higher)

2.ASDOH
Pros: WEATHER (the hotter the better for me)
unmatched clinical exposure (I mean their clinical competency is so well-known and they don't have a specialty program)
well-prepped dentist upon graduation since more clinical procedures/exposure
The externship program during the 4th year.
Good faculty- student ratio. Community/family vibe.

Cons:
Small class size/smaller city (I def prefer a larger class size)
Not much research opportunity
shorter history of the school

What do you guys think? Please help me make a decision. Cost doesn't vary much because both are private. One of the big factors I'm drawn to Tufts by is the big class size, but if I take into account more things, it's hard for me to make a decision.

 

[giannis]

I've heard that Tufts has a great clinical program as well. You'll most likely learn most once you graduate so the gap between the 2 schools in terms of clinical experience probably won't be huge.
Larger class size seems to be a priority for you. In that case, go with Tufts.

 

[sayteeeeeeth]

I've heard that Tufts has a great clinical program as well. You'll most likely learn most once you graduate so the gap between the 2 schools in terms of clinical experience probably won't be huge.
Larger class size seems to be a priority for you. In that case, go with Tufts.

I read from another thread that at Tufts it's hard to get patients, but I'm not sure how significantly short they are on getting patients.. I wish I knew more about their clinical experiences from some current students.

 

[giannis]

I read from another thread that at Tufts it's hard to get patients, but I'm not sure how significantly short they are on getting patients.. I wish I knew more about their clinical experiences from some current students.

Did you not get a chance to speak to them during your interview?

Don't believe everything that's said on here

 

[sayteeeeeeth]

Did you not get a chance to speak to them during your interview?

Don't believe everything that's said on here

I did. But they didn't mention patient shortage and that comment was by an attending student at Tufts so I was just tryna get an insight. I'm not believeing everything on here.I just know ASDOH has a really good clinical ed so I was just asking.

 

[knewstance]

For me, this is a pretty clear choice for ASDOH. Large class sizes in most schools indicates difficulty finding patients (generalizing here). Also having specialty clinics taking your good cases at Tufts doesn't help you out.

Also for your counterpoint of liking large class sizes, you can become friends/colleagues with students of other classes, both up and down. You will have the opportunity to get to know plenty of dental colleagues outside of your direct classmates.

Another counterpoint for you thinking ASDOH is in a small city... Phoenix is like 20 minutes from ASDOH campus and is considerably larger than Boston.

 

[ooopepper]

If large class size is your deal breaker, then the choice is TUFTS. However, ASDOH is so well nit, and like others have said, you make friends in all the years of the dental school. I hang out a lot with D2s. As for research, there's surprisingly good opportunities to do research here, which I don't know why they don't praise during the application cycles . They guide you through the process, and have helped many dental students through their research topics. It is research, however, and they're not going to spoon feed you, so a lot of work is on you. They have a research day at the beginning of school which is mandatory to attend. Originally I thought it wasn't of significance, but they had another research presentation day during research week, and it disclosed a lot of information about how you can do research here at ASDOH.

 

[pookey123]

ASDOH