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Tufts vs. Michigan?
- Thread starter ROCOCO8
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Ironically I don't want to practice in either state (Boston nor Michigan)...
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40k is a big chunk of change. Expect it to be 60k if you're taking in loans, which is an extra year or two of disposable income if you're frugal.
Specializing: Both schools take a lot of their own students into their post-grad programs. Tufts' school-based residencies are expensive but Michigan's will be as well because you can't secure in-state residency. ~15-20% students specialize at Tufts and Michigan.
Tufts has an extremely strong clinical program with a massive patient pool. IMHO, Tufts will prepare you better for private practice in New England and in the Northeast in general. I think the Northeast>>>Michigan and the Rust Belt Midwest. More Tufts grads directly enter private practice (this may be more due to the economic climate in the Northeast rather than the students' clinical confidence).
I would go to Tufts despite the added cost, probably because I couldn't stomach having to pay so much more for school and residency (hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long run) compared to your in-state classmates.
Specializing: Both schools take a lot of their own students into their post-grad programs. Tufts' school-based residencies are expensive but Michigan's will be as well because you can't secure in-state residency. ~15-20% students specialize at Tufts and Michigan.
Tufts has an extremely strong clinical program with a massive patient pool. IMHO, Tufts will prepare you better for private practice in New England and in the Northeast in general. I think the Northeast>>>Michigan and the Rust Belt Midwest. More Tufts grads directly enter private practice (this may be more due to the economic climate in the Northeast rather than the students' clinical confidence).
I would go to Tufts despite the added cost, probably because I couldn't stomach having to pay so much more for school and residency (hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long run) compared to your in-state classmates.
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What don't you like about Ann Arbor? It is one of the best cities I have been to, it is the main reason I had a hard time deciding not to go to Michigan. Did you get a chance to get out and about in Ann Arbor at all?
Don't have an opinion on Tufts, but I was extremely impressed with Michigan and think you will really enjoy your time there if you go there. The student body was impressive and well rounded. Also, I really liked having half a day a week to work on an independent project, having Wed afternoons to yourself, and the 10 weeks spent in rural clinics. Plus saving 40k is not bad.
Don't have an opinion on Tufts, but I was extremely impressed with Michigan and think you will really enjoy your time there if you go there. The student body was impressive and well rounded. Also, I really liked having half a day a week to work on an independent project, having Wed afternoons to yourself, and the 10 weeks spent in rural clinics. Plus saving 40k is not bad.
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Go where u'd want to live for least 4 yrs.
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I guess I'm just biased towards big cities right now. Everyone I've talked to keeps telling me Michigan is too depressing of a state and the people who live there are the ones who have lived there their whole lives. These are just opinions though. If I have to live in such a cold place I'd rather in live in Boston haha. Do you mind me asking which school you've decided on? I think I remember taking my DAT around the same time as you sacapuntas...
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I am from Michigan so my opinion is biased but you should pick Michigan. Michigan winters can suck at times....but thanks to global warming its been in the high 50's low 60's all week 🙂 .
I think if you want to specialize Michigan may be a better choice......IMO
I think if you want to specialize Michigan may be a better choice......IMO
Hey, I PM'ed you back!
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Michigan!
We have plenty of bars, clubs, eateries, and lots of diversity :]. Michigan is cheaper for you and a great school. Cost of living here is incredibly cheap, and you'll be shelling out $$ to live in Boston if you're worried about money.
Pros:
Everyone that teaches in our school is well known in the field, so specializing is up to you and what you want to do. The program is constantly under review and students have a huge voice in how the curriculum is changed for students after them. You have opportunities to do pretty much anything you're interested in (leadership, extra clinical training, research). The clinics are always full, and they are going to increase the number of externships next year to 12 weeks in the 4th year. We're also going to have a new Dean and we've had several people interview with us already.
Cons:
It's dental school. It's a rigorous curriculum. Classes are intense, and it forces you to absorb the information, and regurgitate it. You're going to be incredibly stressed out for the first year, but get through it and move on with your life. Some students hate the weather. I do.
We have plenty of bars, clubs, eateries, and lots of diversity :]. Michigan is cheaper for you and a great school. Cost of living here is incredibly cheap, and you'll be shelling out $$ to live in Boston if you're worried about money.
Pros:
Everyone that teaches in our school is well known in the field, so specializing is up to you and what you want to do. The program is constantly under review and students have a huge voice in how the curriculum is changed for students after them. You have opportunities to do pretty much anything you're interested in (leadership, extra clinical training, research). The clinics are always full, and they are going to increase the number of externships next year to 12 weeks in the 4th year. We're also going to have a new Dean and we've had several people interview with us already.
Cons:
It's dental school. It's a rigorous curriculum. Classes are intense, and it forces you to absorb the information, and regurgitate it. You're going to be incredibly stressed out for the first year, but get through it and move on with your life. Some students hate the weather. I do.
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looks like UMich is in the lead for the Poll! 😛
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As my disclaimer, I'm not from Michigan or Massachusetts, so this is an outsider's hopefully unbiased perspective.
Personally, I'd think Boston is a cool city as a whole, but Ann Arbor is a STRAIGHT college town. In fact, UMich was rated #1 nationally for school spirit, too, so it's not depressing or anything at all, at least in the Ann Arbor bubble, and all the students, from undergrad thru grad seem to be quite happy there. (This is my opinion, I'm just trying to show you the other side of Ann Arbor that lifetime residents of MICHIGAN might not know of...maybe because they come from other dull cities...but each state has some exciting places and some boring places.)
Good luck with your decision! You're lucky you have the opportunity to decide between two really great schools, and in my opinion, two really great cities!
Ann Arbor is a great place to live although I live here so I'm extremly biased.
It made CNN's best places to live last year. The food is great, the people are great and the school is great! Plus the state's best burger is on South Division street!
It made CNN's best places to live last year. The food is great, the people are great and the school is great! Plus the state's best burger is on South Division street!
This captures it pretty well. Ann Arbor is sort of in its own bubble compared to the rest of michigan and is a great city. Easily one of the best college towns in the US.
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Considering that a lot of these "where should I go?" threads are littered with comments about the type of lifestyle going to a particular school will afford you, I suggest we stop talking about bars and restaurants and start talking about more pertinent matters: LIBRARIES! 
If you go to UMichigan, you can take a 15-20 min walk from the dental school or a 9 min bike ride and at the UMich Law Library reading room. As I understand it, the library itself is not open to the general public, but the reading room is. 😀
Here's the UMich Health Sciences Library. Looks kind of blah.
But can anything compare to the beautiful law school reading room?
The Hirsh Health Sciences Library at Tufts looks fun (this is the only one on the Boston campus, and the other two campuses are kind of far away), but it's not as beautiful as the reading room of the law library.
Well, at least the people at the reference desk have personality: http://vimeo.com/48594774
Here's a photo of what seems to be students with books! 😱
If you go to UMichigan, you can take a 15-20 min walk from the dental school or a 9 min bike ride and at the UMich Law Library reading room. As I understand it, the library itself is not open to the general public, but the reading room is. 😀
Here's the UMich Health Sciences Library. Looks kind of blah.
But can anything compare to the beautiful law school reading room?
The Hirsh Health Sciences Library at Tufts looks fun (this is the only one on the Boston campus, and the other two campuses are kind of far away), but it's not as beautiful as the reading room of the law library.
Well, at least the people at the reference desk have personality: http://vimeo.com/48594774
Here's a photo of what seems to be students with books! 😱
One does not simply study in a library without thinking they're in a movie. Plus if you ever would like to have some fun, you can explore the tunnels beneath the campus. 😀Considering that a lot of these "where should I go?" threads are littered with comments about the type of lifestyle going to a particular school will afford you, I suggest we stop talking about bars and restaurants and start talking about more pertinent matters: LIBRARIES!
If you go to UMichigan, you can take a 15-20 min walk from the dental school or a 9 min bike ride and at the UMich Law Library reading room. As I understand it, the library itself is not open to the general public, but the reading room is. 😀
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Considering that a lot of these "where should I go?" threads are littered with comments about the type of lifestyle going to a particular school will afford you, I suggest we stop talking about bars and restaurants and start talking about more pertinent matters: LIBRARIES!
If you go to UMichigan, you can take a 15-20 min walk from the dental school or a 9 min bike ride and at the UMich Law Library reading room. As I understand it, the library itself is not open to the general public, but the reading room is. 😀
Here's the UMich Health Sciences Library. Looks kind of blah.
But can anything compare to the beautiful law school reading room?
The Hirsh Health Sciences Library at Tufts looks fun (this is the only one on the Boston campus, and the other two campuses are kind of far away), but it's not as beautiful as the reading room of the law library.
Well, at least the people at the reference desk have personality: http://vimeo.com/48594774
Here's a photo of what seems to be students with books! 😱
Haha nice! Though there is always the Boston public library that looks just like that reading room 😉 it's about 10 min away via train.
Are there any current Tufts students out there that chose Tufts to their cheaper alternative? I'm wondering if and how much they are regretting their choice now...
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Not sure if this makes a difference, and I'm only speaking based off of what I saw on UMich's site (I'm assuming Tufts is very similar too...)
UMich is crazy strong in having a diverse student body, and that was one of the things I loved most about it when I visited. Even if you look at their Class of 2016 White Coat Ceremony pictures, you'll see people of all ages, all backgrounds, single/married, children/no children, from Michigan and not from Michigan and not from the US either (given, I didn't see this last thing through the pictures...ADEA guide book told me that, haha).
The reason why I felt this is an important aspect of decision-making because these are the people who will inevitably be our support group for the next four years, and these people will be some of the first ones to join our networks as future dentists. Furthermore, I have seen pictures of other white coat ceremonies and all, where the entire matriculating class congregated, and there was little to zero diversity in that class. I was absolutely shocked.
I feel we need to be exposed to lots of people that come from different types of backgrounds and experiences, and all of these will shape us as a person. If you spend 4 years predominantly only dealing with a certain type of race, I just don't think it will provide you with a fair representation of what the world is like.
By no means am I trying to put down any school--and it might have just been by chance, but I really admire Michigan's commitment to diversity and people of multicultural backgrounds--UMich is the only dental school I have come across so far in my research on dental schools to actually have a Multicultural Affairs Commission, which I thought was awesome, too. 🙂
UMich is crazy strong in having a diverse student body, and that was one of the things I loved most about it when I visited. Even if you look at their Class of 2016 White Coat Ceremony pictures, you'll see people of all ages, all backgrounds, single/married, children/no children, from Michigan and not from Michigan and not from the US either (given, I didn't see this last thing through the pictures...ADEA guide book told me that, haha).
The reason why I felt this is an important aspect of decision-making because these are the people who will inevitably be our support group for the next four years, and these people will be some of the first ones to join our networks as future dentists. Furthermore, I have seen pictures of other white coat ceremonies and all, where the entire matriculating class congregated, and there was little to zero diversity in that class. I was absolutely shocked.
I feel we need to be exposed to lots of people that come from different types of backgrounds and experiences, and all of these will shape us as a person. If you spend 4 years predominantly only dealing with a certain type of race, I just don't think it will provide you with a fair representation of what the world is like.
By no means am I trying to put down any school--and it might have just been by chance, but I really admire Michigan's commitment to diversity and people of multicultural backgrounds--UMich is the only dental school I have come across so far in my research on dental schools to actually have a Multicultural Affairs Commission, which I thought was awesome, too. 🙂
