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u pitt vs buffalo
- Thread starter twiztedpaki
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I had to make the same choice in early January. I chose Buffalo mainly because of the cost. 15K vs. 39K a year is a easy choice. If the schools were 50K-60K apart, I wouldn't have considered cost as closely, but after 4 years, thats almost 100K more (not including interest) for your dental education at Pitt. Plus, it seems that Pennsylavina residency is very hard to get, so you'd have to plan on paying the 39K all for years unless you get lucky.
I do think Pitts facilities are better than Buffalo, and they have a really nice simulation clinic. I think Pittsburgh also has a larger patient population, but Buffalo is also a city and you'll get all the patients you need there. Later on, I had to make the decision between Buffalo and Maryland, and like UPitt, Maryland's facilites were brand new/state of the art. I asked current dental students and dentists if all the technology was worth the added cost, and most said it wasn't. After you graduate, you'll have to conform with whatever technology the practice you join has, so its really a crapshoot on which technology is best to learn on. Plus, from what I hear from some second year UB students that I know, the professors at UB are very meticulous with grading your work and will make sure you do it right before you enter clinic. (sorry for any spelling errors...i was an econ major, not a english major...seems like posters here love to jump on other poster's spelling mistakes😛 )
I also worked at the UB dental school last summer, as well as did alot of my shadowing it its various departments, and I think the faculty is great and very friendly.
In terms of city living, everyone I talk to thinks that Pittsburgh is more fun than Buffalo, but I'm from the Buffalo area, and I think Buffalo is a fun city too. It offers all the major attractions you would want in a city, and toronto is only 2 hours away. It all depends on what you like to do for fun. If you are a bar person, the bars here stay open till 4 am too...2 hours longer than basically any place else. There is also museums, parks, theater, alot of ethnic festivals during the spring, summer, and fall. There is alot of snow in the general area, but people not from Buffalo don't understand the general weather patterns of the area. The Buffalo Dental school is located on the north Buffalo/Amherst line. This area doesn't get hit nearly as hard with snow. When you here about all the snow in Buffalo on TV, its normally coming from the south towns/south Buffalo or farther north in the Niagara Frontier region, and with all the attractions and conviences of Amherst, you'll rarely if ever have to venture into these harder hit regions. It can get very cold here, but not that much colder than Pittsburgh...hell, Pitt is only about 3 hours south of Buffalo...the climate isn't that different. If you like winter sports, such as skiing, sleding, etc., the snow is actually a benefit.
In the end, I think it just comes down to where you'd rather live. I hope some of the things I said helped! Good luck with your choice! As much as I tried to sale Buffalo in this post, I did love my visit to Upitt and I found it a very hard choice to make. Either way you'll get a great education. If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me and maybe I'll see you on the first day of classes!
I do think Pitts facilities are better than Buffalo, and they have a really nice simulation clinic. I think Pittsburgh also has a larger patient population, but Buffalo is also a city and you'll get all the patients you need there. Later on, I had to make the decision between Buffalo and Maryland, and like UPitt, Maryland's facilites were brand new/state of the art. I asked current dental students and dentists if all the technology was worth the added cost, and most said it wasn't. After you graduate, you'll have to conform with whatever technology the practice you join has, so its really a crapshoot on which technology is best to learn on. Plus, from what I hear from some second year UB students that I know, the professors at UB are very meticulous with grading your work and will make sure you do it right before you enter clinic. (sorry for any spelling errors...i was an econ major, not a english major...seems like posters here love to jump on other poster's spelling mistakes😛 )
I also worked at the UB dental school last summer, as well as did alot of my shadowing it its various departments, and I think the faculty is great and very friendly.
In terms of city living, everyone I talk to thinks that Pittsburgh is more fun than Buffalo, but I'm from the Buffalo area, and I think Buffalo is a fun city too. It offers all the major attractions you would want in a city, and toronto is only 2 hours away. It all depends on what you like to do for fun. If you are a bar person, the bars here stay open till 4 am too...2 hours longer than basically any place else. There is also museums, parks, theater, alot of ethnic festivals during the spring, summer, and fall. There is alot of snow in the general area, but people not from Buffalo don't understand the general weather patterns of the area. The Buffalo Dental school is located on the north Buffalo/Amherst line. This area doesn't get hit nearly as hard with snow. When you here about all the snow in Buffalo on TV, its normally coming from the south towns/south Buffalo or farther north in the Niagara Frontier region, and with all the attractions and conviences of Amherst, you'll rarely if ever have to venture into these harder hit regions. It can get very cold here, but not that much colder than Pittsburgh...hell, Pitt is only about 3 hours south of Buffalo...the climate isn't that different. If you like winter sports, such as skiing, sleding, etc., the snow is actually a benefit.
In the end, I think it just comes down to where you'd rather live. I hope some of the things I said helped! Good luck with your choice! As much as I tried to sale Buffalo in this post, I did love my visit to Upitt and I found it a very hard choice to make. Either way you'll get a great education. If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me and maybe I'll see you on the first day of classes!
Sea what I mean! Next time I'll have my friends proof reed my posts before I submit them. You try to help alittle, and people jump all over you about it!?!?! Sheessshhhhhh! People shouldn't use spell check on Word, they should just submit there papers to SDN and let the other members fix everything for them!
(ps, i know its 'see', 'read' and 'their', not 'sea', 'reed' and 'there', but i'm being sarcastic)😛
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I'll point out some +s that I see from Pitt.
The city is larger than Buffalo. It is further south, a little bit below NYC longitude-wise, although further inland, so it is warmer than Buffalo (http://www.profcontrol.com/images/_eastareablowup_a.gif). On Pitt dental's brochure, Pittsburgh is advertised as a "big city" with "small city friendliness". People from Pittsburgh who I've spoken to say that it is a pretty safe city.
Living cost is a bargain. You can get a cheap 2 bedroom for less than $700 and it is not uncommon. You also get completely free public transportation simply by attending Pitt.
Pittsburgh is a city that has transformed itself from steel to healthcare as the primary employer. Each dental school is unique and unranked. However, in terms of hospital healthcare, it is consistently among the best http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/best-hospitals/honorroll.htm. For the medical specialty that comes closest to dentistry, it is also among the best http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/best-hospitals/rankings/specihqotol.htm and http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/best-hospitals/rankings/specihqgast.htm. The medical school, although we are talking about dental school, is better than University of Chicago: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/med/brief/mdrrank_brief.php.
The assumption is that, since the dental and medical school are in the same location, and if I'm right share the same building, you will get a pretty good clinical education by attending Pitt, at least patient-population-wise.
The city is larger than Buffalo. It is further south, a little bit below NYC longitude-wise, although further inland, so it is warmer than Buffalo (http://www.profcontrol.com/images/_eastareablowup_a.gif). On Pitt dental's brochure, Pittsburgh is advertised as a "big city" with "small city friendliness". People from Pittsburgh who I've spoken to say that it is a pretty safe city.
Living cost is a bargain. You can get a cheap 2 bedroom for less than $700 and it is not uncommon. You also get completely free public transportation simply by attending Pitt.
Pittsburgh is a city that has transformed itself from steel to healthcare as the primary employer. Each dental school is unique and unranked. However, in terms of hospital healthcare, it is consistently among the best http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/best-hospitals/honorroll.htm. For the medical specialty that comes closest to dentistry, it is also among the best http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/best-hospitals/rankings/specihqotol.htm and http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/best-hospitals/rankings/specihqgast.htm. The medical school, although we are talking about dental school, is better than University of Chicago: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/med/brief/mdrrank_brief.php.
The assumption is that, since the dental and medical school are in the same location, and if I'm right share the same building, you will get a pretty good clinical education by attending Pitt, at least patient-population-wise.
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I currently go to Buffalo and after nearly 3 winters here, I can say that the winters here are no worse than almost anywhere else in the Northeast. I spent 20 years growing up right outside of Boston and I also lived in New Hampshire for almost 4 years, and the winters there are just as bad as the past 3 winters here in Buffalo (except the freak October blizzard). There are some areas south of the school that get a lot of lake effect snow, but at school it is no worse than what I saw in Boston or New Hampshire. So in my opinion, all of this hype about the snow in Buffalo is overdone, unless you're from southern California or another area that never gets snow.
I don't know much about the weather at Pitt, but my guess is that they get a fair amount of snow as well.
Good luck in your decision.
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Do u guys know the percentage of people that specialize from these schools?... If i wanted to specialize will the school i get my DDS/DMD greatly affect my chances?
Thanks for all the feedback.
Thanks for all the feedback.
i live in syracuse right now, but have family that lives in buffalo, i wouldn't really consider it a city. I"m not sure the point i'm trying to get at, but i've lives in NY most of my life (upstate), the snow is tolerable but in general the state of new york sucks, go to pitt, better experience, more to do and in my opinion a better overall program.
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I whole-heartedly disagree with all statements here. Sounds like someone who may not have really taken the time to see what NYS (upstate) has to offer. If I were to pick between Pitt and Buffalo, I would pick Buffalo hands down, no doubt about it. The reason not being because of technology/pt. pool/etc. The reason being, as many have touched on before, but apparently falling on many a deaf ear..... MONEY. Far too many people (predents) are taking the stance that "I am going to be a doctor, and will make back what I owe in loans in one year." This is so far from the truth. I have friends who are over $500,000 in debt right now after 4 years of dental school and specialty training. They wished they had been a little more frugal in their decision-making process years ago. I am not saying that the ONLY reason you pick a school is because of costs, but this should be a MAJOR decision-making criteria. Loans can greatly dictate how you live your life after dental school. Let's remember many of you will be thinking of purchasing a practice, buying into a practice, or associating with the intent of becoming a partner down the line. All of these options come at a price as well, so chances are you will be dialing up another loan (this one with not nearly as pretty of an interest rate as your student loans).
Just a few things to think about as both of these schools are very respectable and much more similar than you may think. Also, the cities are very similar as well. Pittsburgh is a very nice little city, and Buffalo, while it gets a bad rap, is a very neat, underrated city!
A few pennies from my piggy bank......
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i've never been to pittsburgh, but for all you people that say that buffalo isn't fun i'm pretty sure you have no idea what you're talking about. you have buff state, ub, canisius, and d'ouville (or something like that) four undergrad schools that are practically party schools. there are tons of bars all over the place. you have elmwood which is close to buff state, main street bars (close to UB) and downtown/chippewa which is always fun. if you don't like bars/drinking/partying there are tons of restuarants, movie theatres, bowling alleys, skiing, whatever else you like to do around here
not to mention-----NEWSFLASH-------DENTAL SCHOOL IS NOT VERY FUN TO BEGIN WITH
i love going out, and i've only been out maybe 5 times this semester, but its difficult to stay out drinking all night when you have 8-5 everyday and you have a **** ton of tests and labwork
i'm from southern california and i like it here (just don't live in downtown buffalo, its ghetto) i don't understand why you say the word buffalo and people are always like "oh my god, do you live in an igloo, that place is so boring"
I'm not sure what the surrounding colleges have to do with the choice between pitt and buffalo, all those colleges are division 3 hippie campus's with music industry majors, i'm sorry but i don't want to be around any of that crap anymore like at my undergrad in oneonta
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May I ask why you quoted me and began ranting about the colleges around Buffalo? I only spoke about Buffalo as a city and UB as a school, never mentioned anything about other colleges in Buffalo. And yes, you should not go to UB because of the other schools around Buffalo; you should go to Buffalo because it is a great clinical school with great faculty, it's the best bargain out there, and like I said, Buffalo is a pretty neat city.
BTW- Canisius is Div I, just FYI.
I think you need to settle it down a notch and look at what the OP has asked. They wanted information about their two options, no need for city bashing. You have obviously made your decision to go to a very good dental school in Pitt, but don't let your obviously negative, minimal experiences in Buffalo take hold of your tongue.
Everyone seems to think that you have to go to a city with a great night-life. As other people said before, you don't have alot of time to go out as is, so you shouldn't base your decision on where you can party the most. I know I'm only a predent for the next few months, but I have plenty of friends who are D2s and D4s at UBuffalo and thats what they tell me.
Eitherway, you'll probably find out that your interests on how you spend your social time will change as well. I know its hard to believe, but pretty soon you might get tired of going out all the time to bars and gettin' smashed. Well, maybe😛 . I'm 25 and most of the people that i know that are around my age are gettin' the same way. Its fun to go out and get a couple drinks, but thats it. You won't be an undergrad anymore and it'll feel different.
And if you go to Buffalo, you'll be spending more of your time in Amherst, not the city of Buffalo itself. Amherst is a large suburban city with pretty much anything you need to have fun. If you end up coming here, i also know of a pretty good kareoke bar and a good country bar for line dancing if you are in to those sort of things.
Eitherway, you'll probably find out that your interests on how you spend your social time will change as well. I know its hard to believe, but pretty soon you might get tired of going out all the time to bars and gettin' smashed. Well, maybe😛 . I'm 25 and most of the people that i know that are around my age are gettin' the same way. Its fun to go out and get a couple drinks, but thats it. You won't be an undergrad anymore and it'll feel different.
And if you go to Buffalo, you'll be spending more of your time in Amherst, not the city of Buffalo itself. Amherst is a large suburban city with pretty much anything you need to have fun. If you end up coming here, i also know of a pretty good kareoke bar and a good country bar for line dancing if you are in to those sort of things.
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i guess you were quoting me and i'm pretty sure that you completely missed my point while mentioning other schools from buffalo.
i agree that they are crappy, which is good, because it means that they have attractive 18-22 year old girls going to all the bars around their schools which i happen to correlate with a good time/fun night life
but thanks for the bash though, i'm just trying to give an honest opinion of what its like to go to buffalo since i actually attend school there
Don't mind RozhonDDS...I've gotten into an argument with him on another thread. He is entitled to his ****ty opinion of Buffalo because he stated in a previous thread that he spent 2-3 years in undergrad at UB. It must have been before he transfered to oneota. Everyone's opinion varies. Unfortunately, he didn't have as good an experience as the rest of us. Maybe he was abused in some way by his roommates or professors...who knows.
PS..Buffalo State is not a crappy college at all. It is actually the second largest school in the SUNY system. It has a fantastic art program and a very good educational program. Just because the other colleges in Buffalo aren't research universities, it doesn't mean they are crappy either. Some people don't like going to a college where you are just a number in a 400 person cell bio class. To **** on other peoples choices like that shows that you are very immature and disrespectful, and should probably stay in undergrad a few more years until you learn some manners.
You know what's funny about all of these school vs school threads is that unless you have someone who went to both schools you can't objectively tell someone where they should or shouldn't go. All we can do is say well "this is what school A has to offer.... and this is what school B has to offer." If you want to know about a school from an acutal dental student ask in the dental forum. Gather as much OBJECTIVE info that you can and make an informed choice. It doesn't benefit anyone to talk smack about another school. A certain dean did this at one of my interviews and I withdrew from the school. My thoughts, "If your school is so great, you shouldn't have to bash another to get me to come here."
Everyone is going to have a different opionion of a school, city, ect. This whole process is about finding a school that is a good fit for you, not what a certain % of us predents, here on SDN, who have never spent a day in class at a given dental school think. I may have really liked a school that you hated. Trust yourself.
😉 >>>Stepping off of my soap box<<<😉
That being said... I really liked Pitt.
Everyone is going to have a different opionion of a school, city, ect. This whole process is about finding a school that is a good fit for you, not what a certain % of us predents, here on SDN, who have never spent a day in class at a given dental school think. I may have really liked a school that you hated. Trust yourself.
😉 >>>Stepping off of my soap box<<<😉
That being said... I really liked Pitt.
A gentle sucking of my testes would do me just fine assman
P.S. stick to your economics major I think that is much more suited for your personality
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Superchris147, makes a very compelling point. A lot of people judge a school based on location, night life etc. But isn't getting laid what really matters? I've been on quite a few interviews, and sorry to say, the people I have encountered do not exactly seem like the type that have been getting any tail. Any way, I got into a bunch of schools, but i'm probably going to go to buffalo. My reasons include: it is cheap (i'm a ny resident), I can bring my car with me and not have to rely on public transportation (I go to columbia and subways and buses suck ass and are a huge waste of time), it has a relatively small class size, good rep, and plenty of undergraduate tail to keep me company when i'm not studying my ass off. And can all of you stop trying to be so P.C.... it is a known fact that there is a standard intellect to hotness relationship that could clearly be plotted on a graph (innverse relationship). And the schools mentioned by Superchris aren't exactly ivy league. Try taking summer class at your community college, and you will realize how much "talent" is lacking at your own undergrad.
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You don't even have to go as far as the area undergrads (yay sucky alma mater). The dental guys while I was at UB often dated (and subsequently married) the PT and OT students on the UB south campus. The dental girls dated and married the dental guys where weren't dating PT/OT students. 😉
I should probably stop responding to you because this will only go on and on, but what the hell, eh! Its easy to bash people on the internet when you never have a chance to settle things in person. I would just like to say that I have bashed you because you have little respect for other people and their schools, but I have never bashed your school. I interviewed and was accepted at Pitt and it is an awesome school. It was just too expensive for me. In regards to your other statement, I feel I have a good personality for dental medicine. I have a multi-discipline personality as shown by the fact that I can get along with Economic majors (my degree) and Biology majors (what I studied at UB). Plus, the fact that you didn't dispute what I said, I will naturally conclude that you agree with me. 🙂
This is an excellent point! 😀 I'd like to say, though, that when I went on my interview at Buffalo, I was the only guy with 7 girls. The hotness level of these girls was pretty high too! If my fellow interviewees are with the norm of the rest of the girls that UB is interviewing, I will have a very nice looking class indeed! If they don't fit your liking, there is also Erie Community College and Niagara CCC...2 of the forementioned community colleges, just miles away.
vowwwww your ze man!!!!
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thnx for all the input guys... i got a call from another school, so things just got more complicated 😕
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