Which school would you choose and why??

[simplyome]

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I was wondering if the fellow pre-dents can help me decide which school is better. I just want to know pros/cons and which school you would choose out of the following schools:

NYU
BU
Tufts
Detroit Mercy
Case Western

 

[denticus]

I was wondering if the fellow pre-dents can help me decide which school is better. I just want to know pros/cons and which school you would choose out of the following schools:

NYU
BU
Tufts
Detroit Mercy
Case Western

Don't know a lot about the other schools but I did interview at Tufts and was impressed with 2 things. 1) In the Boston area Tufts has a great reputation and is well respected (must reflect the school in some way). 2) Across the board, Tufts students scored higher then the national average on the board exams (must be doing somthing right). Case has got PBL if you like that. Don't know anything about DM, BU, and NYU but I thought I'd drop my two cents about Tufts. Good luck!

 

[blankguy]

I don't know much about other schools. I've interviewed at BU and Tufts. Tufts really works you. Their clinical requirements are very demanding. I wasn't as impressed with BU. Case's brochure on "innovative curriculum" did more to baffle me than impress. Detroit-Mercy's new facilities look impressive, an entire hospital being renovated for the school.👍 NYU too expensive but state of the art from what I hear. I'd say either Detroit-Mercy or Tufts.

 

[ElectraOnAzalea]

I voted for detroit-mercy because of the new school.

 

[Smills91]

I'd say NYU or Tufts would be your best bets. I had a friend attend Detroit Mercy - TERRIBLE. Also my dad who's a dentist said when he was in the military that the worst clinicians appeared to have gone to Detroit Mercy(although that was a couple decades ago). My best friend was accepted to NYU as was blown out of the water. He's interviewed at 5 schools and NYU dental school wise is INCREDIBLE, it's just a matter of, Can you handle the Big Apple?

 

[JamieMac]

Very, VERY, interesting commentary. My neighbor (who is a Michigan Dental grad) encouraged me to consider Mercy because of the amazing clinical experience it offers. I'm in a class with a girl who has been a dental assistant for 10 years (and works in a very high paced atmosphere)...she indicated that Mercy grads tend to be awesome clinicians, and are often the only ones that can keep up. What may have been true 20+ years ago may not be true today. Everything you have stated about UDM is contrary to what I have heard.

To the OP:
Reasons I'm going to Mercy:
(1) clinical experience is known to be one of the best in the country
(2) Current students and dental professionals I have talked to ALL highly recommend the school. Recurring theme: people coming out of Mercy are well prepared.
(3) The new facility is sick. I was blown away with the clinic and labs. Their goal is to be paperless this year, which is a BIG plus. Plenty of chairs!
(4) Relatively small class size (87 for Class of 2012)

I believe all the schools you listed should provide you with a great education and a strong clinical experience. With NYU, be prepared for the price tag of living in NYC, high tuition costs, and the huge class size (I love NYC, but chose not to apply for these reasons). Boston schools...there were a few students claiming it was difficult to get chairs at the Boston area schools - this is a big negative for me. Case, if you want PBL, would be a solid choice for sure. I recommend that get into contact with students attending each of the schools and ask questions. This is what I did. That being said...only you can decide which school is the best fit for you. Good luck.

I'd say NYU or Tufts would be your best bets. I had a friend attend Detroit Mercy - TERRIBLE. Also my dad who's a dentist said when he was in the military that the worst clinicians appeared to have gone to Detroit Mercy(although that was a couple decades ago). My best friend was accepted to NYU as was blown out of the water. He's interviewed at 5 schools and NYU dental school wise is INCREDIBLE, it's just a matter of, Can you handle the Big Apple?

 

[tamkhan]

Yeah, I'd go with UDM. 👍

In order of preference:

udm
case
tufts
nyu
bu

 

[CaliGirl15]

I only interviewed at NYU and Case (out of those schools). I would choose Case (obviously). For me it's cheaper, I liked the area better (I'm not a huge city girl) and I loved the campus. The faculty is really nice and the students seemed really happy.

 

[btizzels]

The only school that i interviewed at was NYU and I chose NOVA over NYU because i felt the class size and big city life would detract from my ability to learn dentistry. With the class size thing i was only worried about clinic space and attention.... I went to UC San Diego and we have classes that are 400+ so the lecture size doesn't bother me but the clinic size did..... plus NYU is Hella expensive..... anyway good luck deciding

 

[shamrock2006]

I'd say NYU or Tufts would be your best bets. I had a friend attend Detroit Mercy - TERRIBLE. Also my dad who's a dentist said when he was in the military that the worst clinicians appeared to have gone to Detroit Mercy(although that was a couple decades ago). My best friend was accepted to NYU as was blown out of the water. He's interviewed at 5 schools and NYU dental school wise is INCREDIBLE, it's just a matter of, Can you handle the Big Apple?

Yes...must have been decades ago. Exact opposite now. I will vouch for clinical experience here. I have a friend in the military who just recently graduated from UDM. she turned down their residency b/c she knew she didnt even need it. Plus, all those she knew who graduated in the years before her that went into residencies all finished at the very top. The faculty here really knows their stuff and they prepare you to see all kinds of $hit..and believe me..in Detroit..you see some crazy things.

 

[denticus]

Is is just me or doesn't it seem like every school you go to they claim that they have "one of the best clinical programs in the country". I swear, I've heard claims from Tufts, Temple, now Detroit Mercy, Baylor, Creighton, UCLA, UNLV and others that they have "one of the best clinical programs in the country." I'm getting pretty sick of it all really. It reminds me of all of the candidates swearing that "they" and no other are the real candidate of change. The claim is turning cliche.

 

[simplyome]

I completely agree I've been to all the schools and each school has claimed to be the best in clinical...well except BU -- they didn't claim that when I went there.

I'm leaning towards Tufts, Detroit or Case.

NYU is out of the picture because cost is a huge factor and I don't see myself in a crazy city like NY for 4 years.

BU is out because I just didn't get an amazing impression of the school. Not a fan of the whole APEX program. Every student there was pretty neutral.

Detroit just renovated but I was just there and it's very chaotic and unorganized right now. That's cause of their recent move. But I mean when I tried to call the school I kept getting cut off...in a loop machine of some sort.

Tufts does have its perks, the only thing that concerns me is the renovation that is going to happen.

Case -- don't know what I really think of the PBL but I like how it's a smaller class size.

 

[ToothPrincess]

LOVE LOVE LOOOOOVE UDM!!!! You will be a great clinician and have an amazing school with awesome people who arent uptight and lame!!

 

[dr bojangles]

not UDM/Case, not looking to go to midwest. i'd take bu/tufts.....i'm from east coast, nyu is closer to me, but i don't know if i'd like living in nyc. i did undergrad in boston, so it'd be fun to go back.