Why no love for BU?

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lyjw88

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I've been working/assisting at dental department of a local hospital. There are 3 residents from BU, 2 from Penn, and 1 from NYU. Based on what I've observed, they all treat their patients without any issues. I agree that Penn is a better school than BU and NYU but why does every SDNer hates BU??

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I've been working/assisting at dental department of a local hospital. There are 3 residents from BU, 2 from Penn, and 1 from NYU. Based on what I've observed, they all treat their patients without any issues. I agree that Penn is a better school than BU and NYU but why does every SDNer hates BU??

I think it has to do with what people have either heard through rumors, dental students attending BU, or the dental community in general. I personally heard negative things after asking around - I live in Boston know people that went to BU... and just from the dental community. I'm sure people are more critical than not, but thats just because its a big decision deciding where to go to school, and if you can avoid problems you want to know ahead of time
 
I've been working/assisting at dental department of a local hospital. There are 3 residents from BU, 2 from Penn, and 1 from NYU. Based on what I've observed, they all treat their patients without any issues. I agree that Penn is a better school than BU and NYU but why does every SDNer hates BU??

I feel like I've stirred the pot with my recent reminders of past BU posts and current BU stories from current students/friends who are trying to transfer. I just go with reputations from students at BU and other schools, and I've heard far more negatives than positives. So for the record, I don't know, for 100% fact, that BU is a bad school or the validity in it breeding incompetent dentists...but a few people seem to have strong views about the negatives. I think if you have other options, you should definitely highly consider going to other schools.

Additionally, my friends at BU are pretty dumb. No offense to them, but their applications were embarrassingly weak; yet they were able to get into BU. So, I guess BU's willingness to accept weak applicants (and tons of Canadians - and not the smart ones who get into tougher schools, like Michigan, Penn, etc.) at the very last minute kind of tarnishes their reputation.
 
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I feel like I've stirred the pot with my recent reminders of past BU posts and current BU stories from current students/friends who are trying to transfer. I just go with reputations from students at BU and other schools, and I've heard far more negatives than positives. So for the record, I don't know, for 100% fact, that BU is a bad school or the validity in it breeding incompetent dentists...but a few people seem to have strong views about the negatives. I think if you have other options, you should definitely highly consider going to other schools.

Additionally, my friends at BU are pretty dumb. No offense to them, but their applications were embarrassingly weak; yet they were able to get into BU. So, I guess BU's willingness to accept weak applicants (and tons of Canadians - and not the smart ones who get into tougher schools, like Michigan, Penn, etc.) at the very last minute kind of tarnishes their reputation.


The rumors about BU are not generated randomly, every year you get students like me who want more from the system and we propel the truth in these "rumors," because it gets kind of ridiculous when the school doesnt do anything about the way it operates when hundreds of people have complained about it. Yes you are right BU does accept those that are positioned lower on the intelligence scale lol, it was not always like that, but it has become a recruitment strategy. Oh, I personally wouldnt lump UMichigan with Penn any more, even though it does have the brand name it is not selecting the top stat students for a while now (check predents/ada), I think detroit has become the powerhouse in that area now.
 
The rumors about BU are not generated randomly, every year you get students like me who want more from the system and we propel the truth in these "rumors," because it gets kind of ridiculous when the school doesnt do anything about the way it operates when hundreds of people have complained about it. Yes you are right BU does accept those that are positioned lower on the intelligence scale lol, it was not always like that, but it has become a recruitment strategy. Oh, I personally wouldnt lump UMichigan with Penn any more, even though it does have the brand name it is not selecting the top stat students for a while now (check predents/ada), I think detroit has become the powerhouse in that area now.

I feel like rumors are never generated randomly. There's probably some credibility to all rumors that exist this long. Well, here's another dental student attesting to the credibility of the rumors (giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming you are actually a student there of course). That being said, it can't be that bad if they are producing dentists who are practicing :).
 
I feel like rumors are never generated randomly. There's probably some credibility to all rumors that exist this long. Well, here's another dental student attesting to the credibility of the rumors (giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming you are actually a student there of course). That being said, it can't be that bad if they are producing dentists who are practicing :).

There's a difference between practicing, needing to do a residency before practicing, and your dental educational journey before you start practicing. Of course BU will produce practicing dentists...everything before that is pretty variable.
 
There's a difference between practicing, needing to do a residency before practicing, and your dental educational journey before you start practicing. Of course BU will produce practicing dentists...everything before that is pretty variable.

You are absolutely right. I personally think that most students here will need to (or atleast should) do a year of residency, just because we dont experience things during the clinical years that other schools do, and unfortunately from what I hear from my friends in other schools and what they are doing, and from the things I do in the clinic here is a discrepancy. Our profession is medical one, we are surgeons, as a result we should hold ourselves to the highest standard and owe it to our patients to provide them the best care. Yes BU does produce dentists, but without experience to meet the standards of the real world are we really holding ourselves to this standard, are we really dentists?......... This is kind of what I ask my self once in a while, I just want to be a good dentist lol.
 
There's a difference between practicing, needing to do a residency before practicing, and your dental educational journey before you start practicing. Of course BU will produce practicing dentists...everything before that is pretty variable.

Haha. I was just trying to be optimistic, but you're right with your statement.
 
Don't get me wrong, you're not destined to be a crappy dentist if you graduate from BU. A couple of my classmates are very good dentists/ specialists that I would personally see; the majority of my class, well in terms of skills and professional maturity, I'd only send my very worst enemies to. It's just that BU is kind of F'd up and well, doesn't really influence the profession in a positive way.

And it's pretty hard to get over the major shortage of chairs and patients.

And at the current price of $500,000 for 4 years at BU, damn; I can't think of anything any D-school could do to justify picking them over something cheaper. Really, WTF is going on with the astronomical tuition hikes?

And regarding the faculty/student relations...ummm...well that's...as the OP said but didn't realize..."what the school is known for" and might explain why they seemed so "friendly and welcoming."


I just saw this on their website and I'll just post some quotes from it: BU Dental's ASP published report.
http://www.bu.edu/dental/about/documents/ASPReportMarch2011_002.pdf

-Inadequate out-dated plant – too many people in too little space

-Inadequate clinical lab space and availability, negatively impacting learning

-The patient pool is too narrow and small. Many have Mass Health with too complex needs

-Fair to poor patient access to School via public transport

-Clinical systems that result in an excessively long time to actual treatment

-High cost of dental education

-An inbred faculty leading to lack of ideas from outside the Institution

-The Dubai cost to income ratio and affect of current economic conditions

-Tuition costs may steer students to high income careers and away from research and community services.

-Lack of adequate accountability at many levels

-A lack of "customer service attitude" across the clinic

-Low staff salaries lead to problems recruiting trained, competent staff

-Uncertainty around how to rate GSDM's educa- tional performance against other schools

-Support staff feels excluded and "second class"

-APEX, not well planned, monitored, and structured for maximum value

-Little sense of community within the School

-Inferior quality and outdated supporting materials in several courses

Pretty much verifies most of their issues. How much more proof do you need?



Guess what they publish for the #1 strength of the school?: They love their Dean. I mean, are you serious, in the face of all those negatives which he implemented? I guess those starving North Koreans refer to their dictator as the "Dear Leader" but c'mon, this is America.

Sorry for the rant but reading that really made me think that BU might be hopeless. Very depressing.


sigh.:sleep:
 
Don't get me wrong, you're not destined to be a crappy dentist if you graduate from BU. A couple of my classmates are very good dentists/ specialists that I would personally see; the majority of my class, well in terms of skills and professional maturity, I'd only send my very worst enemies to. It's just that BU is kind of F'd up and well, doesn't really influence the profession in a positive way.

And it's pretty hard to get over the major shortage of chairs and patients.

And at the current price of $500,000 for 4 years at BU, damn; I can't think of anything any D-school could do to justify picking them over something cheaper. Really, WTF is going on with the astronomical tuition hikes?

And regarding the faculty/student relations...ummm...well that's...as the OP said but didn't realize..."what the school is known for" and might explain why they seemed so "friendly and welcoming."


I just saw this on their website and I'll just post some quotes from it: BU Dental's ASP published report.
http://www.bu.edu/dental/about/documents/ASPReportMarch2011_002.pdf

-Inadequate out-dated plant – too many people in too little space

-Inadequate clinical lab space and availability, negatively impacting learning

-The patient pool is too narrow and small. Many have Mass Health with too complex needs

-Fair to poor patient access to School via public transport

-Clinical systems that result in an excessively long time to actual treatment

-High cost of dental education

-An inbred faculty leading to lack of ideas from outside the Institution

-The Dubai cost to income ratio and affect of current economic conditions

-Tuition costs may steer students to high income careers and away from research and community services.

-Lack of adequate accountability at many levels

-A lack of "customer service attitude" across the clinic

-Low staff salaries lead to problems recruiting trained, competent staff

-Uncertainty around how to rate GSDM’s educa- tional performance against other schools

-Support staff feels excluded and "second class"

-APEX, not well planned, monitored, and structured for maximum value

-Little sense of community within the School

-Inferior quality and outdated supporting materials in several courses

Pretty much verifies most of their issues. How much more proof do you need?



Guess what they publish for the #1 strength of the school?: They love their Dean. I mean, are you serious, in the face of all those negatives which he implemented? I guess those starving North Koreans refer to their dictator as the "Dear Leader" but c'mon, this is America.

Sorry for the rant but reading that really made me think that BU might be hopeless. Very depressing.


sigh.:sleep:

:thumbup: thanks for sharing.
 
Don't get me wrong, you're not destined to be a crappy dentist if you graduate from BU. A couple of my classmates are very good dentists/ specialists that I would personally see; the majority of my class, well in terms of skills and professional maturity, I'd only send my very worst enemies to. It's just that BU is kind of F'd up and well, doesn't really influence the profession in a positive way.

And it's pretty hard to get over the major shortage of chairs and patients.

And at the current price of $500,000 for 4 years at BU, damn; I can't think of anything any D-school could do to justify picking them over something cheaper. Really, WTF is going on with the astronomical tuition hikes?

And regarding the faculty/student relations...ummm...well that's...as the OP said but didn't realize..."what the school is known for" and might explain why they seemed so "friendly and welcoming."


I just saw this on their website and I'll just post some quotes from it: BU Dental's ASP published report.
http://www.bu.edu/dental/about/documents/ASPReportMarch2011_002.pdf

-Inadequate out-dated plant – too many people in too little space

-Inadequate clinical lab space and availability, negatively impacting learning

-The patient pool is too narrow and small. Many have Mass Health with too complex needs

-Fair to poor patient access to School via public transport

-Clinical systems that result in an excessively long time to actual treatment

-High cost of dental education

-An inbred faculty leading to lack of ideas from outside the Institution

-The Dubai cost to income ratio and affect of current economic conditions

-Tuition costs may steer students to high income careers and away from research and community services.

-Lack of adequate accountability at many levels

-A lack of "customer service attitude" across the clinic

-Low staff salaries lead to problems recruiting trained, competent staff

-Uncertainty around how to rate GSDM's educa- tional performance against other schools

-Support staff feels excluded and "second class"

-APEX, not well planned, monitored, and structured for maximum value

-Little sense of community within the School

-Inferior quality and outdated supporting materials in several courses

Pretty much verifies most of their issues. How much more proof do you need?



Guess what they publish for the #1 strength of the school?: They love their Dean. I mean, are you serious, in the face of all those negatives which he implemented? I guess those starving North Koreans refer to their dictator as the "Dear Leader" but c'mon, this is America.

Sorry for the rant but reading that really made me think that BU might be hopeless. Very depressing.


sigh.:sleep:

Oh, wow. Well, rumors are now fact. I would say this is a pretty reliable source.
 
I will say that when I interviewed they did an excellent job of selling their school and telling us it was great institution. They pretty much said the exact opposite of all those claims above.
But hey, I guess if they are the ones that published a newsletter saying how many problems they have with their own school, then the problems must be true. And the admissions office staff and students are just good salesmen. The students we ate lunch with even went to great lengths to tell us that they were better than Tufts and had way more clinical experience that most other dental schools.
 
If BU really offers more clinical experience than other schools, than how do you explain why so many more of their grads feel unprepared for practice and end up doing GPRs.

"the admissions office staff and students are just good salesmen"

- well that's their job and if they weren't good at it, they'd easily be replaced.

The Dean of Admissions has a law degree, aka a professional liar; and she also is the daughter of the previous Dean, who served for over 30 years at the school and recently died.
 
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