Tufts Interview

Welcome everyone to most likely the last interview post of my short career. That doesn't mean I won't keep you all updated on acceptances and other goingsabout. But, it does feel like the end of an era... the last financial aid talk, school tour, sales pitch etc.

So I wrapped up my weekend in Boston by interviewing at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. It was pretty standard, except there was a huge emphasis on describing the course schedule, almost to a point of wordiness. I must have heard about the courses for a good 2+ hours, which was a bit exhausting. The school itself is a mix of old an new. The much-lauded upstairs facilities are about to be used. Too bad it will mainly be for the post-grad specialization students and not the DMD students, which was NOT what I wanted to hear. The original floors below that expansion were alright. Pretty standard mid-80's clinics with no natural light, but what can you do? In that regard, the faculty are old-school, in stark contrast to the green initiatives and swanky stuff they have added to the school. BU told me they would be old school and I was not surprised. If you haven't heard, Tufts sent out a HUGE packet of any info you could ever want about their school and they spent most of the "pitch" going over this monster and a couple of our own questions. Like BU, Tufts is costly, in excess of $90k a year. Its alot, but I'm finding that cost is becoming less of a priority as I go on.

I was very confused on the school's take on their involvement with medicine

1. One person told me the school was a completely seperate building from the hospital (which in some regards it is)

2. Another person told me the building is integrated by skybridges (which it is, but who cares?)

3. Tufts students take 1 class w/ Med students, gross anatomy... not that many

4. Dean Mark something said that taking their own seperate medicine classes is important to be able to converse w/ medical colleagues.

So let me ask you, Tufts... if medical integration is so important to you, then why don't your students spend more time learning WITH med school students? It seems like the best way to build bonds, but I guess discussing renal failure complications is a better solution. The conflicting views I was given by multiple people during the day leads me to believe that their medicine classes are only in place to make their graduation surveys of "comfort discussing w/ medical colleagues" a little bit better. Give your students a bunch of rotations.

That being said, I could see myself going to Tufts for a dental education, despite the cost. It is in a decent area of Chinatown, so I could definitely occupy myself with some great food. With regards to the new expansion, it was hinted that the clinical groups of 12 could be decreased to 8 with the extra space available, which is nice. Overall, I think my trip up to Boston was very enlightening, despite the cold, wet weather. I got to see two schools and my view of them completely changed in a matter of hours. It just goes to show that you can't judge a book by its' cover. You really need to visit dental schools before you judge them based on pictures and statistics. Just a little advice for you pre-dental kids out there. Its good to finally have this stage of my life behind me. Now I can work off the travel expenses I've incurred and have a relaxing Thanksgiving with my family. Hey, December 1st is next Tuesday so hopefully all that turkey will take my mind of of that.

Peace out,

Bjorn

BU Interview

Hey everybody,

I just got back to my home-for-the-weekend from my 4th and possibly next to last interview. I got up at 7, took the T downtown and walked through the driving rain to get to the BU Medical Center at 915. Overall, I thought BU was a great school. The people pride themselves on being friendly and helpful to their applicants and students. Lets debunk a few rumors:
* BU's patient scheduling system has been drastically changed. No longer do students have to get up at 4am to sit in line to nab patients. Instead they have an all-paperless system that allows them to request appointments and chairs online at home
* The Advanced Placement class is 75 students... take it however you want. I see it as a sample of the diversity of the young city.
* They really darted around the question of how they do on the boards by saying "over 90% pass." In other words, most people pass... I was just wondering if your scores are good enough on average to make waves in the specialty match process.
It was one of the few interviews that was as advertised as being "conversational." At no point did I feel like I was being grilled. In fact, we pretty much talked about how great my personal statement was (ego boost) and the differences between Harvard, Tufts and BU. The Dean was genuinely friendly and helpful.
However, I am most displeased with the price of the school. I expected the cost of living to be astronomical, which it was, but I wasn't ready for the projected total including tuition... over $92,000! WOW! I am going to really think hard about the kind of debt I want to assume coming out of school. Granted, it isn't too hard for dentists, that is still alot of money especially if I have a home loan or a family. Oh well. Now I'm staying the weekend outside of Boston for my Tufts interview on Monday then its back to Virginia to wrap up a couple of things and have Turkey Day with the family... THEN DECEMBER 1st!!!!! SO EXCITED!

Sooooo its exactly 2 weeks until Dec. 1st and the whole pre-dental world begins to find out where they got into dental school. I'm completely and utterly anxious about it. I have 2 interviews this weekend up in Boston to make things more stressful. Thankfully, I don't have any exams until Mid-December. A little advice to pre-dents : the tough thing about the applications process isn't getting into dental school, but making sure you don't fail completely in your final semester... which is why I'm taking 12 credits : 6 as a TA, 4 for my internship and 2 for independent research on biology of infectious diseases. I win at life.

VCU Interview

And the interview blitz continues. Today I had the pleasure of interviewing at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry in Richmond, VA. I got up at 5am after staying up late the previous night to finish the secondary application I had put off until way too late. The schedule:

5:00 AM : Rise and shine

7:30 AM : Introductory talk w/ Dr. Healy

8:00 AM : 1-on-1 interview w/ Dr. Masters

8:30 AM : 1-on-1 interview w/ Dr. Yeudall

9:00 AM : wrote an ethics essay

9:30 AM : Dr. Healy's tour of the Lyons building

12:30 PM : Lunch w/ D-4 students and tour of new Perkinson building

1:30 PM : The final VCU pitch talk w/ Dr. Healy

2:30 PM : DONE!

Let me start off by saying that I was very impressed by VCU today. Their faculty and students were very welcoming and enthusiastic. I felt very much welcome there. My interviews were much more casual and less stressful than other ones, which was a welcome change. Dr. Healy is a great guy. I have come to know him over the last 4 years through Pre-Dental Society here at UVA by taking multiple tours of the facility and visiting with him at his UVA visits. He is definitely there to help you, the applicant. He is genuinely concerned about finding compatible students and once you matriculate, he and the rest of the staff at VCU are utterly committed to you graduating and going onto the next step in your career. In fact, of the 35-50% of the class that looks to specialization or a residency, 95% of them get spots. This was a bit of a shock, as I had heard other opinions from certain people.

They are definitely a clinical-based school. Right now, this looks like what I want to do with dentistry, so that was encouraging. One of the most exciting things about today was finally getting to see the next Perkinson building that has just been put into use this year. It was stellar. Perhaps the best learning environment I have seen, up there with Maryland's facilities. Now, I had seen the old Lyons building many many times, so this new wing was a huge surprise for me. It has more modern decor, better lighting and less awkward organization. I have to talk with my PDS alumni friends who are now at VCU and ask them how they like the new digs there.

A couple of other notes : they are going paperless after Thanksgiving break this year, which is a huge relief to everybody. The SimLab is awesome, just like I have known. Its a great intro to mannequins in your first 4 months of dental school. They are very unique, as I have not seen them anywhere else.

I have to seriously consider my options this winter. Hopefully I will have multiple acceptances, but at the same time I am going to have to make some tough decisions. I have sooooo many people asking me "whos your number one school?" I don't know yet. It all depends on who likes me enough to accept me, the timing they use to do so and the thought process I will go through in determining which school is best for me. This is the most exciting time in my life and I am grateful to be sharing it with my friends, my girlfriend and my family. Thanks to all the people out there who are giving me all this support and encouragement!

Alright everybody, its the long-awaited and much anticipated UW interview post. This last Monday I had the distinct pleasure of visiting the University of Washington School of Dentistry campus out in Seattle WA. I took a flight out there from Dulles on Saturday and caught up on some sleep Sunday. It rained the whole time, which is soooo stereotypical of Seattle, but I'm used to it by now.

7:30 : Wake up, get all did-up and fancified
8:30 : Dying in Seattle traffic trying to get there on time
9:00 : barely made it on time to the introduction speech from the Dean
10:00 : Interviewed with Dr. Maebo and Nimitz
11:00 : Financial Aid talk
12:30 : Lunch with two 2nd years and two 4th year students
1:00 : Tour of the facilities
2:00 : Closing talk with 6 of the deans
3:15 : Home.... sleep

Overall, I thought it was a pretty good experience. The interview itself went well. I feel I presented myself well for the admissions committee. Still, I was happy with the enthusiasm shown by the staff there. As I have heard and seen for years, the Magnuson Health Sciences Center at UW has had a reputation for turning out the top professionals in pharmacy, nursing, dentistry and medicine for years, which is exciting. Great, knowledgeable staff and students. Nothing I didn't know before.
The Facilities were a bit blah though. I knew they were a little less than modern, but I was not prepared for a few of the dungeon-like hallways. That was the only con of the whole day though. Still, who cares about the looks of the place if you get a great education?
Financial Aid looks pretty good at UW. I knew it would be very cheap compared to other dental schools because I am a Washington resident. Average cost for residents is about 47k, but most needy residents get a nice little $6,000 grant. Also, there are a few disadvantaged loans and grants that I can look at there. Cost is a huge part of choosing a dental school and this is a main draw of possibly coming to UW.
Since UW is a bit slow with the admissions process, they admit only a few applicants in December. They usually wait until "January" to have half of their class filled. This is a bit alarming because if I get a December 1st acceptance from another school, I will have until January 15th to put an expensive deposit down to hold my place. Hopefully, I will be able to weigh my options in a more convenient manner this winter. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Also, VCU interview this Tuesday! I'm excited.