Hey everyone, I have been following both the Pitt and BU threads very carefully throughout this application cycle. I have been fortunate enough to have been accepted at both med schools and was wondering if any current, prospective, or future Pitt/BU/other med students could help me decide between the two. I would be considered OOS at both and felt like I would be happy at both. Obviously one is ranked better than the other, but that shouldn't be the most important factor, right?
Anyways I would appreciate any and all help!
Thanks and
to everyone out there.
-DoctorKOL
I was lucky enough to be deciding between these two school as well. BU is an awesome school, and I liked it way more then its "ranking" would suggest. I ended up going with Pitt for the following reasons.
1. Cost. Pitt has cheaper tuition and
much cheaper cost of living. The 1 Br in Boston I was looking at was 1600, the 1 Brs in Pittsburgh are 600-900. Boston is a cooler city, but Pittsburgh is surprisingly fun and I'd rather be somewhere where I can afford to go out on a student budget.
2. Clinical training: Pitt has a freaking mannequin hospital. You don't use it too much first year, but second through fourth you get a lot of practice before you do things on patients, which is really helpful. Pitt also has a system with 22 different hospitals for only 1 med school, meaning you can get all sorts of different exposure and hands on time as a student.
On the other hand, BU has BMC which is both awesome and a little scary. Awesome because its the understaffed safety net hospital, and you'll get to do more as a med student then you would at most schools with fancy private hospitals. The downside is that its in a very precarious position financially, and is currently suing the state to increase payments (the state mandates that they treat everyone regardless of ability to pay, but then drastically cut how much it subsidizes BMC), so who knows what it will be like in a few years.
3. Prestige. Not just because the name will make such a difference (though it can), but because every department here has faculty that are big names in their field, meaning you get great research experience and Rec letters from people whose names will carry a lot of weight. There's also tons of money available for research here. At BU you'll need to be more self-motivated and find more outside research grants (definitely doable though).
4. Residencies. Pitt takes a lot of their own, and their residency programs are almost uniformly awesome, while some of the BMC residencies have a rep for malignancy. Also Pitt has every residency program available, while BU does not (e.g. no neurosurgery residency at BU).
I know this sounds like I'm ragging on BU but I'm really not. Its a fantastic school, with a really cool student body, awesome administration, and excellent clinical exposure. I've had an great experience at Pitt thus far though, and would highly recommend it. We also have a lot of fun while we're here, and my classmates are amazing. Feel free to PM me with any questions if you're having trouble deciding.
), I do have an acceptance to Pitt. I think overall Pitt will open up many more opportunities since it has tremendous resources and is considered top ten for specialties such as drug and alcohol abuse, geriatrics, and women's health. However, it does have the smaller town feel and more college feel to it than BU, as it is not on the same campus as the undergrad, but at the health campus. BU, on the other hand, is a city and will likely give you more exposure to under-served communities and a more diverse population. It's really a win win either way. Congrats on both!
. Not too much BU support out there.
