I've gotten into Tufts and am waiting to hear back from the other three and i'm wondering what peoples thoughts are on these schools?
Tufts vs. Brown vs. Umass Vs. Einstein
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I'm in at Brown, waiting to hear back from an interview at umass, turned down an interview at einstein (was late in the season and prefer something closer to home), and haven't heard a peep from Tufts. All in all, I think they are fairly comparable schools. I loved Brown, but umass is considerably more affordable and very well regarded also. Einstein and Tufts, I think, are similarly well regarded. It's really a matter of preference and I think you'll get a good education at any of those schools. If you love Boston, you have to go with Tufts. If you want to be in NY, Einstein. If you want a small class with lots of opportunity, Brown. And it's hard to pass up the unique opportunity for umass. I be there's lots of out of state people who would love to go.
Curious to see what others think.
Student at Einstein: not sure about the other schools besides Tufts, CoA is super cheap at Einstein compared to Tufts. Last year when i was calculating it out was more then a 15k difference/year. Cheaper tuition, dirt cheap housing with all utilities/internet included (they give you around 1000/yr on the CoA.. but first year students pay between 350-445/mo depending on whether 2br or 3br). Fin. aid here is really good (only place i got $ from).
Academics here are awesome. They teach you what you need to know but the stress is really low. Passing is 65%, although averages in all classes are lower to mid 80's so clearly people aren't just "scraping" by.
School is really receptive to whatever student input comes their way. This year the 2nd years complained about not having enough board studying time, they had only 4 and a half weeks, now they doubled it to 8 by rearranging their classes. Depending on what the specific class wants the administration really listens to input.
Awhile ago there was a negative post about administration (that was about 5-6 years ago) for the clerkships, but it seems that it was resolved. The third and fourth years seem to have no complaints as well.
Einstein has a really weird rep. from pre-meds as it being in the ghetto/depressing place, that orthodox jewish people create an environment not friendly to others. Thats so far from the truth that I can't even see where that preception got started( for the record im not jewish myself). But its real reputation out in the medical community puts it far ahead of that preception. And to me the classes, the close knit community, and the opprotunities here make it the happiest place on earth! (besides disneyland of course
)
I ended up choosing Einstein over other higher and lower "ranked" schools and i couldn't be happier.
Academics here are awesome. They teach you what you need to know but the stress is really low. Passing is 65%, although averages in all classes are lower to mid 80's so clearly people aren't just "scraping" by.
School is really receptive to whatever student input comes their way. This year the 2nd years complained about not having enough board studying time, they had only 4 and a half weeks, now they doubled it to 8 by rearranging their classes. Depending on what the specific class wants the administration really listens to input.
Awhile ago there was a negative post about administration (that was about 5-6 years ago) for the clerkships, but it seems that it was resolved. The third and fourth years seem to have no complaints as well.
Einstein has a really weird rep. from pre-meds as it being in the ghetto/depressing place, that orthodox jewish people create an environment not friendly to others. Thats so far from the truth that I can't even see where that preception got started( for the record im not jewish myself). But its real reputation out in the medical community puts it far ahead of that preception. And to me the classes, the close knit community, and the opprotunities here make it the happiest place on earth! (besides disneyland of course
)I ended up choosing Einstein over other higher and lower "ranked" schools and i couldn't be happier.
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Um, are you kidding me? Isn't UMASS insanely cheap to attend plus a top 25 school? I would go there!
UMass is a great school and is very affordable, but as far as location is concerned... UMass would be rock bottom. That's what would make the decision so hard for me. I lived in that area for many years and it really doesn't compare to Boston or New York (even Providence). I think I would prefer Boston to New York, but the CoA is just so high at Tufts it might be a deal-breaker.
I think your future goals would play a big part in that decision. If you want to do primary care and stay in Mass, then UMass would be the obvious choice. Einstein and Tufts would be a toss up for me, I really like both schools, and would prefer to live in Boston. I know little about Brown.
i just want to thank everyone for all their advice. I hear that Tufts is only a level 2 trauma center rather than a level 1. im curious what specialities each school is known for as i dont know the hospitals associated with most of these schools. I hear umass is a unique experience but no one has elaborated on that point.
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UMass is much more affordable than Tufts lol.
That's sort of where I was going with "unique." The opportunity to graduate with little or no debt is really something only a few schools offer <== obvious statement but important.
I really liked umass when I interviewed there. Their campus seemed really nice. I didn't like that freshman couldn't park on campus (that's what they said during the interview). That seemed somewhat limiting but would probably be ok.
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Not sure why one should ever really take the environment (city) into account because lets face, you will be spending most of your time in the library/classroom/coffee shop just studying your butt off. If location was so important, nobody would go to Hopkins, Yale, or Dartmouth because they are either ghetto or in the middle of nowhere. However one should first consider the education and cost, both of which are good deals at UMASS. Really one should put education/cost on a sliding scale with smaller influencing variables such as location and prestige.
Yes Worcester is not the greatest city, but most of the best medical schools are not in good cities to begin with for various reasons, the main one being that the majority of patients you see in underserved areas are greatful even to see a medical student whereas an affluent location would be filled with arrogant pricks who only want to talk to attendings that graduated from Harvard and did their residency at Hopkins.
Yes Worcester is not the greatest city, but most of the best medical schools are not in good cities to begin with for various reasons, the main one being that the majority of patients you see in underserved areas are greatful even to see a medical student whereas an affluent location would be filled with arrogant pricks who only want to talk to attendings that graduated from Harvard and did their residency at Hopkins.
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Sure you will spend most of your time studying, but when you're not studying would you really want to be stuck in a place with nothing to do with your (free) time?
OP, I don't really know much about any of those schools, but I definitely think the biggest thing to consider would be fit. I think it's more important than cost/location/etc. I would personally want to be somewhere where I'll be happy. Umass might be the cheapest, but if you would only choose it based on price and nothing else, maybe it's worth considering other options.
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fit is overrated......
having less debt will allow you the flexibility to choose a residency and future job based on your interests and not shooting for Plastics in order to earn the big bucks and pay back loans.
Plus what is fit? All the interviews for me were more or less the same, some leaning towards the humanities, others more on research, but at the end Same ****!! You can do it all at any school pretty much and the point is to learn a lot of random **** in order to one day help a sick individual.
Pay less, get an M.D., get the job you really want (right residency) and earn your money for profit, not for paying off school loan sharks.
having less debt will allow you the flexibility to choose a residency and future job based on your interests and not shooting for Plastics in order to earn the big bucks and pay back loans.
Plus what is fit? All the interviews for me were more or less the same, some leaning towards the humanities, others more on research, but at the end Same ****!! You can do it all at any school pretty much and the point is to learn a lot of random **** in order to one day help a sick individual.
Pay less, get an M.D., get the job you really want (right residency) and earn your money for profit, not for paying off school loan sharks.
I agree with the fit thing. Most schools are pretty much the same, with a few exceptions. And meeting 10% of the class on a particular day doesn't really tell you that much about the kinds of students a school selects (even if they do differ from school to school).
I would say that while fit is important - balancing $ is important as well.
20-30k difference over all 4 years then choose based on where you are the most excited to go to. if the difference is over 50k i would say go where it is the cheapest unless you are DIEING to go to a super unique program (Case).
Besides Case and a couple other super heavy PBL schools - the programs are all basically the same each with their own unique tid bits.
If UMass is your state school and it is super cheap, go there unless the privates offer you $$. Einstein has great fin. aid. and scholarship $.
I do hear that if you get into top 5 schools it is worth it to pay a little extra if you want to do something super competitive at a well known program or academics since institutional name carries a bit more weight when applying to these spots. From some dept. chairs there is a little bias for name when it comes to top teir programs - not that you can't get into them from any allo school, just it might add a little boost to your resume.
20-30k difference over all 4 years then choose based on where you are the most excited to go to. if the difference is over 50k i would say go where it is the cheapest unless you are DIEING to go to a super unique program (Case).
Besides Case and a couple other super heavy PBL schools - the programs are all basically the same each with their own unique tid bits.
If UMass is your state school and it is super cheap, go there unless the privates offer you $$. Einstein has great fin. aid. and scholarship $.
I do hear that if you get into top 5 schools it is worth it to pay a little extra if you want to do something super competitive at a well known program or academics since institutional name carries a bit more weight when applying to these spots. From some dept. chairs there is a little bias for name when it comes to top teir programs - not that you can't get into them from any allo school, just it might add a little boost to your resume.
Different schools are different. Sure at the end of four years you will have an MD regardless of where you go. However, one can not tell me that the clinical education received at Hopkins isn't greater than at some "lowlier" school. Many schools also differ in the opportunities they offer to students, whether in joint degree programs, global health programs, research opportunities or simple networking. The million dollar question will be if one takes advantage of these opportunities in which case they could affect one's career trajectory or if one just powers through, gets an MD and moves on.
With regards to the schools, I'll offer my opinions on Brown, UMASS and Tufts
Tufts: Great location, extremely expensive. My student host at Brown mentioned that his gf was a 3rd year at Tufts when he was accepted to Tufts and she told him to go to Brown, not Tufts because she did not feel that the education she was receiving was worth the extra expense.
UMASS: Location not so great, very affordable. I consider location to be a minor consideration since I can pretty much survive in whatever location I am placed in and don't see the point in being $100,000 extra in debt just to be whoppee-happy for four years. The facilities here are quite nice although the lack of MD/MBA and MD/MPH which I am seriously considering at this point is a negative in my opinion.
Brown: I like the fact that it is located on the greater Brown campus which allows for more interdisciplinary work although who knows how this might change with the new medical building. Since Brown and UMASS are equidistant from where I live and neither is significantly ranked higher than the other, I would see myself leaning towards UMASS but Brown just has more opportunities to offer due to its environment than UMASS does
With regards to the schools, I'll offer my opinions on Brown, UMASS and Tufts
Tufts: Great location, extremely expensive. My student host at Brown mentioned that his gf was a 3rd year at Tufts when he was accepted to Tufts and she told him to go to Brown, not Tufts because she did not feel that the education she was receiving was worth the extra expense.
UMASS: Location not so great, very affordable. I consider location to be a minor consideration since I can pretty much survive in whatever location I am placed in and don't see the point in being $100,000 extra in debt just to be whoppee-happy for four years. The facilities here are quite nice although the lack of MD/MBA and MD/MPH which I am seriously considering at this point is a negative in my opinion.
Brown: I like the fact that it is located on the greater Brown campus which allows for more interdisciplinary work although who knows how this might change with the new medical building. Since Brown and UMASS are equidistant from where I live and neither is significantly ranked higher than the other, I would see myself leaning towards UMASS but Brown just has more opportunities to offer due to its environment than UMASS does
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