Baylor vs. Vanderbilt

[AMedStud]

Taking tuition differences out of the picture, what do you guys thing about Baylor vs. Vanderbilt?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[searun]

I vote for Vanderbilt. Comparable schools in terms of education and prestige, but your life at Vanderbilt would alot more fun, no doubt. Plus, the Kentucky Derby is closer. Mint Juleps and world class horses, oh yeah. If you are a country music fan, then Nashville, of course. But if you are into riding mechanical bulls, or you like girls who ride mechanical bulls while drinking beer (and admittedly that does have a certain appeal), then, Houston gets the nod. But the weather blows. I have no dog in this hunt, but given the choice, Vanderbilt hands down.

 

[kedrin]

I vote for Vanderbilt. Comparable schools in terms of education and prestige, but your life at Vanderbilt would alot more fun, no doubt. Plus, the Kentucky Derby is closer. Mint Juleps and world class horses, oh yeah. If you are a country music fan, then Nashville, of course. But if you are into riding mechanical bulls, or you like girls who ride mechanical bulls while drinking beer (and admittedly that does have a certain appeal), then, Houston gets the nod. But the weather blows. I have no dog in this hunt, but given the choice, Vanderbilt hands down.

the whole cowboy stereotype about texas is not true. Sure there are alot here, but most people are your average everyday person not the marlboro man going to club each weekend.

baylor is better.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

If anything, parking is less of an issue here at Vanderbilt, and there's plenty of places to live within walking distance. Nashville seems to be more livable than Houston as well, but thats a very subjective judgement that relies on what you value and what you think makes a city a good place to live.

I interviewed at Baylor and it seems to me that they are both in the some league academically. One thing I didn't like about Baylor was that there wasn't much time built into the standard curriculum to pursue a significant research project. We have a program that runs the first 2 years here that is required (research isn't required but some sort of academic project relating to medicine is, e.g. world health type stuff). Having dedicated time when we are supposed to work on our project, 2 full afternoons per week, during M1 and M2 (and the summer between) is why we can't finish our pre-clinical curriculum in 3 semesters like they do at Baylor. I can't speak for how easy it'd be to get involved in research during the preclinical years at Baylor, but I'm sure it'd be possible as well.

Baylor's clinical curriculum seems to be a little more flexible in terms of elective time during the clinical curriculum. At the interview, they touted how their 4th year essentially started earlier and lasted longer. This is definitely nice, but it seemed to be inefficient compared to other schools with accelerated preclinicals like Duke and Penn which had a large chunk of dedicated time for academic work outside of clinical work during the 3rd year. Obviously I'm biased toward doing an academic project during medical school, but I feel that its very important.

 

[pntgrd]

Vanderbilt for sure.

 

[Monarch Kong]

They say Vanderbilt students are the happiest around. If finances aren't an issue, then you can't put a price on happiness

 

[searun]

the whole cowboy stereotype about texas is not true. Sure there are alot here, but most people are your average everyday person not the marlboro man going to club each weekend.

baylor is better.

I was not referring to the Marlboro Man. The Marlboro Man actually made alot of antismoking commercials during the year or so that he was dying of lung cancer, probably 10 years ago. He is dead now. So much for tobacco money. Big Tobacco will always wait you out, and then fund the anti smoking commercials for teens.

I just like the girls in Texas who ride the mechanical bulls with a beer in their hand, and spill very little.

 

[patzan]

Equivalent academically. Nashville is a better place to live and students are very happy.

Go to Vandy.

 

[BaylorLion]

I second (of perhaps eight?) the idea that Baylor and Vanderbilt are academically equivalent - these are both schools in the very highest echelon of medical academia (I might be biased though - am currently a Baylor med student who will be going to Vanderbilt for residency). I *do* think that the Baylor curriculum is second-to-none in terms of its flexibility - only 1.5 years in lecture (and by the end of those basic science months, I couldn't WAIT to escape). True, we don't yet have an implemented research project (but that is changing - I was on the committee that was trying to determine ways to make sure all students have access to research and a "Scholarly Project" is coming *now*), but because we have 2.5 years of clinicals with 8 months of vacation time incorporated, most students do take 2-3 months off during that time to do a research project of some kind. I myself worked in a basic science lab for 2 months and was able to take 2 months off to study for Step 1 and 2 months off for all my residency interviews. The vacation time to study for Step 1 and the flexibility to take the test WHENEVER you want really is an "unfair advantage" (I put that in quotes because whenever someone tells me that, I always tell them they had the option of applying to Baylor) that pays off in a pretty high Step 1 average for Baylor (and Penn, the other school that has this setup). That said, Vanderbilt's average is pretty obscenely high as well, so obviously they're doing something right there.

The Texas Medical Center is a pretty awesome place to be a medical student - you get the opportunity to rotate through pretty much all of its amazing hospitals, which is something you will never get to as any other kind of trainee or staff/faculty member here. That said, obviously I like VUMC as well since I ranked it to match. The EMR is *amazing* at Vanderbilt.

For me, at least, I saw a lot of places that were probably as good as Baylor while I was interviewing but none that were, in my opinion, better, let alone 30K+ better than Baylor, so the cost factored into the equation for me. Not true for every residency program, but Baylor takes very good care of its medical students (but so does Vanderbilt) and like I said, the opportunity to be a medical student in the TMC is incomparable and one you will NEVER get to have as a resident or fellow here.

Hope that helps! Congrats on having this very awesome decision to make, and if I can help, let me know.

 

[borat2008]

dont mean to hijack the thread, but im in kind of the same situation except tuition is a concern for me (no parental contribution) and im not a texas resident. tuition factored in as well as oos status, what do yall think?

 

[BaylorLion]

Even if you don't buy a condo and claim in-state after 1st year, Baylor's OOS tuition is still about half of Vanderbilt's tuition. Both are pretty equally great schools reputation-wise, with their associated residency programs being strong in different areas.

 

[AMedStud]

Even if you don't buy a condo and claim in-state after 1st year, Baylor's OOS tuition is still about half of Vanderbilt's tuition. Both are pretty equally great schools reputation-wise, with their associated residency programs being strong in different areas.

Which residency programs do you think each school has the upper hand in?

 

[TheRealMD]

Which residency programs do you think each school has the upper hand in?

Baylor: Stick "pediatrics" in front of any specialty.

 

[BaylorLion]

Baylor - pediatrics, rehab, psychiatry, ophtho, ENT, cardiology, neurology, neurosurgery, urology, plastic surgery

Vanderbilt - internal medicine (and all subspec except cardiology, where baylor is SLIGHTLY ahead), emergency medicine, anesthesia, ob/gyn (don't know how good Vanderbilt's program actually is, but it HAS to be better than baylor's), rad-onc, ortho (same story as ob/gyn)

Surgery is probably a tie. Derm *anywhere* is "prestigious." No clue about radiology.

 

[isitoveryet]

I am waitlisted at both so make the decisions based upon how quickly you can make it. Preferences are listed below

(1) Flipping a coin: oldy but goody
(2) Paper/Rock/Scissors with a friend: Pretty good but you may have to do it multiple times which could take time (i.e. you did not go at the same time, you may "tie")
(3) Anything involving prolonged thought!!!!

 

[searun]

Baylor - pediatrics, rehab, psychiatry, ophtho, ENT, cardiology, neurology, neurosurgery, urology, plastic surgery

Vanderbilt - internal medicine (and all subspec except cardiology, where baylor is SLIGHTLY ahead), emergency medicine, anesthesia, ob/gyn (don't know how good Vanderbilt's program actually is, but it HAS to be better than baylor's), rad-onc, ortho (same story as ob/gyn)

Surgery is probably a tie. Derm *anywhere* is "prestigious." No clue about radiology.

Wait a minute. Who has the best basketball team????

 

[TheRealMD]

Wait a minute. Who has the best basketball team????

Baylor Univeristy != Baylor College of Medicine!!!!!

 

[172858]

I would think that BCM would be the obvious choice, the the masses seem not to agree.

However, the disproportionate number of Vandy votes makes me wonder how many people here are on the Baylor waitlist...

 

[TheRealMD]

I would think that BCM would be the obvious choice, the the masses seem not to agree.

However, the disproportionate number of Vandy votes makes me wonder how many people here are on the Baylor waitlist...

Yeah, I want a few people to by my classmates. Plus, he said to ignore tuition. With tuition, it's slightly less complicated (but still a tough decision).

 

[patzan]

In addition to the above, I would say ortho and radiology are hands down better at Vandy. Vandy also has good gen surg and anesthesia. No FP at Vandy or PM&R. Don't know about Baylor.