BCM vs. Vandy (w/ some money)

[FutureMD123]

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So, I don't know why I am just thinking to use SDN for this, but I have to decide between two great med schools by TOMORROW and have no idea how to weigh the two. I'm currently between Baylor COM and Vandy Med. I got a partial scholarship to Vandy which makes it comparable in cost to Baylor. Just some additional information about my future plans: I am planning on getting involved in some sort of research project during my 4 years (probably clinical level research), I want to pursue an MBA, and I think I'm interested in a surgical specialty for residency. I'm also from Houston and went to undergrad in Austin. Any help would be amazing!

BCM:
Rank: 24
City: Houston, TX - Texas Med Center - extremely diverse patient population and a huge amount of hospitals to choose from
Hospitals: Texas Children's, Methodist, Ben Taub, MD Anderson, Debakey VA, TIRR, Menninger Clinic, St. Luke's, Texas Heart Institute + the rest of the TMC
Highlights: 1.5 yr science curriculum, 8a-12p class (2 days/wk, 1-3 small group sessions), the TMC

Vandy:
Rank: 15
City: Nashville, TN
Hospitals: Vanderbilt Hospital, Carell Children's Hospital, The Vanderbilt Clinic, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Cntr, Vanderbilt Page Campbell Heart Institute, Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center, Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital, Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehab Center [no public hospital]
Highlights: strong commitment to student happiness/health outside of med school, new standardized patient/human simulator center (Center for Experiential Learning and Assessment), new anatomy lab, strong electronic medical record system (which is the way of the future, I feel)


I feel like both schools are very highly regarded and similar in many ways. Both have great residency matches and are #1 and #2 as far USMLE Step 1 scores. I feel as if I might get a slightly better clinical experience at BCM because it is located in the world's largest medical center and there are 2.5 (rather than just 2) years of rotations in the curriculum. However, I hear amazing things about Vandy and think it might be valuable for me to leave Texas for the next few years of my life. Thanks for any advice, suggestions, comments, etc you might provide!

 

[jturkel]

this is a tough one. i'm WL at Vandy and in at BCM, but was wondering about this comparison IF somehow i got off the WL.

How i would view it in your shoes:

Go to Vanderbilt:

You're from Houston and apparently TX for a while. Maybe you should experience a different/new location. Go to Nashville.

Top 20 ranking, beautiful facitlies....CELA is probably the coolest thing I saw on any of my interviews and the students seemed genuinely happy. The class is much smaller than Baylor -- i think 110 vs 170 or so. You can enjoy D1 sports at Vandy (if you are into sports) and they have a decent basketball team. Nashville is actually pretty hip and not as humid as Houston. The gym is awesome.

Baylor is in some decent financial trouble, though will likely pull out of it. When and how? Who knows. Care to find out the hard way?


Go to Baylor:

I think you are spot on with your assessment of the clinical advantages at the TMC and the 2.5 yrs of rotations. Also, because of the condensed pre-clinical curriculum, you will have more time to study for your Step 1 and get to rotate before Step 1, which I have heard is a HUGE HUGE advantage. Larger class size.....I don't mind 170....maybe you do? You also mention you want to get your MBA. Well, Baylor has the most flexible curriculum out there....how does an MBA from Rice sound? You can do that at BCM. Not sure if you can do that at Vandy.

Pass/Fail at BCM i think for the 1.5 yrs pre-clinical whereas Vandy is P/P*/F first yr and then H/P/F second. Also, all that flooding.....lots of water damage in houses....water creeped into the hospital....who wants to go there now? (just messing obviously)..


..........

I have no idea if you will find that helpful. That is what I've been considering. I really don't know what I would choose in your situation. Hopefully you find some decent info in both that you can utilize to make your choice. GL!

 

[Steeler7588]

In your opinion, how bad is Baylor's financial situation? At equal cost, that'd be the only deterrent for me when you consider how flexible the 1.5 pre-clinical curriculum is.

 

[naijaboi]

I would go with Vandy because of BCM's financial situation.

 

[ButImLETired]

this is a tough one. i'm WL at Vandy and in at BCM, but was wondering about this comparison IF somehow i got off the WL.

How i would view it in your shoes:

Go to Vanderbilt:

You're from Houston and apparently TX for a while. Maybe you should experience a different/new location. Go to Nashville.

Top 20 ranking, beautiful facitlies....CELA is probably the coolest thing I saw on any of my interviews and the students seemed genuinely happy. The class is much smaller than Baylor -- i think 110 vs 170 or so. You can enjoy D1 sports at Vandy (if you are into sports) and they have a decent basketball team. Nashville is actually pretty hip and not as humid as Houston. The gym is awesome.

Baylor is in some decent financial trouble, though will likely pull out of it. When and how? Who knows. Care to find out the hard way?


Go to Baylor:

I think you are spot on with your assessment of the clinical advantages at the TMC and the 2.5 yrs of rotations. Also, because of the condensed pre-clinical curriculum, you will have more time to study for your Step 1 and get to rotate before Step 1, which I have heard is a HUGE HUGE advantage. Larger class size.....I don't mind 170....maybe you do? You also mention you want to get your MBA. Well, Baylor has the most flexible curriculum out there....how does an MBA from Rice sound? You can do that at BCM. Not sure if you can do that at Vandy.

Pass/Fail at BCM i think for the 1.5 yrs pre-clinical whereas Vandy is P/P*/F first yr and then H/P/F second. Also, all that flooding.....lots of water damage in houses....water creeped into the hospital....who wants to go there now? (just messing obviously)..


..........

I have no idea if you will find that helpful. That is what I've been considering. I really don't know what I would choose in your situation. Hopefully you find some decent info in both that you can utilize to make your choice. GL!

Couple of things pro-Vandy (though I have heard great things about Baylor! So I imagine this is a tough choice):

1) yeah, our hospital isn't public. But we DO rotate through a couple of public hospitals in the area, and we have a V.A. on campus. I want to point out too that our hospital, while private, isn't quite as ivory-towerish as, say, Emory or something (where basically to see anything but rich people you have to go to Grady). I feel like most people go to Vanderbilt if they're in Nashville anyway. We're the only Trauma I department in the area so we get people from all over the place anyway, and I think we have one of the very few Children's ERs around too. In general, in my (admittedly limited) experience, there is HUGE diversity in our patient population. I worked in NY and Boston and I think the socioeconomic diversity is really very comparable (though the ethnic one probably isn't).

2) For the most part, we also have class 8-12 (unless you're in anatomy, then you might have a small group or lab occasionally). Classes aren't mandatory so you can watch all the lectures from home if you so choose.

3) The whole P/P*/F system is actually to help you. P* means that you're in this 5-point range in which you're struggling but not failing. My understanding is that if you get a P*, they look at your other grades and unless you're failing everything, it becomes a P anyway. It's also a sign to them that you might need some kind of help (so they might get you in contact with a tutor etc). As for H/P/F, I also think it's a bit weird that we have that second year, but I've heard it makes no difference. You're taking all of like, 2 academic classes second year so there are really only two things you can get Honors in. I'm guessing the same people who were doing extremely well first year will continue to do so second year, so I doubt it changes things on any real level.

4) You absolutely have a chance to do an MBA here (we have the Owen school of management on the same campus). Generally people do it between 3rd and 4th years (and a handful of students from each class will choose to do so). So yes, it's possible, and in fact done fairly often.

5) If you are interested in doing research- we have that built in, and we're paid for it.

6) Not sure what to say about the whole 1.5 vs 2 year preclinicals. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd love to finish these stupid classes in less time. But judging from how well we do on step 1 every year, we don't seem to suffer too much because of it. I personally can't imagine stuffing the preclinical curriculum even more than it is already, but who knows, maybe we'll move toward that someday. I guess it's personal preference. Honestly I think giving us more time to study for the boards probably wouldn't make much of a difference (I think we have like 7 weeks here?) and I know people who scheduled it early just so they can get the damn thing over with. I think 7 weeks of studying all day every day is about your brain's limit anyway so dragging it on further might just hurt you.

Anyway, you can't go wrong with this choice. We are a bit smaller and we don't seem to be having any financial problems whatsoever (i don't know how they do it, honestly) since we keep building new stuff (they're also renovating our student lounge this summer, woo!). I think we're all pretty close and pretty happy but who knows with that stuff. I know I'm happy, and that I'm glad I'm here. Let me know if you have more questions!

 

[eey0re]

tough choice, but i would go with baylor strictly for the Texas Medical Center... that place makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. nonetheless, u cant go wrong with either school.

 

[metallica81788]

I would pick Vandy because I like Nashville better than Houston. That being said, TMC is incredible and not easy to overlook. I'm waitlisted at both, btw, so I hate you. 😀 jk

Like others have said, you can't go wrong either way. If you want to get out of TX for a while, now is your chance with Vandy.

with your decision.

 

[medapp42]

Go with vandy. Bcm is still shaky financially and vandy has been consistent in money and ranking. Bcm had 12 people not match this year also and will fall in rankings again with a vacant building acruing more debt. Vandy is where it's at

 

[canjosh]

I've seen this 'xx people from BCM didn't match this year' thing before, but I haven't seen a source. Where did you get that data from medapp42? Not saying it's untrue, I just want to see it myself. There's nothing in the USN&WR methodology that uses debt as an indicator of quality. Baylor has financial issues, but this doesn't have to do with the recent drop in ranking.

To, the OP:
In terms of quality, I think they're pretty much the same. I think you just gotta go with your gut in terms of where you think you'll fit in the best. You're going to get a cutting edge education no matter what. Good luck!

 

[jturkel]

I've seen this 'xx people from BCM didn't match this year' thing before, but I haven't seen a source. Where did you get that data from medapp42? Not saying it's untrue, I just want to see it myself. There's nothing in the USN&WR methodology that uses debt as an indicator of quality. Baylor has financial issues, but this doesn't have to do with the recent drop in ranking.

correct. Baylor's ranking dropped because leadership at UTSW was essentially b!tching at Baylor's leadership for reporting MD Anderson funding....apparently MD Anderson really belongs to UTSW and they were not cool with that. So Baylor didn't report that funding, resulting in their dropping in the rankings. Ironically, I am told by a good family friend who works at MD Anderson that they do more work with Baylor than with UTSW. Additionally, to counter the ranking drop argument, Baylor's residency director ranking has actually improved.

 

[medapp42]

Md Anderson is formally partnered with ut Houston and yes utsw did complain. With regard to debt I was simply saying it would be there for a while. Bcm has some serious decisions to make. Also as far as the match, I have a relative on faculty there. Sry for any confusion. Bcm is a great school but my opinion is vandy is the better choice

 

[bretticus]

A few things on Vandy after reading through:

MBA - Yes you can do this, and many people do. You can also do a MS, JD, PhD, MPH, etc. My class has about 12 people taking a year off to do extra things like this, and it is highly supported by the university.

More clinical time - After getting through most of 3rd year, I am happy I had 6 more months of "fun time" 😉 Of course at the time I was sick of sitting in classrooms the whole time, go figure. Honestly I don't think it's that big of a deal either way.

Step 1 - I took 5 weeks to study and wished I had done less. Vandy gives you 7 weeks, so you should have no problem.

Public hospital - You can do part of Peds over at Nashville General I believe (admittedly like 2.5 weeks). I have done about half my year at the VA, which is quite a different pt population. Vandy does do a fair amount of "charity" work, and you can spend plenty of time at the student run clinic if you wish. Level I trauma was mentioned, so all those ED cases will come here. 4th year primary care clinics can be scheduled virtually anywhere. Emphasis can take you to third world countries. In the end though, there's no real public hospital that students rotate through.

Flood - The only thing flooded here was part of childrens' and the basement that housed a few specialty clinics. All of this will be fixed by the time you get here (or more importantly rotate 3rd year). It is a non-issue.

I know a couple of residents from Texas - there's now a Chuy's in Franklin if that's important to you 😉

Hope to see you in the fall, but if not, best of luck.

 

[KTD]

I wouldn't put too much stake on the 1.5years/2.5 years curriculum at BCM. When you break down the timing it isn't that much different from a typical 2/2 schedule. There is only a 4 week summer between M1 and M2 at BCM. You could use this time to relax (which would be really nice) but at a more traditional school you would probably have a 10 week summer that you could use to do research. At Baylor, you would take some of that extra elective time to do the same research. Also at a more traditional school you would have between 4-6 weeks to study for your boards. If I understand correctly, at Baylor you take an elective rotation off to study for the boards, cutting more into that elective rotation time. So when you factor in the missing MS1 summer and the alloted board study time those extra 24 or so weeks in the clinic are cut down to only 8-10 extra weeks. So there is still a difference plus the schedule is broken down differently which could be nice (or bad depending on your preference) but you aren't really getting a ton more clinical time than at another school, even though it seems that way at first.

Sorry if my post was confusing, hope it made a little sense.

 

[jla314]

I would go to Vandy. I really, really loved Vandy and felt very much at home there. I liked Baylor a lot too, but not as much as I liked Vandy. It was just my gut feeling and you have to do whatever you feel is right for you in the end.

 

[longhorn09]

Go for Vandy.

 

[BlueElmo]

Go for Vandy.

I agree.

 

[jbz24]

It seems like you have no strong attachment to stay in Texas for med school, so I would go for Vandy. Cheaper, similar prestige, safer choice. Baylor is having significant financial problems. Money issues typically don't affect med students, but their problems seem to be worse than general. Baylor's prestige seems to be taking a hit too, not just in rankings but losing an affiliate hospital and having bad news in the media. Who knows where it will be in 4 years. Again, not saying anything will happen, but Vandy is clearly a safer choice.

 

[PharmTexas]

Choose Baylor!!! This whole financial thing is blown WAYYYY out of proportion. The last I heard was that they are really turning things around and already slashed their debt in half! I think it's funny that everyone is so concerned about their debt...do you all even know what is going on down there? And about those rankings from that third-rate magazine, BCM was down 1 point overall, from four other schools. If, which I'm almost positive will happen, BCM gains 2/3 points overall next year, all things staying the same, they would occupy spot #16/17!!!! Thats how fickle and pointless choosing top schools from US News is!!

I think both school are good, but I think BCM is better. You WILL get a better clinical environment. And for DIRT CHEAP! Oh and you are from Texas, you know BCM has been on top forever, this is just a temporary drop.

Either way best of luck 🙂

 

[ksmi117]

I would go to Vandy. I really, really loved Vandy and felt very much at home there. I liked Baylor a lot too, but not as much as I liked Vandy. It was just my gut feeling and you have to do whatever you feel is right for you in the end.

Agree. Vandy felt a bit more welcoming. But maybe that's because I'm OOS in TX. Both are awesome schools though, you can't go wrong.

 

[FutureMD123]

Thank you all for your responses, they've been really helpful! I have in fact decided to go to Vandy, mainly because I feel like it's important to get out of Texas and experience a new part of the country. I feel like both are such amazing schools, and I've been blessed with having to choose between them. Thanks again for all your advice.

 

[Hoody]

I agree.

I also agree....Vandy FTW.

 

[canjosh]

Thank you all for your responses, they've been really helpful! I have in fact decided to go to Vandy, mainly because I feel like it's important to get out of Texas and experience a new part of the country. I feel like both are such amazing schools, and I've been blessed with having to choose between them. Thanks again for all your advice.

Congrats, and best of luck to you!!!😎