Boston U vs Colorado

[QuantumPhoton]

I am very thankful to have multiple acceptances, and I've pretty much boiled it down to these 2 schools; however, I'm pretty conflicted. I also want to go back to the southeast for residency preferably, so BU might be better for this given that it's in the east side of the country?

BU Pros:

- Safety net hospital for the Boston community which is pretty important for me

- Decent research & great children's hospital nearby

- Dorms are like 1k for rent, which is good considering the rent in Boston is super high



BU Cons:

- I'm not used to city life

- The area surrounding the school at night is a little bit shady according to students & the community

- Will have to rely on public transportation. I've used a car for transportation for various years

- 3h flight from home


Colorado Pros:

- Beautiful campus & chill area

- Amazing research & the school has its own children's hospital

- Students do a lot of outdoor activities

Colorado Cons:

- Not much diversity in the class from what i've heard

- COA will be much higher

- ~5-6h flight from home


Edit: Received more financial aid from Colorado. So COA for BU will be ~290k and Colorado will be ~240k over the 4 years.

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[loverofneuro]

BU for sure

 

[QuantumPhoton]

BU for sure

is 50k enough to make a difference? Or should I still plan to enroll at BU?

 

[xUnrevealed]

Given the edit I say Colorado. Colorado's two most "well-known" specialties are Peds & EM (via Denver Health, the safety net for colorado I believe). Rent in Colorado is ~1.5-1.8k, so a bit more expensive I'd say, but I'd say COL in Colorado is comparable to Boston. Also, I'd say that the "prestige" of both are comparable/equal, so if that's a factor, I don't think it should be.

Match rates in Southeast I believe are gonna be equal and I don't think being in the NE benefits odds of going to a SE school for residency.

Only concern I'd say would be on how CU doesn't have diversity in the class (which I assume to be racial diversity, considering the differences between Denver and Boston). Whether this is a concern depends on what diversity means to you. If it’s about access to certain communities, support networks, or resources that're associated with communities (ex: asian markets, cultural centers, etc.), I think that concern is relevant. But if it’s more about feeling welcome, I’d say not to worry too much. I grew up in Colorado as someone mixed-race, and neither I nor my non-white parent experienced issues with feeling accepted. Hope this helps!

 

[loverofneuro]

the edit def changes things a bit. I have a friend who's deciding between another school and CU, and he said a lot of people at Second Look really did not vibe with the surrounding area. if that's not a concern to you at all, perhaps CU would be the better fit. proximity to family is also important, but if you're okay being a bit further from home, I'd say that wouldn't matter too much. as the person above me said, both schools are on the same prestige level, so you really can't go wrong.

me personally, I would still choose BU, because Boston is seriously one of the coolest cities to live in EVER. but 50K a year is a big difference! so I could totally see why you might want to choose CU. you will do extraordinarily well at either place regardless 🙂

 

[disgracedowl]

COL between Boston and Aurora is not comparable. Boston will be far more expensive especially when it comes to rent if you're not living in those dorms (but going out and other costs are also higher in general too)

In terms of your BU list, it makes sense the area that the school is in is "sketchy." Like you mentioned, it is a safety net hospital. I think wanting to work in a safety net environment comes with living amongst the community that is utilizing those services.

 

[xUnrevealed]

COL between Boston and Aurora is not comparable. Boston will be far more expensive especially when it comes to rent if you're not living in those dorms (but going out and other costs are also higher in general too)

In terms of your BU list, it makes sense the area that the school is in is "sketchy." Like you mentioned, it is a safety net hospital. I think wanting to work in a safety net environment comes with living amongst the community that is utilizing those services.

Denver, Colorado is relatively expensive, and Aurora is to Denver as Chestnut Hill is to Boston in terms of its interconnectedness. Boston is likely more expensive if you were to cross your t's and dot your i's (and likely by a solid margin), but that isn't to say that Denver has a low or average COL (probably on that higher end)

 

[Yhwach]

BU. The area around BUMC is sketchy, but generally, Boston is a pretty safe city.