Boston University vs Tufts: Opinions needed

[darkmatter]

OK, this is it. I really want to know the general opinion of which school is preferable. I am at a loss in rating student happiness between the two. Is it true that Tufts faculty has a slight edge over BU's faculty when it comes to ties with Mass General and BU has a slight edge over Tufts when it comes to research and facilities? The feeling in Boston is that these two schools are competing for No. 2 in MA (Of course, to heck with Harvard, and I haven't asked about UMAss).

One thing's for sure, I'll be heavy in debt regardless (still waitlisted at my state school).

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[Cough]

Hey man. I first want to say that I do not claim any kind of definitive opinion on the matter, as I am not a physician (yet!) and obviously am not a residency admissions director. However, I've been in Boston for several years, have spent time at New England Medical Center (Tufts' main hospital), and currently work at Mass General. So this is what I know.

Basically, having spent a lot of time at Harvard Med in the various hospitals, I can assure that Tufts is VERY highly regarded around here. A lot of the Harvard faculty I work with at Mass General have strong collaborations with NEMC physicians, and several research projects I'm aware of are conducted at both Mass General (or Brigham) and at NEMC.

Moreover, NEMC, the place where Tufts students spend a lot of their time, is gourgeous. It's a beautiful, very modern facility in Chinatown, which is actually pretty darn cool area. I've definitely seen Tufts students at Beth Israel Deaconness (Harvard's), but not at Mass General or Brigham. Of course, just because I haven't seen them at the other 2 doesn't mean they're not rotating through there as well, I just have never met any.

As for the medical education at Tufts, trust me, it's supposed to be very good. Several Harvard students I've talked to had a lot of positive things to say about Tufts, sometimes bordering on curriculum jealousy, since the Tufts curriculum is less individual-learning-based (err, you know what I mean).

As for BU, all I can tell you is that I've never heard anyone talk about it. I think most people aren't even really aware of it. I know it's quite hard to get into, but the hospital/med center is in a pretty rough part of town. I've also heard that BU students aren't the happiest bunch. Vague, I know, but that's all I can tell you.

So for what it's worth, if you have a choice between Tufts and BU, the Tufts experience is almost certainly superior and Tufts name carries a lot of weight in the medical world. No joke. Of course, BU's no slouch either. Just maybe not as widely known, for what it's worth. You can do well at either place and go very far, no doubt about it.

Good luck in choosing a school.

 

[Cough]

Ok, I have to make one definite change to the above post. Like I said, I'm not that aware of BU. I wasn't even sure where the medical center is...but I looked it up and it's actually in a nice part of Boston after all (South End). Safer, probably, than NEMC, but not really near anything exciting. I really like Chinatown, which is very funky and right next door to the financial and shopping districts in the heart of Boston.

The virtual tour at the BU med school homepage has some gourgeous pictures if you're interested. Sorry for the mixup.

Anyway, like I said, either school is great. I still give the nod to Tufts on all fronts, and I'm sure most people in the medical world do as well.

 

[Katie]

Even though I'm a Tufts student, I really don't have much to add, you did a good job outlining the strengths of Tufts. BU rejected me without an interview, and I've heard from other students that Tufts tends to choose more service-oriented than research-oriented students. It all depends on what you are looking for. Reputation-wise, I would agree that Tufts definitely has the edge, and it seems to me that I have gotten a lot more clinical exposure and training in the first year through Interviewing and Physical Diagnosis courses than I would have at BU. I know a few classmates of mine who chose Tufts over BU, including one girl who went to BU undergrad! Interesting, and they all seem happy with their choice. I would say that the main disadvantages of Tufts are cost (but this is no diff. from BU), high failure rate for the first year physiology course (nearly 10% of the class fails and has to repeat during the summer), and there are 6 people/cadaver (which is good only in comparison to NYMC's 8 and Howard's 10 or something totally ridiculous). Anyway, good luck with your choice and please post here with any questions about TUSM!

 

[SMW]

I remember reading on an old SDN thread that BU has eight people per cadaver.

 

[darkmatter]

Thanks Katie and General. I've been making trips to both medical centers. The thing with Tufts is that they don't have any institutional aid(?). I was completing PROFILE at collegeboard.com, and I saw no code for Tufts Medical School. I'm also investigating if it's worth taking the combined Bioethics program (an extra year added), with which I have applied. As for having spent a considerable amount of time in the cambridge area, I've heard mixed feelings between BU and Tufts, but since I had the Tufts interview early, I can definitely say it raised eyebrows when succeeding interviewers asked about what other schools I've interviewed at.
General, good luck with your career and Katie, I do hope we meet in the future.

 

[E'01]

Darkmatter may I ask why you are filling out the PROFILE? I thought that was just for undergraduate school.

 

[darkmatter]

Eki, it (PROFILE) came with BU's financial aid packet.