BU vs. SLU

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Seahawks99

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BU vs. SLU....

Other than location (I'd probably rather live in Boston, closer to the coast), I think these schools are pretty similar, so will be nice to hear what others think. BU probably has a few more research opportunities and more established residencies, both are P/F, both are service-based and focus on the underserved populations in their respective cities. Both have good reputations for the clinical portion of the curriculum. BU I believe gets WAY more funding, and is also a little bigger of a campus. Any other thoughts? Any preferences?
 
Not SLU, they ruined my bracket :meanie:
 
It sounds like you are leaning towards BU. I would base this decision off of cost and where you would like to practice (midwest vs east coast).
 
Seahawks99 said:
BU vs. SLU....

Other than location (I'd probably rather live in Boston, closer to the coast), I think these schools are pretty similar, so will be nice to hear what others think. BU probably has a few more research opportunities and more established residencies, both are P/F, both are service-based and focus on the underserved populations in their respective cities. Both have good reputations for the clinical portion of the curriculum. BU I believe gets WAY more funding, and is also a little bigger of a campus. Any other thoughts? Any preferences?
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SLU is cheaper and St. Louis has milder weather than Boston. Plus it's cheaper.

Boston (the city) is better probably in every other way though.
 
If you made a poll for this thread, BU would have 50 votes and SLU would have 3. All three of those votes would come from current SLU students.
 
unhistoried said:
If you made a poll for this thread, BU would have 50 votes and SLU would have 3. All three of those votes would come from current SLU students.
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Also the people who are realistic about debt load.
 
yumaddoe said:
Also the people who are realistic about debt load.
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If you take total cost of attendance at both schools and calculate interest with Stafford and Grad PLUS loans, you're looking at a difference of ~$12k at graduation (~$353k @ BU vs. ~$341k @ SLU). That difference might expand to ~$20k if you don't make payments during residency.

Hopefully these people who are realistic about debt load don't think that difference is worth the opportunity costs of attending SLU over BU, especially if you prefer Boston over St. Louis.
 
unhistoried said:
If you take total cost of attendance at both schools and calculate interest with Stafford and Grad PLUS loans, you're looking at a difference of ~$12k at graduation (~$353k @ BU vs. ~$341k @ SLU). That difference might expand to ~$20k if you don't make payments during residency.

Hopefully these people who are realistic about debt load don't think that difference is worth the opportunity costs of attending SLU over BU, especially if you prefer Boston over St. Louis.
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-
 
unhistoried said:
If you take total cost of attendance at both schools and calculate interest with Stafford and Grad PLUS loans, you're looking at a difference of ~$12k at graduation (~$353k @ BU vs. ~$341k @ SLU). That difference might expand to ~$20k if you don't make payments during residency.

Hopefully these people who are realistic about debt load don't think that difference is worth the opportunity costs of attending SLU over BU, especially if you prefer Boston over St. Louis.
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Those aren't the numbers I got when I did the COA calculations. Housing in STL is alot cheaper than in Boston.

It will vary from person to person but for me SLU would be about 285k and BU about 345k.

And I have no family (to reduce housing cost) in either city so that's not a factor.


Edit: and those numbers are for a roommate at BU and living alone (what I prefer) at SLU so the SLU number could possibly be lower. Living alone while attending BU was way too expensive when I started to calculate it.
 
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yumaddoe said:
Those aren't the numbers I got when I did the COA calculations. Housing in STL is alot cheaper than in Boston.

It will vary from person to person but for me SLU would be about 285k and BU about 345k.

And I have no family (to reduce housing cost) in either city so that's not a factor.


Edit: and those numbers are for a roommate at BU and living alone (what I prefer) at SLU so the SLU number could possibly be lower. Living alone while attending BU was way too expensive when I started to calculate it.
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You're not calculating interest, and I didn't use whatever numbers I decided would fit my purpose. I used the school's posted COA. The Boston numbers are from my interview. SLU's numbers are from http://www.slu.edu/student-financial-services/cost-of-attendance.
 
Let's not worry about cost - it's not that important to me, and I'm not gonna make a decision based on what is chump change in the grand scheme of things. What other factors are there?
 
SLU seems like a really solid school. I didn't interview at BU so I can't really help you decide. Like you said though, the cost difference is probably not that big of a deal in the long run. If you are leaning towards BU you should probably go there. Best of luck.
 
I interviewed at both schools, and I definitely felt more impressed by BU than SLU. Plus, BU offers subsidized student housing for all M1's in their brand new residence hall, with completely furnished rooms ...that sounds like a great way to meet people, get together to study/not study, and get settled into the city and medical school.

Outside of the school, I think the city of Boston has more to offer... there are so many universities in the vicinity... plus you have the opportunity to work with medical students from Tufts and Harvard, and potentially collaborate with all sorts of professionals and students at other universities. And in your free time, hopping on a bus/train/plane to NYC doesn't sound too bad either 🙂
 
gocalbears2010 said:
I interviewed at both schools, and I definitely felt more impressed by BU than SLU. Plus, BU offers subsidized student housing for all M1's in their brand new residence hall, with completely furnished rooms ...that sounds like a great way to meet people, get together to study/not study, and get settled into the city and medical school.

Outside of the school, I think the city of Boston has more to offer... there are so many universities in the vicinity... plus you have the opportunity to work with medical students from Tufts and Harvard, and potentially collaborate with all sorts of professionals and students at other universities. And in your free time, hopping on a bus/train/plane to NYC doesn't sound too bad either 🙂
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Rent at the BU MSR is still more expensive than the majority of housing options at SLUSOM. Most SLUSOM students live in two areas near campus anyway so the MSR isn't a significantly better option for meeting people. I don't think having the opportunity to work with med students from other schools is a big deal; and even if it is, WashU is right by SLU so SLU/BU are equal in that regard.

But yea, Boston might be a more "fun" city, though STL really is quite awesome when you figure out how it works.

If money isn't a problem, BU is probably a better choice because of it's reputation especially along the east coast.

Edit: I also interviewed at both schools and I was actually pretty underwhelmed by BU. The only reason I haven't withdrawn is because of the school's reputation.
 
I liked BU more than SLU. I was just more impressed and excited by the the opportunities at BU and it's philosophy toward medicine, but I'll also admit upfront that my interview day experience was much better at BU than it was at SLU.


Yes, BU is more expensive than SLU, but the cost of attendance difference comes largely from Boston being an expensive, desirable place to live and Saint Louis being a cheap, not-so-desirable place to live (IMO, of course).
 
Out of these two I'd vote for BU; a big scholarship could change that though.
 
As others have said, if the cost is roughly the same or irrelevant, BU has more research opportunities and better clinical training. Most people would prefer to live in Boston as well.
 
alpinism said:
As others have said, if the cost is roughly the same or irrelevant, BU has more research opportunities and better clinical training. Most people would prefer to live in Boston as well.
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What makes you think that BU has better clinical training?
 
yumaddoe said:
What makes you think that BU has better clinical training?
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Yes, from my observation and what I've heard, I believe the quality of clinical training is pretty equal and similar at both schools...
 
mhh, I know you said "other than location" but in my mind, that's one of the most important things as a young person---(it's second to tuition). You can't beat heading out to Newbury, occasional pub night with your friends, checking out the Henley Regetta at Harvard, etc, etc, etc.

I don't know how you feel about this, but now that I'm an adult going to med school, I'm more keen on actually living an adult life and not feeling like I"m stuck to the same campus-bubble life I've hard before. If it's significantly cheaper---SLU (like 10k cheaper/yr). Otherwise, go boston!
 
yumaddoe said:
What makes you think that BU has better clinical training?
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BU does most of its clinical rotations at BMC, which is Boston's safety net city hospital (similar to LAC-USC or Cook County-Rush, very busy with lots of really sick patients and diverse pathology). Their catch phrase is "exceptional care without exception".

SLU is not a safety net hospital, and most St. Louis inner city patients are shared between WashU, SLU, and other area hospitals. SLU on the other hand is known for having a great geriatiric hospital.
 
alpinism said:
BU does most of its clinical rotations at BMC, which is Boston's safety net city hospital (similar to LAC-USC or Cook County-Rush, very busy with lots of really sick patients and diverse pathology). Their catch phrase is "exceptional care without exception".

SLU is not a safety net hospital, and most St. Louis inner city patients are shared between WashU, SLU, and other area hospitals. SLU on the other hand is known for having a great geriatiric hospital.
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By your argument, BU has better clinical education than Harvard, WashU, and most all the California schools since those schools don't have safety net city hospitals... The types of cases alone is not an indication of the quality of education/training.

Also, the argument can be made that medical students benefit from rotating somewhere that is representative of the real world distribution of disease. For example, if you're somewhere that only has extreme/rare cases, you won't learn how to deal with the more common stuff.

Edit: Perhaps the clinical training is better at BU than at SLU, but if it is, it isn't simply because BMC is a safety net hospital and SLU is not.
 
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yumaddoe said:
By your argument, BU has better clinical education than Harvard, WashU, and most all the California schools since those schools don't have safety net city hospitals... The types of cases alone is not an indication of the quality of education/training.

Also, the argument can be made that medical students benefit from rotating somewhere that is representative of the real world distribution of disease. For example, if you're somewhere that only has extreme/rare cases, you won't learn how to deal with the more common stuff.

Edit: Perhaps the clinical training is better at BU than at SLU, but if it is, it isn't simply because BMC is a safety net hospital and SLU is not.
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we follow ya home boy...you think slu is better and you don't feel the need to be objective about it. now leave it alone.

i interviewed at both and there's no way i'd attend slu over bu. the total cost is too close for that to come into consideration, and bu >> slu and boston >> st louis. the only plus for slu is the amount of snow boston gets.

but of course yumaddoe is going to reply to this and tell you why i'm wrong.
 
yumaddoe said:
Also, the argument can be made that medical students benefit from rotating somewhere that is representative of the real world distribution of disease. For example, if you're somewhere that only has extreme/rare cases, you won't learn how to deal with the more common stuff.
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this is the exact opposite of true. you'll see the bread and butter as a med student no matter where you go...guaranteed. seeing the zebras is where the money is because that's what's going to be tested disproportionately and it may be the only time you see a case until you're an attending (or ever if you go into a more technical field).

to the OP ... this is no contest....go to BU.

also: http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2012/10/19/forbes-ranks-st-louis-second-most-dangerous-city-in-america/
 
espagueti said:
we follow ya home boy...you think slu is better and you don't feel the need to be objective about it. now leave it alone.

i interviewed at both and there's no way i'd attend slu over bu. the total cost is too close for that to come into consideration, and bu >> slu and boston >> st louis. the only plus for slu is the amount of snow boston gets.

but of course yumaddoe is going to reply to this and tell you why i'm wrong.
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....I think you need to relax....
 
espagueti said:
we follow ya home boy...you think slu is better and you don't feel the need to be objective about it. now leave it alone.

i interviewed at both and there's no way i'd attend slu over bu. the total cost is too close for that to come into consideration, and bu >> slu and boston >> st louis. the only plus for slu is the amount of snow boston gets.

but of course yumaddoe is going to reply to this and tell you why i'm wrong.
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I still don't understand how people are coming up with total cost of slu and BU being even close. Maybe you guys just aren't aware how cheap STL is.

I've said before that Boston is probably the better city and that BU has the better reputation and research funding.

I didn't say that slu had better clinical training. I merely pointed out that the reasoning behind that one poster's argument was flawed. BU may very well have better clinical training, but it wouldn't be only because bmc is a safety net hospital.
 
skinMD said:
this is the exact opposite of true. you'll see the bread and butter as a med student no matter where you go...guaranteed. seeing the zebras is where the money is because that's what's going to be tested disproportionately and it may be the only time you see a case until you're an attending (or ever if you go into a more technical field).

to the OP ... this is no contest....go to BU.

also: http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2012/10/19/forbes-ranks-st-louis-second-most-dangerous-city-in-america/
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What does the crime rate have to do with anything? Would you tell someone to go to BU over WashU because STL is too dangerous?
 
yumaddoe said:
What does the crime rate have to do with anything? Would you tell someone to go to BU over WashU because STL is too dangerous?
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no but i might suggest someone go to harvard over washU because of that. if you can get into WashU you probably have other choices of similar caliber.
 
skinMD said:
no but i might suggest someone go to harvard over washU because of that. if you can get into WashU you probably have other choices of similar caliber.
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Ah ok point taken. I know BU is probably a better option than SLU, but for me the cost is unreasonable.. I see others have come up with numbers that make slu/bu COA pretty similar and for them I would recommend BU due to the city and the school's reputation.
 
SaintJude said:
mhh, I know you said "other than location" but in my mind, that's one of the most important things as a young person---(it's second to tuition). You can't beat heading out to Newbury, occasional pub night with your friends, checking out the Henley Regetta at Harvard, etc, etc, etc.

I don't know how you feel about this, but now that I'm an adult going to med school, I'm more keen on actually living an adult life and not feeling like I"m stuck to the same campus-bubble life I've hard before. If it's significantly cheaper---SLU (like 10k cheaper/yr). Otherwise, go boston!
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I only mentioned "other than location" because not only are the differences between the locations hugely obvious, opinions are also hugely biased since different people like different settings and are comfortable in different situations.

I also think crime rate is a big non-factor. I don't plan on getting involved in gangs or drug dealing, which is the major contributor to violent crime in most cities. And if you take away all of the nearly hundred thousand college students from Boston, the city becomes a lot more dangerous (though probably still not as bad as StL.)

Good point on the safety net nature of BMC, though I do not think that this fact alone makes for better clinical training.
 
Seahawks99 said:
I only mentioned "other than location" because not only are the differences between the locations hugely obvious, opinions are also hugely biased since different people like different settings and are comfortable in different situations.

I also think crime rate is a big non-factor. I don't plan on getting involved in gangs or drug dealing, which is the major contributor to violent crime in most cities. And if you take away all of the nearly hundred thousand college students from Boston, the city becomes a lot more dangerous (though probably still not as bad as StL.)

Good point on the safety net nature of BMC, though I do not think that this fact alone makes for better clinical training.
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Agree on all points.

If cost isn't an issue for you, BU is the better choice assuming you don't have any connection to stl/the Midwest.


Edit: another thing is transportation. Personally I really like having a car and driving. From what I understand, Boston is largely a public transport city and that's a big turnoff for me.
 
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