BU vs. State School

[ksbxc112]

Hi everyone, posting this question in a bit more general format than I did a few months ago. Hoping to generate some more responses/opinions. This question is giving me a lot of trouble because BU seems to be one of those schools that is "good," but is it good enough to warrant the price tag? Especially when compared to a much more affordable, yet less prestigious option?

Boston University
PROS:
-In an awesome city (an area I'd love to end up in)
-Fantastic matches to highly-ranked programs in all specialties
-Well-ranked (#29)
-Good clinical experience at BMC
-P/F curriculum
-Strong research opportunities in the area
-SO lives in Boston

CONS:
-The PRICE (~400,000 over 4 years, no aid and no parental assistance)
-Expensive cost of living in Boston as well
-Far from family
-Outdated curriculum and facilities

State School
PROS:
-About 200,000 over 4 years
-Very close to family
-Very good clinical experience as the only med school in the area (med students are known to be much more hands-on during rotations)
-Students seem very happy
-Integrated curriculum

CONS
-Lower ranked (below T50)
-Far from SO
-Graded curriculum
-Less research opportunities than Boston (though there's still enough to do research)
-May be more difficult to match to a higher-ranked academic program (a handful of students from past years have matched to good academic programs, but this could be complicated by the Step 1 change)

Basically, is BU (or any good but not T10 program) worth it over a much more affordable option? Any and all opinions welcome!

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[The wise one]

Go to BU. It's worth it since step 1 score will no longer be reported coming Jan 2022. If I may, what specialty are you interested in?

 

[ksbxc112]

Go to BU. It's worth it since step 1 score will no longer be reported coming Jan 2022. If I may, what specialty are you interested in?

I’d like to go into heme/onc in an academic setting!

 

[MrPooperScooper]

Depends on which specialty you’re interested in. Going to BU will give you a much greater advantage into matching in the Northeast to a competitive speciality. Not saying you can’t do it via your state school, but it will be much more of an uphill battle

 

[The wise one]

Yeah, go BU.

I’d like to go into heme/onc in an academic setting!

 

[Engrailed]

Depends on where your state school is, but there are lots of great heme/onc programs in the Northeast. BU would definitely help in that regard.

Then again, $200K is a lot of money so I would say to pursue BU if you are certain about considering a competitive field where rank does count (even if marginally so).

 

[ksbxc112]

Depends on where your state school is, but there are lots of great heme/onc programs in the Northeast. BU would definitely help in that regard.

Then again, $200K is a lot of money so I would say to pursue BU if you are certain about considering a competitive field where rank does count (even if marginally so).

Thanks so much for your input! My state school is in the Southeast and does send a decent number of people to competitive residencies in that area (Duke/Vandy/WashU/Emory, etc). I know it’s always a risk, but do you think if I saved the money and then ended up in one of those programs for IM, I’d have the ability to match for heme/onc fellowship back in the northeast? Or would the regional bias of a lesser known medical school follow me that far?

 

[DirtyNewYorker]

I’d like to go into heme/onc in an academic setting!

If Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is still around at the time you graduate (huge IF), then you'd hit the jackpot by going into BU and then entering into an Income-Based Repayment plan through PSLF. You could significantly reduce the amount of money that you'd have to pay back by hundreds of thousands. (Most academic hospitals would qualify for a PSLF payment)

If it's not, then immediately refinance your loans. It will make it much easier to pay back any accrued interest during your 3year residency and 3-year fellowship. Once you become an Heme/Onc attending, you can aggressively pay back your loans for a period of 3-4 years, and be debt-free.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

$200K with interest will be probably $300K after 7 years and how aggressively you can pay depends on your lifestyle. I would go with state school since you are saying they have good matches to southern top schools.

 

[MazKanata]

Hi everyone, posting this question in a bit more general format than I did a few months ago. Hoping to generate some more responses/opinions. This question is giving me a lot of trouble because BU seems to be one of those schools that is "good," but is it good enough to warrant the price tag? Especially when compared to a much more affordable, yet less prestigious option?

Boston University
PROS:
-In an awesome city (an area I'd love to end up in)
-Fantastic matches to highly-ranked programs in all specialties
-Well-ranked (#29)
-Good clinical experience at BMC
-P/F curriculum
-Strong research opportunities in the area
-SO lives in Boston

CONS:
-The PRICE (~400,000 over 4 years, no aid and no parental assistance)
-Expensive cost of living in Boston as well
-Far from family
-Outdated curriculum and facilities

State School
PROS:
-About 200,000 over 4 years
-Very close to family
-Very good clinical experience as the only med school in the area (med students are known to be much more hands-on during rotations)
-Students seem very happy
-Integrated curriculum

CONS
-Lower ranked (below T50)
-Far from SO
-Graded curriculum
-Less research opportunities than Boston (though there's still enough to do research)
-May be more difficult to match to a higher-ranked academic program (a handful of students from past years have matched to good academic programs, but this could be complicated by the Step 1 change)

Basically, is BU (or any good but not T10 program) worth it over a much more affordable option? Any and all opinions welcome!

BU is not a good school to go for hem/onc, and they don't support research as much as many other schools and student well being is certainly not at the top of their list, and neither is producing academic physicians. The only reason they have a good match list is because they are in Boston and there are other much more prestigious institutions in the area, though that also means there is a competition for placement for clinical rotations, many students vow not to do their residency training anywhere near BU, it is not a happy place to get an education.