BU vs UCSD

[Godspeed]

I am choosing betwwen BU and UCSD. Apparently, UCSD is ranked higher (US News-though it is not absolutely right!) and less expensive than BU. However, at BU I was unofficially told that I will receive some scholarship that will cover part of my tuition. In addition, I heard that BU is pretty strong in clinical training. I also realize that Boston is a great place with many excellent hospitals such as Mass Gen hospital, Dana-farber Hospital , Children hospital, ect. They (again according to US News) are ranked as one of the best US hospitals ( some are ranked even higher than med hospital or centers in CA!).
I guess my question is if it is worth to go to Boston, where I can explore the whole new world ( I have lived in CA for long enough..)?

Any inputs?

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[Jeffy]

Unless the BU scholarship beats the in-state tuition at UCSD, its hard to argue against UCSD. I tend to forget how great the beaches and weather are in southern ca all of the time. It wasn't until I spent a summer at Penn State doing research that I realized how pissed I would be if I gave up living in ca for medical school. I dunno about you, but I don't ever wanna have to deal with snow.

 

[mellantro]

UCSD hands down in my opinion.

 

[zer0el]

short answer: No it's not worth it to go to BU.

most of the hospitals you mentioned are affiliated with harvard and so you will not rotate through them as a 3rd year. unless you have some obsession with boston and you get close to a full scholarship at BU, i wouldn't consider it if i were you. in all likelihood, ucsd will be cheaper.

the clinical training you'll receive at BU is not that much better than what you'll get at UCSD. ucsd is more respected nationally by residency directors than BU.

let's put it this way. ucsd is a better school for a better price and (arguably) in a better location. if you absolutely cannot stand cali, then go to BU. otherwise go to ucsd.

 

[PelicanMan]

I disagree with all of the other posters.

I have also been accepted to a state school half the cost of BU and I have decided on BU. Granted that UCSD is much better than my state school.

I think Boston is a unique place to be a medical student. First of all Boston has a quarter of a million students. There are three medical schools in boston and a ton of great hospitals. While Mass. General is a Harvard hospital. BUMC is ranked as one of the top 100 hospitals in the country. The thing I like about BUMC is that the patients that are treated are mostly poor and uninsured. In addition there is a ton of diversity in the patient population in the south end of boston. I don't know much about UCSD, but I do know that you shouldn't make your decision on the price of the school.

The things that made me pick BU over my state school is: Pass/Fail, summer research program, great clinical training, location, international electives in the 4th year.

Well I think you have been accepted to two great medical schools. So regardless of where you choose to go you will get a good education. I just think that location is important. It is for me. By the way I live in Florida. So I will be moving to cold weather and I dont' care. I have had enough of this messed up state.

 

[Godspeed]

Thanks for the inputs from Pelicanman and others.
I guess it is a win/win situation. I will be happy to go to either school.
Also, I don't trust US News'ranking. I just reread the UCSD package that I got on my interview day there. There are 2 articles discussing about the UCSD ranking on US News. The first article said very good thing about UCSD, moving from 24th to 20th, ect.Te second article said that UCSD ranking was the product of the flawed system. Then, the Dean of Ad also commented that the US News ranking is not absolutely right. They pointed out the research fundings for Harvard and other top ten schools and compared them with the research fundings for UCSD, ect. Overall, they sounded like they believed that UCSD was better than other top 10 med schools. Having said that, I would bet you guys that a typical med appicant would say that the top 10 school ranked by the US news are better than UCSD. That med appicant would probably go for the higher ranked med school. Somehow, I kind of really sicked of the whole ranking system. It is so misleading and the point is that should you follow that or not. I just throw out my thoughts!
Either school will be fine with me. I think I will go to the school that I feel happier with. Thanks for all inputs.

 

[Dr2B2009]

Growth occurs when you step outside of your box or your comfort zone of familiarity and dare to experience new things. I know that sounds really corny, but attending school in an area that is unlike what you are used to will offer you new experiences. I would say go to BU simply because it's probably completely different that Cali.

 

[Joe Joe on da Radio]

ucsd is at #16 in the rankings now if i remember correctly. they've made a huge jump over the past few years, and i bet they'll be a top-10 school in the near future.

also, keep in mind that you can do your away rotations/electives in boston if that city appeals to you so much.

 

[Jalby]

I wouldn't consider BU unless the scholarship gets you within 5K per year of UCSD. UCSD has a lot of great thigns about it, but also quite a few bad things. BU on the other hand, is consistantly in the middle ground.

 

[biobossx99]

What was BU's financial aid package that you got?

BU offerred me a 33,000K package, but that exhausted the laons\workstudy\grant options.

That meant I had to somehow get 7k a year, most likely from expensive loans.

Even with an EFC of $35 a year and that much aid, I still couldn't get enough aid to attend a private school.

So it would actually cost me about 8k more even though BU gave me a better aid package.

Pound for pound, I think UCSD is the better school