Deciding between Cornell and Tufts...

[karey]

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I'm having a hard time deciding between Cornell and Tufts. What do people think about these two schools as far as curriculum, teaching style and life style?

 

[jglovicz]

I've heard really great things about Cornell (and it's teaching style which is partially problem-based learning). Congratulations. You have landed in a win-win situation!

 

[twelvetigers]

Yeah, really. Both are great. You visited both, I presume... so which one gave you that warm, fuzzy feeling?

 

[eatpinkpenguins]

I can't say much about the curriculums, but I went to Cornell for undergrad and can tell you that it is definitely a collegetown and mostly about the undergrads. The vet school is (as most are) mostly women, and the law and business schools are really small (the med school is in nyc), so I never heard much about a great grad student life. THere is one bar in collegetown that most grad students flock to. (The Chapter House). Then again, if you already have a SO or plan to be involved with the vet school most of the time, Ithaca is GORGES and has lots of organic food, outdoorsy stuff, really safe, lots of research, etc. There are good restaurants in the Commons, but it is FAR from NYC. THere is no train, only buses. Lots of hills. Lots of people who are there because they care about what they are doing. I visited Tufts and am also considering it, and for me it has the plus of being 55 min from Boston and not competing with undergrads for any resources on campus. (You need to pay to use Cornell's gym and it's pretty crappy, but the vet school has it's own library which I hear is really nice). Tufts has a new gym, own library, etc. Cornell is nearly all PBL and Tufts only has on PBL course each semester. I'm not an expert, but I think Cornell's large animal program, especially dairy, is a lot bigger than Tufts. There are large teaching herds, sheep, and swine. The tufts large animal area seemed smaller to me. I think Tufts is only 30 or so years old. Cornell is higher ranked; I'm not sure how this would impact the job/residency hunt later on. The faculty I met with at Tufts seemed to really care about students though. They also encourage you to do a thesis at Tufts. Tufts also has the intl med, conservation, etc signature programs. Honestly, they are both EXCELLENT schools, especially if you like cold weather, and progressive, beautiful, safe areas, and small class sizes! Lastly, you could get away with not having a car at either one, but definitely for getting food at Cornell, you're much better off with one. I hear it's the same thing at Tufts. Good luck with your choice! I'm sure $$ will prob play a large role too. I'm curious to hear what other's say. I hope this is helpful! 🙂

 

[lunazzurra]

I wish I had this problem.

 

[Ben and Me]

I've heard that Cornell has a smallish caseload...but who knows where I heard that from or even if it's accurate...just something to look into further, perhaps.

 

[prevet09]

i'm also highly look at tufts (and i think probably purdue, if i get in). what does doing a thesis mean? does it give you honors or something or look better for future jobs? are there ramifications for not doing it? (ex. at my undergrad, i am not graduating w/honors b/c i didn't want to write a thesis, even though my GPA is high enough)

 

[sambone]

Karey - did you go to the Cornell info session? They did mock tutorials of the PBL curriculum, which I found extremely helpful. I don't know much about Tufts, but I think each school has a very different curriculum - which one will work better for you? To me, the most important things were cost and then curriculum, and the Cornell curriculum really really appeals to me.

 

[banditalfi]

Just to address a few of the points that have been brought up...

First and foremost, I would go where it is cheaper. They are both great schools, you will get a good education either way, and tens of thousands of dollars will really make a big difference in the long run.

That being said, this is why I love Cornell:
- AMAZING faculty. This is really shown off during Block I where every faculty member knows who you are. I don't have a problem asking any professor about any issue during Block I, even if it is not their field - they make an effort to stay with the material as we go through it and are wonderful. I can't say enough good things.
- Tutor group! There is a huge misconception that you go to tutor group and then everything is thrown at you and you have to learn everything on your own. I cannot emphasize enough how much that is not the case. There are lectures and labs that give you all the information you need to know. If you don't get it in lecture or lab, then you don't need to know it. That being said, a learning issue might be something like, "what layers would you go through if you were performing procedure x on a cow." So you get to look up that procedure and then be like "oh it's on the ventral abdomen so I would go though x, y, and z." Does that make sense? Or "follow a drop of lymph from a to b" and you know all the vessels from your lectures, but now you need to think about how lymph gets back into circulation... or something. I would NOT say Cornell is "nearly all PBL". It's in two of our core courses and makes up a TINY (but amazing) part of them.
- Despite what is said, there is a grad life. That being said, yes Ithaca is a college town and, yes, the vet school isn't spoken much about on the rest of campus... but we don't talk about them either. There are a ton of functions within vet school to go to and be social. And there is grad school happy hour - for grad students only - each week if you want to see some new faces.

Hmmm... there was more I wanted to say, but there are finals coming up. If you have any other questions feel free to PM me or post.

 

[kristininboston]

I'm having the same problem! I've been putting off a decision until the schools give us info on financial aid, but it seems like Cornell and Tufts would offer me approximately the same amount of scholarship money - I'm IS for Tufts, but MA cut the IS stipend for Tufts this year, so that won't really make a difference.
For a variety of reasons I'll probably end up going to Tufts - my SO has a fantastic job in Boston, we have family nearby, Tufts has a much larger caseload - but I LOVED Cornell when I visited. It'll be a tough choice.
At least there's a month left for deliberations...let me know what you decide, and why.

 

[tpad40]

I stumbled across this thread from 2007:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=5052895#post5052895

Thought it might have some more info. Congrats on having two fantastic choices, can't go wrong!

 

[karey]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Can anyone at Tufts verify that there's some kind of social life there? One of the things I loved about Cornell was the fact that the students seemed to hang out together, play IM sports, go out on weekends, etc., but my tour guide at Tufts made it sound like everyone pretty much goes to class and then goes home, maybe with a night at the bars (whatever bars may be in the Grafton area) once in a while. A few snippets of our conversations:

Me: Sweet, a basketball court. Do you guys have regular games?
Guide: I've never really seen anyone playing there.
Me: Nice, a pool table and foosball table in the lounge. Do people hang out here?
Guide: Not really.
Me: So do you guys go out on weekends?
Guide: I guess sometimes.

This was scary to me. I like to do things other than studying and sleeping, so I just want to make sure that this tour guide was the exception rather than the rule at Tufts. Right now Cornell has the edge partially because I feel like the quality outside of class might be considerably higher. Obviously this is just one of many factors though.

 

[Cowyakkin]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Can anyone at Tufts verify that there's some kind of social life there? One of the things I loved about Cornell was the fact that the students seemed to hang out together, play IM sports, go out on weekends, etc., but my tour guide at Tufts made it sound like everyone pretty much goes to class and then goes home, maybe with a night at the bars (whatever bars may be in the Grafton area) once in a while. A few snippets of our conversations:

Me: Sweet, a basketball court. Do you guys have regular games?
Guide: I've never really seen anyone playing there.
Me: Nice, a pool table and foosball table in the lounge. Do people hang out here?
Guide: Not really.
Me: So do you guys go out on weekends?
Guide: I guess sometimes.

This was scary to me. I like to do things other than studying and sleeping, so I just want to make sure that this tour guide was the exception rather than the rule at Tufts. Right now Cornell has the edge partially because I feel like the quality outside of class might be considerably higher. Obviously this is just one of many factors though.

I too would love to know the answer to this question!! I got the sense that Tufts has a slightly older student body and because people are spread out over the various towns surrounding the school and out into Boston the social scene is a little less centralized.

Question: How hard is it to get involved with the International Med program at Tufts? Do you have to apply to get in and what requirements do they have beyond the regular curriculum?

As a note, the Penn vs. Tufts thread has a nice breakdown of the pros and cons for Tufts for those who haven't seen it...