Duke vs. BU

[just another pre-med]

Hi everyone,

I currently hold acceptances to both Duke and BU. My career goals are to work with underserved populations and I am very interested in primary care, community health, and addressing health disparities. Here are some pros and cons of each school:

Duke

Pros:
-Amazing facilities
-The friendliest students I met this application cycle
-The best feeling of "community" among students
-Smaller class size
-Great reputation
-One year preclin!! I cannot wait to start clinical training and the idea of only having to study books intensely for one more year is really exciting (even if it will intense!)

Cons:
-Smaller town/not an urban environment
-No family nearby (most from the West Coast)

BU

Pros:
-The mission of the school is so closely catered toward my own career goals; there is a huge focus on serving the underserved and service learning
-BMC: the safety net hospital for the area ("exceptional care without exception"); I feel like this would be a truly unique and valuable place to train
-Boston! The school is in the exact urban type of setting I was hoping to be in for my 4 years of medical school (I grew up in a small town and went to college in a small town...it'd be nice to be somewhere different!)
-I have some family in Boston

Cons:
-Cost of living
-Reputation is not as high as Duke
-Class size is large; I didn't get as much sense of community among students when I visited
-2 year pre-clinical
-Facilities are much older

Eventually for residency I would like to come back to the West coast...I'm not sure if going to Duke or BU would be best for matching back to this region.

Thank you all for the help!!!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Cytarabine]

How important is being close to your Boston family to you, and what's the tuition at both? Would you be living with Boston family in Boston? If not, and if it isn't critically important to be near the Boston family as a support group, Duke sounds like a winner to me

 

[omnxbeast]

Duke without a question. Not only are the opportunities and reputation substantially greater, you will be happier there for the very reasons you mention above. Furthermore, it will probably be cheaper. I could continue, but I feel like this simply isn't a question

 

[Nymphicus]

Based on your list of pros and cons, I would pick Duke. You can likely utilize protected research time for community, policy, and disparities focused research. Their match list is consistently stronger than BU.

The only advantages to BU would be proximity to family.

 

[piii]

Duke. For all the resources and reputation. My GF interviewed there and it seems like such a great program. BU is great too though, but after 4 years at Duke you'll be able to go where ever you want, to Boston and beyond.

 

[Australopithekus]

Don't overthink this one.