Harvard or Duke

[JohnHolmes]

Big in the belly???? Negative.

Duke is awesome, but I'm trying to sort out this financial aid and third year stuff. As you know, I asked about the whole MBA thing ... for certain reasons I prolly can't stay at Duke for this time... anyways, I was told that no out-of-duke MBAs have been approved in recent time to take the place of Fuqua, but people have been going to other universities for MPH or JDs (JHU and Yale, specifically). This worries me .... earlier today, I found out that IF this was approved (big if, apparently) then I would still pay 3rd year duke tuition and tuition to random MBA school (whomever is dumb enough to admit me) simultaneously. This made my mouth water ... the thought of taking out 80,000 dollars in loans in one academic year, 35,000 of those at the market rate (by far the most desired loan available). Since Im prolly gonna have to borrow the full cost of my attendance, this double-up-on tuition deal combined with the uncertainty of being able to leave Duke to pursue this degree are really important considerations...

CCW

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[omores]

Ugh. I see the problem. And you actually found that out from the registrar or financial aid office (i.e., a reputable source)? I had thought that they would have you pay full tuition to the business school, then grant you leave-of-abscence status or similar so you wouldn't have to pay Duke tuition as well. To do otherwise just sounds awfully cruel.

It likely wouldn't be a problem to get approval for an MBA somewhere else -- the Duke administration can sound a bit uppity when it comes to doing something that nobody else has done before, but as long as you had a good reason for doing so, went to an equivalent program, and filled out whatever paperwork was required, it'd almost certainly be fine. But I agree that double tuition would be a deal-breaker for Duke, no matter how much you liked the pen....

Wait to see what their financial aid package looks like, though. And in the meantime, best of luck at the Wash U scholarship interview. Though its educational approach is very different from Duke's, it seems to be an excellent school -- and they're sure to treat you well that weekend. They're good at that.

Re: big in the belly. I must have been wearing a voluminous sweater, then. I would have been about 8 months pregnant.

 

[elias514]

Let me get this straight. You're interested in pediatrics and you're deliberating between Harvard and Duke?! Both of these schools will leave you with an enormous debt. If I were you, I'd throw both of these schools out and take the cheapest route possible (your best bet would be Baylor--top 10 for peds and dirt cheap). Harvard and Duke are great medical schools, but there's no friggin way I'd incur 100K+ of debt and become a pediatrician.

 

[elias514]

In regards to Duke's curriculum (in particular the highly compressed preclinical time), it's not as great as you might think. The year of scholarly work is a great idea, but not at the expense of a full preclinical year. My friend is an medicine intern at Duke and he told me that Duke med students don't know crap on the wards. He claims that the preclinical curriculum is simply too compressed, too fast. The Duke students come onto the wards and don't know very much at all; in fact, the interns and residents always joke about how little the Dukies know, in spite of their brilliance. In the end it all works out. By 4th year, Duke med students pull it all together. But I still don't understand why Duke doesn't opt for a 5 year program instead, like Cleveland Clinic. One year of preclinical coursework is just insane.

 

[somekevinguy]

from what i've heard, duke's curriculum, although compressed, still leaves their students fairly well prepared for the wards...but then again, this is coming from Duke med students who don't have other experiences to compare theirs with....but i think obviously, the system must work if they've been doing it for over 20 years with consistently good results (ie great doctors coming from duke year in and year out). Also, it's not THAT compressed since Duke has a much longer first year than most other schools.

Finally, as far as the debt thing...im hoping hms' financial aid could help with that and with duke- ya probably wanna read the rest of the thread.

 

[TommyGunn04]

Originally posted by elias514
My friend is an medicine intern at Duke and he told me that Duke med students don't know crap on the wards. He claims that the preclinical curriculum is simply too compressed, too fast. The Duke students come onto the wards and don't know very much at all; in fact, the interns and residents always joke about how little the Dukies know, in spite of their brilliance. In the end it all works out. By 4th year, Duke med students pull it all together. But I still don't understand why Duke doesn't opt for a 5 year program instead, like Cleveland Clinic. One year of preclinical coursework is just insane.

Perhaps Duke students don't know as much when they first start on the wards, but they definitely catch up! But don't take my word for it, take it from the residency directors who love to take Duke grads...you should see the match list from this year! Why make it a 5 year program when 4 makes Duke grads some of the best??? And what makes you think 3rd year students at other schools are more prepared when they start on the wards at other schools? You could do 5 years of only pre-clinical work and still be lost when you start on the wards...it's a whole new world! I bet if your intern friend were somewhere else he'd be saying the same thing about the students. Just a thought...

 

[elias514]

My intern friend based his conclusion regarding Duke med students' preparedness for the wards on his own experience as a med student at a middle tier med school. So I know, at the very least, that med students at my friend's alma mater are better prepared for the wards than Dukies. Does this mean that med students from other medical schools with traditional, 2-yr preclinical curricula are in better shape for the wards than Duke med students? I don't know. I'm just relaying one person's evaluation of Duke med students on the wards.