Northwestern vs BU

[Veryluckyguy]

Hi everyone, I have been accepted to Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine and Boston University School of Medicine. I would appreciate any advice on selecting the school that will best prepare me for the future.

Here are some pros/cons that I have identified:

Northwestern:
+ Pass/Fail (unranked?) for the first 2 years
+ Chicago
+ "Prestige" as it is a perennial top 20 med school
+ New curriculum
+ Not much time in class/lecture

- It seems that many students match in IL or CA
- There's a lot of PBL
- Costs a bit more than BU

BU
+ Pass/Fail unranked for the first 2 years
+ Boston!
+ Plenty of research opportunities in the area (BU, Tufts, Harvard)
+ Easier to do away rotations at Harvard affiliated hospitals
+ Higher likelihood of matching in the East Coast/Boston (Harvard?)

- BU is considered to be a "mid-tier" program (Ranked #30)... Concerned if this will affect me during residency applications

At this point, I'm leaning toward BU because I eventually want to end up in the East Coast and like the plethora of research opportunities available in the Boston area. However, I want to ensure that my choice won't impact my chances at garnering interviews at top-tier residency programs.

Lastly, I'm not too fixated on the cost differential between the two schools. I am already ~200k in debt from undergrad, so the slight difference between BU and Northwestern doesn't matter too much. Looks like I have to live very frugally for the next decade though haha.

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[darkjedi]

Hi everyone, I have been accepted to Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine and Boston University School of Medicine. I would appreciate any advice on selecting the school that will best prepare me for the future.

Here are some pros/cons that I have identified:

Northwestern:
+ Pass/Fail (unranked?) for the first 2 years
+ Chicago
+ "Prestige" as it is a perennial top 20 med school
+ New curriculum
+ Not much time in class/lecture

- It seems that many students match in IL or CA
- There's a lot of PBL
- Costs a bit more than BU

BU
+ Pass/Fail unranked for the first 2 years
+ Boston!
+ Plenty of research opportunities in the area (BU, Tufts, Harvard)
+ Easier to do away rotations at Harvard affiliated hospitals
+ Higher likelihood of matching in the East Coast/Boston (Harvard?)

- BU is considered to be a "mid-tier" program (Ranked #30)... Concerned if this will affect me during residency applications

At this point, I'm leaning toward BU because I eventually want to end up in the East Coast and like the plethora of research opportunities available in the Boston area. However, I want to ensure that my choice won't impact my chances at garnering interviews at top-tier residency programs.

Lastly, I'm not too fixated on the cost differential between the two schools. I am already ~200k in debt from undergrad, so the slight difference between BU and Northwestern doesn't matter too much. Looks like I have to live very frugally for the next decade though haha.

Prestige difference between BU and Northwestern is minuscule. If you want to wind up practicing on the East Coast, you should go to BU. Any potential prestige bump from being at NW would be completely wiped out by being removed from where you hope to end up and may actually hurt you as it will take significantly more effort to rotate where you want to.

 

[KinasePro]

Prestige difference between BU and Northwestern is minuscule. If you want to wind up practicing on the East Coast, you should go to BU. Any potential prestige bump from being at NW would be completely wiped out by being removed from where you hope to end up and may actually hurt you as it will take significantly more effort to rotate where you want to.

Sorry, but this advice is entirely inaccurate. NW is more prestigious than BU on many levels. If you get a chance to speak with some M4's who recently matched, many will tell you that med school prestige actually is extremely important at the top programs in each field (despite SDN dogma that it doesn't matter).

NW also has stronger residency programs across the board. BU has no top tier residency programs that I am aware of, northwestern has multiple (urology, ortho, IM, etc...).

You will have no trouble matching on the east coast from either school.

All that being said, you really can't go wrong here. I'd personally pick NW for prestige + better home residencies + location, but I could see why people would be attracted to training at BMC + living in Boston. Just my $0.02.

 

[alpinism]

Your chances of matching at a good program (Harvard?) on the east coast will likely be a little better from NW. Also, you'll have plenty of research opportunities in Chicago between NW/Rush/UChicago. That being said, you'll prob get better clinical training at BMC.

If you don't mind the extra PBL or the increased cost, NW is the better school all other things being equal.

 

[11MD2B]

Your chances of matching at a good program (Harvard?) on the east coast will likely be a little better from NW. Also, you'll have plenty of research opportunities in Chicago between NW/Rush/UChicago. That being said, you'll prob get better clinical training at BMC.

If you don't mind the extra PBL or the increased cost, NW is the better school all other things being equal.

Doesn't better clinical training = better medical school? You are training to be a doctor, not wearing prestigious robes. Both are great schools but BU's clinical reputation is well known. Best of luck and congrats

 

[disorder]

Doesn't better clinical training = better medical school? You are training to be a doctor, not wearing prestigious robes. Both are great schools but BU's clinical reputation is well known. Best of luck and congrats

"clinical training" is a BS argument when it comes to MEDICAL school education.

better clinical training = better residency.

i say this because the onus on learning comes down to the individual student. yes, even during the clinical years.

edit- go to NW. prestige.

 

[byaaaaaaah23]

I think you should be considering money more as a factor here. You already have so much debt that I would think you would want to minimize this moving forward ($500k?? Really?).

Don't forget to include cost of living in your $$ analysis-- I have no idea if these cities are equally expensive but it's something to think about.

Since you find them to be equal in most other ways (relative prestige, grading schemes, city living), curriculum and money would be my next most important factors, with curriculum trumping all else I think. How much more PBL does NW have? Both schools will provide you relatively similar clinical training-- how are the clinical years graded at both schools? Definitely easier to do away rotations at other Boston hospitals if you're already in Boston, but I don't think you would have a significant problem matching in Boston from NW.

 

[pachewisc]

Northwestern:
- It seems that many students match in IL or CA
- There's a lot of PBL
- Costs a bit more than BU

BU
- BU is considered to be a "mid-tier" program (Ranked #30)... Concerned if this will affect me during residency applications

... I eventually want to end up in the East Coast and like the plethora of research opportunities available in the Boston area.

Lastly, I'm not too fixated on the cost differential between the two schools.

^ Here's essentially how I read your statement since a number of the pros were the same for both schools.

So (A) money doesn't matter, (B) BU is in the region you want to go for residency, and (C) BU's only negative is it has less prestige? You're not comparing a lower tier to an upper tier here. BU is no slouch, and you clearly prefer it over NW based on your list for Pros/Cons. Plus, that you straight up say that you're leaning towards BU. Both programs will get you into great residencies, but it seems fairly straight forward that you should go to BU.

 

[darkjedi]

Sorry, but this advice is entirely inaccurate. NW is more prestigious than BU on many levels. If you get a chance to speak with some M4's who recently matched, many will tell you that med school prestige actually is extremely important at the top programs in each field (despite SDN dogma that it doesn't matter).

NW also has stronger residency programs across the board. BU has no top tier residency programs that I am aware of, northwestern has multiple (urology, ortho, IM, etc...).

You will have no trouble matching on the east coast from either school.

All that being said, you really can't go wrong here. I'd personally pick NW for prestige + better home residencies + location, but I could see why people would be attracted to training at BMC + living in Boston. Just my $0.02.

I am definitely not arguing that prestige matters, believe me, I'm just saying the difference between BU and NW is not significant enough to warrant moving out to the midwest if the OP's intention is to practice on the east coast. BU is still within throwing distance from all the Harvard hospitals, making away rotations there significantly easier. New York is also very close with a ton of great hospitals there too.