Rush vs Tulane

[what if?]

Hey everyone! Right now I am having a hard time deciding between Rush and Tulane. They both have very similar missions of community-based health and public service which is what I am really interested in. I’m currently interested in working in some form of primary care with a public health focus long term. I am not from either location and both are equal distance travel from home for me.

Rush​

Pro

• Cheaper ($54,000 baseline tuition)
• Given small scholarship though only a couple thousand and am waiting to hear back about potential others
• Service and Community Health based
• Extensive community service opportunities (maybe slightly more than Tulane?)
• Family Medicine Leadership Program (considering this as an option though wouldn’t find out until after my decision is made)
• Large Metro Area appeals to me coming from a more rural background
• Diverse Patient Population
• Seems to have some strong research going on (though seemed like slightly less than Tulane)
• Cook County Hospital
• P/F preclinical years

Cons

• New Curriculum is a concern for me since their first year doing it has just taken STEP 1 and haven't received scores.
• More expensive COL although pretty marginal from what I can see.
• No friends in the area
• No public health program (would need to take a 5th year at a different institution)
• Seems slightly more unknown outside of Chicago.

Tulane​

Pros

• Have some friends in the area so have a small support system
• Service and Community Health focused
• Public Health Opportunities at Tulane (4 year MD/MPH is a big plus for me)
• Diverse Patient Population
• TON of student run clinics
• Debakey Scholars Program so will have plenty of research opportunities
• Seems to carry more “Name recognition”
• P/F (though with internal quartile ranks)
• Really relaxed student body
• New Orleans is a fun and unique city.

Cons

• $64,000 baseline tuition is a major bummer (haven’t gotten financial aid but honestly not expecting much)
• A good of chunk of the facilities were not as nice as Rush’s
• Not as large of a city and most of the state outside of the city does not appeal to me much

Honestly I’m so torn. I can see myself being happy at either school and both will get me to what my current goals are. Both have good matches into specialties and locations that I would be interested in.

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[deleted966008]

I vote RUSH. Also to counter your point I would actually say the opposite is true - RUSH is extremely well known, perhaps above the school’s rank, in the medical community because the hospital is nationally renowned.

 

[ArdorAyurveda]

How do you feel about winters?

At Rush, you will go through harsh winters.

At Tulane, you sweat buckets from April - December.

What does your gut say?

 

[what if?]

I vote RUSH. Also to counter your point I would actually say the opposite is true - RUSH is extremely well known, perhaps above the school’s rank, in the medical community because the hospital is nationally renowned.

Really? I knew they were pretty similar but I thought Tulane was ranked slightly higher than Rush by program directors (48 for Tulane and 65 for Rush). I know Cook County hospital would be amazing to train at but I also know Tulane has some great clinical opportunities as well. That's why I keep going back and forth so much I guess. Thanks for the reply!

 

[what if?]

How do you feel about winters?

At Rush, you will go through harsh winters.

At Tulane, you sweat buckets from April - December.

What does your gut say?

Thanks for the reply!

I mean I'm from the rocky mountain region so I have plenty of experience with the cold though slightly different and maybe not as intense as Chicago. I've also spent quite a bit of time in New Orleans at all times of year so I know the heat that I'd be getting into during the summer.

To be honest I thought my gut was saying Tulane until my second look day at Rush. Now I'm not so sure. I guess I really need to do some soul searching over the next week.

 

[deleted966008]

Really? I knew they were pretty similar but I thought Tulane was ranked slightly higher than Rush by program directors (48 for Tulane and 65 for Rush). I know Cook County hospital would be amazing to train at but I also know Tulane has some great clinical opportunities as well. That's why I keep going back and forth so much I guess. Thanks for the reply!

I was commenting on the hospital itself, not the residency or clinical training which I admittedly don’t know as much about.

I don’t think either school is substantially better than the other but they are different. I just picked RUSH for my own bias of Chicago over Nola.

 

[Pharaoh95]

Rush's new curriculum would be a deal breaker for me. For that reason I vote Tulane.

 

[puahate]

Leaning towards Tulane.