Hello! I’m very fortunate to have been accepted to both RVC (4 year) and Glasgow, and was offered an interview invite for Tufts, my IS. I only applied to 3 schools this cycle, so I’m treating Tufts as an acceptance for the purpose of this post.
I am mainly looking for the pros and cons of each program as an individual school, and against each other. Any insight would be great!
Hey! So I'm not familiar with the UK programs, but I can chat about Tufts.
The program itself is fast-paced. Communications are a little disorganized. We finish didactics in February of third year, and start clinics in March of third year.
We have hands-on clinical skills courses that span all of first and second year; some people like them, some people don't. I'm kind of in between; it's nice we get to do some hands-on work with animals. I got to volunteer in the wildlife hospital in second semester of first year, but I had to skip classes to do that. And I'm lined up to work in a department of the normal hospital this semester. So there are lots of opportunities to build your experience while you attend school; just choose those opportunities wisely. I like our selectives program, but it's lotto-based, so I had to design some of my own. You can also work full-time over the summer. If you're willing to dedicate a day per week to career building, work etc - having the metro area so close allows for networking and opens up a lot of opportunities.
Cons: Tuition. I don't regret choosing Tufts, but the price tag is pretty intense. You'll get a little break as an in-state, but still. I find the location isolating; I do get out to Boston and southern Maine probably more than most of my peers, but if you live by school, you're still waking up in a very rural environment each day. Some people like that, so it depends on the person. Additionally, cost of living is pretty intense too, but since you're IS I'm guessing you're probably familiar with that and all of the above.
Schedule can often be unclear. No guarantee that you'll get opportunities in the branch of medicine that you're interested in - need to seek them out or create them yourself - though I suspect that's true in many schools/situations.
