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Hey just wondering how the medical world views Tufts. I've read the US News rankings and I know Tufts isnt that high, but I know those rankings are not really reflective of reality. Input? Thanks
tufts is quite prestigious in the new england area.
+1. my doctor at beth israel was helping me choose between med schools, and he thought tufts was something like new england's vanderbilt (his words, not mine)
I don't think that's accurate. Boston has a ton of hospitals, and it's really sort of oversaturated with academic medicine. Unfortunately, Tufts has the problem of being overshadowed by the Harvard giants like MGH, Brigham and BID. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great school, the faculty is great and its location allows for you to do rotations at some amazing hospitals. However, it's not as well-known or as well-respected because of Harvard's presence in Boston. At least that has been my experience with the place.
+1. my doctor at beth israel was helping me choose between med schools, and he thought tufts was something like new england's vanderbilt (his words, not mine)
i agree with LET. this makes no sense. having grown up in massachusetts, i can say for sure that while tufts certainly does not have a bad reputation, it is overshadowed definitely by harvard and maybe by BU.
so in the general public, i'd say tufts is not very prestigious. in the medical world i obviously have less of a sense... but the overshadowing business is still true.
and JJ-- had you not heard of tufts as a university at all? that's surprising to me!
this is just what my doctor said (who is employed by HMS). so i think that tufts is fairly well-regarded by the medical professionals in the Boston area, even if the general public wouldn't agree. obviously it's not harvard, but even so tufts still seems to hold its own. (and IMHO future residency placement depends much more on what the medical profession has to say, so i wouldn't worry too much about popular opinion.)
Yes, I definitely agree that Tufts' reputation is better in the New England medical circuit than in the general public- probably because a lot of its research is public health or global health-based, and I do think they're very strong clinically. That being said, Tufts unfortunately has the "medium-sized fish in a huge pond" syndrome in Boston, which is why it might get overlooked. Vandy, as well as other med schools like it, have the opposite problem- they're big fish in a tiny pond, so they can get overlooked because of their location. I guess if the comparison is based on that, then it's accurate.
I disagree with this. As I'm from California and I have received many "wows" from Tufts University.
I disagree with this. As I'm from California and I have received many "wows" from Tufts University.
However, I will say this. That Tufts University's prestige comes heavily from its highly ranked undergrad.
And to the post above,
Tufts>>>>>>>BU (in academia)
BU is just a more famous university but not necessarily for its academics. Kinda similar to Ohio State University also being famous (again not necessarily for its academics).
I agree. My friends and family reacted to my Tufts acceptance like I just won the lottery.
Being in the New England area, it's hard for schools like Tufts to standout when the behemoth known as Harvard/MGH/BWh is just around the corner. Residency directors(gatekeepers of academic medicine) do view Tufts grads very favorably (I think it got a grade of 3.7 compare to 3.6 for NYU ).
Overall I'll say Tufts is a solid mid-tier school and should get you to where you wanna go.
I am sure it's a good school, but it is not worth the tuition they are charging. Between Tufts and your state school, the state school always wins.
what are these grades you speak of? am i dumb for not knowing this already? enlighten me!
what are these grades you speak of? am i dumb for not knowing this already? enlighten me!
He's referring to residency directors viewpoint on the school (from a research standpoint). Each school is given a score on a 1-5 scale.
Here's some relevant schools in NYC and Boston for comparison:
Harvard: 4.7
Columbia: 4.4
Cornell: 4.3
Mount Sinai: 3.7
Tufts: 3.7
NYU: 3.6
Boston University:3.5
Einstein: 3.4
Does anyone know the original name of the paper that these data came from? Just interested in their methodology for these scales.
For what its worth, I'm from CA and I had never heard of Tufts before applying to med school...
I also wanted to go to a UC since before high school and didn't do much research for undergrad applications, so maybe that's why I was in the dark until recently. I only applied to 3 UCs that were all on the water and near good surf spots, I asked people if they were good schools and they said yes so I never cared or looked beyond that...
that is so interesting to me! i guess i had just never thought about geographical college-name circles before. hm. i kind of feel dumb.
i agree with LET. this makes no sense. having grown up in massachusetts, i can say for sure that while tufts certainly does not have a bad reputation, it is overshadowed definitely by harvard and maybe by BU.
so in the general public, i'd say tufts is not very prestigious. in the medical world i obviously have less of a sense... but the overshadowing business is still true.
and JJ-- had you not heard of tufts as a university at all? that's surprising to me!
nah don't feel bad. I'm sure you havent heard of all the little west coast schools either...all the claremont colleges etc.
I had never heard of Tufts until senior year in high school when I started looking at colleges
I disagree with this. As I'm from California and I have received many "wows" from Tufts University.
However, I will say this. That Tufts University's prestige comes heavily from its highly ranked undergrad.
And to the post above,
Tufts>>>>>>>BU (in academia)
BU is just a more famous university but not necessarily for its academics. Kinda similar to Ohio State University also being famous (again not necessarily for its academics).
Here you go...
i agree with this. Out of everyone who i've talked to - they've all heard of tufts except one guy. And he asked me if it was a "black school." he said he's only applying to "black schools" (he's not black). So that shows you how smart he is.
Negative. But like I said, that probably doesn't mean much.and JJ-- had you not heard of tufts as a university at all? that's surprising to me!
Anyone know how Dartmouth compares to Tufts or BU? More or less the same?
Dartmouth is viewed as more prestigious simply because it is associated with the IVY League. I'm sure that helps, but as far as medical rankings go, they're all similar
I am sure it's a good school, but it is not worth the tuition they are charging. Between Tufts and your state school, the state school always wins.
Say UMass Med is thrown into all of this (my current situation). Go with the state school or pick Tufts or BU?
in that case, i'd choose UMass. i kind of liked it better than BU in some ways. withdrew from tufts, so didn't get to see the school-- no opinion there. have you gotten finaid stuff yet?
I was really suprised when i first saw the us news rankings that tufts was in the 40s. I grew up in MA and tufts med is one of the first schools i heard about, and it was always mentioned in a very prestigious light. i think Tufts is a great school. as for the umass vs tufts choice, that's hard because some people have a lot of parental support and can afford the private school but some can't. same with BU vs Umass. But in general, the major negatives of umass for me is location (worcester really does suck. i lived 2 miles from worcester and in 4 years of high school, i have never set foot in it) and the other major negative is the hosiptial, there's a lot of complaints from people who have to do their rotations in western and central mass, it is also not pass/fail.
That said, I was NOT impressed by the research facilities at Tufts Med. The school itself is contained within a single skyscraper-like building in downtown Boston and the research labs were located in a smaller building across the street. So I dont THINK that there is tons and tons of bench research being conducted.
Nope, haven't gotten financial aid yet.
I was wondering though, would you pick NYU over UMass? I was waitlisted there but I would definitely consider it if I got in off the list.