Tufts vs Albany vs Rush

[Nerd300]

I have been accepted to Tufts University School of Medicine, Albany Medical College and Rush Medical College, very grateful and blessed. I would like your opinion on helping me narrow my choices. These schools are similar to me. NO FINANCIAL AID YET.

Things that matter to me:
Location: Urban+ Northeast. This is important to me as I don’t have a driver’s license (classes disrupted by the pandemic). So, my modes of transportation are currently walking, cycling and public transit. So, a city like Boston (my current place of residence) is ideal for me, no money for uber/lyft.

Grading: Pass/fail: I want a school with no letter grade. I do not mind internal ranking; however, I would love to avoid it if possible.

Research: Given that step 1 is now P/F, this will become important, therefore I want to attend a school where I would have the opportunity for both laboratory and clinical research (my preference though) and I would like to be published.

Residency (which depends on my board score and LOR): Primary care > Urology = EM. I am interested in primary care. However, I worked as a medical scribe in outpatient urology clinic and have been published in Journal of Urology twice and have done research related to urology, uro-gyn. So, this is a field I am definitely interested, but not dead set on.

If you can input for opinion in regard to living in Chicago and Albany, that would be awesome. Thanks in advance.

Tufts University School of Medicine
Pro:

• Location: Boston, MA/Urban, which is a hub for hospitals and research locations:
• Has its own hospital, Tufts Medical Center.
• 2020 match list: 29% in MA, 3 in urology for 2019 and 2020. Impressive residency march list.

Con:

• Tuition: $64,570
• Boston is EXPENSIVE. I will be able to qualify for Medicaid (Masshealth), but the cost of living + tuition is not something I can look over. At the moment I do not have any loans, but wow.

Albany Medical College
Pro:

• Location: Albany, NY/Urban
• Has its own hospital, Albany Medical Center.
• Residency match is ok.

Con

• Tuition: $58,221 (not bad, compared to Tufts).
• I haven’t been to Albany NY. Hoping to go in person sometime in April. Since the interview was MMI which I liked, it was hard to get to know the school.

Rush Medical College
Pro:

• Tuition: $55,987 (lowest of all three)
• Location: Chicago, IL/Urban. Similar to Boston, however I have not been to Chicago at all
• The school is very mission oriented. One of the reasons I applied is because I am interested in an MPH and Rush students tend to do a lot in the community. Obviously, that has changed due to Covid.
• Has its own hospital,
• Residency marching: RMC = TUSM > AMC.
• I really liked the faculty, the general atmosphere of the administration
  - County Cook Hospital (a safety net public hospital)

Con:

• Location: which the school is located in an urban area, IL is located in the mid-west and I prefer to stay in New England/Northeast.
• Flipped classroom. I had this type of learning in orgo chem I/II and I hated it. but then again I hated orgo in general, so biased.

Will update after receiving financial aid package. thanks in advance

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[m1redsox]

Sounds like Tufts really has everything you want, but that price tag is tough. I would still choose Tufts over the other two since it is still within $50k or so, which you can make up pretty quickly as a Urologist. On top of that, I think Tufts is definitely the best program of the 3. Barring any financial aid from the other two, go Tufts, but I would also reach out to Tufts to negotiate financial aid, given that you have two cheaper options.

 

[spottedcory]

Sounds like Tufts really has everything you want, but that price tag is tough. I would still choose Tufts over the other two since it is still within $50k or so, which you can make up pretty quickly as a Urologist. On top of that, I think Tufts is definitely the best program of the 3. Barring any financial aid from the other two, go Tufts, but I would also reach out to Tufts to negotiate financial aid, given that you have two cheaper options.

Asking partly for myself haha but would your answer change if OP were to go into primary care instead of urology?

 

[m1redsox]

Asking partly for myself haha but would your answer change if OP were to go into primary care instead of urology?

Tough to say. In this case, it sounds like Tufts is what OP wants in all senses (location, public transportation, competitive match, and fantastic research), but if it were more of a toss up like “Tufts is the best school, but I would be happy anywhere and I want primary care” then I would definitely say to pick the cheapest option. The pay difference is too substantial.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

I'd go to Tufts if I could afford it. Location is great and it's the strongest of the three schools.

 

[proudofmykids]

IMHO:
Boston >> Albany
Boston > Rush location in Chicago. (Chicago has very good public transportation and is Much larger than Boston.
TUSM is best for research opportunities.

Biggest is that $50k total difference in loans shouldn't weigh on the decision, even for Primary Care. Also, you likely won't get Medicaid on IL or NY, so you'll need to pay for health insurance which will be $2k-$4k /year.

Ultimately, it seemed your post could have read Why Not TUSM for you.

 

[LunaOri]

Tufts is a good school. Research opportunities are topnotch, with world-renowned faculty. The neighborhood, while seedy, is on the edge of Chinatown with lots of good restaurants, and just a short walk from the shopping district, theater district, and Boston Common.
Don't you get health insurance through the school? It should cost less than getting private insurance.

 

[proudofmykids]

Tufts is a good school. Research opportunities are topnotch, with world-renowned faculty. The neighborhood, while seedy, is on the edge of Chinatown with lots of good restaurants, and just a short walk from the shopping district, theater district, and Boston Common.
Don't you get health insurance through the school? It should cost less than getting private insurance.

Many schools are charging 2500-$3500 for the student health insurance.

 

[candbgirl]

You didn’t give one reason to consider Rush. In addition you have never been to Chicago so unless you can get here in the next month or two, I’d just drop Rush. Besides you know you want to go to Tufts. So just do it and be happy.

 

[mcatstudent1]

I think the cost difference between tufts and Albany is negligible in long run. The city is expensive and so is the school. If you want east coast residency stay on east coast! flipped classroom preclinical doesn’t really matter imo. Car doesn’t matter likely won’t need until ms3/clinical and could Uber to random clinical sites in preclinical if needed or carpool for free. If urology is on table I think you can make it from any of the three if needed; love Boston because it will be easy to do away electives at the other Boston hospitals if needed for research (ie:Harvard). I vote tufts for you. I would not let cost be the driver since these are all so similar and expensive just keep a budget sheet and get a roomate. Good luck! Wait for financial aid

 

[Nerd300]

You didn’t give one reason to consider Rush. In addition you have never been to Chicago so unless you can get here in the next month or two, I’d just drop Rush. Besides you know you want to go to Tufts. So just do it and be happy.

Lol thanks. One of the reasons I applied to Rush was because they had a lot of community outreach programs and the locations has a diverse populations. I would like to stay in Boston, but at the same time, I did junior high, high school and college in Boston. It would be nice to branch out. My hope is to visit both places before committing to enroll. Thanks.

 

[mcatstudent1]

Lol thanks. One of the reasons I applied to Rush was because they had a lot of community outreach programs and the locations has a diverse populations. I would like to stay in Boston, but at the same time, I did junior high, high school and college in Boston. It would be nice to branch out. My hope is to visit both places before committing to enroll. Thanks.

I would not listen to any post that says, just drop. You keep all your acceptances until financial aid comes out and decision deadline, if you can afford the deposits. You do what is best for you!