Tufts vs UVM?

[silveroak]

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Hello all,

I'm currently deciding between Tufts and UVM and am having a hard time deciding since I really liked both schools. I'm OOS for both. Does anyone have any advice to offer?

Thank you in advance!

 

[TheSummit]

make a pros/cons list!

 

[silveroak]

Ah yes, thank you, I've already made an extensive pro/con list...but was wondering if anyone had any specific input on these schools, maybe a different perspective than I've already considered. Thanks!

 

[technician]

I'm partial because I've been in Boston for about 8 years, but I'll try. Do you have a car? Sometimes Tufts makes you drive all over the place for their clinical rotations because there are so many students in Boston. Also, consider that UVM is the only medical school in Vermont so you might get to do more, but it is also so, so painfully white and not diverse. Speaking Spanish is important to me but you might have different personal interests so it comes down to you. There is a huge difference in cost of living too so UVM wins there. If you try to find an apartment in Boston right now, it will be hell because apartment hunting season started in January. Just my 2 cents.

Wait until you get a financial aid package to make your final decision.

 

[silveroak]

I'm partial because I've been in Boston for about 8 years, but I'll try. Do you have a car? Sometimes Tufts makes you drive all over the place for their clinical rotations because there are so many students in Boston. Also, consider that UVM is the only medical school in Vermont so you might get to do more, but it is also so, so painfully white and not diverse. Speaking Spanish is important to me but you might have different personal interests so it comes down to you. There is a huge difference in cost of living too so UVM wins there. If you try to find an apartment in Boston right now, it will be hell because apartment hunting season started in January. Just my 2 cents.

Wait until you get a financial aid package to make your final decision.

Thanks so much for responding and for your input!! This is helpful. I do have a car, but I hear having a car in Boston can be difficult. I'm torn, because I do love Boston and there's so much more to do, but it does have the additional hassles of parking, finding housing, and cost of living. UVM is more limited in its clinical sites and in the diversity of its patient population, but it sounds like there may be more hands-on opportunities during rotations, so the small size of the place could be beneficial there. They also seemed to have a really nice, supportive community and the med school/surroundings are beautiful. I guess I'm not sure how competitive it gets with clinical rotations in Boston since there are other med schools there? In the end (given diversity of clinical experiences, number of clinical sites, and number of students in the area), I'm not sure which would be a better place to do clinical rotations and which would have more opportunities?

And yes, I will have to wait and see about fin aid. Thanks again!

 

[silveroak]

Does anyone else have any input on Tufts or University of Vermont? Thanks!

 

[pink/\floyd]

I can't comment on Tufts, but like someone else mentioned, UVM definitely lacked in terms of having diversity. But, the people were all very friendly! If COA is the same, go to the school where you feel you will fit better! GL!

 

[LSD-25]

Definitely UVM. I interviewed at Tufts and was insanely underwhelmed. It's fourth banana to harvard, Boston, and U mass, and seemed to have no point as a medical school, especially given its insane CoA. The area around it also was sketch with the strip joints across the way.

 

[pennies124]

Agreed - if COA is the same then pick the one that feels better for you. Opportunities are what you make of them - if you want something, no matter where you go, you'll make it happen. Ask yourself which place would make you happiest and pick that one. Personally, I tend to lean towards a smaller community where I'll feel less like a sheep.

 

[ridethecliche]

Both have an insane COA.

Tufts if you want to be in the city.
UVM if you like easier access to outdoorsy stuff.

Definitely UVM. I interviewed at Tufts and was insanely underwhelmed. It's fourth banana to harvard, Boston, and U mass, and seemed to have no point as a medical school, especially given its insane CoA. The area around it also was sketch with the strip joints across the way.

Lol no.

 

[leggo_my_ecmo]

Both have an insane COA.

Tufts if you want to be in the city.
UVM if you like easier access to outdoorsy stuff.



Lol no.

I think LSD-25 is on a vendetta given that he copies and pastes that same statement into literally every thread about Tufts. Chinatown is great now, and you're surrounded by the Theater District, which has some of the best performing arts venues in the country. And Tufts is hardly the clear-cut fourth banana in MA.

 

[ridethecliche]

Yeah, I wander around that area all the time even late at night when I'm probably on the far side of inebriated and I've never had any trouble there. It's a 'big' city and there are always going to be sketchy areas. If LSD-25 thinks that chinatown is sketchy, he/she should go to fields corner/ashmont late at night sometime or explore those parts of roxbury and dorchester where they've never set foot.

 

[LSD-25]

I think LSD-25 is on a vendetta given that he copies and pastes that same statement into literally every thread about Tufts. Chinatown is great now, and you're surrounded by the Theater District, which has some of the best performing arts venues in the country. And Tufts is hardly the clear-cut fourth banana in MA.

Nope, I have negative experiences with tufts and was very unimpressed with my interview day. Not copy and pasting, just saying what happened. Yea dort is more sketch but I'm hardly the only one even on the site who has seen China town as sketch. Meanwhile uvms location is super beautiful and safer imo. If you're paying one the most expensive medical school tuitions in the country (tufts) it's inoortant to see the potential cons. I saw strip joints nearby it didn't seem very hospitable. I'm hardly a Boston native though so this is my outsider perspective.

How isn't tufts fourth banana? It seemed to lack a specific purpose unlike the other Boston med schools especially given its cost. I get they have a good md/mba program but that's not enough to justify the high price of tuition on its own imo. Pass and fail is good but plenty of cheaper schools are also pass and fail. Graded and cheaper vs really expensive pass and fail is up for debate too.

Uvm som is also a powerhouse and not to be underestimated. It has programs with linkage to Harvard. That's very impressive.

 

[iamsam93]

Do you mind if I ask what you ended up picking?