Tulane v Dartmouth

[williewalnuts]

Hi all! I got a very surprising acceptance off the waitlist of Dartmouth yesterday and it's really thrown me for a loop. I had been plan in on attending Tulane and was very excited about it. I'm interested in competitive specialties so Dartmouth's prestige and match list are hard to turn down. That being said I have been super excited about New Orleans and have a great apartment in uptown lined up. I'm moving with my girlfriend who is also very excited about NOLA and has reservations about Hanover. Here is a full pro con list

Tulane Pro

• LOVE New Orleans. Exactly the place I want to live and I think I would be really happy here. Really enjoy good music, food and culture.
• More diverse and interesting patient population
• More opportunities for girlfriend, who I am moving with
• 10k/year cheaper
• Already have great apartment figured out
• I like it hot
• Solid match list throughout East
• Girlfriend would be happier in NOLA

Tulane Con

• less prestigious
• Facilities seemed a little old
• Class size is much larger (200v90)
• Rotations at community hospital after Tulane hospital was gutted last year
• Not a ton of research opportunities

Dartmouth Pro

• Better match list, especially for competitive specialties
• Nicer hospital system (I think?)
• Smaller class size (90v200)
• I LOVE nature and outdoors stuff
• More diverse class
• Much more research activity
• Rotations in well respected, dedicated teaching hospital

Dartmouth Con

• in the middle of no where. Afraid i would get bored/lonely
• COLD. So very cold
• Less opportunities for girlfriend
• Girlfriend hates the cold
• Seems like most social life happens through the med school which I don’t love

What do you think?

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[Ihe2koo]

Dartmouth. That Ivy League name will carry you far. Even though Tulane is a great school in a great location, there is still a significant gap in prestige here

 

[LunaOri]

Tulane. If girlfriend would be miserable in NH, how happy could you be?

 

[littlebearfanpage]

I wouldn’t conflate undergrad Ivy prestige with med school prestige. Dartmouth is by no means a bad med school but it’s not as prestigious as its undergrad ranking would suggest

 

[thefirerisen]

I was considering Dartmouth with my girlfriend. What is her job? It is a very cruel space in terms of economic prospects so I would hate to subject her to that unless she is 100% on board.

And remember that Dartmouth's "Ivy League" name means nothing in medicine. It is ranked T50 and adcoms know that. Unless you're going to take advantage of the Dartmouth connections (such as pursue an MBA dual degree), there is not a significant difference in prestige between Tulane and Dartmouth. So really it should come down to research opportunities and fit (for you and your girlfriend).

 

[pierty]

And remember that Dartmouth's "Ivy League" name means nothing in medicine. It is ranked T50 and adcoms know that.

No, they don't. If you are referring to US News - virtually no one other than pre-meds and medical school deans pay attention to their "rankings" (and their severely flawed methodologies... anyone who does pay attention to them in academia - i.e., med school deans - understands this and started a movement against them a year ago. And no, the program director surveys are not informative - they pool from 3 specialties considered non-competitive, and only 5-15% of those directors at that because the vast majority of PD's throw out their emails).

That being said, Tulane sounds like a better fit for you and your partner, and is slightly cheaper.