Tulane vs. University of Missouri-Columbia

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cfogarty

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Hey everyone,

I was accepted to Mizzou in late November of last year and was recently accepted into Tulane SOM and am really struggling with the decision on where to end up. A little background about me, I am from St. Louis, MO and completed my undergrad/grad school at Mizzou. I am likely interested in a more competitive residency (plastics, ENT, endocrine and OB GYN are my top at the moment) but I also like primary care and know that what I like now is probably going to be very different than what I like during my clinicals.

University of Missouri-Columbia (Mizzou)
Pros
  • Cost: With Scholarship and IS tuition COA for me is ~$47,000 year which would add up to ~$250,000 for all 4 years
  • Close to home: My entire extended family lives just two hours away from Columbia and I am currently living with my sister so I would have a solid support system
  • Facilities: They just recently (2017) expanded the entire medical school so the facilities (SIM labs, anatomy labs, study spaces, etc.) are all top notch and very modern
  • Curriculum: Their curriculum is heavily focused on patient-based learning (PBL) which I have a lot of experience with from undergrad and LOVE and involves a lot of self study which I also prefer--added bonus is that all lectures are recorded. I also really love the block structure where you are in classes for 7 weeks, take an exam on week 8 and then have a week off.
  • Nature: I'm a marathon runner and huge into the outdoors and Columbia offers an amazing array of trails, hiking and recreational activities all of which can be reached with less than 20 minutes of driving from my house. Mizzou also has one of the best recreation facilities in the country and I have used it constantly during my time in Columbia.
  • Not having to move: I've lived in Columbia for 6 years and currently am renting at a very nice, large home close to campus for a very affordable price and don't know how well I would do transitioning to a much smaller space.
  • Connections: I have already formed some amazing connections with physicians and administration at Mizzou through my undergrad/grad school and my research experience so I think that increases my opportunity to get involved in some great research right from the get go of medical school.

Cons
  • Springfield Campus: There is the possibility that 3rd year I would have to do all rotations at the Springfield location. This will only happen if not enough people volunteer and would not be ideal for me because I'd much rather keep my housing in Columbia.
  • The City: I have loved living in Columbia for the past 6 years but there are very limited entertainment and food options here.
  • Not as much dedicated: Not sure how this will play out with the updated P/F of Step 1 but prior to this year students got no dedicated time for STEP studying and this year they added in a few weeks.
  • Crowded Clerkships: 3rd year clerkships are done at one of two hospitals in Columbia (UMH and Women's and Children's) and since they are also teaching hospitals and serve as education settings for other programs (nursing, OT, PT, etc.) from what I've heard they can be very crowded. Initially I hoped to do some of my 3rd year rotations in rural locations; however, they recently changed their program so that if you want to do rural rotations you need to apply for the rural track where you do all rotations rural and if there any extra spots (which there may not be) those will be given to students not on the track.
  • Lack of Diversity: Although I feel like Mizzou does a decent job of accepting a diverse range of applicants I feel like that they are still lacking a bit on this front. In addition, from my experience working in the UMH system and volunteering at the student run free clinic the patient population you see in Columbia is also not that diverse. I feel like this may put me at a disadvantage as I want to be prepared to treat all patients from all different backgrounds when I am eventually a physician and I feel like Mizzou may not necessarily prepare me in this regard.


Tulane SOM
Pros
  • Curriculum: Kind of similar to Mizzou's PBL program, Tulane has the TBL based curriculum which I liked a lot. I also really liked that they do all their anatomy at the very beginning of first year and get it out of the way which gives students time to acclimate to med school and get in the swing of things.
  • Lots of Diversity: Tulane's medical school is definitely not lacking diversity in it's student population which I absolutely love. I also think doing my training in New Orleans will expose me to patient populations that I would never have the opportunity to work with otherwise.
  • Lots of options for 3rd year clerkships: Tulane has 3 different hospitals within a 4 block radius where students can do their 3rd year clerkships and there are an addition 4 hospitals in NOLA that you can do them at. They also have a substantial rural program that allows students to choose to do any of their rotations in rural locations and they even provide free housing.
  • Step Prep: This is another one that I'm not sure if it'll change in upcoming years but Tulane gives students a substantial amount of dedicated time for step studying in April. They also have elected students who work with test prep companies to get materials at a discounted cost for students which I think is really cool.
  • The City: I've only been to New Orleans a few times but I've absolutely loved it every time I've gone. I think the food, the nightlife, and the people are just amazing and I could really see myself loving living there. I also really like that rental options are pretty affordable and they are usually on a month by month or shorter period basis which makes it cheaper and easier for relocating.
  • Service Opportunities and Clubs: This is a big one for me because one of the main reasons I decided to go into medicine was because of the service experiences I had and Tulane is definitely not lacking. They have 12 student run clinics, many with sub focuses which is super cool, which allows students tons of opportunity for leadership positions. Some of the clubs that they talked about during my interview day are things that I'd really be interested in like the fitness club (which gives students discounts to local workout classes and puts on group exercises and activities) and the wilderness medicine club (which goes on camping trips).
  • Goldring Teaching Kitchen: This is part of the culinary medicine program at Tulane which teaches students the impact of diet on health and how to use nutrition as a method of disease prevention. As someone who is super health oriented this is super exciting to me.
  • Students Impact on Curriculum: Just based on my interview day it is very clear that the administration takes the opinions and suggestions of the students to heart and seem to do a very good job of addressing concerns and fixing problems that the students bring to them.
  • Support: I think Mizzou also does a decent job of this when it comes to mental health resources and study assistance; however, I think Tulane just has a bigger budget and therefore offers a little bit more. This is especially clear when it comes to the financial aid department (Mizzou only has one staff member for the entire SOM and Tulane has 5 advisors and additional support staff).

Cons
  • Cost: This is the doozy for me. COA without any type of assistance is $95,000 and I'm not sure if I can justify an additional $200,000 of debt
  • Far from family: As I said I've lived in Missouri my entire life (minus a summer studying abroad) and I am very close to both my immediate and extended family. I think being far away from them and losing that support would be difficult for me. This is would also factor into the cost associated with going here because I'd likely have to pay more for flights back home and would therefore do it less frequently.
  • Outdated facilities: While some of the facilities have been recently updated, some are pretty out of date (especially the anatomy labs) and the medical campus is pretty spread out through downtown NOLA.
  • Lack of nature: Because Tulane is in a large city is obviously lacking in the nature department. I think this would also be difficult for me because I use my time running out in nature as a major way to de-stress and center myself.
  • Tulane is unranked which makes it a bit more difficult to compare it to Mizzou who is ranked.

Summary: First of all I want to apologize because this somehow turned into a short novel. I think as of right now I am leaning towards Tulane but I am having a really difficult time getting over the COA (especially if I end up going into a less lucrative specialty). I also worry that if I end up going to Mizzou I'll just be doing it because it's what is comfortable and potentially easier for me. Any input you all can lend would be much appreciated!

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Mizzou. I don't think there is enough difference between these 2 schools to warrant an extra 200k + interest of debt.
 
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An extra 200k? wow. I would take Mizzou and I say this as an Illinois sports fan
 
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I wish I had some great advice, but I'm in a similar position with Mizzou. I know it's a good school and I love the idea of PBL and the block structure... but the idea of moving back to CoMo is not my favorite. I feel like it's kind of a weird place to be when you're past the undergrad experience but also don't have a spouse/family.

That being said, I don't think I would ever be able to justify an extra $200k in loans if another good option was available. Yeah, four more years in CoMo might feel like a long time, but that extra $200k (plus interest) will be weighing you down a lot longer than that. For me, it's really important to have as much flexibility post-residency as possible. I want to take a job that I'm excited about in a location that I'm excited about, even if that means lower pay. I don't want to feel like I have to live/work somewhere just because it comes with the biggest paycheck. But we all have different financial values, baggage, etc, so my concerns may not be yours.
 
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Sounds like Mizzou is a no brainer here... and judging by your post I can tell you see it that way!
 
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