UCONN vs. BU/Tufts

[noodles]

I am trying to decide between UCONN, my state school, and BU or Tufts. I have heard that BU and Tufts have equivalent reputations. However, I don't know how they compare to UCONN. Does anyone have any opinions? Also, I was leaning towards UCONN because of the nice people I met at the interview in addition to the attractive price tag. However, the admissions office has not responded to any of the emails or phone messages that I have left in the past 2+ weeks. I even emailed the dean of admissions last week and have not received a response yet. Does anyone have any idea what is going on there? Is this a bad sign? Maybe they are just really busy. I don't know but after two emails, one phone message, and a bunch of unanswered phone calls in the past 2+ weeks, I am getting a bit frustrated. Is this typical at UCONN? Any info from current or past students would be greatly appreciated!

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[Mikado]

Admissions offices are busy as hell right now. Even more so than during the interview process. I don't think this reflects on the school at all. If your experience of the school when you were there was positive, that is the bottom line.

You will attend the Med school, not the admissions office.

Go with your instinct.

Mikado

 

[noodles]

Thanks. That's what I wanted to hear. I had a good feeling about UCONN when I visited.

 

[nmehta]

I am familiar with both Tufts and UConn and this is my $.02 on the matter...For background, I attended Tufts undergrad, and did summer research work and a postbac program with UConn.

UConn first allure is the tuition, it is a bargain and Tufts cannot come close to that. Tufts even states that you should not omit your state school.

That said, here are the other major criteria. Tufts, in my opinion, has a better reputation for research, with their recent push for biomedical and nutrition research. They also have a stronger MD/MBA, MD/MPH program than UConn, with opportunities for cross registration among many of the Boston schools. Furthermore, they have significantly more early clinical opportunities than UConn, specifically the chance to work in any type of clinical setting or community center, as opposed to Uconn that places you into a primary care clinic. Finally, teh campus at both schools are far attractive, but Tufts is in the heart of the city of Boston, the mecca of student life. Uconn is in a quiet suburb of Hartford, and living in CT all my life, has very little to offer in terms of social opportunities.

UConn also continues to struggle financially, and their future has yet to be determined, while Tufts has improved significantly since their crisis in the mid 90's.

That said, if I had to choose between the two, cost aside, I would choose Tufts in less than a heartbeat. But I realize this is not possible for everyone to do, and my hope is that I shed some light between the two schools, and that you realize, that sometimes you get what you pay for! Feel free to email me if you have more questions.

Neel

 

[greekdoctor7]

Currently in a similar decision...what did you end up choosing?

 

[ZuluHotel]

Currently in a similar decision...what did you end up choosing?

This thread is 14 years old. When this thread was posted, a stamp was 34 cents and everyone was downloading the new N'Sync album off Napster while we eagerly awaited the first Harry Potter movie. Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer, OP is long gone.

 

[tea guzzling traveler]

This thread is 14 years old. When this thread was posted, a stamp was 34 cents and everyone was downloading the new N'Sync album off Napster while we eagerly awaited the first Harry Potter movie. Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer, OP is long gone.

LOL, I enjoyed that. Always fun when people necro really old posts.

 

[KinasePro]

Tufts/BU are a bit better, but not by much. I'd say by reputation alone, it's BU>tufts>UConn. But as someone who just went through the interview process in a competitive specialty, I'd say medical schools are basically divided into 3 tiers: top 5, top 20, and everything else. You'll get some favor from PD's if your within the first 2 tiers, but the rest is a wash. Go with the cheapest option and write your own ticket.

EDIT: lol@ necro bump. Didn't notice that at first.

 

[gocelts]

Keep in mind that going to school at any of the Boston schools gives you local access to the thousands of researchers at all three schools. My older brother went to Tufts but he did research for 3 years at BWH, and ended up matching there and doing fellowship there right now. So Boston's location can be lucrative. IMO I would pick BU in this scenario, I recall their match list being pretty good for a non top 20.

 

[greekdoctor7]

Did not notice the 14 year old posts....lol

If I had to make the decision disregarding financial situations I would definitely choose Tufts over UCONN (I did not get into BU) but that obviously isn't reality. I am essentially trying to answer this question: is Tufts, or the opportunities of studying medicine in Boston worth the extra 40 K or so a year?

 

[FIREitUP]

This thread is 14 years old. When this thread was posted, a stamp was 34 cents and everyone was downloading the new N'Sync album off Napster while we eagerly awaited the first Harry Potter movie. Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer, OP is long gone.

and tuition at tufts was probably 50% less than it is now (at least).

 

[ZuluHotel]

Did not notice the 14 year old posts....lol

If I had to make the decision disregarding financial situations I would definitely choose Tufts over UCONN (I did not get into BU) but that obviously isn't reality. I am essentially trying to answer this question: is Tufts, or the opportunities of studying medicine in Boston worth the extra 40 K or so a year?

I had to make a similar decision between an expensive private school and my state school, and went with my state school. I don't regret it at all. 40k/yr is huge, especially if you are financing it with student loans. that's an extra 160k, which could end up costing you double that over the long haul with the interest. Tufts and UCONN are basically equal on a prestige/name recognition level. Do you have a specific opportunity in Boston that you know you can't get at UCONN? Unless there is something amazing about Tufts that you can't say no to, my two cents would be to save the money.

 

[Slack3r]

Neither of these are "knock your socks off" prestigious schools. They're both mid tier schools with similar reputations.

Look at 3rd year scheduling and cost. I'd probably choose UConn.

 

[greekdoctor7]

Ok thanks everyone!