UVA vs BU pls help me decide im so torn

[blueybingo22]

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Grew up in Tampa, went to school in upstate NY, lived in NYC for gap year, and have come to really love being in a big city. Academically I'm interested in pediatrics, allergy/immunology, and am considering exploring combined peds/genetics programs. The ultimate goal is to live in NYC or the Northeast.

UVA - pros

• Condensed, lecture-style pre-clinical with ample time to take electives and prep residency applications in M4
• the people I met during second look - other prospectives, current students, faculty - were so incredibly warm and amazing. People seem really happy and I feel like I would be too.
• made a connection with an M4 who matched into peds/genetics and I know the mentorship is strong for students interested in genetics and peds in general

UVA - cons

• Charlottesville could potentially feel isolating to me, with less to do than a bigger city
• UVA name may not carry as much weight for trying to match into the northeast
• will need to invest in a car
• no pre-existing support network in the VA area
• less patient diversity and potentially less exposure in general

BU - pros

• housing for first years guaranteed, won't need to apartment hunt
• more to do in Boston
• potentially better connections/research opps/ins with BCH/boston hospitals/the northeast in general
• closer to NYC for visiting friends/fam
• slightly less expensive (10k less/year in loans for me personally)
• health equity curriculum

BU - cons

• flipped classroom (self-guided learning) for pre-clerkship
• longer (nearly 2 year) pre-clerkship phase
• used to brutal upstate NY winters and I know what I'm getting myself into and would be fine, but something to consider
• did not pick up on the same interpersonal warmth that I got from UVA, so I'm a bit wary
• Boston, while exciting, felt like a place overall less welcoming than NYC where it could be hard just to make friends in general for me

 

[theoceanman]

BU unless you prioritize electives, then UVA. 10K less per year in loans is overall negligible for a happier student life, but then again, you need to invest in a car which can run you up another 10K or more hence BU for now.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

You might also consider the COL in Boston. Very expensive place to live. While Charlottesville isn't Boston or NYC, it's also not a small town or rural outpost (e.g., Dartmouth). Can you visit the two schools ?

 

[deleted1146359]

Disclaimer: Accepted at both but will likely attend a different school

I think you can't go wrong with either school since they are both strong T30s. For what it's worth, I think UVA does carry pretty good prestige on the east coast but maybe BU does more so because it's closer to NYC etc. Since you seem like you'd prefer to live in Boston over Charlottesville, I'd go for BU.

 

[deleted1158770]

Disclaimer: Accepted at both but will likely attend a different school

I think you can't go wrong with either school since they are both strong T30s. For what it's worth, I think UVA does carry pretty good prestige on the east coast but maybe BU does more so because it's closer to NYC etc. Since you seem like you'd prefer to live in Boston over Charlottesville, I'd go for BU.

Agreed BU seems like more of your speed based on your pros/cons list!