UVA vs. Tulane

[BlueDevil7]

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Hey guys. For those of you who have interviewed at either UVA, Tulane, or both, which school did you like better? Which one do you think you would be happiest at, be prepared for Residency, etc...? I should hear from UVA any day now and it would be a very difficult decision for me between there and Tulane? Did anyone sense more competitiveness at UVA compared to some other medical schools? All thoughts about Tulane or UVA are welcome, Thanks!
-Jacob

 

[dukeblue01]

Jacob,
I have to go with UVA. Been to both schools, and UVA struck me as the place to be. It is not New Orleans, but it will be a great school with a lot of opportunities. Now if they would only let me in off of the waitlist......good luck.

 

[Vasiley Zaitsev]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by dukeblue01:
•Jacob,
I have to go with UVA. Been to both schools, and UVA struck me as the place to be. It is not New Orleans, but it will be a great school with a lot of opportunities. Now if they would only let me in off of the waitlist......good luck.•••••Jacob,

I agree..UVA all the way. IMHO, New Orleans sucks..it should be called the Big Dump, not the Big Easy. UVA is an incredibly beautiful campus in a beautiful state...go UVA all the way!!!!!!!!

Bluedevil,

what were your stats applying to UVA that got you waitlisted? Are you a VA resident or out of stater?

owcc16

 

[dukeblue01]

owcc16,
I am a VA resident but still waitlisted 😡 . I had a 3.5, 35R from Duke University. 3.5 is under their mean so that might hold me back. I thought the interviews went well. A crazy game this applicaiton process. Now I am waiting on Northwestern and Emory to give me the nod. Good luck to all of us.

 

[Trek]

UVa all the way. Why shell out huge bucks for a similar/identical education (financial aid is extremely poor at Tulane)? You can get to Tulane for residency where they'll pay you to be there, if you really like NOLA :wink: --Trek

 

[mdhopeful]

I haven't been to UVA, but I have been to Tulane. With that being said, UVA has a much stronger reputation. If you are a DC or VA native and looking to do a residency in that geographical area, you will probably be a shoe in as a UVA grad with decent board scores. Good luck.

 

[GS]

Oh man, hands down UVA. It is not even a contest. They also got a great neurology program

 

[ccryder]

As someone who went to UVA undergrad and who is seriously considering Tulane Med, I have to ask what is more important to you? The reputation of the school which is completely subjective (you can't look at rankings because Tulane doesn't provide US News the information needed to be part of the rankings) or the experience you will get. At Tulane you will definitely get a broader range of clinical experience by seeing a more diverse patient population and a larger spectrum of illnesses.

 

[Vasiley Zaitsev]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by dukeblue01:
•owcc16,
I am a VA resident but still waitlisted 😡 . I had a 3.5, 35R from Duke University. 3.5 is under their mean so that might hold me back. I thought the interviews went well. A crazy game this applicaiton process. Now I am waiting on Northwestern and Emory to give me the nod. Good luck to all of us.•••••

 

[Vasiley Zaitsev]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by dukeblue01:
•owcc16,
I am a VA resident but still waitlisted 😡 . I had a 3.5, 35R from Duke University. 3.5 is under their mean so that might hold me back. I thought the interviews went well. A crazy game this applicaiton process. Now I am waiting on Northwestern and Emory to give me the nod. Good luck to all of us.•••••Thanks for the response..

I was hoping that, as a VA non-resident (with strong VA ties and former VA res), a 35 or higher MCAT would be enough to offset my 3.4 GPA (upward trend). apparently not! Well, maybe it will be enough to get me an interview, and I can use my great EC's from there.

thanks again!

owcc16

 

[RicaMD2Be]

Hey! Don't be discouraged! I'm a VA resident with a 3.27 (3.10 science) and a 30Q on the MCAT and they accepted me right after I interviewed in October. Trust...UVA is a WONDERFUL place to be and they really do care about the entire package - not just the numbers (CLEARLY!!)

Love Always!!

 

[BlueDevil7]

I got accepted to UVA!! I'm really excited! Thank you all so much for your comments, I really appreciate them. I feel very lucky to have these options and it will be a difficult decision for me. If anyone else has any thoughts about UVA or Tulane, please post them here. Thanks everyone!

 

[dukeblue01]

Congratulations Jacob! I hope your struggle with all these choices isn't too bad. 😀

 

[Vasiley Zaitsev]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by BlueDevil7:
•I got accepted to UVA!! I'm really excited! Thank you all so much for your comments, I really appreciate them. I feel very lucky to have these options and it will be a difficult decision for me. If anyone else has any thoughts about UVA or Tulane, please post them here. Thanks everyone!•••••d00d!!! ROCK ON!!! 😀

owcc16

 

[deleted4401]

Man, you're lucky to have choices ...

I guess I'll preface by saying I'm very biased because: 1) I'm a Tulane med student 2) I've visited Charlotesville once, but not for med school or anything like that.

So I'll play devil's advocate

Depending on what you want to do, Tulane offers some really strong features. Charity Hospital is absolutely awesome. There is so much to see, frankly, because people just don't take care of themselves so you get to see much more stuff (e.g. where else could you see 4th stage breast cancer, untreated??). Charity is basically run by the LSU and Tulane students, which allows you to develop strong "hands on" skills early on. Heck, even in first year there are intubation (on real patients!) clinics, suture clinics, ER observation (where T1s have been approached about doing spinal taps!), ambulance ride alongs (pretty fun, IMHO). Another neat thing is we have our own private hospital, a huge county hospital, a VA hospital, and a rural hospital in Pineville, LA (as well as affiliations with all the LSU hospitals), and a few local community hospitals, which means you can experience medicine from all different angles. Also, Tulane makes no bones about being primary care oriented. They are a specialty school, and I think that's cool because you get varied opinions instead of the party line of primary care. The students seem to be happy, the teachers here are great, the testing is fair, and if you like New Orleans, you really get time to experience it, as well as a million different opportunities to help the community. I think an urban school just has so much more to offer, especially for someone who has no idea what kind of medicine they are interested in.

I know UVA is higher ranked, and has a better name, but I'm just not sure if I'd have as many opportunities at a suburban-university hospital. Plus I probably wouldn't have gotten in 🙂 Since I know nothing, I may be way off the mark on all that. UVA reminds me a whole lot of the University of Michigan, which is also world class, but I'm just wondering what the 3rd years actually get to do. Here, we get to do everything, and that's really cool.

if you have any questions about the place and want to know more about my experience, just email me at [email protected]

later,
Simul

 

[rastelli]

If you're a resident of VA obviously the financial difference is significant. I'm sure you'll get a great education with tons of opportunities when you're finished.

As a third year at Tulane, I do take issue with several of the (dull)points made by some. First, the financial aid is more than adequate at Tulane. Students receive plenty of cash to live on in addition to the necessary funds for tuition, books, etc.

Second, the issue of IMHO(what the hell is that?). Perhaps you are referring to Charity Hospital(MCLNO) here in New Orleans. Not sure why anyone would talk badly of this place unless they didn't have a clue about it. It's an incredible asset for medical students. We're given tons of opportunities for hands-on experiences available in only a few other institutions. Sure, you could opt for the shiny white halls and private rooms of dozens of private hospitals throughout the country, but I hope you have a comfortable chair in which to sit, cause that's what you'll be doing. Sitting and watching. It's only in the county/state run facilities that you, as a medical student, will be able to place lines, suture, and otherwise directly interact with your patients.

Finally, what's all this rubbish about NO being a dump? Do you think the millions of people that flock to The Big Easy come here because the city sux? Probably not. We've got Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, the Saints, the Hornets(soon), Harrah's Casino, House of Blues, National D-Day Museum, Anne Rice, Preservation Hall, the French Quarter, etc. New Orleans is a tremendous city, known around the world for it's food, music, good times, and beauty. Anyone who says otherwise is way off base and/or ignorant. Sure there is poverty, crime, and trash...New Orleans is one of the oldest towns in the country, both a river and Gulf port, and host to millions of visitors a year. Believe me, after a long block of studying...when you have a weekend off, there's no other place to go out and play hard.

In the end, the financial argument is the only prudent issue. Tulane is expensive and UVA is not. Personally, I think sucking it up and taking loans (which are plentiful) is worth getting both a good education, and living in one of the most famous and best-loved towns in the world.

 

[dukeblue01]

IMHO= in my humble opinion.

I do not think that bluedevil7 is a state resident so he is going to pay $$$ either way.

 

[elle]

Hey,

Congrats on having such great choices! You probably can't go wrong either way, but I understand what a tough decision this must be. I have some info on UVA that might help, but I'll warn ya that I'm biased because I think UVA is a wonderful school and I don't know all that much about Tulane. :wink:

So about UVA...

I heard rumors of competitiveness, but I've spoken with a bunch of students and they all stressed how cooperative they've found UVA and how people tend to work together.

The clinical experience includes rotations in Roanoke and other rural areas. Because of this, you get to have a very hands-on experience rotating through the smaller hospitals (I remember my tour guides raving about this during the interview tour). Personally, this is a big plus for me because I want exposure to medicine in a rural environment, though I read (in the blue folder from the interview day) that you can also do rotations in Fairfax, a suburb of DC. You also have a mostly elective fourth year, so if you want you can go elsewhere for a change in pace. I think that's right, someone correct me if it's not :wink:

Oh, one more thing -- I've spoken with a couple of physicians and they've only had good things to say. As someone else stated, especially for the DC metro area, it's a very strong school with a solid reputation.

I hope this helps somewhat, though I can't compare and contrast the two schools. My suggestion is to visit the schools again if you have a chance, since it's a great way to see where you really feel comfortable. I haven't used those US news rankings in my decision so I'm
not sure where the two schools stand, but for whatever reason I don't place all that much faith in them. 🙂

Best of luck making your decision!