K
Katie
hey, I am a Tufts med student who is interested in finding some new places to study on the weekends (getting tired of rooms in Sackler and the library here). If you are from BU and can offer some suggestions that would be great. thanks!
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Well, there aren't that many places at BU School of Medicine. There are the "McNary" rooms on the first floor past the elevator. Those fill up VERY early on weekends. You have to get there at about 7am to get one. Then there are the student labs on the second floor that fill up a little later. Then there is the library, which you can enter on the 12th floor. It is ugly. The last option is Hebert Lounge, which occupies the whole 14th floor.
My personal favorite study spot in the city of Bosotn is the Northeastern University library. I've seen a bunch of Tufts students there too. The library is well lit and gives a feeling of airiness and openness that other libraries don't have.
-Mary
My personal favorite study spot in the city of Bosotn is the Northeastern University library. I've seen a bunch of Tufts students there too. The library is well lit and gives a feeling of airiness and openness that other libraries don't have.
-Mary
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That's funny--when I was a post bacc at Tufts, I did my best studying at the Northeastern library--roomy, big tables or quiet cubbies, close to fast food when you need a break, open late. Perfect.
mma
mma
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The whole point of going to BU is so that you don't have to study.. 
Let the hatemail flow...
Let the hatemail flow...
K
Katie
Thanks for the Northeastern Library suggestion. I haven't been over to that area for a while but I do like the neighborhood. As for James's remark, I could have made the exact same remark about the first semester at Tufts! Second semester I'm not so sure, anatomy is tough and I know it won't get any easier..
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read the assigned section syllabus/notes/textbook before you go to anatomy class. it will seriously save you soooooooooooo much time.
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Mary the Med Student,
I'm seriously looking into BU and would appreciate your input. What do you feel are BU's weaknesses (besides the cost)? Do you feel the curriculum prepared you well for the Boards? I'd appreciate any advice you could throw my way.
Thanks.
I'm seriously looking into BU and would appreciate your input. What do you feel are BU's weaknesses (besides the cost)? Do you feel the curriculum prepared you well for the Boards? I'd appreciate any advice you could throw my way.
Thanks.
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Well, if you've read any of my other posts about BU, you'll have noticed that I'm not exactly a raving fan of my school.
I came to BU from a very student centered liberal arts college, and I've found BU to be VERY impersonal (at best) and occationally outright neglectful. The best example of neglect was the Dean of the Med School's ignorance about the nature of student call. Surgery clerks spend 36+ hours in the hospital about twice a week (which is pretty standard), and when informed of our call schedule, the Dean said "Oh, I didn't realize med students still take call." !!! I don't expect much from our administration, but I do expect them to know the basics. Anyway, I don't like our administration 'cause they don't care.
In terms of the quality of pre-clinical teaching, BU is very hit or miss. We have a handful of outstanding faculty (most of the folks in physiology and some in histology) but quite a few are downright terrible. The class sizes can be huge - some classes are shared with masters students and some with dental students. Discussion is minimal. On the up side, 97% pass Step 1 of the boards.
Our clinical clerkships are much better, so if you can survive the first two years, you're set.
In hindsight, I wouldn't have come to BU. You, however, might like it. Who knows?
-Mary
I came to BU from a very student centered liberal arts college, and I've found BU to be VERY impersonal (at best) and occationally outright neglectful. The best example of neglect was the Dean of the Med School's ignorance about the nature of student call. Surgery clerks spend 36+ hours in the hospital about twice a week (which is pretty standard), and when informed of our call schedule, the Dean said "Oh, I didn't realize med students still take call." !!! I don't expect much from our administration, but I do expect them to know the basics. Anyway, I don't like our administration 'cause they don't care.
In terms of the quality of pre-clinical teaching, BU is very hit or miss. We have a handful of outstanding faculty (most of the folks in physiology and some in histology) but quite a few are downright terrible. The class sizes can be huge - some classes are shared with masters students and some with dental students. Discussion is minimal. On the up side, 97% pass Step 1 of the boards.
Our clinical clerkships are much better, so if you can survive the first two years, you're set.
In hindsight, I wouldn't have come to BU. You, however, might like it. Who knows?
-Mary
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Mary,
Just to show that everything's relative:
I graduated from BU (SAR) -- BS '87 and MS '89. I applied there, for nostalgia's sake, I suppose, for med school. Got a letter back that said they had received over 10,000 applications for maybe 60 spots (after 6 yr med and other "pre-allocated" spots are subtracted). After trying to get in to a US school for 4 years, spending a lot of time/effort/$$, and not succeeding, then uprooting and moving to Mexico to pursue "the dream," any US school, even BU, would seem like paradise. I am happy with what I have done (left the US and lived for 3 years in another culture, developed my Spanish skills, scored well on Step 1), but would gladly trade BU's crap for the other, international hassles my compa?eros and I have gone through.
Also, just to show that nothing's changed: my classmates and I also thought BU's administration seemed not to care. When John Silber was pres ("in my day"), they would do things like videotape all of us at the apartheid demonstrations. Shades of paranoia?
Final note: these days I occasionally go to the Alumni Association's website and look at the Marsh Chapel Plaza restoration project through the "Live Plaza Cam" ... sigh.
Just to show that everything's relative:
I graduated from BU (SAR) -- BS '87 and MS '89. I applied there, for nostalgia's sake, I suppose, for med school. Got a letter back that said they had received over 10,000 applications for maybe 60 spots (after 6 yr med and other "pre-allocated" spots are subtracted). After trying to get in to a US school for 4 years, spending a lot of time/effort/$$, and not succeeding, then uprooting and moving to Mexico to pursue "the dream," any US school, even BU, would seem like paradise. I am happy with what I have done (left the US and lived for 3 years in another culture, developed my Spanish skills, scored well on Step 1), but would gladly trade BU's crap for the other, international hassles my compa?eros and I have gone through.
Also, just to show that nothing's changed: my classmates and I also thought BU's administration seemed not to care. When John Silber was pres ("in my day"), they would do things like videotape all of us at the apartheid demonstrations. Shades of paranoia?
Final note: these days I occasionally go to the Alumni Association's website and look at the Marsh Chapel Plaza restoration project through the "Live Plaza Cam" ... sigh.
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Mary, thanks so much for taking the time to write your "expose" (sp?). A friend's friends felt the same way too. I wanted to get someone else's perspective besides theirs. Thanks again.
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dwstranger - I *do* appreciate going to a mainland medical school. I am completely grateful that I'm in medical school, let alone a school ranked as well as BU.
Now that I'm a third year, life is much better. The teaching is superior by an order of magnitude compared to the first two years. My current frustration is the delay in telling us: 1) how to construct a fourth year schedule; 2) how to get matched; 3) where to research residencies. I know I can figure out all that myself, but then why the heck am I paying $36,000/year?
Ok, I'm done venting.
-Mary
Now that I'm a third year, life is much better. The teaching is superior by an order of magnitude compared to the first two years. My current frustration is the delay in telling us: 1) how to construct a fourth year schedule; 2) how to get matched; 3) where to research residencies. I know I can figure out all that myself, but then why the heck am I paying $36,000/year?
Ok, I'm done venting.
-Mary
