UVA vs Einstein vs Jeff vs Tufts

[premed66]

Hello Everyone!

I realize that I am extremely lucky to be in this situation with multiple acceptances. I have narrowed it down to these four options. I am currently waiting for a deferred to March decision from Northwestern and plan on going there if accepted. If waitlisted, I will be sure to send LOI as it truly is my number one choice.

This may change but I have interest in pursuing a competitive specialty (ortho)

Any input is sincerely appreciated as I honestly do not remember every aspect of all the schools and am unable to attend all of the second look weekends. I am also holding acceptances to VCU, UMD (state school), Miller, and Temple. Waitlisted at BU and Georgetown. I plan on withdrawing from these schools.


UVA

• Pros
  • Students seemed very happy, friendly, and laid back
  • Honor System with flexible scheduling of exams (Friday - Sunday)
  • 2-3 hours from my family (not a huge factor, I'm not super close with my family and I went far for undergrad so I am ok with being far away)
  • Need-based aid made equivalent to state-school
  • Arguably the "best" school I've been accepted to according to rankings, idk how much this matters to be honest
• Cons
  • Smaller town - I'm a city person
  • Away rotations in rural VA during 3rd year
  • Less diverse patient population?
  • Am not interested in staying in the CVille Area, would not want to do residency there but I noticed a lot of people did stay there

Einstein

• Pros
  • Research Powerhouse and funded opportunities
  • Location in the Bronx with access to Manhatten (1-hr)
  • Connected well with my student host, could see myself going there
  • Very diverse patient population
  • Amazing housing setup ($500?!) on campus
  • Opportunity to study bioethics / dual degree
  • I also have family and friends in NY so support network stands
• Cons
  • Lower Rep?
  • Older facilities
  • Haven't recieved aid yet but could be very expensive

Thomas Jefferson University

• Pros
  • Loved the location of center city philly, lots to do in the area but not a HUGE city. I've done internships in the city so I'm a bit familiar with the area
  • Probably had the friendliest student body, I got great vibes from this school
  • New curriculum seems great!
  • Ortho department opportunities both clinical and research
  • 20K scholarship
  • P / F Curriculum *** Thank you everyone for the information!!!
• Cons
  • No family or friends in the area
  • Lower Rank ?
  • Huge class size

Tufts

• Pros
  • P/F curriculum
  • Nice facilities
    
  • Boston seems like a great area to live - lots of access to different academic institutions
  • Good vibe from students
  • Lots of community service opportunities to work with urban population (my interest)
  • Lot's of opportunities for global health traveling/rotations
• Cons
  • Far away from home, not familiar with area
  • I've heard this school can be VERY expensive
  • High cost of living in Boston is scary

Also accepted at GW, but unsure of where that school sits in my personal rankings.

Thanks for bearing with me! Sorry this was very long

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[QuakerRay]

Hello Everyone!

I realize that I am extremely lucky to be in this situation with multiple acceptances. I have narrowed it down to these four options. I am currently waiting for a deferred to March decision from Northwestern and plan on going there if accepted. If waitlisted, I will be sure to send LOI as it truly is my number one choice.

This may change but I have interest in pursuing a competitive specialty (ortho)

Any input is sincerely appreciated as I honestly do not remember every aspect of all the schools and am unable to attend all of the second look weekends. I am also holding acceptances to VCU, UMD (state school), Miller, and Temple. Waitlisted at BU and Georgetown. I plan on withdrawing from these schools.


UVA

• Pros
  • Students seemed very happy, friendly, and laid back
  • Honor System with flexible scheduling of exams (Friday - Sunday)
  • 2-3 hours from my family (not a huge factor, I'm not super close with my family and I went far for undergrad so I am ok with being far away)
  • Need-based aid made equivalent to state-school
  • Arguably the "best" school I've been accepted to according to rankings, idk how much this matters to be honest
• Cons
  • Smaller town - I'm a city person
  • Away rotations in rural VA during 3rd year
  • Less diverse patient population?
  • Am not interested in staying in the CVille Area, would not want to do residency their but I noticed a lot of people did stay there

Einstein

• Pros
  • Research Powerhouse and funded opportunities
  • Location in the Bronx with access to Manhatten (1-hr)
  • Connected well with my student host, could see myself going there
  • Very diverse patient population
  • Amazing housing setup ($500?!) on campus
  • Opportunity to study bioethics / dual degree
  • I also have family and friends in NY so support network stands
• Cons
  • Lower Rep?
  • Older facilities
  • Haven't recieved aid yet but could be very expensive

Thomas Jefferson University

• Pros
  • Loved the location of center city philly, lots to do in the area but not a HUGE city. I've done internships in the city so I'm a bit familiar with the area
  • Probably had the friendliest student body, I got great vibes from this school
  • New curriculum seems great!
  • Ortho department opportunities both clinical and research
  • 20K scholarship
• Cons
  • No family or friends in the area
  • H/P/F not as appealing as UVA P/F
  • Lower Rank ?
  • Huge class size

Tufts

• Pros
  • P/F curriculum
  • Nice facilities
    
  • Boston seems like a great area to live - lots of access to different academic institutions
  • Good vibe from students
  • Lots of community service opportunities to work with urban population (my interest)
  • Lot's of opportunities for global health traveling/rotations
• Cons
  • Far away from home, not familiar with area
  • I've heard this school can be VERY expensive
  • High cost of living in Boston is scary

Also accepted at GW, but unsure of where that school sits in my personal rankings.

Thanks for bearing with me! Sorry this was very long

Not positive but I think Jeff is changing to P/F for preclinical.


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[ballers123]

Yeah Jeff will definitely be P/F

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[tarheelpenner]

Also, I would check the new rankings. I know for a fact that Jeff went up in rankings idk about the others. The other thing to keep in mind with the rankings is its based entirely on research. So if you are a school who focuses more on clinical (Jeff) then your ranking won't necessarily reflect how good your school is. And to confirm, Jeff is def P/F (and is for the MS1's now too)

 

[premed66]

Also, I would check the new rankings. I know for a fact that Jeff went up in rankings idk about the others. The other thing to keep in mind with the rankings is its based entirely on research. So if you are a school who focuses more on clinical (Jeff) then your ranking won't necessarily reflect how good your school is. And to confirm, Jeff is def P/F (and is for the MS1's now too)

Thank you all. I did not remember what they said on the interview day and was going off of MSAR, I now know that Jeff is P/F making that and the new curriculum very appealing. However, I do still have concerns with being the first class to experience the new curriculum

 

[To be MD]

Hello Everyone!

I realize that I am extremely lucky to be in this situation with multiple acceptances. I have narrowed it down to these four options. I am currently waiting for a deferred to March decision from Northwestern and plan on going there if accepted. If waitlisted, I will be sure to send LOI as it truly is my number one choice.

This may change but I have interest in pursuing a competitive specialty (ortho)

Any input is sincerely appreciated as I honestly do not remember every aspect of all the schools and am unable to attend all of the second look weekends. I am also holding acceptances to VCU, UMD (state school), Miller, and Temple. Waitlisted at BU and Georgetown. I plan on withdrawing from these schools.


UVA

• Pros
  • Students seemed very happy, friendly, and laid back
  • Honor System with flexible scheduling of exams (Friday - Sunday)
  • 2-3 hours from my family (not a huge factor, I'm not super close with my family and I went far for undergrad so I am ok with being far away)
  • Need-based aid made equivalent to state-school
  • Arguably the "best" school I've been accepted to according to rankings, idk how much this matters to be honest
• Cons
  • Smaller town - I'm a city person
  • Away rotations in rural VA during 3rd year
  • Less diverse patient population?
  • Am not interested in staying in the CVille Area, would not want to do residency their but I noticed a lot of people did stay there

Einstein

• Pros
  • Research Powerhouse and funded opportunities
  • Location in the Bronx with access to Manhatten (1-hr)
  • Connected well with my student host, could see myself going there
  • Very diverse patient population
  • Amazing housing setup ($500?!) on campus
  • Opportunity to study bioethics / dual degree
  • I also have family and friends in NY so support network stands
• Cons
  • Lower Rep?
  • Older facilities
  • Haven't recieved aid yet but could be very expensive

Thomas Jefferson University

• Pros
  • Loved the location of center city philly, lots to do in the area but not a HUGE city. I've done internships in the city so I'm a bit familiar with the area
  • Probably had the friendliest student body, I got great vibes from this school
  • New curriculum seems great!
  • Ortho department opportunities both clinical and research
  • 20K scholarship
  • P / F Curriculum *** Thank you everyone for the information!!!
• Cons
  • No family or friends in the area
  • Lower Rank ?
  • Huge class size

Tufts

• Pros
  • P/F curriculum
  • Nice facilities
    
  • Boston seems like a great area to live - lots of access to different academic institutions
  • Good vibe from students
  • Lots of community service opportunities to work with urban population (my interest)
  • Lot's of opportunities for global health traveling/rotations
• Cons
  • Far away from home, not familiar with area
  • I've heard this school can be VERY expensive
  • High cost of living in Boston is scary

Also accepted at GW, but unsure of where that school sits in my personal rankings.

Thanks for bearing with me! Sorry this was very long

Hey 66,

Read my response with a grain of salt. I'm biased b/c I'm going to UVa... but:

I would 100% choose UVa or Einstein in your shoes. Jefferson & Tufts are expensive schools. Even with 20k off, Jeff would be just as expensive (if not more, Philly is more expensive than C-ville) as UVa and Tufts is the most expensive MD school in the country. 90 freaking grand for tuition.

Financial issues aside, UVa and Einstein are better schools. Better research opportunities. Smaller classes. Better shots at getting into the residency of your choice.

To speak to your concerns of Cville, I don't think UVa does a good job of showcasing how "city-like" Charlottesville is. Not only is it one of the top cities in the country as far as livability is concerned, but it is also one of the happiest places in the country! We get every major artist coming through (e.g., Lady Gaga, TSwift, Avett Brothers), but we also have mother nature close at hand. If you're a true city slicker, I think Einstein would be a better fit (you seem to think that from your review), but UVa isn't a country bumpkin town if that's what you're assuming.

One thing you may not know is that Cville is a "Sanctuary City" for refugees. It's one hell of a diverse city. We have a wide variety of races and cultural backgrounds. I had a mentee refugee from SE Asia; roommates from France; and people of color (of all colors) are well represented both in the city and in its culture (soul food is a thing here).

I'd also say that regardless of how "close" your are to your family, you will definitely want them as close as possible in school. There are few people that are going to stick with you through thick and thin and through the torture of med school. Your family is (most likely--please excuse me if I'm wrong) among those people, so it is nice to have them within 3/4 hours (NY + VA > Boston + Phil on that account).

All 4 of the schools are good, but Einstein and UVa are "top-mid tier" or very strong institutions. You are not going to have trouble matching into anything that you want coming out of their school--0 hesitation if your step score is good, and you'll have all the research opps in the world.

Good luck!

 

[Chelsea FC]

Eisenstein ! Your cons for the schools arent as bad as the others expect for the cost in which I would wait for your financial package and also you should factor that subsidized housing will drive cost down as well. I dont know where you got that Eisenstein has a low rep but I think you're mistaken on that. Its in the environment you love( prob the greatest city in the country) , close to family, one of the ,very diverse area and have crap tones of research $$. As you can tell I love that school!

 

[at617]

@premed66 I am a current student at Tufts...pm me if you have any questions about the school

 

[WedgeDawg]

If being in a city is super important to you, I would pick Einstein, but UVA is close to Richmond (a smaller city but definitely a city) and 2 hours from DC. Also being in the Bronx, you're pretty far away from all the "fun" stuff in NYC. I think this choice should be between Einstein and UVA and should be made based on location preference and cost. Academically, they're comparable.

 

[mvenus929]

I don't have much to say about the others, but I agree with the above about UVA. It is a pretty diverse city, though it doesn't have a ton of volume. Volume isn't as important for med school, because you really just want a lot of bread and butter cases for all the major specialties to explore. I definitely did not want to stay there for residency, because the patient volume wasn't high enough for my goals (they are more of a cerebral program for peds, but IM is amazing there).

Regarding the away rotations, I actually enjoyed getting away from UVA and seeing how other people did medicine. I was in Fairfax for peds, and Williamsburg for IM, so it's not all rural. My FM site was at a more rural site, but it was within an hour's drive of my apartment, so I just commuted each day. The extended fourth year with a ton of opportunities to fill the time is also amazing.

 

[787593]

Einstein if you're a big city guy

 

[libertyyne]

I would say UVA hands down, but your preference for city living might shift it towards Einstein. If you are gunning for something uber competitive I would goto UVA. Why is miller off the list?

 

[787593]

I would say UVA hands down, but your preference for city living might shift it towards Einstein. If you are gunning for something uber competitive I would goto UVA. Why is miller off the list?

I wouldn't mind living in Miami, haha

 

[premed66]

I wouldn't mind living in Miami, haha

I will be an UM graduate and am ready to get out of the area. While I have enjoyed my four years at UM and working at the UHealth/Miller facilities, I am ready to return up North and experience another institution. Will def be missing this city and weather tho haha

 

[premed66]

Hey 66,

Read my response with a grain of salt. I'm biased b/c I'm going to UVa... but:

I would 100% choose UVa or Einstein in your shoes. Jefferson & Tufts are expensive schools. Even with 20k off, Jeff would be just as expensive (if not more, Philly is more expensive than C-ville) as UVa and Tufts is the most expensive MD school in the country. 90 freaking grand for tuition.

Financial issues aside, UVa and Einstein are better schools. Better research opportunities. Smaller classes. Better shots at getting into the residency of your choice.

To speak to your concerns of Cville, I don't think UVa does a good job of showcasing how "city-like" Charlottesville is. Not only is it one of the top cities in the country as far as livability is concerned, but it is also one of the happiest places in the country! We get every major artist coming through (e.g., Lady Gaga, TSwift, Avett Brothers), but we also have mother nature close at hand. If you're a true city slicker, I think Einstein would be a better fit (you seem to think that from your review), but UVa isn't a country bumpkin town if that's what you're assuming.

One thing you may not know is that Cville is a "Sanctuary City" for refugees. It's one hell of a diverse city. We have a wide variety of races and cultural backgrounds. I had a mentee refugee from SE Asia; roommates from France; and people of color (of all colors) are well represented both in the city and in its culture (soul food is a thing here).

I'd also say that regardless of how "close" your are to your family, you will definitely want them as close as possible in school. There are few people that are going to stick with you through thick and thin and through the torture of med school. Your family is (most likely--please excuse me if I'm wrong) among those people, so it is nice to have them within 3/4 hours (NY + VA > Boston + Phil on that account).

All 4 of the schools are good, but Einstein and UVa are "top-mid tier" or very strong institutions. You are not going to have trouble matching into anything that you want coming out of their school--0 hesitation if your step score is good, and you'll have all the research opps in the world.

Good luck!

Thank you for all of the feedback. As of right now, I am planning on attending the Second Look Event at UVA (and Einstein to compare) which I hope sells me on the location of the school! All of the students I met on interview day were AMAZING, so I could surely see myself attending. My mom being from the area is pushing me to attend as well, as I may qualify for in-state tuition which would be phenomenal.

Also still waiting to hear back from Einstein with my aid package. If it is not comparable to UVA, I will likely choose that. ) How did you decide / What factors mainly influenced you to pick UVA?

 

[To be MD]

Thank you for all of the feedback. As of right now, I am planning on attending the Second Look Event at UVA (and Einstein to compare) which I hope sells me on the location of the school! All of the students I met on interview day were AMAZING, so I could surely see myself attending. My mom being from the area is pushing me to attend as well, as I may qualify for in-state tuition which would be phenomenal.

Also still waiting to hear back from Einstein with my aid package. If it is not comparable to UVA, I will likely choose that. ) How did you decide / What factors mainly influenced you to pick UVA?

Feel free to PM me and we can talk.

 

[premed66]

Feel free to PM me and we can talk.

PMing you!


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