is tufts worth it?

[dr.quack]

i am still picking between tufts and my state school, SUNY downstate. bottom line - do you guys think that the tufts m.d. ensures/helps more than one from downstate? basically is it worth what amounts to about half a million dollars in loans??? (that multiplier really stinks!)
THANKS! i have to make my decision by tuesday, so all advice would be much appreciated.

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[Katie]

I'm a first year at Tufts (hopefully soon to be second year, waiting on an exam result) and IMO, an M.D. is an M.D. wherever you get it from. I would save the tuition and go to Downstate, even though Tufts is an excellent school. However, there is a girl in my class who chose Tufts over Upstate because she was not impressed with the caliber of students she found at Upstate, and she is happy with her decision. Neel, another Tufts student who posts on here, knows of people who chose Downstate over Tufts and regretted that decision. I think it is a personal decision and that no one on here can be of much help in making it for you, unfortunately. If there are any specific questions I can answer for you about the curriculum or people at Tufts, please feel free to ask. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Assassin]

i visited both schools and at tufts, in my search for anything to justify their price tag, i came up empty-handed. all sunys are a great bargain and personally, i would regret passing those up for a school such as tufts, but that's just me

 

[nmehta]

Go where you feel most comfortable. My friend who chose downstate over tufts regrets it to this day, but he is definitely in a better financial position. However, he does feel strongly that he would take the loans to be happier...

Ask turtleboard or guardian. They are both suny students and know something about tufts. I don;t know much about downstate as i am a CT resident.

 

[atsai3]

If you're now looking at Tufts MD vs. Downstate MD, I would say go for the Downstate MD and save your money. In a previous posting you had mentioned an interested in public health programs -- so you can take your saved $$ and pay for an MPH. (Getting into a good MPH school is easier than getting into a good medical school. But they are very expensive...)

Cheers
-a.

 

[dr.quack]

thanks for all of your responses...i am waiting to hear from tufts about getting into their combined md/mph on june 10th- so i have to decide by tues if i will give up my md/mph at downstate for a firm md (and possible mph) at tufts. if i got waitlisted for the mph, i would complain til they let me in - i want the mph.

i am still incredibly confused b/c i don't know which name means more in the long run.
for those who were in a similiar situation and picked downstate and you regret it, why?
also, how are the students at tufts? do they help each other, are they snobby? what about the professors? do they go out of their way at tufts or is it mainly independent learning?

THANKS! this is such a tough decision!

 

[Katie]

i can answer your question about the students and faculty at Tufts. the learning environment is pretty laid-back, particularly during the first semester, and people are cooperative for the most part. There are a few jerks who brag or try to put other people down (and you will find these types at every school) but for the most part people do not compete with each other due to the H/P/F grading system. we have a lot of good faculty members here; the anatomy faculty are great about coming into lab outside of designated class hours to help us out and run review sessions before exams. Dr. Rabson is also a great immunology lecture. The MD/MPH program is not bad at Tufts; I was in it but dropped the MPH component during second semester due to academic problems I was having and the fact that I just didn't really fit in with the other students in the program. If I had to sacrifice the MPH to pass anatomy, so be it. I think the public health prospective is an excellent one to have, however, and there are some very fine faculty in the MPH program (Dr. Schlaff, Prof. Hyde, and Dr. Will Rand). hope this answers some of your questions.

 

[nyskindr]

If you are planning a career in public health then the Downstate choice makes the most sense.
They have a new MPH program and are opening a school of public health within the next 2 years.
Physicians in public health do not generally make alot of money so your ability to pay back loans will be critical.Although Tufts is more well known the name it is not so great as make a drastic difference over a state school.The match lists from Downstate indicates that their students
get into many top residencies.