UCLA vs Stanford vs Hopkins

[DRPIG]

Hi I'm a newbie here, but have been an SDN lurker for quite some time now. Thank you all for your incredibly helpful threads throughout this application cycle. I finally decided to join because I really need some input on where I should be for the next four years.

This application cycle has been extremely kind to me, but now I find myself in a difficult position. I am deciding between UCLA, Stanford, and Hopkins, and I'm leaning significantly towards UCLA. Is it dumb to turn down Stanford and Hopkins for UCLA? Here are my thoughts:

- UCLA: Close to home (I'm from LA), I already have an apartment there, I love the campus, and I love the food in the area. The students seem really cool and diverse. I'm not sure if they have as many resources for their students, though, being a public school?

- Stanford: Great name, but is there too much focus on research? Are the kids there too bookish? Some of the students I met on interview day were really nerdy. I loved the campus though, and am getting mixed signals about how relaxed this program is. I consider myself a laid back person and think I would fit in most at a relaxed program.

- Hopkins: My alma mater, and I love it here, but I've been here for five years now. Has it been too long? Is the med school too intense? As I said, I consider myself laid back and not sure that this is the right fit for me. I do, however, get caught up in thinking about the prestige of Hopkins and being at the #1 hospital with so much history. Is the name too good to turn down?

I'd appreciate all your thoughts in helping me make this difficult decision. Thanks!

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[surfinghaole]

I am struggling with a lot of the same issues.

UCLA really does have a lot less resources for students than the top private med schools. A good example I think is in global health. Hopkins I'm sure has an office specifically dedicated to global health setting up summer opportunities and fourth year clerkships in foreign countries with funding to help students cover the travel expenses.

UCLA on the other hand, not only do they not have an office dedicated to that task, they don't have any funding to give you really even if you set up something on your own, and apparently they make you jump through a lot of bureaucratic hoops (according to the student that interviewed me) to even do clerkships abroad at all.

That being said, I agree with you being a Los Angelino myself, that UCLA's location rocks the socks off of Hopkins, but Palo Alto is really not bad at all for a location either.

 

[Penguick]

Again...I would say go with your gut. I have a feeling though that if you ask about UCLA on this forum, most people will respond with that as their choice. It appears that there are a lot of people from California, and so obviously have a bias for UCLA.

Also, I don't know if it's so much of a problem in medicine to stay at the same school for your medical education. I might have remembered incorrectly, but my interviewer at Stanford did his undergrad and medical education there...and is now a member of the faculty at Stanford.

 

[shemarty]

Stanford med students are pretty research-focused, but they're far from "too nerdy." There are a lot of really cool people there, and then you might find out later that they have a patent or a gazillion publications or something.

 

[bobdogsam43]

idk how UCLA not having a specific global health "office" equates to claiming UCLA has "a lot less resources" then Penn. That's simply not true. UCLA is an international research university....if you want to go abroad you prolly won't have any problem with it. PLUS, UCLA has a School of Public Health (unlike Penn) which for sure has global health opportunities. Public health and medicine are not mutually exclusive. As with all UC's, if you want something you have to find it b/c it's usually there...

I get the sense that this is a "loaded" comparison: 2 accepted schools vs. 1 waitlist. These types of comparisons are alot more valid if the person is accepted at all of the schools being compared. Had this been the case I think the perspective re.UCLA would be different.....but idk.

 

[Penguick]

About the going abroad...when I went to my interview, I was told specifically by students and my interviewer that UCLA would rather you spend your time at UCLA than abroad. I don't know if this is true, or if I was just misinformed.

 

[JambaJHUice]

Wow this is crazy - I'm making pretty much the same exact choice as you and have really similar thoughts. Were you '08 at Hopkins? Weird...but cool to see someone in same situation! Go bluejays

About the going abroad...when I went to my interview, I was told specifically by students and my interviewer that UCLA would rather you spend your time at UCLA than abroad. I don't know if this is true, or if I was just misinformed.

I hadn't heard that, good to know - now to think of it I don't think UCLA stressed international experiences as much as other schools on the interview day at all...well UCLA also had much less of a "program" than some other schools

 

[copingmethods]

I am deciding between UCLA, Stanford, and Hopkins, and I'm leaning significantly towards UCLA. Is it dumb to turn down Stanford and Hopkins for UCLA? Here are my thoughts:

Hey Dr. Pig,
I'm deciding between UCLA and Hopkins, and I'm also significantly (almost 100%) leaning towards UCLA.

I made a thread earlier asking about the two schools, so maybe you can get some more thoughts from this thread:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=604438

Others brought up international health - I know one UCLA cardiologist that goes to Latin America w/ a team every year (CT surgeons, nurses, volunteers) and brings care to children w/ congenital heart defects there, and students can apply to go on the trip. Funding may be difficult to get however, I haven't looked into that yet.
http://www.heartswithhope.org/index.php

For me, what sealed the deal was that I feel like I can get similar opportunities at UCLA (though maybe not quite as much as Hopkins), have better location (LA>>>Palo Alto/Baltimore), and lower tuition.

Good luck w/ your decision!