A DO student in Chicago vs. Los Angeles?

I forgot when you have to decide by....

You seem pretty worried about this - which one feels better to you? Where will you be closer to friends and family?

Chicago and Los Angeles have very different social cultures - which would work better for you?

You aren't going to run short on clinical opportunities at either location...If you have intentions of staying in Cali, then it may behoove you to go there for medical school. If you can't handle cold, then it also may be good for you. With regards to clinical experiences, you won't have issues. With nearly 10 million people in both cities' surrounding areas, there are plenty of potential patients whether there is 1 school or 10 in the area.

I personally hate LA, but others love it.

Hmm chicago... the city of one of the original DO schools... tons of alumni in the area or LA... not so much.

By far, chicago's gonna be more DO-friendly.

stmclovin said:

I am curious why?

Click to expand...

While traffic in chicago is horrendous, the traffic in LA is bad at all hours. The city of LA was designed around the car, as such the public transportation was lacking compared to similar places. It is horribly expensive. I don't care for the pollution and the socal personality gets to me sometimes. There are good people there...I'm friends with a few, so socal people don't hate me. Keep in mind that I grew up in the midwest, so my opinion is a bit biased. Also, I'm an nfl fan and don't want to have to go to san diego for a game. It is really a personal thing. I could probably be perfectly happy there for a couple years. It is just not the place I want to end up. I like nature, large plots of land, and the midwest mentality (never thought I'd think the last part)...we're all different, but it is my personal thing. Chicago has everything you need and more, it has wrigley field, fantastic summer festivals, a great bar scene, relatively friendly people...it is a city, can't expect too much. The trains make things fairly easy. I just like chicago a lot....everything but the bitter cold.

I chose to come to Chicago. It has its ups and downs (let's face it, everyone dislikes their school at some point). There is no shortage of sites, but the same is true for many of the DO schools in larger cities (NYCOM, NSU, PCOM, UMDNJ, etc). Some of the cites here are awful, and others are quite good. We do our "core rotations" in Southern Illinois (one hour south of the city without traffic). Be prepared to travel or forget living in the city at all. The first two years you'll live in Downers Grove (~45 minutes from the city) and surrounding areas. Again, not exactly the "city life" but you have your choice your 3rd and 4th years, as I mentioned.

If you know what you want to go into, I would recommend going to the school that has the residency you want. DOs like to pick from within their affiliated institutions.

As far as cities go, I love L.A. and Chicago. L.A. and California in general, has things that Chicago can't compare to (beaches, mountains, mexico). You could go to Tijuana for the weekend, wine country, or snowboarding in the mountains with just a short drive. Chicago has great museums, sports, and food. Both cities have great night life.

Tough decision, but thought you should weigh all the options before choosing.