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Started by sansfrique
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If you want to go for absolute medical prestige, Hopkins or UCSF. If you want to go for the most balanced approach, Columbia is the choice. Forget about NW, not in the same league and way too expensive.
 
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Columbia. To say Hopkins or UCSF is more prestigious than Columbia is honestly spliiting hairs. They all speak loud and clear: you were the best of the best in terms of applicants. If you can truly justify 100k difference from UCSF or Hopkins, than fine. But I think you’ll have a hard time convincing me either of those are a sweeter deal than degree Columbia and a Porsche (to emphasize the cost difference)
 
allaboutpurple said:
I thought clerkships were still graded on a tiered H/HP/P/F system? (making a similar decision and this would be a major pro if true)
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Hopkins student here: we moved to P/F clerkship grading during COVID and the school is very seriously considering keeping this grading scheme permanently. Basically the entire student body is advocating for it and it's set to be voted on by a formal task force/the curriculum committee soon. Fingers crossed!

OP, I've loved my time at Hopkins but would still advocate for Columbia in your case as full CoA and zero loans are tough to beat. These are all fantastic options and none will hold you back in the slightest.
 
srirachamayonnaise said:
If you want to go for absolute medical prestige, Hopkins or UCSF. If you want to go for the most balanced approach, Columbia is the choice. Forget about NW, not in the same league and way too expensive.
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Wondering what indicators you would use to say their is a meaningful difference in prestige here? PD rankings would suggest NYU is as prestigious as Harvard and UW moreso than both. USNWR are equally as meaningless in splitting hairs among top tier schools. Match lists are notoriously difficult to decipher given their dependence on med students career interests. One could say JH and Columbia have more layman's prestige than UCSF and NW, but I don't see how you go any further than that.

To OP, I think the only thing you should be debating here is fit + location. It sounds like you have a desire to spread your wings which gives the edge to Columbia/UCSF over JH. The difference between 0k and 80k in debt is so minimal compared to a physician's salary that I would barely even factor it in. I know debt is scary, but there's absolutely no reason you should let a 20k/yr surcharge influence where you live and grow in some of the most formative years of your life.
 
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