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earlsweatshirt

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Given that the costs are relatively the same, Hopkins seems like the best choice. CCLCM is obviously a great option, but Hopkins is an unparalleled name in medicine. Also, your cons for Hopkins seem like splitting hairs and speculation vs. your cons for CCLCM seem like genuine concerns (mandatory everything, business casual, mandatory research year...etc).
 
From what I also know, so confirm this:
Hopkins MD 4 years, financial aid???/debt???
CCLCM 5 years, tuition paid??? Thus isn't your debt from CCLCM going to be lower??? But you'll be a student for an additional year???
 
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earlsweatshirt said:
Everything is mandatory (but I think I'll be okay with that?)
Click to expand...
No, you won’t be. When you’re drowning in lectures and have an upcoming exam or literally just do not want to go to class, you don’t want to be punished for skipping something that you can watch later on your own time. Any school that still has mandatory lectures or a dress code for lectures is a red flag because indicates that they want to micromanage you (imo). And you’re interested in a competitive residency, why wouldn’t you pick one of the biggest names in medicine?
 
Mr.Smile12 said:
From what I also know, so confirm this:
Hopkins MD 4 years, financial aid???/debt???
CCLCM 5 years, tuition paid??? Thus isn't your debt from CCLCM going to be lower??? But you'll be a student for an additional year???
Click to expand...

With the scholarships and financial aid from each school, I should be able to come out debt free from both!
 
everythingisonfire said:
No, you won’t be. When you’re drowning in lectures and have an upcoming exam or literally just do not want to go to class, you don’t want to be punished for skipping something that you can watch later on your own time. Any school that still has mandatory lectures or a dress code for lectures is a red flag because indicates that they want to micromanage you (imo). And you’re interested in a competitive residency, why wouldn’t you pick one of the biggest names in medicine?
Click to expand...

I agree with your point, however, CCLCM doesn’t have any exams or tests. Even then do you think the mandatory attendance would be a problem? The students there seem to have significantly less stress than the students I met at other schools during the interview cycle. Also, do you think the difference in name recognition of hopkins vs Cleveland clinic would have a significant impact on matching into residency and later in my career? Thank you so much for your input!
 
Current CCLCM student.

Mandatory classes: not ideal but ultimately eh. 80% of the time you can Anki/study or work on research during lecture. My biggest gripe was having to be up early M1/M2, but by studying during class I was often done with *everything* by noon many days (assuming no clinic or experiential learning in the afternoon).

Grading: IMO the benefits of NO grading cannot be understated. It's still med school so there's always going to be some stress, but when I see the CWRU students panicking every other week about tests (which are P/F!) I count my blessings.

Tuition: CCLCM being free is a big draw in general but it sounds like you have a big scholarship to JHU so that's a moot point.

Research: As you noted, CCLCM has a mandatory research year. If you end up not liking research it would be a bummer to have to stay in school for an extra year, but also be aware that the curriculum itself has a lot of research-specific components (lab rotations in pre-M1 and M2 summers, weekly research talks, more extensive biostats than most schools) that might not be enjoyable if you don't really like research. That said, if you want to do a competitive surgical subspecialty, the trend every year is that more and more people take a research year. However, despite us being a "research oriented" program, CCF is still a predominantly clinical entity rather than a research powerhouse. We still have an abundance of available projects and institutional support, but CCF is not in the same tier as JHU when it comes to research.

Class size: 32 students per class is very small, which can be good or bad. I like my classmates. But everyone knows everyone's business, and quite frankly CCLCM attracts a type of student that is a bit odd even by med school standards. We are dweebs. Can you deal with 31 dweebs for 5 years?

You can't go wrong either way, especially with similar CoA. I personally wouldn't trade anything for not being graded though.
 
As someone on the other side and didn’t think much of it when choosing between schools, definitely don’t underestimate the importance of the “mandatory classes/events” thing. I didn’t really mind them as much since I’m pretty extroverted, but I definitely had a good chunk of classmates who absolutely hated them and saw them as a burden to their studying
 
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