i'm glad you like mayo. it's def a great school no doubt, that's why i applied. if you are at the #1 research school, you can do research. if you are at the #75 research school, you can do research. in the end you can only really work in one lab, so who cares how many labs a school has. in that sense, yea the rankings are useless.
but here's the thing. i have real access to top clinicians where I go, and i'm talking at the undergraduate level. many schools have P/F, and i'd be willing to bet most schools aren't that super competitive. at the end of the day, most medical schools are the same. you are getting an MD. this isn't a phd school where the actual school you go to makes a huge difference. I have yet to see one medical really stand out from the rest in a super unique way. the only thing i have seen thats remotely unique is stanford's concentration curriculum, which is pretty cool. other than that, id say most people are going to be happy wherever they go and find many of the same opportunities.
Stanford's curriculum is really sweet, and so is Mayo's. Not many schools have the block system like we do and very few allow such flexibility (at Mayo w/ selectives and at Stanford w/ concentrations).
Not every school will have world-class faculty that are accessible and legitimately nice people. Money is also a huge factor. There are several schools that offer awesome financial aid, with Mayo being one of them. While there are a handful with all of the above qualities, getting into these schools is quite difficult.
General advice:
Just interview everywhere you can, and go with your gut feelings after you have been accepted to a handful of schools. It is hard to make decisions of any kind before you go and get a "feel" for different schools. I must say, I had very high expectations for Mayo and have not been let down.
To whoever asked, Rochester is OK. It has enough restaurants to keep me busy, though it could use more bars. There are a few go-to bars, but more diversity in our selection would be nice. Mayo clinic employs tons of people, and having a sweet Mayo badge makes you feel like a bada** until you realize everyone else has one too. Minneapolis is close enough to enjoy it as well. And downtown Rochester is kinda cool.
No, it's not New York or Chicago or SF or LA, but it'll do for four years. My goal is to do residency in one of those cities, and so far I'm doing alright with Rochester. It is small, which means getting around is really easy and quick. I live really "far away" which is an eight (yes, eight) minute drive to Mayo. People gasp when I tell them what street I'm on because it is "soooo far".
And JasonE, I'm not picking on your post at all, I just liked the Stanford example.
