I'm definitely going to have to visit the Savannah campus before I make a decision. I have friends at both that love it so it's tough to make an objective decision based upon their input. My only concern with Savannah, and maybe you can address this, is that it seems like a logistical nightmare being isolated on the coast and 4+ hours from my hometown and Atlanta. Other than that, Savannah is obviously a more desirable city to spend the next 4 years in.
Honestly, the only time you'll have to go home/Atlanta is the weekend right after a test, which is about every 6 weeks. Even if you're thinking you'll drive from Macon to Atlanta every other weekend or something, which is only an hour or so away, you'll be wishing you were studying that whole hour and then when you get there to do whatever you're doing, you'll wish you were studying instead. It's so easy to get behind. There's really no time off, at least not at first while you're acclimating and figuring out how much non-studying you can get away with. So if you don't mind the longer drive home every once in a while, Savannah's fine. It might be even beneficial so you're not tempted to take time off from studying to visit family
Also, being in Savannah is not a big deal at all as far as the learning process goes. Some of the professors (phase leaders and tutors at Mercer) are in Macon, some are in Savannah. So no matter which campus you go to, at some point you'll have to video-conference for resources (kind of like a lecture, maybe have 1 a week, not required to attend, recorded). But it seems like (at least in Savannah) all the tutors know everything about everything, ha, so I haven't had to reach out to anyone in Macon at all yet. Savannah seems successfully stand-alone so far.
Hmm...just some other Macon/Savannah differences...
Macon's obviously on Mercer's campus and the hospital is down the road. Savannah is on the hospital's campus, right next to the ER and helipad (guilty pleasure of mine). Memorial's also a level 1 trauma center like Macon, so that's cool. You get a hospital badge day 1 and can go pretty much anywhere in the hospital, you'd be surprised where your badge will take you
. The hospital has a nice gym and it's free to us. Volunteering opportunities are good. Parking's free.
That said, in Macon you get the campus and the benefits that go with that, i.e., intramural sports are big in Macon. In Savannah, we have rec league sports teams, which you have to pay for, but still does the job. A lot of people go to the beach, kayaking, camping.
Ultimately, my advice would be to pick which city you'd be happiest in, and leave all other factors out...Because med school is so stressful and it consumes most of your time and will be the exact same in both locations, you don't need more stress from not enjoying where you live. Maybe you'd be happier in Macon closer to home and family for a quick afternoon trip, or maybe you'd be happier in Savannah where you like to beach with friends on random Tuesdays...I can't decide that for you, but I definitely encourage everyone to visit both campuses before deciding.
I can already feel the heart palpitations starting this morning!
to everyone else who is still waiting, and to those in RD pool.
