Accepted to medical school! PLEASE help me decide where to go!

[IEMD]

Hello, everyone. I feel super fortunate to have gotten two acceptances to medical school this year, to the University of California Riverside, and the University of Colorado Anschutz.
Since I am a southern California native, I thought going to UCR would be an easy decision if I were to get in. But after doing some research, I have started to consider Colorado more seriously. I am very torn, and would greatly appreciate any input that current medical students from anywhere would be able to give me. Here is a brief Pros & Cons list I have gathered. Please feel free to comment on whether you think any of these points are more/less important than others, important points I might have missed about either school, or general advice. Thank you so much!

UC Riverside

Pros:
- P/F Pre-Clinical Grading
- Close to home/friends/family
- In-State Tuition is HALF THE PRICE of CU!
- UC system funding and affiliation (possibly helpful for residency matches?)

Cons:
- Newer school with perhaps less resources
- Lower ranked/less prestigious?
- Less research funding and opportunities

CU Anschutz

Pros:
- P/F Pre-Clinical Grading
- Very well funded research labs
- Several Home Residency Programs including competitive ones like Plastic/Derm (possibly helpful for residency matches?)
- Higher ranked/more prestigious? (possibly also helpful for residency matches?)
- Close to Denver, with a seemingly nice mix of urban/outdoorsy culture

Cons:
- Again, DOUBLE the price
- Far from home/friends/family
- Apparently has an overwhelming amount of required in-person sessions (Reddit, 2021)

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[Chads2]

I can only speak to UCR.
It’s a newer program, though new programs get less-new all the time. By the time you apply for residency it might not matter anymore. What also doesn’t matter is “UC affiliation for residency.”

When it comes to residency matching, it’s all about the candidate, unless your school is a completely unknown or disreputable quantity.

Trust me, on what will be the craziest journey in your life, you’ll be happy to know that your family is nearby and that your tuition debt is HALF of what it could be.

 

[MotherofDragonflies]

You might get better results if you put this in the Help Me Decide subsection of Pre-Med.

Good luck.

 

[Tangerine123]

- Close to home/friends/family
- In-State Tuition is HALF THE PRICE of CU!

I think the 2 points above trump anything else you mentioned. I can't stress enough the importance of family and friends support while in medical school. And the debt part is a nobrainer.

An MD is an MD wether you graduate from a university nobody knows of or the top 10. You will get a residency spot, you will get a fellowship, you will practice medicine.

 

[ThatSerb]

I can only speak to UCR.
It’s a newer program, though new programs get less-new all the time. By the time you apply for residency it might not matter anymore. What also doesn’t matter is “UC affiliation for residency.”

When it comes to residency matching, it’s all about the candidate, unless your school is a completely unknown or disreputable quantity.

Trust me, on what will be the craziest journey in your life, you’ll be happy to know that your family is nearby and that your tuition debt is HALF of what it could be.

it doesnt help at all to have in-house residency programs? thats the one things that UCR seems to kind of lack. but I'm not sure how big of a deal that is

 

[Tenk]

This is a no brainer. UCR. Your future self will thank you.

 

[stickgirl390]

UCR

 

[wysdoc]

Moving to Help Me Decide: X vs Y Medical School forum page

 

[Banco]

UCR because it's cheaper and family is there.

 

[ArteryStudyPainting]

Wherever you're happyWherever you're happyWherever you're happyWherever you're happyWherever you're happyWherever you're happyWherever you're happyWherever you're happyWherever you're happyWherever you're happyWherever you're happyWherever you're happy

b/c happy student = less depression/sadness = less stress = better life = better performance = better outlooks = less burnout

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Congrats on getting admission from a UC, a tough accomplishment for CA residents and don’t let go of that. You should match fine in CA.

 

[Nugester]

Support system close by?

UCR

 

[IEMD]

UCR because it's cheaper and family is there.

Hi, I just saw your post on someone comparing Colorado to Duke. Do you not think Colorado would give an advantage to those top specialties as well compared to UCR (I’m considering dermatology)? I calculated the total COA for both if I live on campus and realized it’s about a 100k difference after about 10 years of interest.

-CU on campus (~550k)
-UCR on campus (~450k)

-UCR living at home (~300k) (45 min. drive)

Does this information change your opinion? Thanks!

 

[Banco]

Hi, I just saw your post on someone comparing Colorado to Duke. Do you not think Colorado would give an advantage to those top specialties as well compared to UCR (I’m considering dermatology)? I calculated the total COA for both if I live on campus and realized it’s about a 100k difference after about 10 years of interest.

-CU on campus (~550k)
-UCR on campus (~450k)

-UCR living at home (~300k) (45 min. drive)

Does this information change your opinion? Thanks!

I'm still leaning UCR. I don't think Colorado gives such a huge bump to worth the price. Especially if you want to be living at home.

With regards to your interests, if they have consistent matches to dermatology every year it shouldn't be concerning.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Hi, I just saw your post on someone comparing Colorado to Duke. Do you not think Colorado would give an advantage to those top specialties as well compared to UCR (I’m considering dermatology)? I calculated the total COA for both if I live on campus and realized it’s about a 100k difference after about 10 years of interest.

-CU on campus (~550k)
-UCR on campus (~450k)

-UCR living at home (~300k) (45 min. drive)

Does this information change your opinion? Thanks!

Take UCR and save up money for expensive CA real estate.