Advice on multiple acceptances please!

[badger12]

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Hello there,
I have been accepted to Rush, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Oakland. Does anyone have opinions on comparing these three?? The way I see it, Rush and MCOW are more well known than Oakland. Is that true or is that just my impression? Does this matter for matching into residencies? Is a school's "name brand" something that I should consider or would you consider that less important than curriculum, cost, location, etc?
Oakland would be much more affordable, since they offered me a pretty large scholarship.
I appreciate anyone's insight! Thanks!!

 

[Cotterpin]

I would go for the large scholarship. I think that will make a bigger difference down the road than prestige.

 

[Petrichor1]

don't consider the name brand of either as they all are on the same tier in my opinion. Go for the full scholarship bro, you will totally thank yourself down the road...1000%

 

[El-Rami]

Follow the principles of economic thermodynamics: choose the path of least debt. The less debt, the less stress.

 

[SteveRope123]

Pick the choice that offers you the best medical education, most opportunities, and has the curriculum that caters to your interests.

 

[Glazedonutlove]

Curriculum, $$, and how you felt on interview day

 

[ChillDawg]

Go to Oakland of the money

(I applied to the other two 😉)

 

[futuremdforme]

For what it's worth, I hadn't heard of any of those med schools prior to SDN so none of them are so well known that they're a brand name. I'm with everyone else on choosing the one you like best. If you prefer the other two, you might be able to ask them about scholarships? Congrats about the multiple acceptances!

 

[SOMBound13]

Hello there,
I have been accepted to Rush, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Oakland. Does anyone have opinions on comparing these three?? The way I see it, Rush and MCOW are more well known than Oakland. Is that true or is that just my impression? Does this matter for matching into residencies? Is a school's "name brand" something that I should consider or would you consider that less important than curriculum, cost, location, etc?
Oakland would be much more affordable, since they offered me a pretty large scholarship.
I appreciate anyone's insight! Thanks!!

You need to WAIT!

Sometime in the spring, the other med schools that accepted you will know that you received that merit award. They may decide to also offer you an award to try to protect their yield.

Scholarships aren't always offered with acceptances. Many come in the spring. All of my schools offered me merit awards. The first did come with acceptance. The rest came in late winter and early spring.

Why are you feeling pressured to decide now? You can accept all 3 right now.

 

[Moko]

Also look at their match lists from prior years and see what kind of residencies their graduates get into. Are these places that you would be happy with?

 

[Mad Jack]

Also look at their match lists from prior years and see what kind of residencies their graduates get into. Are these places that you would be happy with?

Match lists are a poor indicator of potential outside of the top schools, and tend to be more reflective of student preferences than school limitations among schools of the same tier.

 

[Catalystik]

So long as you pay the $100 to hold each spot, you have 6+ months to compare schools and wait for more scholarship money before the deposit is no longer refundable.

 

[22031 Alum]

Congrats!! You don't have to decide now, hang on to the spots and see if new information ($$$) down the line helps you decide.

 

[f4reignbeauty]

Which one would you be happiest at? Did anything stand out to you in particular on the interview day?

 

[badger12]

Thank you everyone for your replies!! This is all really good advice. I will definitely be waiting to make my decision, but all your advice is really helpful to start thinking about. Thanks again everyone!!

 

[avgn]

Yeah I don't think there is any prestige differential among your choices, other than the fact that people in the different regions would obviously be more fond of the local school (esp MCW)

 

[BurghMed]

You need to WAIT!

Sometime in the spring, the other med schools that accepted you will know that you received that merit award. They may decide to also offer you an award to try to protect their yield.

Scholarships aren't always offered with acceptances. Many come in the spring. All of my schools offered me merit awards. The first did come with acceptance. The rest came in late winter and early spring.

Why are you feeling pressured to decide now? You can accept all 3 right now.

Thank you for posting, I was also wondering this. Much appreciated

 

[SOMBound13]

To clarify further, you can put a pre-enrollment deposit, which AAMC guidelines have at $100 or less and are refundable prior to April 30. That is the last day you must make an enrollment acceptance by. Since I am sure someone will ask already, if you get waitlisted after that date, you can accept the new offer and you will get a refund from the earlier offer.

see AAMC traffic rules : https://www.aamc.org/download/364264/data/2014trafficrules.pdf

Absolutely. That's why I advised that he could accept all three now...which means depositing now. As long as he's not holding multiple acceptances by the deadline next spring (Is that April 20?, I forget), he's fine.


The student should not be pressuring himself now. Just deposit and wait.

 

[lmn]

Hello there,
I have been accepted to Rush, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Oakland. Does anyone have opinions on comparing these three?? The way I see it, Rush and MCOW are more well known than Oakland. Is that true or is that just my impression? Does this matter for matching into residencies? Is a school's "name brand" something that I should consider or would you consider that less important than curriculum, cost, location, etc?
Oakland would be much more affordable, since they offered me a pretty large scholarship.
I appreciate anyone's insight! Thanks!!

Congrats on the great success so early on! I would hold onto all the schools, but maybe make note of the good and bad things about each program that you saw when you interviewed (you probably won't remember all the details a few months down the line). Then compare things like their cost, curriculum, feel, location, etc and try to figure out where you think you will best succeed and be happy.

 

[claduva94]

It's largely too early to have this conversation. Aid packages haven't gone out plus you may be accepted to a school you prefer to all of these later on, rendering this conversation a moot point. If you had to decide today, definitely go with the cheapest option if you don't have a compelling reason to choose the more expensive option. Congrats on your success!

 

[GrapesofRath]

Hello there,
I have been accepted to Rush, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Oakland. Does anyone have opinions on comparing these three?? The way I see it, Rush and MCOW are more well known than Oakland. Is that true or is that just my impression? Does this matter for matching into residencies? Is a school's "name brand" something that I should consider or would you consider that less important than curriculum, cost, location, etc?
Oakland would be much more affordable, since they offered me a pretty large scholarship.
I appreciate anyone's insight! Thanks!!

If nothing else changes until the end of admission cycle I think you have your answer in the bold. Of course, the chances of things changing between now and the end of May or so are pretty significant so it's not particularly wise to lock down your choice to one school.

Where all are you still waiting on to hear back from? What was your impression of each school visiting them during the interview? Each of these schools has different environments and somewhat different missions; which one is best for you is something only you can answer.

But to directly answer your main question, discarding Oakland because MCW and Rush seem to have a more "established name" is rather shortsighted and flawed perspective.

 

[Glazedonutlove]

Yeah I agree with the rest. Accept all 3 and worry about this in the spring

 

[Salt Salt]

Follow the money. It's not like you're picking between Oakland and, say, Harvard or something

 

[mrspecialist]

Oakland!!!! Great med school and very engaging atmosphere!

 

[tenblackalps]

Question: At what point (if any) does it make sense to pick a school that gives you less (or no) money over one that gives you a full or nearly-full ride scholarship? I don't have this "dilemma" (for lack of a better word) at the moment, but it is possible I could later in the cycle.

 

[Glazedonutlove]

That depends on you... where you want to live, what kind of curriculum/hospital/patient experience you are looking for, how much prestige matters to you