Baylor vs. UPitt

[kalimba]

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Hello! I have received offers to BCM (Houston campus) and UPitt SOM and I am trying to decide which would be a better fit. Can any of you please advise? As of now, I am interested in a competitive specialty (cardio/derm/something procedural) but that is open to change. I am also interested in pursuing engineering/innovation/global health opportunities as a medical student.

Baylor:
Pros:
-$250k in state COA
-Familiar with Houston
-Solid match list
-P/F all four years

Cons:
-Would be cool to live outside of Texas (been here my whole life)
-Will matching outside of Texas be hard?

UPitt:
Pros:
-Insane match list especially for the specialties I am interested in
-Idea of flex weeks sounds cool
-New city/I like the east coast
-No internal ranking
-More protected research time/better tech related opportunities?

Cons:
-COA is around $400k
-Mandatory attendance
-Graded clinicals? Do not know if this is a bad thing though
-Not used to the cold

Summary: Is the $150K COA difference justifiable for the potential differences in match prospects/things I listed? Trying to decide if I should also go to the UPitt admitted students day.

 

[cbum]

Are you a TX resident? If you really want to practice outside of TX for residency and as an attending then you can’t go wrong with Pitt, although you can still match OOS from Baylor, but if you will be taking considerable loans to attend both, then Baylor might be the better choice as it'll minimize your debt and is similar in many ways. both have great match results, but the region of your match is more likely to be influenced by the school and where faculty have connections in areas they’ve worked, for example Pitt definitely will continue to have greater prestigious northeast matches because of regionality. however students at both schools have the potential to match all over the country. UPMC may have the edge nationally in it’s home residency program quality and renowned hospital system, but BCM has many amazing programs as well like thoracic surgery, peds…
- A at Baylor didn’t apply to Pitt

 

[Goddo Usoppu]

live life and go to pitt

 

[harmonious_gazelle]

Go with Baylor. 150k difference over 4 years is a LOT, and like others have mentioned, both Baylor and Pitt are very prestigious schools that will not hold you back. People match for residency outside of Texas from Baylor all the time -- it's a very good medical school! If you work hard and make connections, anything is possible from there. If warm/sunny weather is important to you, Houston is a lot better for that than Pittsburgh is too. There will be more to do in Houston & a multitude of research opportunities as well. Congratulations on your acceptance!

 

[deleted1141024]

Personally, I would go with Baylor in this situation. They're equally well-regarded and Baylor is P/F and much chiller sounding than Pitt. It sounds like both programs are experimenting with newish curriculums so idk but I lean toward Baylor for the money and chiller experience.

I don't think matching outside of Texas is that hard from Baylor but people will probably chalk you up to wanting to stay in the South unless you are very clear when you apply to residency that you want to end up somewhere else through signals or preferencing different regions on ERAS. If you do that, then I don't think staying in Texas for med school will prevent you from leaving if that's what you want.

 

[cbum]

Personally, I would go with Baylor in this situation. They're equally well-regarded and Baylor is P/F and much chiller sounding than Pitt. It sounds like both programs are experimenting with newish curriculums so idk but I lean toward Baylor for the money and chiller experience.

I don't think matching outside of Texas is that hard from Baylor but people will probably chalk you up to wanting to stay in the South unless you are very clear when you apply to residency that you want to end up somewhere else through signals or preferencing different regions on ERAS. If you do that, then I don't think staying in Texas for med school will prevent you from leaving if that's what you want.

^^^Over 50%, roughly 60%, of Baylor students match to programs outside of Texas even though ~85% were TX residents

 

[wysdoc]

The match lists are up for this year on both schools.
You can't make a wrong choice, @kalimba
Congratulations on a very successful year

2025 Match Lists