guyfieri805
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Preface: sorry for the long post lol
Hey everyone, I've been thinking about this for a while and have been oscillating back and forth between both schools. I went to both second looks, and prior to the visits I was leaning more towards Case due to the higher prestige/better match list. However, after visiting both schools I think I am now leaning slightly more towards BU (primarily because I liked Boston a lot more than Cleveland). In general, the COA for both schools would be about the same, with BU being slightly cheaper due to scholarships (20k cheaper, which in my opinion is negligible). I am interested in pursuing competitive specialties (Ophtho, ENT, Ortho, etc.), however, I am not all that interested in pursuing academic medicine. All of my support systems are on the west coast, so either way I'll be far from home, which I'm fine with/excited about.
BU:
Pros:
- School mission & patient population. I have done a fair amount of community health work and it is something I am interested in exploring further in my career. Also, I speak Spanish well and feel Boston/BMC would give me more opportunities to work with Spanish speaking patients.
- Good research opportunities in Boston (although think it might be easier to get good research at Case)
- Optional recorded lessons, i.e. more free time outside of class than Case (where more classes are in person required).
- Smaller quizzes every Friday instead of final exams. Can retake failed quizzes without it showing up on transcript
- I really enjoyed Boston when I visited. I also feel like I vibe more with the east coast than the midwest.
- In particular I really enjoyed how walkable Boston was and seemed like there was much more to do.
Cons:
- AOA (would add to the stress of having to perform at a high level to match well into competitive specialties). I've read that the environment amongst students is less friendly/more competitive, however I don't know how true that is. This worries me most of the Cons for BU.
- Slightly less prestigious (however I don't know if the gap is big enough to make to much of a difference)
- 2022 Match List shows not a ton of people matching into competitive specialties, however I think this may have just been an anomaly as 2021 and 2020 had many more people match into competitive specialties.
- Will be the first cohort on a 1.5-yr systems-based curriculum. Not stoked to be the guinea pig year.
- Many of the facilities are older, however this isn't the biggest deal to me.
Case Western:
Pros:
- True P/F and no AOA. More collaborative/less competitive. This sounds like least stressful curriculum which is very important to me.
- Better match list for competitive specialties.
- Excellent research opportunities and excellent clinical rotations.
- More prestigious.
- Low cost of living (would be nice to pay less for better housing).
- Less competitive student body, more friendly (hard to say how true this is in comparison to BU as everything I've read online are just people's personal opinions).
- Brand new, beautiful facilities.
Cons:
- Cleveland, not a very walkable city, seems like there is less to do and the student population is more spread out across the city which I don't love.
- essay based exams
- more mandatory group work - time consuming
Final Thoughts:
All in all, I am very torn. When I visited Case, seeing what Cleveland looked like and the area the school was in gave me a lot of anxiety. However, I am worried that by going to BU over Case, I will be making my life a lot harder in terms of matching competitive specialties. I'm also worried that the curriculum (AOA) and environment amongst students will be a lot less friendly, which also sounds very stressful to me. In short, am I overestimating the importance of Case's increased prestige? Am I overestimating the increased stress of med student life at BU relative to Case? I'm having a difficult time deciding if the benefits of living in Boston outweigh the lifestyle benefits of attending Case over BU.
Hey everyone, I've been thinking about this for a while and have been oscillating back and forth between both schools. I went to both second looks, and prior to the visits I was leaning more towards Case due to the higher prestige/better match list. However, after visiting both schools I think I am now leaning slightly more towards BU (primarily because I liked Boston a lot more than Cleveland). In general, the COA for both schools would be about the same, with BU being slightly cheaper due to scholarships (20k cheaper, which in my opinion is negligible). I am interested in pursuing competitive specialties (Ophtho, ENT, Ortho, etc.), however, I am not all that interested in pursuing academic medicine. All of my support systems are on the west coast, so either way I'll be far from home, which I'm fine with/excited about.
BU:
Pros:
- School mission & patient population. I have done a fair amount of community health work and it is something I am interested in exploring further in my career. Also, I speak Spanish well and feel Boston/BMC would give me more opportunities to work with Spanish speaking patients.
- Good research opportunities in Boston (although think it might be easier to get good research at Case)
- Optional recorded lessons, i.e. more free time outside of class than Case (where more classes are in person required).
- Smaller quizzes every Friday instead of final exams. Can retake failed quizzes without it showing up on transcript
- I really enjoyed Boston when I visited. I also feel like I vibe more with the east coast than the midwest.
- In particular I really enjoyed how walkable Boston was and seemed like there was much more to do.
Cons:
- AOA (would add to the stress of having to perform at a high level to match well into competitive specialties). I've read that the environment amongst students is less friendly/more competitive, however I don't know how true that is. This worries me most of the Cons for BU.
- Slightly less prestigious (however I don't know if the gap is big enough to make to much of a difference)
- 2022 Match List shows not a ton of people matching into competitive specialties, however I think this may have just been an anomaly as 2021 and 2020 had many more people match into competitive specialties.
- Will be the first cohort on a 1.5-yr systems-based curriculum. Not stoked to be the guinea pig year.
- Many of the facilities are older, however this isn't the biggest deal to me.
Case Western:
Pros:
- True P/F and no AOA. More collaborative/less competitive. This sounds like least stressful curriculum which is very important to me.
- Better match list for competitive specialties.
- Excellent research opportunities and excellent clinical rotations.
- More prestigious.
- Low cost of living (would be nice to pay less for better housing).
- Less competitive student body, more friendly (hard to say how true this is in comparison to BU as everything I've read online are just people's personal opinions).
- Brand new, beautiful facilities.
Cons:
- Cleveland, not a very walkable city, seems like there is less to do and the student population is more spread out across the city which I don't love.
- essay based exams
- more mandatory group work - time consuming
Final Thoughts:
All in all, I am very torn. When I visited Case, seeing what Cleveland looked like and the area the school was in gave me a lot of anxiety. However, I am worried that by going to BU over Case, I will be making my life a lot harder in terms of matching competitive specialties. I'm also worried that the curriculum (AOA) and environment amongst students will be a lot less friendly, which also sounds very stressful to me. In short, am I overestimating the importance of Case's increased prestige? Am I overestimating the increased stress of med student life at BU relative to Case? I'm having a difficult time deciding if the benefits of living in Boston outweigh the lifestyle benefits of attending Case over BU.
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