This is a very tough choice for me so I appreciate any advice in the comments!
For context, my family is in Boston. I went to undergrad out of state and frequently found myself missing being in the Boston area. I know my overall happiness would be better in Boston for the first couple years of medical school. That said, I'm unsure whether or not Northwestern might offer better opportunities/residency match, and whether these perks are worth being away from home for.
Overall cost of attendence will be the same. Both schools are P/F preclinical with graded clinicals.
I am pretty undecided for specialty. Right now I am thinking something in IM, possibly GI (but I know interests often change in med school!) I'm also unsure whether I want to do academic medicine or be a pure clinician down the line. For residency, I do hope to match in Boston or at least somewhere closeby in New England.
To summarize:
Boston University
+ Location: I prefer living in Boston and hope to stay here for residency.
+ Close to family. I could get home easily on some weekends!
+ Med Student Residence (dorm) is very convenient; only guaranteed the first year though.
+ People here seemed to have a down-to-earth vibe that I liked.
Northwestern
+ Seems to have more prestige (?) I hear this could help with residency match but to what extent is unclear to me. I would like to match into a strong IM program ideally.
+ Research-focused, apparently with stronger research in some areas that I'm interested in.
- Downtown Chicago is nice but I want to go back to Boston/New England for residency.
- No family support nearby.
With the deadline to decide very close, I'm leaning toward BU for the location and proximity to family. I know I will work hard at whichever school I commit to and put my best foot forward.
Still, I wanted to gauge folks thoughts here. Any advice is appreciated!!
For context, my family is in Boston. I went to undergrad out of state and frequently found myself missing being in the Boston area. I know my overall happiness would be better in Boston for the first couple years of medical school. That said, I'm unsure whether or not Northwestern might offer better opportunities/residency match, and whether these perks are worth being away from home for.
Overall cost of attendence will be the same. Both schools are P/F preclinical with graded clinicals.
I am pretty undecided for specialty. Right now I am thinking something in IM, possibly GI (but I know interests often change in med school!) I'm also unsure whether I want to do academic medicine or be a pure clinician down the line. For residency, I do hope to match in Boston or at least somewhere closeby in New England.
To summarize:
Boston University
+ Location: I prefer living in Boston and hope to stay here for residency.
+ Close to family. I could get home easily on some weekends!
+ Med Student Residence (dorm) is very convenient; only guaranteed the first year though.
+ People here seemed to have a down-to-earth vibe that I liked.
Northwestern
+ Seems to have more prestige (?) I hear this could help with residency match but to what extent is unclear to me. I would like to match into a strong IM program ideally.
+ Research-focused, apparently with stronger research in some areas that I'm interested in.
- Downtown Chicago is nice but I want to go back to Boston/New England for residency.
- No family support nearby.
With the deadline to decide very close, I'm leaning toward BU for the location and proximity to family. I know I will work hard at whichever school I commit to and put my best foot forward.
Still, I wanted to gauge folks thoughts here. Any advice is appreciated!!
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