I've got three days to decide. If you're waitlisted/accepted at either school, please let me know when commenting. I'd love to hear the perspective of current students at either program. Below are my thoughts/questions about each:
Case Western
Case Western
- In terms of research opportunities, academic pedigree, clinical education and matching outcomes, I only ever hear fantastic things about this school. It would be great to hear your guys' opinions on their strength of match relative to Tufts (keeping in mind that some of the matches are due to CCLM students). Unfortunately, I can't post links because this is a new account, but lists for both schools are easily accessible via Google.
- Cleveland is a smaller city with a very low CoL. Would appreciate to hear the thoughts of anyone who has lived in the area on the "livability" of the city. For reference, I'm from a city that's similar on paper to Cleveland, and I actually like it there. My ideal living environment is probably a medium-sized city where there are certainly things to do and nice neighborhoods to hang out in, but things like parking/having enough living space/rush hour traffic are mostly non-issues. This is why, though I've enjoyed living in Boston the last two years, location isn't unambiguously in favor of Tufts.
- Curriculum/academic environment. Case follows the IQ system during the preclinical years, which is totally different than Tufts (as well as most other schools). For me, this is a plus -- since they're the school that invented PBL, I know they'll be able to run them effectively (which is also what I've heard from current students). Most of their days end at noon, which means plenty of time for independent study/activities. I do wish they recorded lectures, though.
- Social environment. Case was one of my favorite interview days because of the students and interviewees who I met there. This is the only place where I ended up getting people's numbers and hanging out after the day was over. At the same time, the average MCAT for matriculating students is pretty damn high (518). Do any current students think that being surrounded by such hyper-competent people can create a stressful environment at times? I do like that Case is both P/F through the first two years, and unranked through all 4 years.
- My original commitment. I was quite happy/set on going here before I got off the Case waitlist. Continuing in Boston means I could continue seeing my friends/SO in the city with minimal disruption, whereas moving to Cleveland means LDR + not knowing anyone aside from a college friend who will be matriculating this year.
- I love the location of the school in Chinatown. Some of my favorite restaurants/grocery stores will be right down the street. Living in Boston is expensive, though. I'll be paying more to live with roommates than I would to live in a single in Cleveland. There's also the fact that I'll likely have to leave Boston during at least some of my clinical rotations.
- The social climate of the school was very laid back, which I certainly liked. Students seemed focused on 1) becoming good clinicians and 2) enjoying their lives while they did it, moreso than they were interested in becoming academics/researchers. I don't worry about competition between classmates being an issue here.
- While the reputation of Tufts according to US News seems comparably high (3.7 compared to 3.8 to Case) the matching outcomes look totally different between the two schools. I suspect that this is a result of personal preference more than it is lack of opportunity, but it's hard for me to consider these two schools academically "equal" when the match lists look so different. This is where I'd love to hear some input from people who've been through the matching process or been at either of these schools: how valid are my instincts on this matter?
