Hi all! Thanks to some recent waitlist movement, I am currently struggling to pick between these 3 programs, and would appreciate some advice. All are great programs with similar calibers of match lists in my eyes, and I'm very grateful to be in this position.
Some context about me: City doesn't matter to me too much, I would be fine living in Cleveland or Chicago or St. Louis. They're all within driving distance of my hometown, so support system is about the same at all. I'm currently open to any specialty, although recently I've been thinking about cardiology, anesthesiology, or radiology (but again, this is very uncommitted and I would not at all be surprised if I changed paths completely once med school starts). Money does matter, as I will be taking loans out to pay for a pretty hefty chunk of med school. Long-term, I have interests in teaching and in biomedical engineering (e.g. developing new medical devices) as well as practicing as a physician.
CCLCM
Pros:
- Cleveland Clinic is insane institution which would likely have good benefits for clinical training and research opportunities
- Really small class size means there's a lot of individualized attention for each individual student
- Test-free, no grades or exams
- PBL/TBL seems like it would work well for my learning style
- MD/MS in BME seems like it would be useful for my long-term goals
Cons:
- 5 year program means I'll lose a year of attending salary. I understand that it's like a built-in research year but depending on what specialty I do end up trying to match in, a research year might not be necessary if I went to one of the other schools.
- Really small class size means there might be very few people in my class that I actually really click with. Not sure if there's a ton of interaction with CWRU students, if there is, that would help alleviate some worry here.
- All classes mandatory, business casual dress required.
- Instead of grades, they use essays and portfolios which sound kind of like busywork.
- Have not visited. Might try to arrange an emergency visit if possible.
Pritzker
Pros:
- Loved the school when I visited. Both other admitted students and current students were fantastic, and I could definitely see myself being a part of this community.
- Admin and faculty seem to be incredibly supportive of students.
- So many ways to give back to the community.
- UChicago is fantastic outside of medicine as well. Could potentially network with students at law school and business school as well as potentially doing a dual degree.
- Research is also integrated into the curriculum here, funding is also given for M1 summer research.
- Current students seemed to really enjoy their time at the school. They seemed to be genuinely happy, which I think is pretty important lol.
- Lots of grads end up teaching medicine apparently, which would fit great with that goal of mine.
- Class size is medium--large enough to have a good variety of people but small enough to still have a tightknit class and individualized attention.
Cons:
- No engineering school means few engineering projects to work on. While visiting, I did talk to a faculty member about one project though, and she invited me to work on it if I did matriculate here.
- Less prestigious relatively within medicine compared to the other 2 options.
- New curriculum is being rolled out, which will likely come with its own share of kinks.
- Safety issues? Not super worried about this honestly.
- AOA?
WUSTL ($120k more than CCLCM)
Pros:
- No rankings of AOA
- EXPLORE pathway would allow me to go deeper into innovation or education.
- The most prestigious of the 3 schools (although the difference is not super important in my opinion).
- P/F clerkships
- Heard good things about the new curriculum
Cons:
- $$
- Heard the community is kind of gunnery/cutthroat and that's not really my vibe.
- Really short breaks it looks like, e.g. only 2 weeks for M1 summer
Thank you in advance for your help. I truly believe that any of these 3 programs would be great for me, so any input (or factors that I haven't considered) would be super helpful in making my decision.
Some context about me: City doesn't matter to me too much, I would be fine living in Cleveland or Chicago or St. Louis. They're all within driving distance of my hometown, so support system is about the same at all. I'm currently open to any specialty, although recently I've been thinking about cardiology, anesthesiology, or radiology (but again, this is very uncommitted and I would not at all be surprised if I changed paths completely once med school starts). Money does matter, as I will be taking loans out to pay for a pretty hefty chunk of med school. Long-term, I have interests in teaching and in biomedical engineering (e.g. developing new medical devices) as well as practicing as a physician.
CCLCM
Pros:
- Cleveland Clinic is insane institution which would likely have good benefits for clinical training and research opportunities
- Really small class size means there's a lot of individualized attention for each individual student
- Test-free, no grades or exams
- PBL/TBL seems like it would work well for my learning style
- MD/MS in BME seems like it would be useful for my long-term goals
Cons:
- 5 year program means I'll lose a year of attending salary. I understand that it's like a built-in research year but depending on what specialty I do end up trying to match in, a research year might not be necessary if I went to one of the other schools.
- Really small class size means there might be very few people in my class that I actually really click with. Not sure if there's a ton of interaction with CWRU students, if there is, that would help alleviate some worry here.
- All classes mandatory, business casual dress required.
- Instead of grades, they use essays and portfolios which sound kind of like busywork.
- Have not visited. Might try to arrange an emergency visit if possible.
Pritzker
Pros:
- Loved the school when I visited. Both other admitted students and current students were fantastic, and I could definitely see myself being a part of this community.
- Admin and faculty seem to be incredibly supportive of students.
- So many ways to give back to the community.
- UChicago is fantastic outside of medicine as well. Could potentially network with students at law school and business school as well as potentially doing a dual degree.
- Research is also integrated into the curriculum here, funding is also given for M1 summer research.
- Current students seemed to really enjoy their time at the school. They seemed to be genuinely happy, which I think is pretty important lol.
- Lots of grads end up teaching medicine apparently, which would fit great with that goal of mine.
- Class size is medium--large enough to have a good variety of people but small enough to still have a tightknit class and individualized attention.
Cons:
- No engineering school means few engineering projects to work on. While visiting, I did talk to a faculty member about one project though, and she invited me to work on it if I did matriculate here.
- Less prestigious relatively within medicine compared to the other 2 options.
- New curriculum is being rolled out, which will likely come with its own share of kinks.
- Safety issues? Not super worried about this honestly.
- AOA?
- No rankings of AOA
- EXPLORE pathway would allow me to go deeper into innovation or education.
- The most prestigious of the 3 schools (although the difference is not super important in my opinion).
- P/F clerkships
- Heard good things about the new curriculum
Cons:
- $$
- Heard the community is kind of gunnery/cutthroat and that's not really my vibe.
- Really short breaks it looks like, e.g. only 2 weeks for M1 summer
Thank you in advance for your help. I truly believe that any of these 3 programs would be great for me, so any input (or factors that I haven't considered) would be super helpful in making my decision.
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