Choosing a School

[cece]

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Hypothetically speaking, let's say you've been accepted to more than one school, and you don't have a clear favorite among them. What selection criteria do you apply to the schools? How do you choose? The things that I thing are important are location, cost/financial aid, research, class size, quality of teaching, and possibly the school's ranking. How are you all choosing, and what is the most important factor for you?

Thanks

 

[k-monger]

Hypothetically speaking, let's say you've been accepted to more than one school, and you don't have a clear favorite among them. What selection criteria do you apply to the schools? How do you choose? The things that I thing are important are location, cost/financial aid, research, class size, quality of teaching, and possibly the school's ranking. How are you all choosing, and what is the most important factor for you?

Thanks

Thus far, for me I've been developing a loose ranking of schools based on location, student personality, and quality of education (based on reputation and current student opinion). I must add that I am thoroughly overwhelmed by this process, and I don't expect to make a confident decision until may or june.

 

[fun8stuff]

i am having same problem.. so much so that I ended up canceling all of my late interviews (8)... i am sick of this process...

 

[TexasSnow]

Personally, the schools I'm interviewing at are starting to sound the same. At the moment, the only way to impress me is by having a lot of cute residents. I'm sure that will trigger something in many people's minds, but there are only so many ways to spice up the hospital tour.
😴

 

[lorelei]

The ones you mentioned were all good. I've noticed that my impression of schools has been very much influenced by how much I clicked with the students (and, to some extent, my fellow interviewees). Undergrad was a great experience for me, because it was the first time I was surrounded with very many people who were similar to me (as far as interests and intellectual curiosity go). I'd like to repeat that experience in med school - you learn from your fellow students just as much as you do from your professors. And they're the ones you hang out with on Saturday nights.

 

[cece]

The ones you mentioned were all good. I've noticed that my impression of schools has been very much influenced by how much I clicked with the students (and, to some extent, my fellow interviewees). Undergrad was a great experience for me, because it was the first time I was surrounded with very many people who were similar to me (as far as interests and intellectual curiosity go). I'd like to repeat that experience in med school - you learn from your fellow students just as much as you do from your professors. And they're the ones you hang out with on Saturday nights.

I agree that the students can really make or break one's experience of a school, but what about schools where you didn't meet many students? My undergrad experience was less than fabulous because I didn't particularly click with the average student at my college, and I'd very much like not to repeat that experience (I suspect pretty much any medical college will have a better social environment than my undergraduate school, but still).

My particular situation is that I really liked the students at school A, but have also been accepted to school B, with slightly better location, cost, research and ranking, but where I met only two students, neither of whom was particularly interesting, fun or impressive. Any advice?