Cincinnati vs Ohio State medical school

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Which school should I go to?

  • Cincinnati college of medicine

    Votes: 21 45.7%
  • Ohio State college of medicine

    Votes: 25 54.3%

  • Total voters
    46

jmpatt29

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2014
Messages
358
Reaction score
177
.

Members don't see this ad.
 
Last edited:
How crucial is the long-distance problem? Google Maps shows that it's about an hour and half drive which isn't bad at all so I wouldn't assume necessarily that your relatoinship is going to be strained! I am in a similar situation with a similar distance and we're doing absolutely fine! The age of the building's doesn't have much bearing as long as they have the material conducive for learning (i.e good sim centers ect). Is there a difference in grading system? Cost? Location of hospitals for year 3/4?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
How crucial is the long-distance problem? Google Maps shows that it's about an hour and half drive which isn't bad at all so I wouldn't assume necessarily that your relatoinship is going to be strained! I am in a similar situation with a similar distance and we're doing absolutely fine! The age of the building's doesn't have much bearing as long as they have the material conducive for learning (i.e good sim centers ect). Is there a difference in grading system? Cost? Location of hospitals for year 3/4?
 
Last edited:
That's a tough one haha. I would pick OSU>UC because of prestige, plus better access to residency. The gunner thing isn't something you'll avoid completely and I'm sure you'd be able to find a group of friends that aren't like that. The only complication is the s/o. At this point, if the deposits have been paid, just try gathering more info and go to their second look days!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I just want to throw in that as a OSU buckeye, you'll have access to the RPAC which is one of the biggest/best student rec centers in the world. And it's not that far from the medical building. I also feel like the medical school building is beautiful inside, so I don't know what you feel like is the downside to "old buildings".

Lastly, while you may have heard differently, I didn't get a competitive vibe from the OSU students at all. It's hard to imagine that there isn't at least some with the scholarship but I felt like the students were more cooler, friendly, and (should I say?) normal than any other school I've been too.

Bottom line, I vote OSU because your cons for them I just don't seem to agree with. I can't give much opinion on UC because I haven't been there. Also, it would be one thing if you were going off to college away from your high school sweetheart, but I think a 90 min distance for two med students is totally doable. You're both going to be focused so much on your education and career during the week and 90 min is no barrier to seeing each other every weekend. FaceTime/Skype works wonders for situations like these for our generation as well. As an anecdote, I had a similar situation early in college which I feel turned out to be a blessing. My girlfriend moved almost 2 hours away to go school but we still saw each other almost every week. Meanwhile, I was able to focus a lot more on school and my other priorities while still maintaining a healthy relationship that lasted almost 3 years. (Ended from completely other reasons and on good terms).

But hey, n=1 here. Take it how you want.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
That's a tough one haha. I would pick OSU>UC because of prestige, plus better access to residency. The gunner thing isn't something you'll avoid completely and I'm sure you'd be able to find a group of friends that aren't like that. The only complication is the s/o. At this point, if the deposits have been paid, just try gathering more info and go to their second look days!
are you an OSU alum?
 
I just want to throw in that as a OSU buckeye, you'll have access to the RPAC which is one of the biggest/best student rec centers in the world. And it's not that far from the medical building. I also feel like the medical school building is beautiful inside, so I don't know what you feel like is the downside to "old buildings".

Lastly, while you may have heard differently, I didn't get a competitive vibe from the OSU students at all. It's hard to imagine that there isn't at least some with the scholarship but I felt like the students were more cooler, friendly, and (should I say?) normal than any other school I've been too.

Bottom line, I vote OSU because your cons for them I just don't seem to agree with. I can't give much opinion on UC because I haven't been there. Also, it would be one thing if you were going off to college away from your high school sweetheart, but I think a 90 min distance for two med students is totally doable. You're both going to be focused so much on your education and career during the week and 90 min is no barrier to seeing each other every weekend. FaceTime/Skype works wonders for situations like these for our generation as well. As an anecdote, I had a similar situation early in college which I feel turned out to be a blessing. My girlfriend moved almost 2 hours away to go school but we still saw each other almost every week. Meanwhile, I was able to focus a lot more on school and my other priorities while still maintaining a healthy relationship that lasted almost 3 years. (Ended from completely other reasons and on good terms).

But hey, n=1 here. Take it how you want.

Thanks a lot for your input, I really appreciate it! I do agree that I could find a niche of friends at either place. With your interviews, did you feel OSU had the "best" curriculum? I have heard time and time again that all students will learn the same thing but I did think OSU offered more opportunities to have multiple faculty members to go to.

I am an OSU alum so the buckeye pride factor is pretty strong in my head so I am trying to get some outside perspectives lol
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Thanks a lot for your input, I really appreciate it! I do agree that I could find a niche of friends at either place. With your interviews, did you feel OSU had the "best" curriculum? I have heard time and time again that all students will learn the same thing but I did think OSU offered more opportunities to have multiple faculty members to go to.

I am an OSU alum so the buckeye pride factor is pretty strong in my head so I am trying to get some outside perspectives lol
I'm not familiar with UC's curriculum but I liked most of what I heard about OSU's. They really sold it on interview day but the only reservation I had for it came from a unique opportunity I had to talk to some students after the interview. While they certainly all seemed very happy to be at the school, one girl said to me "let me be honest with you, you might hate anatomy".

At the end of the day, I think it's important to go with where you would feel happy. Go with your gut, while you may think of the buckeye pride factor as a bias, I think it's an important emotion to consider when it comes to where you'll be happy.

P.S. while I didn't go to OSU, I'm also a big buckeye fan so I may be biased and it'll be hard for me to turn down my acceptance there if I got into another one of my top choices (i.e. Stanford, Harvard).
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Oh come on, 1.5 hr drive is not long distance. I did a year with my gf living in Asia, and we may be 4+ hrs away for med school, and it'll be manageable. Travel time will be easy especially if you have recorded lectures. Listen to a Najeeb video in the car. Choose the school you love.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I also interviewed at both and liked OSU a lot more. I was blown away by the new Cancer Center that they have, and the community seems to be incredibly friendly and fun. Cincy - OSU is very doable for a relationship in my opinion.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
OSU is "better" (higher rank, strong residency programs, etc.), but Cinci is still a good school with good GME programs. Personally, I'd go to tOSU.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Hi! I made this decision two years ago, chose UCCOM, and am absolutely thrilled with my decision. I fell in love with UC on my interview day, something about OSU rubbed me the wrong way. I felt that people at UC were happy, and the OSU students I met seemed... off? Go with your gut. I spent hours pouring over rankings and match lists and lots of BS that now, as an M2, I realize mattered 0. Cincinnati is the perfect fit for me, I've got the greatest friends in the world, I love our curriculum. I can expand on it more if you'd like, but it's standard organ blocks. For you, M1 will be: fundamentals of molecular medicine, fundamentals of cell medicine, musculoskeletal, neuro. M2: cardio/heme, renal/pulm, GI/endo/repro (I think, they're shifting the order from what we have).

The city is awesome. My class is awesome. My friends are awesome. I had a family emergency very early on M1 year and I was flying between Cincinnati and Wisconsin every few days to spend time with my family in the hospital, then come back and take my exams, and the school was overly accommodating. A few M2s at the time sent me all their study materials from anatomy, since I was taking the practical blind (by choice). Everyone was just so incredibly supportive, I felt home.

I really couldn't be happier with my choice to go to UCCOM, but then again, it was my gut feeling. Let me know if you have any questions!!

Edited to add: last year's M2's KILLED the boards. I think the average was 237? I'd have to dig through my e-mail to find it, but yeah. The last few years have been very strong Step scores for UC. Can't speak for OSU, I'm sure their students do well, too!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Top