Colorado vs Iowa vs Wisconsin

[Snoonan1]

Hi folks, I just got off the waitlist for two schools (Wisconsin and Iowa). I am already accepted to the Uni of Colorado and need a decision.



I currently live in a mountain community in Colorado and went to college in Denver. I grew up in Madison Wisconsin and did undergrad research at UWSMPH. I am interested in a surgical subspecialty and will likely end up in the mountain west or in Wisconsin as a provider. My biggest goal is set myself up to match into a competitive residency (Ortho, Plastics, etc). I am not 10000% set on a specialty however I figured that going through med school with the mindset to match into something competitive will keep my options open if I am drawn towards another field. I do have dyslexia and adhd so a strong academic support team is a major draw for me.





Colorado

*In-state Tuition

• Grading: Pass/Fail
• MD-Rural Track
• Lots of mentorship (COMPASS faculty guides, research mentor, student mentor)
• MS2 Clinicals: early core clerkships (longitudinal)
• Currently I live in Colorado, close to the outdoor activities I enjoy.

Iowa (Carver)

* Out of State Tuition

• Grading: Honors/Near Honors/Pass/Fail
• Student life: Learning communities
• Clinicals: early core clerkships start middle of MS2 -MS4

UWSMPH

*In-State Tuition - qualify as I graduate from a wisco high school and rents still live there

• Grading: Pass/Fail but internal ranking
• Family lives in Madison close to the UW.
• Worked in a very productive lab in undergrad and could continue with this team for publications.

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[elephantmed]

Congrats! All schools are T50 right? I’m assuming they all have your desired specialities at their academic centers?

I don’t think either schools will give you a significant advantage “prestige-wise.”

Pick based off of cost, comfortability, and student atmosphere!

 

[pnaupnau123]

From what you're looking for, I would suggest Colorado. Financially it makes since, and it also has much more resources for the kind of medicine you want to practice. Academically, I believe it has a better match list than UWSMPH (if that matters for you), as you are interested in a competitive specialty. Iowa may not be worth the high OOS tuition. You also listed much more pros than cons for Colorado than the other two schools

 

[Premedt123]

I think you should pick Wisconsin! Some pros I think why:

- 1.5 year preclinical
- clerkship starts the second half of M2
- from what students reported at second look, research opportunities are abundant and all if not most are always willing to take med students to help with their research.
- Shapiro research starts the summer between M1 and M2. Students mentioned there are plentiful Shapiro research projects. Even if there aren’t projects related to your field of interest, some students I talked with cold email the specialty doctors and joined their projects.
- P/F with no internal ranking (from what students told me)

As for matching, honestly I feel any MD school will help set you up to be successful in matching to the specialty you’re interested in but that also depends on you to seek out those research opportunities and resources.

 

[professinalDJ_futureMD]

I went to UW undergrad and worked at SMPH during my gap year, Madison may be the most slept-on city in the country and UWH is a high-quality medical center. You will always have great restaurants, bars, parks, and of course the infamous Farmer's Market around you and with the lakes nearby, Madison is affordable and easy to get around - I never even had a car. I have a lot of friends at SMPH too who are loving their class, plus the buildings are much nicer than other unnamed schools I've been inside. I don't know much about CO but I think it'll be a better experience than Iowa. Also can't forget how high UW is ranked, I know that matters to some people even though in reality it hardly matters.