Creighton vs. Brown

[Here4themems]

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Thank you in advance to everyone who provides their input.

I am extremely grateful to have been accepted into both of these programs, and now I am looking to narrow down where I will be attending. I am from the Chicagoland area and in addition to seeking a highly supportive medical school community, I would prefer to stay close to my support system (long-term SO and friends) and family in the Midwest. That being said I am not against moving further out if it means a substantially better education (resources, connections, etc.). Although unsure of what I would like to specialize in I am currently interested in competitive specialties related to surgery such as general surgery, ENT, and plastics as well as cardiology (I know that this means I would have to go through IM first and then the fellowship). I ultimately would like to match back to the Chicagoland area or Arizona.

CREIGHTON (Omaha Campus):

Pros:
-Closer to home (7 hour drive)
-Closer to SO's medical school (7 hours, but not Chicago)
-Students seem to be very happy and all-around supported by faculty
-Service mission and emphasis on student well-being
-Omaha is not Chicago, but is a good-sized city (400-500k population size) with plenty to do outside of school
-Accessible faculty willing to support individual student goals
-Strong match list
-Early clinical involvement
-Global Health opportunities
-Jesuit ideology makes student body and faculty seem more approachable and cohesive
-TEAMS- mentoring from upperclassmen and faculty (good for providing direction and connecting to faculty in specialty of choice)
-MD/MBA dual degree program
-H/P/F (Although not P/F, provides a bit more incentive to do well in classes)
-Recently invested $200 million into hospitals and teaching facilities (Both Omaha and Phoenix campus)

Cons:
-Traditional 2-year curriculum
-Unranked by USNWR, but lower than Brown in PD Rankings (66 vs. 31)
-Post graduation debt is about $70k more than Brown's according to MSAR
-Low NIH research funding, although they emphasized ease of getting involved in research and producing publications on interview day
-Less diverse student body
-AOA prior to Match
-No ENT department

BROWN:

Pros:
-Much better name recognition
-Higher PD Ranking (31 vs. 66)
-Only medical school in Rhode Island
-Emphasized how students and faculty are respected and treated alike in their collaborative and highly supportive community
-Urban setting, but Providence has lots of trails and water and is a very walkable city
-Covers all financially demonstrated need with scholarships
-Post graduation debt is $70k less than Creighton's according to MSAR
-Scholarly Concentrations
-Lots of research funding
-Amazing match list
-Diverse student body
-P/F
-AOA determined after Match

Cons:
-15 hour drive or 2 hour flight from home (would like to be able to drive in case of anything urgent)
-17 hour drive or 2.5 hour flight to SO
-Have never lived or been to much of the East Coast
-Imposter Syndrome given "prestige"?
-Much older hospitals, although beautiful learning facility
-No ENT department

Ultimately, at least off of first impressions, Creighton's community appears more genuine and committed to its students well being and success. The added benefit of being close to my family, friends and SO is super valuable. However, Brown's name definitely carries weight and its notably better ranking has me slightly confused and wondering (especially given that Step 1 is now P/F) if I would be making a mistake attending Creighton over Brown.

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[ice cheems]

Take this with a large heaping of salt as I am just another fellow pre-med and don't know all that much. But my gut instinct would be that you should go to Brown over Creighton. Brown will leave you with less debt and more research/other opportunities that come with its being an Ivy-league campus. The name recognition and ranking will also help immensely with matching you to an excellent residency program, thus leaving you with even more options for where you might end up than if you went to Creighton. Despite Brown being farther away, I really do think this would just be a temporary 4 year sacrifice that would pay off immensely with giving you so much more flexibility for choosing a residency location, which is worth more in the end.

As for Creighton being a very supportive environment, I would encourage you to try to find some current med students at Brown whom you can talk to. See what they think about the culture among students, faculty, and admin there. Ask what their biggest complaints are too. Do the same for Creighton if you can, and see if it's really such a stark difference between the schools or if you could see yourself being happy at either. If it's the latter case, then hands-down I would choose Brown. Especially considering Brown is only P/F too as opposed to H/P/F at Creighton, I would imagine the students at Brown are very collaborative with one another and everyone just wants to help each other succeed.

 

[Hotshy]

Given your goals, with all the pros and cons listed, Brown is the better choice for you. As mentioned above Brown is a higher ranked school (better prestige factor with Step 1 P/F), with better research opportunities, and a stronger match list. You are interested in some pretty competitive specialties and you are going to need every possible advantage to successfully match into those specialties. Brown may be farther away now, but it is the choice that will allow you to keep more options open for residency/fellowship. You mention a 7 hour drive to see your SO, but a flight from Rhode Island to Chicago is much shorter than that (although more expensive). Not to mention, Brown is the less expensive option as well. I think overall Brown is the better choice for you. Congratulations on a successful cycle, it's always a good thing to have options.

 

[Swaglikemurph]

Congrats on the successful cycle. Well done! Given what you described here, I would recommend Brown. The cost of attendance difference can not be overlooked. Given your career interest, the combination of Brown’s P/f curriculum, their reputation, and resources provided in the home departments for the field of interests you’ve listed, brown seems like they will help you more when it comes time to prepare for the match. Best of luck to you wherever you decide. Both programs are awesome

 

[m1redsox]

If you want ENT, plastics, or cards (3 of the most competitive subspecialties out there), then it would be crazy to choose Creighton over Brown. Plus, money and P/F classes are dope. Save the money and buy a flight out to the midwest once a month to see SO and fam. I did that for the first 6 months of med school and it was not so bad. Plus a 7 hour drive isn’t exactly an every weekend type of thing anyways.

 

[Here4themems]

Thank you all for the input. I assumed that the overall consensus would be to pursue Brown over Creighton. If I ultimately decided to pursue general surgery with the intent to then pursue one of the then competitive sub-specialties, do you think I would still be as disadvantaged if I attended Creighton? Both match lists have a similar number of general surgery matches. I have personal reasons as to wanting to stay within driving distance of home, even if it is 7 hours.

 

[Ole_Toe]

Thank you all for the input. I assumed that the overall consensus would be to pursue Brown over Creighton. If I ultimately decided to pursue general surgery with the intent to then pursue one of the then competitive sub-specialties, do you think I would still be as disadvantaged if I attended Creighton? Both match lists have a similar number of general surgery matches. I have personal reasons as to wanting to stay within driving distance of home, even if it is 7 hours.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with making the decision based on personal reasons. In fact, more students should probably do this. However, there's no way around the fact that one school is objectively better/more prestigious/more likely to give you career flexibility than the other. You can still match to any specialty from Creighton, but you may not have as much geographical control over where you land. Comparing match lists is a fools-errand, and comparing the number of gen surg matches is not meaningful.

Just want to reiterate what others have said: as a med student, you'll rarely have time for a 14-hour round trip drive, so you're probably going to be flying to see your fam regardless. If you have other reasons for needing to be within 10-hours by car, that's fair. Go where you think you'll be happiest and where you will thrive. Do you think you'll be happier at Creighton? Is a part of you going to hold onto the what-if of Brown?

 

[ice cheems]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with making the decision based on personal reasons. In fact, more students should probably do this. However, there's no way around the fact that one school is objectively better/more prestigious/more likely to give you career flexibility than the other. You can still match to any specialty from Creighton, but you may not have as much geographical control over where you land. Comparing match lists is a fools-errand, and comparing the number of gen surg matches is not meaningful.

Just want to reiterate what others have said: as a med student, you'll rarely have time for a 14-hour round trip drive, so you're probably going to be flying to see your fam regardless. If you have other reasons for needing to be within 10-hours by car, that's fair. Go where you think you'll be happiest and where you will thrive. Do you think you'll be happier at Creighton? Is a part of you going to hold onto the what-if of Brown?

Just want to reiterate/agree with this. Not knowing your personal reasons for being closer to home I can't really comment on it, but if that's a hugely important reason then definitely prioritize accordingly as long as you're absolutely sure the trips home will be doable / are essential.

 

[Hotshy]

If your personal preference is stay closer to home at Creighton and you feel that the trips to see your family/SO will be doable over the 4 years then Creighton makes sense. You certainly can match into general surgery from Creighton and get into a surgical subspecialty fellowship. Your residency/fellowship application will be missing that "prestige factor" and potentially research opportunities, so you may not have as many options as you would have at Brown. However the overall career path you're describing remains open at Creighton. At the end the day you have to be happy with your decision and for you that sounds like it may be Creighton. I would take some time to consider everything posted on this thread before making a decision. Good luck.

 

[Banco]

Go to Brown - it's got a great reputation and is a great school. And let's be honest, you're not going to be driving 7 hours often. A 2 hour flight will likely be more realistic and feasible, even if Brown is physically more distant.

 

[hmockingbird]

Personally I’d pick Brown just for the debt and P/F curriculum. As far as flights you’re almost always going to be able to find cheap flights to Chicago because it’s a huge hub.

However, if you’re leaning towards Creighton I think you’ll be fine. I feel like it’s one of those schools that may not be as well known on the coasts but has a good reputation in the Midwest.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

Brown would likely open up some doors in terms of residencies, especially with the upcoming P/F for Step 1.