CU vs Rush vs GW

[ymuzzy]

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Hello everyone,

I'm trying to choose among these three options, and after a lot of deliberation and consultation with friends and family, I'm still pretty torn. I've created a list of pros and cons for each school

University of Colorado

Pros
-Highest ranked among all three in research, which I'm interested in (35th)
-Many tracks to get involved in (global health, urban health, advocacy and health policy, etc)
-Very close to Denver
-Brand new facilities.
-Patient diversity

Cons
-COA: $83,000/year. Cannot get IS tuition after first year. Only received $10,000 in grants.
-Too many non-trads. I'm 24 and I believe a good chunk of the class is married or is in a serious relationship. I'm still used to the college atmosphere of everyone still not being that committed.
-Most of the class is from CO (although many have studied OOS).
-H/P/F (although it's not curved)

Rush Medical College

Pros
-CHICAGO!
-Brand new hospital
-Patient diversity

Cons
-Tuition: COA is $63,000. I received $11,000 in grant money.
-Not enough money for independent research activities (in my undergrad, I could easily receive $7,000 to spend on an 8 week project over the summer).
-Lower ranked (#62 in research)
-Competition with other schools
-H/P/F

GW

Pros
-DC (I'm interested in health policy, you can't really beat the location)
-Many tracks to get involved in.

Cons
-Expensive (COA is pretty high, haven't received aid letter yet)
-Was on probation, and according to the SDN thread, many people this year weren't happy with their match results).
-Not enough money for individual projects.
-Research ranking is 55.
-Also H/P/F (not sure)

What do you guys think? I'm thinking of very competitive residencies (ortho, general surgery, neurosurgery, ophthalmology).

 

[1289]

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to choose among these three options, and after a lot of deliberation and consultation with friends and family, I'm still pretty torn. I've created a list of pros and cons for each school

University of Colorado

Pros
-Highest ranked among all three in research, which I'm interested in (35th)
-Many tracks to get involved in (global health, urban health, advocacy and health policy, etc)
-Very close to Denver
-Brand new facilities.
-Patient diversity

Cons
-COA: $83,000/year. Cannot get IS tuition after first year. Only received $10,000 in grants.
-Too many non-trads. I'm 24 and I believe a good chunk of the class is married and/or is in a serious relationship. I'm still used to the college atmosphere of everyone still not being that committed.
-Most of the class is from CO (although many have studied OOS).
-H/P/F (although it's not curved)

Rush Medical College

Pros
-CHICAGO!
-Brand new hospital
-Patient diversity


Cons
-Tuition: COA is $63,000. I received $11,000 in grant money.
-Not enough money for independent research activities (in my undergrad, I could easily receive $7,000 to spend on an 8 week project over the summer).
-Lower ranked (#62 in research)
-H/P/F

GW

Pros
-DC (I'm interested in health policy, you can't really beat the location)
-Many tracks to get involved in.

Cons
-Expensive (COA is pretty high, haven't received aid letter yet)
-Was on probation, and according to the SDN thread, many people this year weren't happy with their match results).
-Not enough money for individual projects.
-Research ranking is 55.
-Also H/P/F (not sure)

What do you guys think? I'm thinking of very competitive residencies (ortho, general surgery, neurosurgery, ophthalmology).

why is H/P/F a con? Just wondering. it sounds like Colorado will have more opportunities for you to do research, and what are you basing the non-trad thing on? I only know a lot about one of these schools so I'm sure there are others who can provide more valuable insight, but I would say that I think each school will help you get where you want to be, and I would go with your gut feeling at this point.

 

[Slack3r]

I'd pick CU. Denver is a cool city, and super cheap too. CU is a pretty big name, and it's the only med school around (everything comes to Denver). Rush seems to be near the bottom of the Chicago medical schools, and I never liked GW.

 

[kautionwirez]

Colorado.

Do not consider GW out of the three.

 

[Caprica6]

Also, what do you mean by not enough money for independent research projects? If they do not have a specific program that provides a research stipend that doesn't mean money is not available. Most likely any PI who has funding and can take you into the lab will be able to compensate you.

 

[kexy]

Isn't CU's class pretty big? Like 160-200 maybe? I wouldn't be too worried about the number of non-trads, I think with a class that big you will be able to find a niche of other unattached people your own age. I'd pick CU of the three for sure, I interviewed there and I loved the program, the facilities, and got a great vibe.

 

[ruiner]

I'd be very torn between Colorado and Rush, but probably would have taking Colorado. It's a great school to become affiliated with, the jump to the Pac 12 only strengthened it's brand. Plus like someone else said, it's the big name in Denver (Rocky Mountain Vista or whatever still has a lot of work to do). Rush would be a cool experience too. I don't think its on the lower end of chicago schools (NW/Chicago on top, Rosalind Franklin and CCOM on bottom with the other schools in between). What was your undergrad like? If you were at a small liberal arts school I'd definitely try a big school.

GW is fine but i think the other two schools would be a better experience.

 

[joy14]

Colorado.

Do not consider GW out of the three.

why?

 

[TheMightySmiter]

I'd be very torn between Colorado and Rush, but probably would have taking Colorado. It's a great school to become affiliated with, the jump to the Pac 12 only strengthened it's brand. Plus like someone else said, it's the big name in Denver (Rocky Mountain Vista or whatever still has a lot of work to do). Rush would be a cool experience too. I don't think its on the lower end of chicago schools (NW/Chicago on top, Rosalind Franklin and CCOM on bottom with the other schools in between). What was your undergrad like? If you were at a small liberal arts school I'd definitely try a big school.

GW is fine but i think the other two schools would be a better experience.

CUSOM is affiliated with CU-Denver, not the flagship CU-Boulder, and has nothing to do with the Pac 12.

I think CU is by far the best of the three, but Rush is probably in a better location (and I say this as a Colorado native). Where does your family live? Do you want to stay close to them? I think you could definitely do research at Rush or GW, but CU has more research dollars. CU's class is more non-trades than normal, but it has a high percentage of OOSers for a state school. I think Rush and GW have more diverse patient populations than Denver by a bit, and they are both attached to Level One Trauma Centers which CU is not. I'd definitely choose CU out of the three, but I'm not entirely convinced that it is worth the enormous OOS tuition.

 

[lalalaaaaaa]

IMO CU isn't worth it for OOS (great for IS though). I have some friends who are OOS at CU graduating this year with well over $300,000 in debt! Seems hard to justify that if there is a cheaper alternative.

 

[ZooeyGlass]

CUSOM is affiliated with CU-Denver, not the flagship CU-Boulder, and has nothing to do with the Pac 12.

I think CU is by far the best of the three, but Rush is probably in a better location (and I say this as a Colorado native). Where does your family live? Do you want to stay close to them? I think you could definitely do research at Rush or GW, but CU has more research dollars. CU's class is more non-trades than normal, but it has a high percentage of OOSers for a state school. I think Rush and GW have more diverse patient populations than Denver by a bit, and they are both attached to Level One Trauma Centers which CU is not. I'd definitely choose CU out of the three, but I'm not entirely convinced that it is worth the enormous OOS tuition.

I believe Denver Health is a level one trauma center...

 

[TheMightySmiter]

I believe Denver Health is a level one trauma center...

Denver Health is not attached to the med school. The med school is associated with University Hospital, a Level II trauma center, and Children's Hospital. There are three Level Is in Denver: Denver Health, St. Anthony Central, and Swedish. You can do rotations through DH but it is about 25-30 minutes from the med school.

 

[ymuzzy]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your responses. I received my fin aid award from GW, and I got $25,000 in scholarship money. COA is $74,000. I'm at a crossroads here. What are some negatives of GW that were alluded to earlier?

 

[TheMightySmiter]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your responses. I received my fin aid award from GW, and I got $25,000 in scholarship money. COA is $74,000. I'm at a crossroads here. What are some negatives of GW that were alluded to earlier?

The biggest negative about GW was that it was on probation a couple of years ago. It is no longer on probation because it has fixed the problems pointed out by LCME. These include administrative inefficiency and lack of student study space (hardly issues that would have threatened its accreditation anyway). They added new study space to the library and got some new computer systems and the probation was lifted two years ago. If you're looking to work with an urban patient population, GW is a fantastic place to do it. GW Hospital is a Level 1 Trauma Center and there are to s of great hospitals in the DC area. That said, CU will still have better research opportunities AND all new facilities. That $25k scholarship from GW still seems like a tough offer to turn down.

 

[kautionwirez]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your responses. I received my fin aid award from GW, and I got $25,000 in scholarship money. COA is $74,000. I'm at a crossroads here. What are some negatives of GW that were alluded to earlier?

There was one incident last year or the year before which was one of the lecturers was very bad and later did not show up to lecture? I read this somewhere here on SDN.

Other con is that it's very expensive but they gave you a scholarship. Other than that, GWU is a decent school.

 

[ruiner]

CUSOM is affiliated with CU-Denver, not the flagship CU-Boulder, and has nothing to do with the Pac 12.

I think CU is by far the best of the three, but Rush is probably in a better location (and I say this as a Colorado native). Where does your family live? Do you want to stay close to them? I think you could definitely do research at Rush or GW, but CU has more research dollars. CU's class is more non-trades than normal, but it has a high percentage of OOSers for a state school. I think Rush and GW have more diverse patient populations than Denver by a bit, and they are both attached to Level One Trauma Centers which CU is not. I'd definitely choose CU out of the three, but I'm not entirely convinced that it is worth the enormous OOS tuition.

oh then yuck. go to rush

 

[music2doc]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your responses. I received my fin aid award from GW, and I got $25,000 in scholarship money. COA is $74,000. I'm at a crossroads here. What are some negatives of GW that were alluded to earlier?

If you're OOS for CU, I'd go with that 25k scholarship to GW (unless Rush is cheaper). You'll get where you're headed regardless of where you go and a good scholarship can greatly reduce your loans -- that 25k scholarship is worth about 200k (think a VERY nice down payment on a second home in a resort area with money left over for a couple of nice cars) by the time you're done.

 

[bassvp]

Denver Health is not attached to the med school. The med school is associated with University Hospital, a Level II trauma center, and Children's Hospital. There are three Level Is in Denver: Denver Health, St. Anthony Central, and Swedish. You can do rotations through DH but it is about 25-30 minutes from the med school.

The fact that you can do IM, Musculoskeletal Care, Neuro, Surgery (if the concern is Level I trauma) through Denver Health as required 3rd year rotations makes it seem pretty attached to the med school to me. Location isn't really the issue if the school has complete access to place you in that kind of environment should you like.

 

[augeremt]

The fact that you can do IM, Musculoskeletal Care, Neuro, Surgery (if the concern is Level I trauma) through Denver Health as required 3rd year rotations makes it seem pretty attached to the med school to me. Location isn't really the issue if the school has complete access to place you in that kind of environment should you like.

Ditto, although University Hospital is not Level I, the students do rotations at numerous Level I hospitals throughout Denver, so this shouldn't be a concern.

 

[music2doc]

IMO CU isn't worth it for OOS (great for IS though). I have some friends who are OOS at CU graduating this year with well over $300,000 in debt! Seems hard to justify that if there is a cheaper alternative.

Ditto. I'm always a bit surprised that they actually get OOS students with a $332,000 expected level of debt. That means that you would, best-case scenario of 10 years repayment, ultimately pay $470 THOUSAND! 😱

And that's assuming you could afford the $4k/month payment (which isn't likely during residency, when you're barely making $4k/month).

Given a slightly less ambitious (and far more common) 20-year repayment period, it will ultimately cost you $635k at a rate of $2.7k/mo.

The general recommendation is that you allocate, at maximum, 10% of your income to student loans, so to make the 10-year repayment work, it would require making at least $40k/mo or $480k/yr. The 20-year plan would require making at least $27k/mo or $324k/yr.


Honestly, considering everything, I'd probably take Rush, as it will cut what you pay down to an extreme degree. (With your grant, it sounds like it'd be about $290k on 10-year loan. There would be little need to go longer than 10 years, since your monthly payment would be around $2.4/k (which would be at least marginally attainable on any specialty's salary post-residency). To me, the difference in cost of 180 to 350 Grand far outweighs a relatively minor difference in research opportunities. (Rush is a great school. So is CU. Once you're done with your MD, no one will ever care about or even know where you went to school, but you'll notice the difference in lifestyle...)