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BU Medical Sciences
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Which school should I pick?

  • Medical College of Georgia

    Votes: 10 6.3%

  • Michigan

    Votes: 17 10.6%

  • UChicago

    Votes: 20 12.5%

  • Mayo Clinic (MN)

    Votes: 88 55.0%

  • Northwestern

    Votes: 25 15.6%
  • Total voters
    160
  • Poll closed .
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Many congrats to you my friend, I've seen you be so helpful and empowering throughout this cycle and am so glad you have such great options. Personally given the scholarship + the strength of their home programs I would go for Mayo! Best of luck to you 🙂
 
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I would go to Michigan. I went there for undergrad, just for reference. I think someone from Michigan Medicine founded the Mayo Clinic, they know what's up when it comes to medicine and football. I went to U of M for undergrad, an amazing town to live and work in, people are friendly, good food and lots todo, and you have great support and can match anywhere in the country. The hospital system has also been renovated recently, which is a plus.
 
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All your schools are located in cities that are cold with a capital C except MCG, so go shopping with your spouse for some cozy winter coats for the two of you.
Mayo would be my vote
Small class, you really will get good attention from your professors
If they know you are interested in Ophthalmology etc. they will help you get there
Smaller size of Rochester means less crime, lower rent, less traffic. Learn to drive your car in snow.
There are good restaurants because all those faculty like to have good places to eat.
Want to go to concerts, sports, etc? make a weekend of it once in a while in the Twin Cities.
Go to a warm spot for residency
 
Congratulations my friend! My vote would go to whichever ends of being cheapest (excluding MCG) and I think you will get a full tuition offer from at least one of them with some pointed negotiation. I know Michigan aid doesn’t look good right now, but I think showing continued interest will get you a good aid package eventually (past X vs Y threads suggest that while they don’t “negotiate”, they will reevaluate their offer multiple times if you seem on the fence). I’m fairly confident UChicago will offer you a nice aid package that you can use in your negotiations.

Money aside, you seem the most excited about Mayo! I’m not sure I would hold those match statistics in as high regard as you have, but you seem more attuned to the stats than I am.

Were I in your shoes, I’d probably go Northwestern. Doximity puts many of their home residencies on par or exceeding Mayo, located in a beautiful part of Chicago, best medical school in Illinois, etc. I would choose Michigan but the 80k OOS tuition would drive me up a wall, and the match list brings me pause (pretty even split of top programs and no-name Michigan community hospitals).

(Bias: rejected post-interview from Mayo, accepted to Michigan, waitlisted at UChicago)

Oh also don’t give up hope yet on your waitlists. Your host of high-tier acceptances and your stellar II—>A conversion rate mean you have a very real chance of getting off those WLs.
 
TheRealBibFortuna said:
Congratulations my friend! My vote would go to whichever ends of being cheapest (excluding MCG) and I think you will get a full tuition offer from at least one of them with some pointed negotiation. I know Michigan aid doesn’t look good right now, but I think showing continued interest will get you a good aid package eventually (past X vs Y threads suggest that while they don’t “negotiate”, they will reevaluate their offer multiple times if you seem on the fence). I’m fairly confident UChicago will offer you a nice aid package that you can use in your negotiations.

Money aside, you seem the most excited about Mayo! I’m not sure I would hold those match statistics in as high regard as you have, but you seem more attuned to the stats than I am.

Were I in your shoes, I’d probably go Northwestern. Doximity puts many of their home residencies on par or exceeding Mayo, located in a beautiful part of Chicago, best medical school in Illinois, etc. I would choose Michigan but the 80k OOS tuition would drive me up a wall, and the match list brings me pause (pretty even split of top programs and no-name Michigan community hospitals).

(Bias: rejected post-interview from Mayo, accepted to Michigan, waitlisted at UChicago)

Oh also don’t give up hope yet on your waitlists. Your host of high-tier acceptances and your stellar II—>A conversion rate mean you have a very real chance of getting off those WLs.
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I would just like to add on to this - there is some self selecting bias in the michigan match list. Just important to remember that it is a state school, and thus many people are from michigan and would like to stay in michigan for residency - which likely explains, at least in part, some of the lower tier Michigan programs which may populate the match list. <-- this from speaking with current students who are doing residency apps rn! Otherwise full agreement with everything youve stated here
 
TIN25 said:
Many congrats to you my friend, I've seen you be so helpful and empowering throughout this cycle and am so glad you have such great options. Personally given the scholarship + the strength of their home programs I would go for Mayo! Best of luck to you 🙂
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Thank you!!! I appreciate your advice!
 
80K total for Mayo is a very good deal imo. If you can get behind some of their quirks and the culture (some love it, some hate it) then I think it is the place to go. Minny is close by for weekend day trips, watching the Wolves play, and a very well connected Delta hub airport.

Mayo residencies are top tier nearly all the way across the board meaning the people you do research with, rotate with, and interact with are more renowned in their field, may have more research funding and connections to editors in journals/conference organizers, and more weight/pull when they pick up the phone in 2028 fall to call program directors on your behalf. Smaller difference over places like NW and Mich (Mich gen surg is as elite as it gets, of course). If you want to go into private practice, saying you are Mayo-trained will carry more weight with the layperson than being Michigan or NW-trained. These are all minor points, but when push comes to shove these formalities are what add up.

EDIT: regarding AOA, if you go to a school with one and don't make it, it will make things harder to match into something like ENT/Optho. I feel like you will be more stressed chasing AOA at one of the schools that has it. Going to a place w/o AOA is such a mental/muscle relaxant.

You will do great at any choice, but I vote Mayo.
 
Mr. Macrophage said:
Thanks for your insight Bib!! Northwestern is definitely very enticing. They have a strong match list and their OBGYN and Derm residencies are super highly ranked. I’m actually curious why their hospital is completely absent from ENT, Ophtho, and some other rankings (not lowly ranked, simply not even included). Do you happen to know anything about that?

I imagine Michigan’s match list will bounce back this year. In the past it definitely seemed on par with Northwestern and only a tad bit weaker than Mayo MN’s. I really hope you’re right in that they become an affordable option, as I loved their culture and they’d definitely give the other options a run for their money!

I don't think I would really prefer any of my WLs over my current options. The main draws would be the fact that they are warmer, and that Yale and Duke are both P/F clinical which would be nice as well.
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On my end, I see them ranked in both Ophtho and ENT (I think just outside of the top 20, above UChicago in ENT and UF in Ophtho). I think they’re named McGaw medical center rather than Northwestern on Doximity.

Either way, you can’t go wrong!

Edit: okay wait I misread 80k at Mayo as 80k per year. It’s Mayo all the way unless Michigan or Northwestern offer you a full ride. My bad 😛
 
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Mr. Macrophage said:
I never thought the GOAT of last cycle would offer their advice—thank you so much toastedbutter!!

I think you really hit the nail on the head for many of my Mayo pros—those minor things really start to add up. Your comment on AOA is also exactly what I was worried about.

If (in an ideal world) Michigan, UChicago, or Northwestern were to match Mayo’s scholarship, would your vote still be for Mayo?
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Yeah I would. Based on what I know, what’s already been discussed and Medical School Curriculums – Admit.org my (emphasis on this just being my thoughts) ranks for you would be Mayo >>> NW > Mich >> UChicago
 
Mr. Macrophage said:
Northwestern and Michigan are now being threatened by the administration with additional funding cuts. I imagine it will happen to UChicago too. I guess I need to upgrade Mayo’s (+)(+) to (+)(+)(+) for being insulated from all of this!
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Source? (not doubting your claim just would like to read up on it)
 
Mr. Macrophage said:
www.ed.gov

U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Sends Letters to 60 Universities Under Investigation for Antisemitic Discrimination and Harassment

The Office for Civil Rights today sent letters to 60 institutions of higher education warning them of potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus.
www.ed.gov www.ed.gov

Apparently, Columbia did not take the threat seriously and $400,000,000 of grants were cancelled, which is absolutely insane…
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I hate this administration.
 
RedDevilz99 said:
I hate this administration.
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There are plenty of things to hate the current administration over (NIH funding cut bs, DOE cuts, etc. etc., it is insane), but this isn't one of them. Peaceful protests are great, but allowing students to take over buildings and intimidate other students crosses the line, Columbia failed miserably. There is no universe where this is acceptable (for any side and no matter what the cause). Students have been written up over drinking offenses, but this stuff they let go? Sorry, you have to draw a line somewhere.
 
It's tough to turn down free, especially when it's close to home. With that being said, I think you would need to find a good reason not to go to Mayo in order to not go there. It sucks getting in to so many schools, it makes choosing so much tougher 🙂🙂
 
secondariesftw said:
There are plenty of things to hate the current administration over (NIH funding cut bs, DOE cuts, etc. etc., it is insane), but this isn't one of them. Peaceful protests are great, but allowing students to take over buildings and intimidate other students crosses the line, Columbia failed miserably. There is no universe where this is acceptable (for any side and no matter what the cause). Students have been written up over drinking offenses, but this stuff they let go? Sorry, you have to draw a line somewhere.
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I was not referring to the protesting. I was referring to Mr. Macrophage's point about funding being cut.

To your point, I do not believe cutting $400,000,000 worth of research funding is a proportionate response to student protests. The professors and students working in these labs should not be held responsible for things that are clearly out of their control. Take action against Columbia University's administration, sure. Send police and take action against the non-peaceful protestors. But don't take it out on the rest of us who are simply trying to better the lives of our fellow Americans through biomedical research.

That's not to mention the fact that these protestors are being labeled as terrorists, while those involved in Jan. 6 (which was actual terrorism) were pardoned. Let's stop defending an unbelievably corrupt and racist administration. These funding cuts are nothing but petty and unnecessary, and come at the cost of American lives.
 
Mr. Macrophage said:
Update: UChicago gave me a half tuition scholarship!

Moreover, thanks to admit.org’s new features (residency.admit.org), I was able to grab the median ranking of matched residency programs (after manually factoring in Ophthalmology and Urology, which are missing from the site) for each of these schools (except MCG) to better compare their match lists:

1: Mayo: 12
2: UChicago: 16
3: Michigan: 22
4: Northwestern: 26

I was also able to determine the % of each class that ended up in a T20 residency:

1: Mayo: 65.9%
2: UChicago: 51.6%
3: Michigan: 47.9%
4: Northwestern: 41.2%

Then, I looked at the % of each class that ended up in uber-competitive specialties (Plastics, Neurosurgery, Dermatology, Otolaryngology, Orthopedics) to better provide context:

1: Mayo: 24.4%
2: Michigan: 18.0%
3: Northwestern: 11.8%
4: UChicago: 9.9%

Looks like I really underestimated UChicago’s match list! I’m going to edit the original post and change UChicago from a +2 to a +3 for that category, Michigan from a +2 to a +3, and Northwestern from a +3 to a +2 to better reflect these numbers. I’m adding an extra +1 to Mayo for their exceptional showing as well. Lastly, I’m also going to add the half tuition financials to the original post.

EDIT: I am currently negotiating with these schools and will provide any additional financial updates as they arrive!
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Thanks for linking the residency match lift feature of admit.org!! Excited to see where you end up boss 🫡
 
I think Mayo and Northwestern are the two choices you may need to look into. Mayo is for all the metrics and Northwestern is for your partner's preferred location. You will do well wherever you go (of course, no need to say this).
 
Congrats on a wildly successful application cycle! I wouldn't put too much stock into the median match rankings. It's a pretty noisy metric. Mayo, for example, has a median rank of 22 for their 2025 match list. A more meaningful statistic would be something like % that matched in their top 3. I know for a fact my school tracks this internally, but I've never seen any school publicize this for some reason.

The only thing I might add is that a 2-year pre-clinical curriculum is not necessarily a con. I'm at a school with a 2-year pre-clin and the (relatively) chiller course load gives me plenty of time to shadow, do research, etc. Not sure if this is true for Northwestern, but it might be worth asking current students about that. Best of luck to you!
 
Big fan of the flexibility of our schedule. Don't think it would be possible if the curriculum was 2 years. Last week was an exam week so I had a total of 5 hours of required class all week until the Friday morning exam. Here's a breakdown of my required in-person class last two weeks ago.
M: 3 hrs
T: 5 hrs
W: 4 hrs
Th: 4.5 hrs
F: 1.5 hrs
There are other asynchronous or streamed lectures too, but still only a couple hours a day. Plenty of time to do research, shadow, volunteer or just hang out. Theres almost always a lunch break 12-1 which is nice too.
 
Mr. Macrophage said:
Got it! Thank you! I appreciate your perspective. What are your thoughts on the AOSC program, if you don’t mind?

These in-person classes—are they lecture or moreso small group and clinical skills sessions?
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The required classes I listed above are all small groups or patient interactions.

I think AOSC is a good way to get students started on research early. Lots of students already have research started by second semester M1 so maybe not super helpful for them, but we can just assign any project to AOSC to fulfill the requirement. Overall, I think they do a good job at giving us a guide and enough time to start research. The 4 weeks during M1-M2 summer isn't really a big deal because most students stay on campus and do research anyway.
 
Mr. Macrophage said:
Thank you for your comment! I did notice the fluctuations. Two years ago it was 18, and three years ago it was 11. Michigan had similar fluctuations (I did not compute UChicago or Northwestern beyond last year). Seems like my options are pretty much all within striking distance of one another when it comes to this, and that much of a match list is locational preference.

Mayo actually publishes the stat you mentioned! They advertise that 98% of the class matches into their one of their top 3 choices. But, as you mentioned, I can’t find a similar datapoint from any of my other options:

View attachment 400946

I think I’ll just approach the decision with the idea that match lists will be largely equal, with a small advantage to Mayo.

I also definitely see the benefits of a 2 year preclinical as well! I’m actually starting to prefer the idea of a 1.5 year like Mayo and UChicago over a 1 year as it seems like a good balance of both worlds.

At the end of the day, I’m really excited about all of these options, and extra excited about Mayo. I think my decision will largely come down to finances. If Michigan, Northwestern, or UChicago were to match MCG’s full tuition offer and Mayo didn’t, I’d end up there. Otherwise it will be Mayo!
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I understand folks on SDN normally suggest to reduce the debt burden coming out of medical school but we have to take that in proper perspective and don't stretch it too much. $80k over a period of 4 years should not be something that decides where a competent future doctor goes.
 
Mr. Macrophage said:
Thank you for your comment! I did notice the fluctuations. Two years ago it was 18, and three years ago it was 11. Michigan had similar fluctuations (I did not compute UChicago or Northwestern beyond last year). Seems like my options are pretty much all within striking distance of one another when it comes to this, and that much of a match list is locational preference.

Mayo actually publishes the stat you mentioned! They advertise that 98% of the class matches into their one of their top 3 choices. But, as you mentioned, I can’t find a similar datapoint from any of my other options:

View attachment 400946

I think I’ll just approach the decision with the idea that match lists will be largely equal, with a small advantage to Mayo.

I also definitely see the benefits of a 2 year preclinical as well! I’m actually starting to prefer the idea of a 1.5 year like Mayo and UChicago over a 1 year as it seems like a good balance of both worlds.

At the end of the day, I’m really excited about all of these options, and extra excited about Mayo. I think my decision will largely come down to finances. If Michigan, Northwestern, or UChicago were to match MCG’s full tuition offer and Mayo didn’t, I’d end up there. Otherwise it will be Mayo!
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Can you point me to where this is stated by Mayo? That is an astonishing statistic, especially considering the fact that they claim to have a 97% NRMP placement rate according to https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/...ch above,World Report "Best Medical Schools -.
 
Northwestern offered me $12,500 a year in scholarships, which brings their total to $270,000, making their cost effectively the same as Michigan. Updating the post and will begin negotiations with them!
 
Mr. Macrophage said:
UChicago upped their offer to 75% tuition!!! Updating the post with the new pricing.
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If I'm not mistaken, that would still be more expensive than Mayo when you factor in living expenses, right? I'd consider QOL versus career goals. I think Mayo is the right choice at the same price point if you're thinking academia, a competitive specialty, or hospital/organization leadership. If not, I think Chicago will be a much more fun place to live with your partner and will still open plenty of doors down the line. As for safety, I've only visited southside Chicago once, but it didn't strike me as a much more dangerous place than the downtown of any other big city (just don't live near O-block).

Are you able to go to any second looks? Definitely the best way to learn if the school is for you.
 
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