Difficult: Harvard vs Hopkins vs Stanford

[Biochemist3412]

Hi everyone,

Super grateful for these options, they are my final three choices after ruling out WashU, Yale, Cornell, UPenn. I’ve been going back and forth between these and am super indecisive. For context, I am straight MD but will be carrying out considerable translational research on the side.

I am interested in reconstructive plastics or ortho, based on many years of research in these fields I feel confident about this preference. I would like to match back to the east coast (or west coast if I love it there who knows). I want to stay in academic medicine with a strong research component.

I want to find the school that will set me up best for research as a clinician, matching where I want, training me to be a future surgeon, and clinical experience.

Edit: So I've ruled out HMS for culture and opportunities reasons, it is down to Hopkins and Stanford now:

Hopkins (Full ride)
Pros:
-1hr from home
-SO will most likely be on the east coast (small chance she stays in the Midwest)
-Great clinical training and opportunities, amazing clinical mentors
-Significant Spanish speaking pop nearby, I want to continue med interpreting for this population
-Bloomberg school and global opportunities seem more plentiful, which is appealing to me who has an interest in global surgery and outreach
-Higher prestige in medicine

Cons:
-More stressful pre clinical curriculum (!!)
-2hr in person lecture per day
-Students seemed kind of stressed out at second look weekend
-I grew up in the DMV might like Stanford more


Stanford (full ride)
Pros:
-Bay area is super nice
-Found basic science research mentors that align more with my interests
-Smaller class size (90 vs 120)
-Super flexible curriculum, everything is recorded which lets me do research/hobbies on my own time
-Significant Arab, Chinese, Spanish populations nearby - I want to continue medical interpreting in these languages
-Higher prestige outside of medicine, stronger alumni network

Cons:
-Expensive food, gas, etc in the Bay Area
-it’s kind of chilly alll year round, that beach and nature appeal is kinda negated by this
-might have a less significant clinical training than Hopkins
-match to east coast might be harder from Stanford
-dk if this is a con, but I feel like Stanford trains innovators and leaders, while Hopkins focuses on training amazing physicians, I’m mainly focusing on physician training right now

Idk it seems pretty split to me - anyone have advice or suggestions for other things to think about? It looks like Stanford might give me an edge research wise, while Hopkins will clinical wise.

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[zerotofate]

So breaking it down by what I'm hearing:

Geography: it seems like you're leaning towards Stanford on this one.

Family/Friends: Seems like Hopkins is the clear better choice here. Don't discount the strain distance PLUS the demands of med school can put on a relationship. I couldn't imagine being so far from my wife.

Curriculum: Don't know much about Stanfords curriculum, but It seems like you're leaning towards Stanford on this one.

Research: Stanford probably have the edge here on the research front, but Hopkins has powerful opportunities for both plastics and ortho. I'd say they are pretty equal on this front.

Price: I think it will be a negligible difference in the long run, especially if tuition is covered.


I definitely your dilemma haha. Where would you rank these categories in terms of priority? If I was in your shoes, I would pick Hopkins since my Family/Friends is my highest priority. But, everyone is at a different place in life!

 

[deleted1161395]

So breaking it down by what I'm hearing:

Geography: it seems like you're leaning towards Stanford on this one.

Family/Friends: Seems like Hopkins is the clear better choice here. Don't discount the strain distance PLUS the demands of med school can put on a relationship. I couldn't imagine being so far from my wife.

Curriculum: Don't know much about Stanfords curriculum, but It seems like you're leaning towards Stanford on this one.

Research: Stanford probably have the edge here on the research front, but Hopkins has powerful opportunities for both plastics and ortho. I'd say they are pretty equal on this front.

Price: I think it will be a negligible difference in the long run, especially if tuition is covered.


I definitely your dilemma haha. Where would you rank these categories in terms of priority? If I was in your shoes, I would pick Hopkins since my Family/Friends is my highest priority. But, everyone is at a different place in life!

Yes, agree b/c of SO/support system (seems that the schools have ~equal opps).

To clarify, Stanford is not "chilly all year round" (Palo Alto is warm most of the year b/c of its Southern location). And Palo Alto is VERY different than Baltimore so whether you want a true urban population to work with/live in is something to consider too.

 

[m1redsox]

I'd probably go with Hopkins since that is where your family/SO will be. Long distance is hard for a relationship, and I would not recommend it during this grueling training period of life. You may hardly ever see them. Plus, having them nearby can be a support (help with rent, cooking, cleaning, etc) while having them far may be a hindrance (blocking off 1-2 hours per night to talk to them).

However, like others have mentioned, if you find yourself at a point in life where you just need to get away from friends/family, then a full ride to Stanford is obviously amazing. For me personally (from the bay, in med school on the east coast), it would just be too much of a hassle (traveling for holidays, seeing family once or twice per year) for no real benefit.

 

[deleted1065184]

Research: Stanford probably have the edge here on the research front, but Hopkins has powerful opportunities for both plastics and ortho. I'd say they are pretty equal on this front.

I agree with your analysis overall and like that you broke it down into sections. Just wanted to speak to this part. Hopkins has the research edge here, imo. If OP wanted to do a startup, Stanford would have the edge.

But wrt academic medicine and research, Hopkins definitely has the edge...and that's not to say Stanford can't get OP there, but I think this needs to be said when they're making their decision.

 

[sunshower26]

Hopkins

 

[deleted1146359]

Just wanted to chime in that I think Hopkins has a completely P/F curriculum which seems to take away a lot of the stress associated with clerkship. Not sure how they do it at Stanford, but if they don't have P/F clerkships as well, that's another pro to Hopkins.

With regards to your ultimate choice, you can't go wrong with either academically or professionally, so I think you should think about QoL above all else. How important is it that you stay near your family/SO? Is it a big dream of yours to live in Cali? Personally, I think Hopkins seems like a natural fit for you, but you may see differently! Regardless, Congrats!

 

[EndureVascular]

I'm on WL for Hopkins- full disclosure

But if you value research both are excellent options, but as you said Stanford might have a slight advantage there. This could be an important factor to consider as you're interested in ortho and plastics which both demand a lot of publications at this point.
That said, I totally get the appeal of Hopkins preparing you to be the best physician possible. I've always heard that real doctors are made in residency, so I don't think that should be a main concern- as you'll get a high quality foundation at either school.

You have an awesome choice at hand!

 

[obiwan]

I've always heard that real doctors are made in residency, so I don't think that should be a main concern- as you'll get a high quality foundation at either school.

Correct. Your residency training will have an infinitely more profound impact as far as you becoming a physician.

 

[Saturday’s Child]

I'm on WL for Hopkins- full disclosure

But if you value research both are excellent options, but as you said Stanford might have a slight advantage there. This could be an important factor to consider as you're interested in ortho and plastics which both demand a lot of publications at this point.
That said, I totally get the appeal of Hopkins preparing you to be the best physician possible. I've always heard that real doctors are made in residency, so I don't think that should be a main concern- as you'll get a high quality foundation at either school.

You have an awesome choice at hand!

Trying to quantify any difference in research opportunities between these two schools is like splitting hairs. This is one area where it’s more useful to think of tiers when comparing programs, and both Hopkins and Stanford have an abundance of high quality research opportunities. Neither school will limit you due to lack of research. For medical research specifically, however, I’d imagine Hopkins has a higher number of clinicians conducting research since its system spans 3+ hospitals.

Also, not that this is super pertinent, but I’d like to adjust your perception of ortho research in case you’re interested in pursuing it. Ortho does not “demand a lot of publications”. The vast majority of people who match do so with maybe 1-2 actual published manuscripts max. What people have a lot of are abstracts accepted to conferences, which are much lower hanging fruit. Having a ton of research is nice but is also just one element of your app. It ultimately boils down to a conversation piece during your interviews—having 20 pubs that you just crunched data on but can’t speak about passionately or intelligently will impress very few people. I did a study looking at bibliometric data among ortho interns, and HSS may be the only program I know of where every matched applicant has > 5 pubs. Everywhere else, you’d be surprised at how relatively few articles people have published prior to matching.

 

[deleted1065184]

Stanford by a landslide

Dude the way you're moving right now is pretty foul. I understand you're waitlisted at Hopkins and likely want to go there, but I find it extremely unlikely that you just so happen to think Hopkins is the wrong choice 100% of the time, even in comparisons in which most other people are saying it's the right choice. Please don't be a gunner. If you can't throw your biases to the side and give genuine advice/thoughts, please don't comment.

 

[EndureVascular]

Dude the way you're moving right now is pretty foul. I understand you're waitlisted at Hopkins and likely want to go there, but I find it extremely unlikely that you just so happen to think Hopkins is the wrong choice 100% of the time, even in comparisons in which most other people are saying it's the right choice. Please don't be a gunner. If you can't throw your biases to the side and give genuine advice/thoughts, please don't comment.

Wish adcoms could see this kind of behavior, they'd probably be more likely to accept someone who is supportive and objective off the waitlists over the cutthroat premeds who offered thinly veiled "advice" with self serving motivation

 

[zestyzigzagoon]

Stanford by a landslide

At this point it’s so obvious that I can’t tell if they’re being facetious

 

[Maximus0703]

Taking out personal consideration, I think Stanford is the move here. It’s better with your research and at this tier, clinical training differences are negligible. The SO aspect is what is pulling you back to JHU. If you feel like this SO is one you want to go fully with, I would do JHU.

 

[gyngyn]

A post from a member that offered entirely self-serving "advice" has been removed.