Does school matter?

[Profchaos]

As I'm pretty sure this must have been brought up a lot but seeing all those school rankings, does what school you go to really play a role on your latter career?
Let's say if you plan on practicing in your own state, wouldn't it be better if you go to your state school and make connection there so that later on you get referrals from your collegues rather than going to an out of state private school?

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[typeB-md]

As I'm pretty sure this must have been brought up a lot but seeing all those school rankings, does what school you go to really play a role on your latter career?
Let's say if you plan on practicing in your own state, wouldn't it be better if you go to your state school and make connection there so that later on you get referrals from your collegues rather than going to an out of state private school?

if you want a competitive specialty, then yes, it matters. otherwise i would not worry about it. work hard and know your stuff and you'll be fine regardless of which school you attend.

 

[Mumpu]

I'm pretty sure this must have been brought up a lot

Yes it has. Do a search, this comes up 4-5 times a month.

 

[Winged Scapula]

As type B notes, students who may be considering a highly competitive residency may wish to attend a high ranking medical school should they have the option. That said, outside of the perhaps the Top 5-10 schools, where one goes to medical school doesn't make a significant difference with regard to residency selection. It doesn't even make the top 10 of measures PDs look at (with obvious individual differences).


Since a fair number of people end up practicing where they do residency, if you do wish to stay in state, the contacts you make during residency can make the transition to getting a job and lining up patients somewhat easier (ie, you might be offered a job without even applying which won't be the case for out of state positions).

 

[Profchaos]

As type B notes, students who may be considering a highly competitive residency may wish to attend a high ranking medical school should they have the option. That said, outside of the perhaps the Top 5-10 schools, where one goes to medical school doesn't make a significant difference with regard to residency selection. It doesn't even make the top 10 of measures PDs look at (with obvious individual differences).


Since a fair number of people end up practicing where they do residency, if you do wish to stay in state, the contacts you make during residency can make the transition to getting a job and lining up patients somewhat easier (ie, you might be offered a job without even applying which won't be the case for out of state positions).

That makes sense. Hypothetically speaking, do you think it makes sense to defer one year for Columbia Upenn over UNR?

 

[Winged Scapula]

That makes sense. Hypothetically speaking, do you think it makes sense to defer one year for Columbia Upenn over UNR?

Presuming you have acceptances to all 3, why would you defer for a year?

At any rate, both Columbia and Penn have more name recognition and prestige than UNR (Reno, right?) and would presumably add some shine to your residency application. Also bear in mind that your life choices may change in the next few years and you may want to do something which these schools could offer you that you can't get at UNR.

I mention the latter because while you may believe now that you want to practice medicine in Reno, is it possible you could change your mind? If not, saving on in-state tuition, living close to home, and building connections for residency and beyond are factors hard to beat.

 

[Profchaos]

Presuming you have acceptances to all 3, why would you defer for a year?

At any rate, both Columbia and Penn have more name recognition and prestige than UNR (Reno, right?) and would presumably add some shine to your residency application. Also bear in mind that your life choices may change in the next few years and you may want to do something which these schools could offer you that you can't get at UNR.

I mention the latter because while you may believe now that you want to practice medicine in Reno, is it possible you could change your mind? If not, saving on in-state tuition, living close to home, and building connections for residency and beyond are factors hard to beat.

Well said, thank you.

 

[Mumpu]

Location is important. If you come from a quiet town, you may not like the warzone that is the UPenn campus or the chaos of NYC. If you come from someplace with nice weather, you may not like the Seattle rain, the midwest freeze, or the east coast humidity. After attending college in eastern PA, I did not even consider the east coast for med school and will not consider it for residency in spite of all the shiny famous programs.

 

[Law2Doc]

Location is important. If you come from a quiet town, you may not like the warzone that is the UPenn campus or the chaos of NYC. If you come from someplace with nice weather, you may not like the Seattle rain, the midwest freeze, or the east coast humidity. After attending college in eastern PA, I did not even consider the east coast for med school and will not consider it for residency in spite of all the shiny famous programs.

If you think the Penn campus in West Philly is a "warzone", you are definitely not a city person. It's actually quite tame (and really can't be compared to actually dangerous places eg. North Philly where Temple is located).