Drexel (A) vs GW/Toledo/Wright State (WL)

[MomJeansandDadJorts]

---

Members do not see this ad.

SO just got my final decision from my final interview. Got 2 last-minute interviews and both resulted in rejections so I am left with an acceptance at Drexel and WL at George Washington, University of Toledo, and Wright State. I will obviously go to Drexel if I dont get any WL movement but I may look at writing a letter of intent to one of the WL schools if I decide I like it more than Drexel. Right now Im interested in Ortho, Plastics, Psych, IM, and Anesthesia (and maybe Derm).The end goal is to try and match out west in Utah, Colorado, the PNW.

EDIT: Talked to partner and he said to not worry about him and to make the decision based on the best school for me and we will make it work regardless so I deleted those pros/cons. So being close to partner/family isnt as huge of a factor since 1 year Long Distance isnt too long anyways.

Drexel
+Interviewed here last cycle as well and students seemed really happy both times I was there
+Highest STEP avg (234)
+P/F unranked pre clinical
+Philly is a great city and tied with DC out of the places I would like to live on my list (and its cheaper than DC)
+Seemed very LGBTQ+ friendly
+Matches the strongest out of all of the schools IMO (but Im not the best at reading match lists)
+Tons of med schools in Philly=tons of research opportunities and ability to network at Penn/Jeff/Temple
+Curriculum is a bit shorter than a standard 2 year pre clinical
+From the PDs and people Ive talked to, seems like Drexel has the most solid reputation out of my choices
-Cost of 86k
-Not too sure about the flipped classroom. Most stuff is taught in Case Based style but students match well so there may be perks Im not able to see.
-Heard the hospital system tends to have problems with money
-Lottery system for 3rd year rotations and may have to rotate all over
-Doesnt have Derm and Plastics residencies

GW
+DC is an awesome city
+Shortened pre clinical curriculum
+P/F unranked pre clinical
+Uses NBME exams at the end of every block
+Really cool pathways for Health Policy and Entrepreneurship
+Sister is moving to DC so family support
+Seems to have more scholarships available (but I doubt I could get any of those anyways)
+Has basically every single residency program (besides plastics)
+Not many hospitals in DC so possible to see more unique cases compared to Drexel
-Cost is 88k and goes up to 95k during 3rd year
-DC is soooooo expensive
-Seemed to be more competitive than the other schools
-Doesnt seem to match as well as Drexel in the areas I am interested in (besides IM)

Toledo
+IS tuition plus cheap COL
+P/F Pre clinical
+Match a lot of Ortho
+Just partnered with Promedica and got $250mil form them to help with the school (so more research I assume)
-Think mandatory lecture is still 50% and counts towards your grade to pass
-City of Toledo is rather boring
-Matches mostly in Ohio and surrounding area
-Not as many residency options compared to Wright State and GW (about the same as Drexel)
-Doesnt have much research funding ($7 mil) and only school around so research opportunities may be harder to come by
-Doesnt match as well as Drexel of GW

Wright State
+IS tuition and cheap COL
+1 hour from where I live now
+Mandatory research thesis (planning on doing research anyways)
+Implement NBME exams kinda like GW
+Has Derm, Plastics, and Ortho programs
-----Ranks students by quartile and pre clinical grades, OSCEs, etc are taken into this ranking
-Matches mostly in Ohio and a lot of primary care
-Dayton isnt super fun (buts its close to columbus and cinci)
-Not much research funding so may be harder to find research
-No main university hospital so you rotate all over the affiliated hospitals
-Students seemed laid back and like a family but kinda got a weird vibe that they were drinking the Kool Aid
-Dont seem to emphasize metrics at all and have the lowest STEP average

 

[lalalallala]

I feel like people voted prior to reading your pro/cons. I voted for Wright State for your letter of intent. Drexel and GW are going to cost a fortune and I don't think it is worth it in my opinion. Toledo seems boring and the lack of research and non-ohio matches seems less than ideal. Living with your partner and being near your family at Wright State would be a big plus in my opinion. Especially if you are going to marry this partner. I feel like Wright State would attract more primary care/IS focused people so that may be why the match list is like that but as long as you see some people matching to competitive specialities it seems fine. I don't think you should be too concerned about the quartile rankings. Pretty much every school is doing some sort of ranking whether they tell you or not because residency directors want to know where someone ranked in the class.

If you were accepted to Drexel and GW, I feel like GW is the stronger program and since it is the best med school in DC that is a bonus for it whereas Penn >> Drexel. GW also has the health policy and disaster medicine advantages and all kinds of unique opportunities. Yes it is very expensive but much more than Drexel idk. I would say DC is an extremely LGBTQ+ friendly city.

Right now you are in at Drexel but if you were to get in to all of the others I would say Wright > GW > Drexel > Toledo

 

[ciestar]

I feel like people voted prior to reading your pro/cons. I voted for Wright State for your letter of intent. Drexel and GW are going to cost a fortune and I don't think it is worth it in my opinion. Toledo seems boring and the lack of research and non-ohio matches seems less than ideal. Living with your partner and being near your family at Wright State would be a big plus in my opinion. Especially if you are going to marry this partner. I feel like Wright State would attract more primary care/IS focused people so that may be why the match list is like that but as long as you see some people matching to competitive specialities it seems fine. I don't think you should be too concerned about the quartile rankings. Pretty much every school is doing some sort of ranking whether they tell you or not because residency directors want to know where someone ranked in the class.

If you were accepted to Drexel and GW, I feel like GW is the stronger program and since it is the best med school in DC that is a bonus for it whereas Penn >> Drexel. GW also has the health policy and disaster medicine advantages and all kinds of unique opportunities. Yes it is very expensive but much more than Drexel idk. I would say DC is an extremely LGBTQ+ friendly city.

Right now you are in at Drexel but if you were to get in to all of the others I would say Wright > GW > Drexel > Toledo

To be fair Penn >>> most schools

 

[MomJeansandDadJorts]

To be fair Penn >>> most schools

For real. Tho I’ve heard a lot of Drexel students (and Temple/Jeff) do their research at Penn because there are way more options available.

 

[lalalallala]

For real. Tho I’ve heard a lot of Drexel students (and Temple/Jeff) do their research at Penn because there are way more options available.

Yes that seems possible. I’m just saying that a lot of the most difficult and interesting patient cases likely go to Penn. Penn Presbyterian gets the traumas from West Phil and Hospital of the Univ of Penn gets the referrals and specialty cases. CHOP gets all the pediatric cases. Whereas at GW you don’t really have another hospital in the city who is that strong of competition for cases. Georgetown is alright but it’s not a better hospital and it is further from central DC

 

[MomJeansandDadJorts]

Yes that seems possible. I’m just saying that a lot of the most difficult and interesting patient cases likely go to Penn. Penn Presbyterian gets the traumas from West Phil and Hospital of the Univ of Penn gets the referrals and specialty cases. CHOP gets all the pediatric cases. Whereas at GW you don’t really have another hospital in the city who is that strong of competition for cases. Georgetown is alright but it’s not a better hospital and it is further from central DC

Good point. Im adding this to the GW pros

 

[ciestar]

Yes that seems possible. I’m just saying that a lot of the most difficult and interesting patient cases likely go to Penn. Penn Presbyterian gets the traumas from West Phil and Hospital of the Univ of Penn gets the referrals and specialty cases. CHOP gets all the pediatric cases. Whereas at GW you don’t really have another hospital in the city who is that strong of competition for cases. Georgetown is alright but it’s not a better hospital and it is further from central DC

St Chris also gets peds cases. That is a Drexel affiliate. Not nearly as prestigious as CHOP, of course.

 

[lalalallala]

St Chris also gets peds cases. That is a Drexel affiliate. Not nearly as prestigious as CHOP, of course.

True. When I said CHOP gets all the pediatric cases I meant the out of the box cases. St Chris isn't doing bilateral hand transplants for ex. But yes definitely some cases are going by geography and all hospitals will have some interesting stuff going on

 

[Melanogaster]

I would avoid Drexel unless it's your only choice

 

[ciestar]

*shrug* i go to drexel. All is fine.

 

[lalalallala]

I would avoid Drexel unless it's your only choice

why

 

[puahate]

why

Lmao

 

[M&L]

I would avoid Drexel unless it's your only choice

Yeah , why ? It one of my choices too . Please share your concerns 🙂

 

[DrFortiusNatando]

GW if you get in off WL, AND if it is affordable for you (either fin aid or parents help), compared to your other options (which u don't know yet).
Otherwise, Toledo > Wright State if you get off WL for both your IS schools.

Then Drexel. Drexel is an MD school and if you do well there, esp on Step 1 and on your clinical clerkships, you can do great things. We have taken Drexel students into our residency and they have been smart, hard-working etc. And remember that a good number of clinical sites are not competing with HUP directly. Drexel's clinical sites are in different areas of Philadelphia, even though the Drexel UG campus is just a couple blocks from the Penn UG campus and HUP/CHOP. If you were OOS for the 2 Ohio schools, I would put Drexel second, but I just do not think Drexel would be worth the expense IF you got in off WL by either of your state schools. But if in the end, you only have Drexel to choose from, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! You are a reapplicant and you are a success story!!!

 

[mrectenw]

FYI at Toledo, lectures are not mandatory at all. you get 1 bonus point added to your grade if you attend 80% and 2 bonus points if you attend 70% but you don't HAVE to attend any lectures, though team-based learning exercises are mandatory (not every day though)

 

[MomJeansandDadJorts]

FYI at Toledo, lectures are not mandatory at all. you get 1 bonus point added to your grade if you attend 80% and 2 bonus points if you attend 70% but you don't HAVE to attend any lectures, though team-based learning exercises are mandatory (not every day though)

Yeah I asked at the interview and I got mixed messages since they recently changed it.

 

[mrectenw]

Yeah I asked at the interview and I got mixed messages since they recently changed it.

Sorry correction 2 bonus points for 80% and 1 for 70%