Drexel vs RFU

[billybob321]

Hello everyone! I was fortunate enough to have a few medical school acceptances and I'm wondering if I could get some advice on school selection. So far I have acceptances from Chicago Medical School (RFU), Frist CoM (Belmont), and California Northstate (CNU). I have already withdrawn from CNU, and am planning to withdraw from Belmont despite it giving me 18k in scholarship. Hypothetically if Drexel gives me an A, which school would you suggest I choose?
RFU Pros:
-Supportive students and staff. From my interactions with students and faculty during interview day and my email correspondences, I feel like RFU definitely has a positive vibe and environment.
-Near Chicago. 40 miles north.
-A pretty decent match rate along with pass fail preclinical grades.

RFU Cons:
-Does not have a teaching hospital (same as drexel).
-Cost (should be same as drexel).
-Unranked medical school (not sure how big of an impact this is).
-Far from California and very cold.

Drexel Pros:
-Decently ranked school (in the 80's).
-Better match rate (I think) than compared to RFU.
-In Philly.
-Integrated community engagement courses.

Drexel Cons:
-I feel like the administration is a big disorganized (doesn't respond to my emails and still reviewing February applications in May).
-Doesn't have teaching hospital (same as RFU).
-Flipped teaching (I don't like it).

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[Mr.Smile12]

Until Drexel gets you an offer, there's not really much to run with.

You'd rather trade a 3 hour flight to Chicago (where it's cold in winter) with a 4-5 hour flight to Philadelphia (where it's also cold in winter compared to California unless you're northern CA)? I don't get that.

They are similar, which is why both schools tend to be high-volume schools. You are lucky you got the RFU offer, as you would if Drexel turns to an A. Let's see what happens.

 

[veraserah]

Agreed, not worth anything unless you get an acceptance, but to clarify some of the things on your Drexel list --

You're not guaranteed to get into the Philly campus, there's another campus about 1.5 hours out of the city with a 40 class size. This means a smaller, local administration that while it also works with the overall administration, tends to get things done faster/more organized. It also has its own teaching hospital which is available for all Drexel students, but is local for the second campus where you stay all four years. There are multiple affiliate hospitals across the nation that are also "Drexel" hospitals in which you can count on as a home base for research/residency and are locations students rotate at. One of those sites is in Kaiser in the Bay Area, where students from the Philly campus can potentially live for their third/fourth year clinical rotations if you win that lottery.

FWIW, all the students I've talked to about the flipped classroom now say they could never go back to a traditional lecture style class to maximize that ~efficiency~ but I get it, that's a very personal, subjective thing to measure.

 

[gavinupwht]

FYI, Drexel is planning to open a new branch campus in Atlantic City next to a large local hospital system in next few years (similar to the way Drexel Tower Health campus is run). Current M2s can choose to spend their 3rd and 4th year in NJ if they want. I think in 2027, Drexel will enroll its first 4-year class in NJ. Eventually, students can choose either Reading campus or AC campus if they want a teaching hospital next to the school from day 1.

I heard admin is also evaluating all clinical affiliates and approaching new clinical partnerships to replace some of low-quality sites and those sites with high financial risks. It is possible that more branch campus for Drexel COM will open in the future since our current dean really likes the idea of regional campus expansion…