Factors in Selecting a Med School

[Zarika]

Hi guys,

I am starting to think about which school to attend, and I'm trying to make pros & cons lists. There are some obvious factors to think about, but I want to make sure I'm not forgetting anything. Med students especially, is there anything you didn't consider before attending a school and then realize you loved/hated when you got there?

Obvious things to think about:
cost, location & proximity to family, MS1 and 2 curriculum, quality of the 3rd and 4th year rotations, general student body, and (depending on who you ask) reputation of the school and residency placements.

I'm not sure how I judge the quality of the 3rd and 4th years. Can anyone elaborate on this?

Thanks for all your help everyone!
(Sorry if this has been asked before)

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[longhorn09]

One thing to add: go to the med school selection spread sheet, pick 3-5 reach schools, 3-5 schools that fit your LizzyM score, and 3-5 safety schools. And apply to all of your state schools. Now you are about 90% done.

 

[Zarika]

Oops, sorry if I was unclear before. I have a few acceptances and a waitlist that is likely to result in an acceptance (if the last several years are any indication, of course, w/ my luck this year will be way different ) and I'm trying to pick which one to ultimately attend.

 

[longhorn09]

Oops, sorry if I was unclear before. I have a few acceptances and a waitlist that is likely to result in an acceptance (if the last several years are any indication, of course, w/ my luck this year will be way different ) and I'm trying to pick which one to ultimately attend.

Oh sorry I misunderstand your question.

 

[Zarika]

Bump

 

[VOP]

COA...if you're not a "status" *****, this should be the biggest factor.

Next is curriculum, schools teach the same classes in different ways, either integrated(heard helps with board scores) or separately.

 

[brygguy1]

1. Do they have a good football team?
2. Is there a ski slope near by?
3. Are the other students cool?
4. Are the faculty easy to get along with?
5. Cold/rainy (girls wear ugg boots and rain jackets), or sunny with (cute girls in bikinis)?

 

[Sammich117]

It's hard to judge what's important to other people. You have a good list of factors there so it's up to you to go through each school and decide what aspects would benefit you the most.

Good luck and congrats on multiple acceptances.

 

[morning]

I am terrible with traffic and direction, so ease of driving would be a big thing for me. Cost of living is obviously most important, but all things considered, the school where I can live the closest for the cheapest and spend the least amount of time scurrying to and fro through traffic would be the best. Every minute you spend in a car or on the bus is time you could have spent doing something else. Everyone knows location is important, but a lot of people don't seem to think about the LOGISTICS of location.

 

[illegallysmooth]

I know this isn't the answer you're looking for, but I think all these factors really depend on your personal values.

Do you have rich parents/grandparents that will pay a hefty chunk of your COA? Then COA probably isn't your biggest concern.

Are you completely intolerant of a certain climate? Maybe that should factor into your decision.

Are you interested in PBL? Or do you need more structure?

Although many debate the idea of "fit," I think it's important.

For example, I am the first in my family to attend college and I went to a pricey undergrad school, followed by two years of grad school. I already have like 70k in loans. Cost is a BIG factor for me. I'm really sick of the winters in Buffalo and would like some sun. I love PBL. These are my important factors, but yours may be different.

 

[flip26]

I went through an extensive checklist prior to applying, coming up with a list of schools to apply to - in effect, I already screened the schools for issues like curriculum, rotations, etc.

At this point in the cycle, I say to keep it simple.

Maybe 2 or 3 factors should sway the decision of where to attend now that you have acceptances.

For me it is down to cost and location (proximity to fam, quality of life).

The more factors you try to weigh, the more muddled your decision process will become.

 

[Narmerguy]

I know if you ever posted it somewhere else it would get moved back here but it just seems a little ridiculous to ask this question to a bunch of pre-allo students that honestly have no school experience in medical school. How could we know what should be? What we think is important now could very well be wrong. I mean, look: every single poster so far has been premed.

Of course medical students could browse and offer their input but that'll happen with what? 6 or maybe 7 med students. What if they disagree? Well, then the advice is useless because the bulk of them find pre-allo too stupid/neurotic to spend their time here. And of course, if you post it in their board, it'll get moved here.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm frustrated with the grounds upon which threads are moved across boards when it doesn't make logical sense for certain topics to be in certain forums. Perhaps if there was some kind of "med student to premed advice" subforum or thread or something I'd be a little happier. But as it is, advice from med students to premed is hard to get because you only get the spotty advice from the few med students that 1) look at pre-allo 2) want to contribute. After that, who knows if they'll even agree.

</rant>

 

[Parts Unknown]

I'm not sure how I judge the quality of the 3rd and 4th years. Can anyone elaborate on this?

If the schools you are pondering are allopathic this shouldn't be too much of a concern, as the LCME enforces fairly strict standards. This doesn't mean all your M3 and M4 clerkships will be good, but you will at least have a place to go and an educational framework to work within.

If a given school is attached to a large academic medical center you will likely do most of your clerkships in that center, perhaps with some opportunities to rotate at smaller nearby hospitals. Some schools are affiliated with several medium size teaching hospitals and other clinical sites, and you may have to do some traveling. There are ups and downs to everything.

My own medical school was gritty, urban, and served a lot of indigent patients. We also had a large cancer center. Great EM, surgery, and psychiatry. Peds and OB/GYN were a little weak as the center lost business to private hospitals. Another medical school might have better peds and OB, but a smaller trauma center and less surgery. You win some, you lose some, but in the end you learn enough to be a doctor.

When you are a resident and meet a lot of people from other medical schools you will be struck by the number of shared experiences.

 

[flip26]

I know if you ever posted it somewhere else it would get moved back here but it just seems a little ridiculous to ask this question to a bunch of pre-allo students that honestly have no school experience in medical school. How could we know what should be? What we think is important now could very well be wrong. I mean, look: every single poster so far has been premed.

Of course medical students could browse and offer their input but that'll happen with what? 6 or maybe 7 med students. What if they disagree? Well, then the advice is useless because the bulk of them find pre-allo too stupid/neurotic to spend their time here. And of course, if you post it in their board, it'll get moved here.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm frustrated with the grounds upon which threads are moved across boards when it doesn't make logical sense for certain topics to be in certain forums. Perhaps if there was some kind of "med student to premed advice" subforum or thread or something I'd be a little happier. But as it is, advice from med students to premed is hard to get because you only get the spotty advice from the few med students that 1) look at pre-allo 2) want to contribute. After that, who knows if they'll even agree.

</rant>

While not addressing your specific rant, you raise a good point about who to ask about this.

This particular topic (how to choose?) has been discussed on many threads.

Pre meds drown in a pool of "factors," often minimizing the debt burden in favor of contrasting grading systems, rotation schemes, curriculum, prestige, etc., but most residents and attendings say to boil our decision down to cost, location, and proximity to family (if that is important to you).

I agree with the folks who are further down this path than even current med students.

 

[thamsenman]

I went through an extensive checklist prior to applying, coming up with a list of schools to apply to - in effect, I already screened the schools for issues like curriculum, rotations, etc.

At this point in the cycle, I say to keep it simple.

Maybe 2 or 3 factors should sway the decision of where to attend now that you have acceptances.

For me it is down to cost and location (proximity to fam, quality of life).

The more factors you try to weigh, the more muddled your decision process will become.

+1. everyone has a different system of things they put value on. Cost, quality of life, etc. Choose your school based on those considerations and the curriculum.

 

[flip26]

I am terrible with traffic and direction, so ease of driving would be a big thing for me. Cost of living is obviously most important, but all things considered, the school where I can live the closest for the cheapest and spend the least amount of time scurrying to and fro through traffic would be the best. Every minute you spend in a car or on the bus is time you could have spent doing something else. Everyone knows location is important, but a lot of people don't seem to think about the LOGISTICS of location.

This was a big factor for me, too, and it influenced the list of schools where I applied. I didn't apply to any med schools in big cities or urban areas where I would need a car. Otherwise, med schools in smaller communities with fewer driving issues were OK.

 

[Bernoull]

Hawtness of nurses in the teaching hospital(s)..

 

[bearforce]

I came up with a cool exercise if you want to try it. Put the names of your schools listed down a piece of paper. Think about how much prestige, feel/pull of the school, location, facilities, match list, faculty and curriculum each matter to you from 1-5 in importance ( they dont have to be integers) . Then for each school give them a rank 1-10 in each category. Then multiply each category by their weight then add up all numbers for the schools then compare.

This method is not the end all, but it helped me.