Harder than I thought...

[lundysd]

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Does anyone else feel like choosing a school is going to be an incredibly difficult prospect? It's a great feeling and a privilege to have a choice, but at the same time having to choose essentially a program/city/life for the next 7 years is daunting...

 

[penguinophile]

Does anyone else feel like choosing a school is going to be an incredibly difficult prospect? It's a great feeling and a privilege to have a choice, but at the same time having to choose essentially a program/city/life for the next 7 years is daunting...

I understand. Its especially hard when you have a SO that you need to compromise with so that neither of you limit each others possibilities.

 

[beary]

Does anyone else feel like choosing a school is going to be an incredibly difficult prospect? It's a great feeling and a privilege to have a choice, but at the same time having to choose essentially a program/city/life for the next 7 years is daunting...

Hi. It is really difficult. I actually had a really easy time choosing an MSTP program, but now I am extremely struggling with trying to figure out where I want to do residency.

Good luck.

 

[big_smiles]

I don't think the decision will be hard for me because I will go wherever I get in, if I ever get in. Good luck on your decision though. But after 6 rejections in the past two weeks, I am losing hope. One interview left, one to find out about. I am retaking the MCAT to keep up with the stats of you MD-PhD applicant superstars. Doubt if it can help this cycle, but I am desperate. I am deciding if I don't get in any program if I should reapply, or go to medical school and wait to do research in a fellowship after several years. Keep your fingers crossed! Good luck on the decision. I wish I had choices too.

 

[penguinophile]

I don't think the decision will be hard for me because I will go wherever I get in, if I ever get in. Good luck on your decision though. But after 6 rejections in the past two weeks, I am losing hope. One interview left, one to find out about. I am retaking the MCAT to keep up with the stats of you MD-PhD applicant superstars. Doubt if it can help this cycle, but I am desperate. I am deciding if I don't get in any program if I should reapply, or go to medical school and wait to do research in a fellowship after several years. Keep your fingers crossed! Good luck on the decision. I wish I had choices too.

Good Luck!!!

 

[Thundrstorm]

I don't actually have a choice yet, but if I do, I think my head will explode. All of the schools I really like have such different strengths. I'm sure we'll all figure it out.

 

[neoserenity333]

I understand. Its especially hard when you have a SO that you need to compromise with so that neither of you limit each others possibilities.

...especially when the program you want to go to has a great medical school that doesn't accept out of state applicants & your SO (who is, of course, out of state) plans to attend an MD program next year. 🙁 and further more, there isn't another med school near that one until a couple of states over.

ah the joys of life decisions... -_-

 

[hawkeey]

...especially when the program you want to go to has a great medical school that doesn't accept out of state applicants & your SO (who is, of course, out of state) plans to attend an MD program next year. 🙁 and further more, there isn't another med school near that one until a couple of states over.

ah the joys of life decisions... -_-

omg... I am in the same situation! I'm trying to figure out how to get my SO residency in prospective states; unfortunately, it looks like she will have to wait 2 years to do so (ie. not apply during the coming application cycle, but wait until the next application cycle).

 

[Thundrstorm]

BUMP!

After revisits and creating charts and pros&cons lists I'm still confused. I need to choose between a school where I'm already accepted and one where I'm v. high on the waitlist (they only give you 24 hrs to decide if accepted, so I need to decide beforehand), and I'm really struggling with making up my mind. It mostly comes down to perfect research match/terrible location or decent research match/perfect location.

How is everyone deciding on a program? 😱

 

[MrMunkily]

It's really a mess in my mind. I'm just looking at faculty and waiting for revisits. Then I'll still be confused, but better informed.

 

[CaipirinhaQuinho]

i've been getting super-stressed out about my decision. i know it's a ****ty thing to say since i have a lot of really good acceptances (and you can't really make a bad choice), but the feeling is real and I thought that I would share.

I have no idea where I want to go! I tried making a spreadsheet including:

-a "fun" location ranking (out of 5)
-1/med school rank *10 (turns out to be out of 5)
-USNews biological research score (of 5)
-a housing value (5)
-1/distance (in miles) from my home in NJ*300 (about out of 5)
-my SO's rankings

so far Cornell is beating Penn (haven't got in yet, but I'm crossing my fingers) 84% to 82% with Hopkins at a strong 3rd 76%.

Is this ridiculous? Yes. Am I losing my mind? Yes.

 

[Thundrstorm]

i've been getting super-stressed out about my decision. i know it's a ****ty thing to say since i have a lot of really good acceptances (and you can't really make a bad choice), but the feeling is real and I thought that I would share.

I have no idea where I want to go! I tried making a spreadsheet including:

-a "fun" location ranking (out of 5)
-1/med school rank *10 (turns out to be out of 5)
-USNews biological research score (of 5)
-a housing value (5)
-1/distance (in miles) from my home in NJ*300 (about out of 5)
-my SO's rankings

so far Cornell is beating Penn (haven't got in yet, but I'm crossing my fingers) 84% to 82% with Hopkins at a strong 3rd 76%.

Is this ridiculous? Yes. Am I losing my mind? Yes.

ummm... that's no worse than my calculations.

My categories are Location, Research, Curriculum, Housing, Special Programs, Administration, Clinical Exposure Available during PhD, and Clinical Training during MD. I might need to add a few more though (e.g. diversity, facilities, etc.).

Then, I gave a score out of 10 in each category and multiplied it by the weight I give that category (e.g. location is .25 out of 1, housing is .15). So, each school has a final score out of 10. Out of 3 possibilities (including another waitlist I'm on), I've got 7.85, 7.8, and 7.65. Is there any REAL significance? Who knows? It's probably kind of telling that I tried to tweak the scores to improve a particular school... maybe a subconcious sign that I want to go there?

 

[shortyganoush]

i've been getting super-stressed out about my decision. i know it's a ****ty thing to say since i have a lot of really good acceptances (and you can't really make a bad choice), but the feeling is real and I thought that I would share.

I have no idea where I want to go! I tried making a spreadsheet including:

-a "fun" location ranking (out of 5)
-1/med school rank *10 (turns out to be out of 5)
-USNews biological research score (of 5)
-a housing value (5)
-1/distance (in miles) from my home in NJ*300 (about out of 5)
-my SO's rankings

so far Cornell is beating Penn (haven't got in yet, but I'm crossing my fingers) 84% to 82% with Hopkins at a strong 3rd 76%.

Is this ridiculous? Yes. Am I losing my mind? Yes.

He He, I made a spreadsheet last week like this at work (I was soooo bored) only it had 14 diferent things to be ranked on and for three schools. This is actually really dumb of me to do because I've only been accepted into 1 of 3 that I'm still considering. But if I do get in to 1 or both of the others, I'll probably have an updated freak out post about it with the spreadsheet. My roommate lovingly called me the tiranical ruler of geekdom when I showed her (especially when you see the coeficients next to each variable, and that Trader Joes nearby is a factor), my SO (engineer) laughed but thought most of it was sensible (except the Trader Joes part).

 

[Thundrstorm]

He He, I made a spreadsheet last week like this at work (I was soooo bored) only it had 14 diferent things to be ranked on and for three schools. This is actually really dumb of me to do because I've only been accepted into 1 of 3 that I'm still considering. But if I do get in to 1 or both of the others, I'll probably have an updated freak out post about it with the spreadsheet. My roommate lovingly called me the tiranical ruler of geekdom when I showed her (especially when you see the coeficients next to each variable, and that Trader Joes nearby is a factor), my SO (engineer) laughed but thought most of it was sensible (except the Trader Joes part).

Part of my location rating includes whether any Starbucks or coffee shops are nearby. haha. And I'm only into 1 of my 3, so I guess we're equally crazy.

 

[shortyganoush]

Part of my location rating includes whether any Starbucks or coffee shops are nearby. haha. And I'm only into 1 of my 3, so I guess we're equally crazy.

He He, 👍

 

[CaipirinhaQuinho]

My categories are Location, Research, Curriculum, Housing, Special Programs, Administration, Clinical Exposure Available during PhD, and Clinical Training during MD. I might need to add a few more though (e.g. diversity, facilities, etc.).

damn, i'll have to add some of those to my list. thanks!

Yea, i def think that we scew the numbers to show where we really want to go. In fact, i prefer it that way. whether it's intentional or not, the list still tells us where we should go.

 

[Thundrstorm]

I've now resorted to coercing my friends and family to filling out an online poll. My mentor in lab suggested tossing a coin or pulling a name out of a hat.

 

[SeventhSon]

the moral of this thread.... damn, it's nice not to have a SO right now 😀