harvard vs. stanford

[pathpiano]

Can someone tell me what the pros and cons of each of the medical schools?
Any info would be helpful.

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[0Complications]

I don't know much about Harvard, but Stanford is my top choice school. There are a number of great things about their program, but some of the things I like are:

Great Professors (I'm sure Harvard does as well, but I've enjoyed lectures from most of the Stanford Medical Profs).

Newly restructured program, which includes a specialization selection. So if you are familiar with an area or have a specific interest you can begin focusing on it day one.

Great research facilities/opportunities

Great Matching numbers for top three selected programs (something like 86% for top 3 and 75% for top choice, this is very important to me because I plan on doing Neurosurgery).

They prefer you to do your Med school in 5 years as apposed to 4, which allows extra time for grant funded research (with something in the neighborhood of 65% of those graduating after 5 years being awarded grants vs. 30ish% for those staying 4 years).

And so many other things. Sorry that I have nothing on Harvard.

 

[pntgrd]

I have interviewed at both, although Stanford is my first choice.

Stanford pros:

-dedicated to the most cutting edge research and has great collaboration with rest of university.

-same campus as University
-good weather
-very small class size
-good curriculum and really good residency matching.
-no cons unless you hate research as a scholarly project is a requirement

Harvard pros:
-similar to Stanford except for weather, campus is separate from university, and has a much larger class size.

 

[etf]

stanford is probably the only medical school i'd choose over harvard. i'd be willing to pay the premium over ucsf for the harvard name, but stanford trumps both.

the funny thing is, i didn't apply to either stanford or harvard, and ucsf sent me a nice pre-secondary rejection for the second time. so yeah, good luck to those who have to make this awful choice...should be seeing these threads pop up come march.

 

[bcat85]

I hate you guys. Not in a bad way... just in a "wow I envy your ability to compare harvard and stanford in a meaningful way" way

 

[SBBunny]

The only really good way to be able to compare the two schools is to interview at both. Yes, Stanford has a program of specialization, while Harvard doesn't (compulsory "med school major" vs. more unstructured time). Harvard focuses very strongly on PBL, while Stanford has more lectures. My personal preference is Harvard. Really, though, I think that it's very hard to judge until you've actually visited the schools.


On an unrelated note (please humor me)... For some bizarre reason, everyone in my family is pressuring me towards Stanford... I haven't even been invited to interview there, but everytime I call a family member, I hear "What about Stanford?", "Sure, you say that <School X> is your top choice, but WHEN YOU VISIT STANFORD YOU'LL CHANGE YOUR MIND!!!", and "I think Stanford's a great fit for you." Seriously, EVERY TIME I mention medical school, they shove Stanford in my face. I called to tell my dad that I had been accepted to the University of Rochester (my first acceptance). His response was "Oh. Uh huh. Have you heard anything from Stanford?"

Yes, my dad went there for his Master's degree in Economics and I lived in Palo Alto for a year (I was in first grade). Yes, my first memory of being in a medical situation was at a Stanford hospital (my dad was going in to have his parathyroids removed and I remember pleading with my mom to be let into the O.R. because I really wanted to observe the surgery- I know, it's cornier and cheesier than a giant bag of Doritos). I am seriously VERY CLOSE to withdrawing from Stanford because I'm so sick of hearing their name. Yes, Stanford is an awesome school. I used to love Stanford. Now that all of my relatives are on a crusade to entice me to go to California, I'm far, far less enthusiastic. Alright, end of rant. So, one advantage Harvard has over Stanford is that my family isn't going freaking BANANAS over Harvard.

 

[0Complications]

You should never let someone else sway your decision nor diminish your success. Congrats on your acceptance! I had to tell my family (very directly) to back off on the whole application/school selection process. It actually made my mom cry , but I'm happier and our relationship is better as a result of it.

Tell the family how it makes you feel, then assess what you want to do.

Good luck in med school!

 

[mmmapricots]

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[SBBunny]

You should never let someone else sway your decision nor diminish your success. Congrats on your acceptance! I had to tell my family (very directly) to back off on the whole application/school selection process. It actually made my mom cry , but I'm happier and our relationship is better as a result of it.

Tell the family how it makes you feel, then assess what you want to do.

Good luck in med school!

Thanks, OComplications! Wow, I admire your courage in standing up to your family like that. That's a hard thing to do and it's awesome that you were able to assert yourself (and doubly awesome that your honesty improved your relationship with your mom ). I totally agree that nobody should choose his or her med school because of bullying by his or her family. I've always made my life-decisions on my own and my folks have let me go with my choices... I guess that's why it's so weird that my family is suddenly super-zealously pushing me towards Stanford. If I choose Stanford over any other school, it's because *I* have decided that I love their medical school, not because my relatives (who know nothing about Stanford's medical school program aside from the name and the location) think that I should be a Stanford Gal. Thanks for the congratulations (really, your kind words mean a lot)! I hope you get into Stanford (I say this only because you indicated earlier in the thread that its your top choice). Good luck to you too!