Mentoz, you have probably already decided, but I'll just add my input as a graduate of Stanford Med.
1. The financial aid package is great, but it's true that it varies based on your individual situation. The people who benefit the most are in the "middle income" bracket -- which are those who would normally would qualify for some financial aid, but who typically don't qualify for a whole lot of grant money, so at any other school these are the students that will have to pay for tuition by pretty much taking out all loans. I was in this bracket, did 5 years of med school, and ended up with $45,000 in loans (combined undergrad and med). If I went to any other school, even my state school (non-CA), I would have owed >$100,000.
2. Stanford gives you the opportunity to make more money on top of the financial aid package if you want to do extra stuff in medical school. The big things that students do to help reduce their loans are TAing and doing research. Being a TA compensates really well. For example, if you do a 50% TA-ship for a quarter, which is supposed to be about 20 hours per week, (the max you can do to still be a full-time student), you get paid about $10,000 for that quarter. Half of that money is applied directly to your tuition, so it's tax-free. A lot of students TA -- there are positions available for anywhere from 10%-50% time. The other big money maker that students do is research through the Medical Scholars program, which leads me to the next part:
3. the Medical Scholars program is a great opportunity for the med students at Stanford. It is basically an internal grant that is only available for med students, and allows them to spend time to pursue research. About 80% of students do at least one Medical Scholars by the time they graduate (it used to be $10,000 each, but I think the grant recently was increased). It is a great way to get set up with research, and to get funding for it. The big advantage to it is that you don't have the pressure to secure an outside grant in order to do research at your school. Many people eventually get outside grants after their med scholars money has finished, particularly since certain outside grants can be very prestigious. The advantage is that by the time they apply, they're already firmly into their research, so their grant application tends to be much stronger than if they were just trying to get set up in a lab. The other advantage is that it provides an opportunity for people toying with the idea of getting a PhD to get involved with a lab and see if they would really want to pursue that degree. Several of my classmates did that route, and have decided to go on to get their PhD's in addition to the MD (not through the MSTP program, but it was pretty easy for them to get into their PhD programs).
4. The Five-Year Plan. The 5-year plan is very popular at Stanford -- as many as 70% of students end up doing it. There are a couple of things that make it different than at other schools (where you just take an extra year between, say, 3rd and 4th). The biggest difference is that you spread out your coursework over 5 years without having a gap in medical school. This can be done in different ways given the flexible curriculum that Stanford has, but the most common way is to spread out the 2 years of preclinical coursework into 3 years, so that you are taking less classes per quarter, and then do things like research and teaching in addition to the classes during those 3 years. The other big difference is that the 5th year is essentially free (you basically just have to pay room-and-board), so you are not being penalized for taking an extra year. Again, you do not have to find an extra source of funding for the additional year, because it's pretty much no tuition, you're still a full-time student, and you are still getting financial aid.
A lot of people come to Stanford because of the Five Year Plan and the flexible curriculum. I think that is also one of the reasons it has so much more of a relaxed atmosphere -- because people are given the chance to pursue other things rather than just focusing on medical school coursework. It is certainly a different culture at Stanford than at UCSF, and there are definitely certain personalities that are attracted to one place rather than the other. Stanford is not for everyone, but if you are good at juggling your time, feel comfortable tailoring your own personal curriculum, and like the idea of doing research or other work in conjunction with classwork, then you would probably really enjoy Stanford Med.
Let me know if you have any other questions, especially if you haven't made your decision yet.
