I am an Ohio resident and have been accepted to both Toledo and Wright State. The schools are similar in cost. Toledo has a university hospital, whereas Wright State is affiliated with seven different teaching hospitals.
Help me choose between Toledo and Wright State
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Can you provide some more info about the impressions you got at each school, perceived pros and cons, etc.? It will make it easier for us to help you out. 🙂
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I'd go with Toledo. The fact that Toledo has an affiliated hospital should not be overlooked.
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I was in your exact same predicament last year. I was actually all set to go to Toledo (even had an apartment, room mate, etc) and ended up switching and choosing Wright State. I'm 100% satisfied with my decision...I could go on and on about why I think WSU is the best but I'm going to try and think back to what my thought process was last year when I chose and then maybe share some perspective looking back.
I remember really struggling because 'on paper', WSU and Toledo are pretty similar. As far as average MCAT, GPA, and "name", one doesn't really stand out from the other. Obviously there are going to be some slight differences in curriculum, etc, but all in all you're going to come out just as prepared from either of them. Cost isn't really a factor either as they're pretty close.
After that, I considered location. Again, UT and WSU aren't too different in that aspect either. I'd argue that Dayton is a little nicer than Toledo, but that's just personal opinion. You're going to get the same thing out of living in both of these cities. Dayton is closer to Columbus and Cinci which is nice, but honestly you're not going to have tons of time to do stuff outside of school so it really doesn't matter.
For me then, it really came down to the 'feel' I had at each school. To be honest, I'm think I would have been content at Toledo. Everyone was pretty nice when I interviewed there, the students seemed decently happy, etc. But when I interviewed at WSU I noticed that there was just something about the community here than at Toledo, and really at any other of the schools where I interviewed. Everyone was extremely laid back and it seemed like everyone was a family. The people I interviewed with as well as other students that I talked to all echoed this sentiment at the time.
Now that I'm here I can confirm it as well. I've got friends at other med schools (including Toledo) and from what I can see this place is a lot less competitive and students are generally less stressed out here. I can't say enough about how much I like the students here. Additionally, the administration and faculty truly care about the students. I'm constantly impressed with how receptive they are to us and how much they are willing to bend over backwards to make sure that we are getting the best education and are happy doing while doing it.
Lastly I'd just like to address two things that I know you're inevitably going to hear while you make your decision and that mislead me when I was trying to decide.
1) Wright State pushes primary care.
This is actually the one thing that made me a little hesitant to pick WSU at the time. I had (and still have) no idea what I want to go into, but I didn't want to feel like it would be harder for me to specialize if I went to one school over the other. Now that I'm here, I can assure you that this really isn't true. In this case, choosing one school over the other is not going to limit your options if you want to specialize or not. I've never felt that they have pushed primary care here at all, or at least not more than any other speciality. If my opinion isn't enough you should just look at the numbers. Last year (I couldn't find Toledo's 2012 list), 38.7% of Toledo's graduating class went into some sort of primary care residency. For WSU, it was 43.3%. About 51% of all US seniors went into primary care that year. So, take that as you will.
2) Toledo has a university affiliated hospital and this will give you an advantage over the 7 teaching hospitals that WSU has.
I've heard this over and over again as a reason why people should pick other places over WSU. Although Miami Valley doesn't have WSU's name plastered on the side, it's essentially acts as a university hospital and academic institution for BSOM. Additionally, its pretty huge, a level one trauma center, etc. Everything that will give you some great clinical experience before and during your rotations. On top of that you're going to have the opportunity to get some really different experiences at each of the different hospitals (time spent at the VA is going to be very different than Kettering, which will be different than Dayton Childrens, or Greene, etc). You can check them out here if you want: http://www.med.wright.edu/admiss/hospitals. You're going to get a lot of exposure to a bunch of different environments. I really fail to see how this is a disadvantage. As far as I can see, the faculty at those hospitals and at WSU are no less invested in the med students, and its incredibly easy to get clinical exposure the first two years if you want it.
Anyway, I really could ramble on and on about WSU because I really do think this is the perfect place for me to be. I never thought I'd enjoy my time in med school so much. It was a really hard decision for me at the time but I'd just say do a lot of research between the schools. You should talk to students / admin at both places, explore the websites, etc, etc. Obviously, you'll have to take all these things into account but I hope you choose the best place for you.
I remember really struggling because 'on paper', WSU and Toledo are pretty similar. As far as average MCAT, GPA, and "name", one doesn't really stand out from the other. Obviously there are going to be some slight differences in curriculum, etc, but all in all you're going to come out just as prepared from either of them. Cost isn't really a factor either as they're pretty close.
After that, I considered location. Again, UT and WSU aren't too different in that aspect either. I'd argue that Dayton is a little nicer than Toledo, but that's just personal opinion. You're going to get the same thing out of living in both of these cities. Dayton is closer to Columbus and Cinci which is nice, but honestly you're not going to have tons of time to do stuff outside of school so it really doesn't matter.
For me then, it really came down to the 'feel' I had at each school. To be honest, I'm think I would have been content at Toledo. Everyone was pretty nice when I interviewed there, the students seemed decently happy, etc. But when I interviewed at WSU I noticed that there was just something about the community here than at Toledo, and really at any other of the schools where I interviewed. Everyone was extremely laid back and it seemed like everyone was a family. The people I interviewed with as well as other students that I talked to all echoed this sentiment at the time.
Now that I'm here I can confirm it as well. I've got friends at other med schools (including Toledo) and from what I can see this place is a lot less competitive and students are generally less stressed out here. I can't say enough about how much I like the students here. Additionally, the administration and faculty truly care about the students. I'm constantly impressed with how receptive they are to us and how much they are willing to bend over backwards to make sure that we are getting the best education and are happy doing while doing it.
Lastly I'd just like to address two things that I know you're inevitably going to hear while you make your decision and that mislead me when I was trying to decide.
1) Wright State pushes primary care.
This is actually the one thing that made me a little hesitant to pick WSU at the time. I had (and still have) no idea what I want to go into, but I didn't want to feel like it would be harder for me to specialize if I went to one school over the other. Now that I'm here, I can assure you that this really isn't true. In this case, choosing one school over the other is not going to limit your options if you want to specialize or not. I've never felt that they have pushed primary care here at all, or at least not more than any other speciality. If my opinion isn't enough you should just look at the numbers. Last year (I couldn't find Toledo's 2012 list), 38.7% of Toledo's graduating class went into some sort of primary care residency. For WSU, it was 43.3%. About 51% of all US seniors went into primary care that year. So, take that as you will.
2) Toledo has a university affiliated hospital and this will give you an advantage over the 7 teaching hospitals that WSU has.
I've heard this over and over again as a reason why people should pick other places over WSU. Although Miami Valley doesn't have WSU's name plastered on the side, it's essentially acts as a university hospital and academic institution for BSOM. Additionally, its pretty huge, a level one trauma center, etc. Everything that will give you some great clinical experience before and during your rotations. On top of that you're going to have the opportunity to get some really different experiences at each of the different hospitals (time spent at the VA is going to be very different than Kettering, which will be different than Dayton Childrens, or Greene, etc). You can check them out here if you want: http://www.med.wright.edu/admiss/hospitals. You're going to get a lot of exposure to a bunch of different environments. I really fail to see how this is a disadvantage. As far as I can see, the faculty at those hospitals and at WSU are no less invested in the med students, and its incredibly easy to get clinical exposure the first two years if you want it.
Anyway, I really could ramble on and on about WSU because I really do think this is the perfect place for me to be. I never thought I'd enjoy my time in med school so much. It was a really hard decision for me at the time but I'd just say do a lot of research between the schools. You should talk to students / admin at both places, explore the websites, etc, etc. Obviously, you'll have to take all these things into account but I hope you choose the best place for you.
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