Help! Need to decide today between UIowa and Penn State MD/Phd!!

[j0sh1314]

Hey Everyone,

First time poster on here, but need some help. Ive really been struggling with where to go to school next year. I have been accepted to the University of Iowa and Penn State University for MD/PhD. I was wondering if anyone had an opinion or some insight to help me in my decision.

My thoughts are that Penn State has a stronger research environment, especially in the field I want to go in to; cancer biology. Which makes me want to choose Penn State, but Im just not sure Id be happy enough living there. Whereas Iowa still has a good cancer biology research program, and its in a cute college town, albeit more isolated from the outside world.

Id love to hear peoples opinions, as I need to decide in a couple of hours!!

Thanks in advance

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[bucks2010]

I know practically nothing about either option, but my advice is not to go somewhere where you will potentially be unhappy for 7 years. 7 years is a long time - try thinking back to your soph year of high school (or whatever the 7-years-ago equiv is for you); would you have wanted to live somewhere you didn't like this whole time?

 

[strangeglove]

I went to Iowa for MSTP. It was a great experience. The science was top notch (I understand that there are quite a few good cancer biologists there). Also, the MSTP itself, as an administrative and educational entity separate from any of the labs or graduate programs, is very supportive and concerned about people graduating in a timely manner. Also, as far as I know, Penn State is not an MSTP, while Iowa is. The medical school at Iowa is top-notch. More importantly, Iowa City is a great place to live. It's quite different from the rest of the state in being a very progressive, artsy kind of a place where everyone is highly educated and generally very nice. It's a great mix of Midwest and cosmopolitan. There is certainly a contingent of Big 10 culture, but you will find this to be more in-your-face at Penn State, I believe. Iowa city is about 3 hours from Chicago, which is a great city. The only regret about going to Iowa was that I was far away from my family.

 

[jc235693]

Good luck deciding. I have nothing to add other than that I would probably pick the MSTP over the non-MSTP. Also wasn't the deadline to only hold one acceptance today? I hope your picked well.