HELP!! USC vs. Univ. of Chicago

[yabastaman]

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AUXILIO! HELP! OK. Ive been accepted to Univ. of Chicago and USC. Im really having a hard time deciding where to go. PLease offer me any jewels of wisdom. Ive two days and Im split. So many reasons to go to both, except one big thing. USC says they can only offer me $20,000 in scholarship. Pritzker is offering me $60,000. With they I started leaning towards Chicago PLUS Chicago has got a great amtch list with many at UCSF (my dream school). Any words of wisdom?

USC = California. My home. My first love. Its where Ive lived all my life. Family, friends, culture, y mucho sol. Undergrad campus far away(not good). LA County Hospital (hella good). I went to USC for undergrad and wouldnt mind checking out another art of the US for 4 years since I know I will be ultimately settling down in Cali.

Univ. of Chicago = Its got the name and it lives up to it pretty well. Chicago. Cool location. Ive heard many good things about the city. Not too far from Cali so I can take a quick flight home. Its got an undergrad campus next door which is nice. Cold winters (bad). USCs got LA County which Ive heard is a better hospital for clinical rotations. Any word on Cook County?

Let me know what yall think. Thanks.

 

[mellantro]

60,000 is a sweet deal.

 

[Jalby]

University of Chicago is ranked 22 in the nation, with USC being 32. I'm not sure I would say that is that much of a difference in name.

Also, a huge difference between these schools is the curriculum. University of Chicago is a traditional curriculum. USC updated our curriculum 3 years ago and is an organ based curriculum (Which a lot of schools are changing towards nowadays)

 

[kittybreath]

Yeah, $60,000 sounds awesome! I think that being away for four years may be a good change of scenery, just for awhile, before you settle down in one spot. I think it would suck not to have lived anywhere else your ENTIRE life. And Pritzker is a great school!!!! I wish I had gotten an interview there 🙁

Good luck making your decision! It seems the poll says Pritzker, now it's up to you!

 

[kittybreath]

University of Chicago is ranked 22 in the nation, with USC being 32. I'm not sure I would say that is that much of a difference in name.

That's funny, I've read on other threads where you put other schools down and tell people to choose USC because it's ranked a little bit higher. In this case, Pritzker is ranked higher. I think they are both great schools, and rankings shouldn't be a part of the decision. I must say, you're a great recruiter for USC 👍

 

[exmike]

That's funny, I've read on other threads where you put other schools down and tell people to choose USC because it's ranked a little bit higher. In this case, Pritzker is ranked higher. I think they are both great schools, and rankings shouldn't be a part of the decision. I must say, you're a great recruiter for USC 👍

I think jalby has recruited more than his fair share to USC. I am taking notes so I can use the same logic when I convice kids to go to case next year. Too bad its in cleveland.

 

[CalBeE]

Pritzker is ranked 22, but look at its reputation score...it's comparable/a bit higher than other #11-20. Don't be fooled by the absolute ranking. The reason Pritzker dropped in ranking's because its NIH funding is not increasing enough compared to other schools. Also, Pritzker's admission is pretty selective and they don't select people based on academic record--hence the apparently lower average GPA and MCAT than similarly ranked schools.

The fact that 10% of Pritzker students matched at UCSF over the years really say something about the confidence of residency directors in Pritzker graduates. During interview day, I was told that the curriculum was not aimed to train people to ace the board exam, so the average board score wasn't particularly high, yet the students match really well. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that Pritzker's training IS great, both clinical and basic science.

 

[exmike]

oh yeah, go to Priztker. USNews means nothing, Pritzkers rep is much better than USC's no matter how close they are in ranking.

 

[CalBeE]

oh yeah, go to Priztker. USNews means nothing, Pritzkers rep is much better than USC's no matter how close they are in ranking.

I'd like to add that even UCLA graduates who match at UCSF doesn't really approach 10% (It was like 5% this year??)...you can argue that UCLA grads also like to stay at UCLA for residency instead, but rumor I heard was that UCLA and UCSF med school grads have harder time matching at each other's hospitals

 

[Jalby]

That's funny, I've read on other threads where you put other schools down and tell people to choose USC because it's ranked a little bit higher. In this case, Pritzker is ranked higher. I think they are both great schools, and rankings shouldn't be a part of the decision. I must say, you're a great recruiter for USC 👍

In this case it is pretty much of a tossup. I'm not sre the example you are reffering to, but I was showing that Pritz has been stable at it's ranking (dropping like 4 places over 8ish years) while USC has gone from 43 to 32. Part of the reason I'm able to recruit to USC so easily is because a lot of great things are happening here. Curriculum redesigned with great results, better studnets coming here, etc, etc.

Both schools have great things going for them, and it is somewhat of a tossup. U of C has great training at (I want to say) Cook County which compares quite well to County-USC. Research at both schools is about the same with Univ of Chicago getting the edge (The most overrated part of med schools IMHO)

I'd personally vote for USC because it's in Los Angeles (I like Chicago, just not where U of C is located) and because teh curriculum is less stressfull and should get you a higher board score. I think part of the reason that U of C has matched more people into UCSF than USC has is because the people who go to U of C have been much smarter until recently. The current 4th years had MCAT and GPA of 30.4 and 3.47 sompared to what univ of chicago had then (I'd assume the same as it has now) The current first year class has an MCAT and GPA of 3.62 and MCAT of 32.4, with the preliminary numbers of next years class being higher than that. Alright, I'm blabbering on. Time for a Lakers game.

 

[SoCalOrBust]

Ah nutz- if you go to USC you'll have to learn to like the Lakers 👎
LOL

 

[Jalby]

Ah nutz- if you go to USC you'll have to learn to like the Lakers 👎
LOL

You are a Kings fan???

 

[kittybreath]

reason that U of C has matched more people into UCSF than USC has is because the people who go to U of C have been much smarter until recently. The current 4th years had MCAT and GPA of 30.4 and 3.47 sompared to what univ of chicago had then (I'd assume the same as it has now) The current first year class has an MCAT and GPA of 3.62 and MCAT of 32.4, with the preliminary numbers of next years class being higher than that. Alright, I'm blabbering on. Time for a Lakers game.

Who cares what the average mcat and gpa of entering students are this year? This guy is going to study as hard as he will no matter who is in his class right? Whether they got a 32 or 35 on the mcat. Sometimes I think that people take weird things into account when they are trying to decide on a med school (like the average MCAT score of the entering class).

 

[camstah]

Who cares what the average mcat and gpa of entering students are this year? This guy is going to study as hard as he will no matter who is in his class right? Whether they got a 32 or 35 on the mcat. Sometimes I think that people take weird things into account when they are trying to decide on a med school (like the average MCAT score of the entering class).

maybe the point is that people around him will be smart, and help him study? i don't know....
i like your name, kittybreath 🙂 meow!!

 

[Jalby]

Who cares what the average mcat and gpa of entering students are this year? This guy is going to study as hard as he will no matter who is in his class right? Whether they got a 32 or 35 on the mcat. Sometimes I think that people take weird things into account when they are trying to decide on a med school (like the average MCAT score of the entering class).

The topic sentance at the start of the part that you highlighted explained why I was mentioning that.

 

[SoCalOrBust]

NOt a big bball nut, but yes GO KINGS.

On another note, have you guys thought about looking at the other schools students match to as well as programs they go to? If you have a specific specialty in mind you might want to consider that before you look at the schools on the list.

 

[OldLady]

AUXILIO! HELP! OK. Ive been accepted to Univ. of Chicago and USC. Im really having a hard time deciding where to go. PLease offer me any jewels of wisdom. Ive two days and Im split. So many reasons to go to both, except one big thing. USC says they can only offer me $20,000 in scholarship. Pritzker is offering me $60,000. With they I started leaning towards Chicago PLUS Chicago has got a great amtch list with many at UCSF (my dream school). Any words of wisdom?

USC = California. My home. My first love. Its where Ive lived all my life. Family, friends, culture, y mucho sol. Undergrad campus far away(not good). LA County Hospital (hella good). I went to USC for undergrad and wouldnt mind checking out another art of the US for 4 years since I know I will be ultimately settling down in Cali.

Univ. of Chicago = Its got the name and it lives up to it pretty well. Chicago. Cool location. Ive heard many good things about the city. Not too far from Cali so I can take a quick flight home. Its got an undergrad campus next door which is nice. Cold winters (bad). USCs got LA County which Ive heard is a better hospital for clinical rotations. Any word on Cook County?

Let me know what yall think. Thanks.

I just got back from a 2nd look at Chicago- I was under the impression the clinical years were done at U of C hospitals, not County, but I suppose you could do some electives there. might want to check that if it's important to you:

http://pritzker.bsd.uchicago.edu/students/index.html?content=coursesClerkships.html

I believe that Cook County rotates UIC and Rush med students....it's over by those schools, not Hyde Park where Pritzker is

 

[Jalby]

Than I was totally under the wrong impression. All this time I though U of C students rotate at Cook.

 

[OldLady]

Nah, UIC. that's like confusing USC with a UC school, private vs state....

 

[jlee9531]

id pick sc cause its in california and they dont have a trad curriculum.

 

[yabastaman]

Just wanted to say thanks to all those who helped me out in this decision of a lifetime. Everybody offered an opinion that made sense in one way or another and now I know what medical school I will be going to...Take care everybody.

Paz y salud,
Danny 😎

 

[Jalby]

And the winner is??????

 

[yabastaman]

And the winner is??????

Pritzker School of Med