Hopkins (Full COA) vs Penn

[pomegranatejuicebox]

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Hopkins
Pros:

• Strong historic reputation + prestige in medicine + amazing match list
• Longtime dream school since childhood
• Close to DC - both for fun and for expanding my health policy involvement??
• Strong mentorship through "molecule" groups
• Funded MBA IF I decided to pursue

Cons:

• Not in love with Baltimore
• Farther from family
• Not sure if I vibed with the other admits during SLW
• Would need a car

UPenn
Pros:

• Close to home
• Philly is familiar and comfortable + have my mentor connections at HUP and CHOP
• Can take up to 3 classes in other schools (would like to take classes at Wharton)
• Center for Surgical Health/Healthcare Management Certificate/Penn HealthX - seems like more extensive opportunities outside of traditional clinical experiences
• Feel like I vibed better with current students and new admits

Cons:

• ~5K more per year
• Hopkins might be a slightly bigger name in medicine?
• MBA not funded but don’t know if I will pursue one
• Maybe I should gain experience outside of my comfort zone

I definitely want to do things outside of clinical medicine, like public policy work, research in value-based care/healthcare delivery models. But not sure if a full on MBA would be worth it considering the time and money.
Also, before visiting and learning more about each school, I was Hopkins>Penn, but now I'm really torn between the two and keep changing my mind every second.

 

[BritainKittenMittens]

If Hopkins is a bigger name in medicine, it is very, very marginal and should not be a factor at all in deciding between the too.

If you want to do things outside of clinical medicine, Penn is a bigger name. Hopkins is pretty much known for Medicine/Science/Some International Relations/Policy, while Penn is a more rounded school, especially in its grad programs. I doubt that should factor in much though. They're in the same tier such that it wouldn't matter.

Another coin toss, I just wanted to say that you should not be looking for differences in prestige between the two. Look at curriculum and location.

 

[Egg-Benedict]

This is a tough one, but here are a few thoughts:

• Close to DC - both for fun and for expanding my health policy involvement??
• I definitely want to do things outside of clinical medicine, like public policy work, research in value-based care/healthcare delivery models. But not sure if a full on MBA would be worth it considering the time and money.

If this kind of work is important to you, I think that's a pro for Hopkins, as they're great in this kind of work, even if you don't do the whole MBA (a lot of this would also be in the public health school, which is directly across the street from the med school).

• Not in love with Baltimore

There is certainly nothing to love in the neighborhood the med school is in, but did you explore the other neighborhoods during SLW? They're all quite different and a lot of them are quite fun. I didn't go to Hopkins for med school, but I've been in that area a lot.

• Not sure if I vibed with the other admits during SLW

I can assure that the "vibe" from other prospective students from SLW does not necessarily indicate anything about how your experience as a student would be. A lot of it is just luck based on who you happen to run into that day.

 

[pomegranatejuicebox]

If Hopkins is a bigger name in medicine, it is very, very marginal and should not be a factor at all in deciding between the too.

If you want to do things outside of clinical medicine, Penn is a bigger name. Hopkins is pretty much known for Medicine/Science/Some International Relations/Policy, while Penn is a more rounded school, especially in its grad programs. I doubt that should factor in much though. They're in the same tier such that it wouldn't matter.

Another coin toss, I just wanted to say that you should not be looking for differences in prestige between the two. Look at curriculum and location.

Do you think the timing for exploring outside of traditional medicine would be optimal during med school or residency/fellowship? Just curious if I will be able to take the full advantage of being at more rounded school if I were to attend Penn for that reason during med school years.

 

[pomegranatejuicebox]

This is a tough one, but here are a few thoughts:

If this kind of work is important to you, I think that's a pro for Hopkins, as they're great in this kind of work, even if you don't do the whole MBA (a lot of this would also be in the public health school, which is directly across the street from the med school).


There is certainly nothing to love in the neighborhood the med school is in, but did you explore the other neighborhoods during SLW? They're all quite different and a lot of them are quite fun. I didn't go to Hopkins for med school, but I've been in that area a lot.


I can assure that the "vibe" from other prospective students from SLW does not necessarily indicate anything about how your experience as a student would be. A lot of it is just luck based on who you happen to run into that day.

Thanks for your input! Hopkins has definitely been my dream school, but I realized it may not have as many opportunities for my interdisciplinary interests despite their robust clinical/research scenes. I think I'm just really stuck at the thought of how each school's different strengths will suit me more🙁

 

[BritainKittenMittens]

Do you think the timing for exploring outside of traditional medicine would be optimal during med school or residency/fellowship? Just curious if I will be able to take the full advantage of being at more rounded school if I were to attend Penn for that reason during med school years.

Depends on what you want to explore tbh. My comment was more about name brand recognition in fields outside of medicine.

When I meant well-rounded, I meant more of the reputation. In medicine and policy/gov, Hopkins is in the top tier class. However, in non-medicine fields (e.g., the business/law world), Penn is more known, and its undergrad prestige carries over to other fields, too. If you got into consulting for example, more people will know about penn than hopkins.

 

[Hollow Knight]

If family is important to you, and it's only an extra $20,000 to go to Penn, I'd go to penn.

Otherwise, hopkins is the clear winner.

But don't underestimate personal happiness in this decision- if you hate life at hopkins, you won't match as well as you would loving your life at Penn.