Hopkins (Full CoA) vs Perelman UPenn (~$50k/yr)

[porkyboblo123]

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Hey guys, I’m so grateful to have gotten these two amazing offers. I still have to see and think about a lot with the second look weekends and also to see the financial aid that Perelman offers, but I’ll still make the post and see what current students / others think. My top 3 priorities are probably finances, location, and curriculum (balance)

Hopkins
Pros

• Full CoA is huge
• Dream school from childhood - i know minuscule but it is one of the biggest names in medicine
• Full P/F
• Match very well in optho which is what im interested in

Cons

• Slightly further from home, which was a priority of mine. Not bad tho, it’s around 2.5 hour drive or 2 hour train. I will be going home each or every other weekend
• I don’t know but I heard the curriculum is currently harder because they condensed it. Need to do more looking into
• Heard some find it hard to find research or shadowing but idk how valid that is

UPenn - Perelman
Pros

• Ivy League — Also a very big name
• Close to home - Only 1 hour drive
• Curriculum for preclinical might be easier(?)

Cons

• ~$50k / year scholarship so that means like $30k per year left over in tuition and fees, and that’s not including living costs
• Graded clinical which I heard really stinks

I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts! Will update soon as i find out more

 

[tweedledumb]

I think these student bodies have very particular vibes and that second look weekend will be helpful for you - they are different weekends right?

 

[Hollow Knight]

Go to hopkins. It isn't even close.

A future with little to no debt is HUGE. You can open a private practice if you want to. And it's not like we're talking a lousy med school for full COA here, it's Hopkins. This ain't even a hard decision. Just my 2 cents

 

[Hollow Knight]

Oh- yeah, I have a buddy at Hopkins and they do indeed hate the new curriculum change. But I still don't think it's worth borrowing all that money to go to Penn. You'll get through it. DM me if you want specific advice about that curriculum.

 

[porkyboblo123]

I think these student bodies have very particular vibes and that second look weekend will be helpful for you - they are different weekends right?

They are I definitely will learn a lot soon enough

 

[porkyboblo123]

Go to hopkins. It isn't even close.

A future with little to no debt is HUGE. You can open a private practice if you want to. And it's not like we're talking a lousy med school for full COA here, it's Hopkins. This ain't even a hard decision. Just my 2 cents

I fully agree — if UPenn can’t match or give a similar offer that ensures no future debt I’ll definitely go Hopkins. But I heard from students UPenn is v generous so that’s why I have the dilemma

 

[toastedbutter]

If you like Penn a lot try hard to negotiate. You have over a month before you need to commit and both these schools will be on your list past the 4/15 deadline to start negotiations early and press hard.

 

[deleted1141024]

Lol this is very clearly Hopkins. Negotiate with Penn but if they don’t come close go to Hopkins

 

[BrainStorm12]

(I'm WL at UPenn)

But I've also spent time in Baltimore! Def consider SLW to sus it out because Baltimore has an interesting vibe. Because it was a Rust Belt/something belt city, it feels super empty. There's a lot of vacant buildings and overall quietness to a city that looks like it should be bustling. Alot of the students at the undergrad expressed safety concerns. However, the patient population is interesting to work with, and on my one day shadowing there, I saw some really interesting cases.

The medical campus and undergrad is for the most part safe and there's a free ride service to all the students!! This was really awesome to be able to go out on weekends and essentially have a free uber to go there and back.

I heard Hopkins has some of the best collaborations, and all of the faculty really love interacting with each other and supporting each other, which I thought was really nice to hear.

 

[DoneDone3451]

Hopkins

 

[Mr. Macrophage]

Hopkins. Full COA scholarships are very very rare! If Penn were to match, I think it would depend. Their names in medicine are pretty much identical, but Hopkins has the better curriculum setup while Penn has better interdisciplinary opportunities (and in my opinion the better location).