Hopkins vs UCLA

[cheetos4life]

*Please don't quote*

Just got off the waitlist at UCLA, and I was offered a scholarship that I only have 24 hours to accept/decline. I am married, grew up on the West Coast, and we had our hearts set on moving back East until UCLA accepted/offered a scholarship. I am 90% sure I want to go into orthopaedics, but I have loved shadowing/doing research in other fields, so there's always a possibility that I pursue something else.

Johns Hopkins ($160,000 total cost)

Pros

• Fantastic Hospital
• Extremely strong home programs in just about everything
• Students have been phenomenal at reaching out, and they genuinely seem to really love being at Hopkins (can't stress this enough. I feel like administration, students, my interviewers, etc. all actually want me there and care about each other).
• Fantastic mentorship/molecule system that I think lends to a really collaborative environment
• Cheaper COL--could afford a nice apartment right on the harbor for the same price as an older one-bedroom in West LA
• Opportunity to live in a much different place than where I'm from, serve an extremely diverse patient population, and overall just feel outside my comfort zone in pretty much every way
• Smaller class size--again, I just really felt like I loved the students I met on second-look and the people I interacted with when I visited Baltimore. I felt a lot more excited about them than the people I've met at UCLA

Cons

• We visited Baltimore and were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was, but the weather/location/opportunities to explore in/around LA would be MUCH better
• COST--it's about $80,000 total more than UCLA
• Curriculum? It seems like students were kind of stressed with lots of exams stacked back-to-back, and the UCLA curriculum seems really awesome. 1 year preclinical seems preferable to 1.6 years
• ORTHO department--failed to match multiple solid applicants the past few years (I have spoken with M4s and current residents), so I feel like I'd be fighting an even steeper uphill battle to match into ortho. Also heard that the ortho department/chair is pretty hands off, and applicants are kind of on their own to find mentors/network. Their matches in ortho are incredible, but it sounds like a few people always get left behind.
• Distance from family--a long flight and lots of money to get back home or for people to come visit

UCLA ($90,000 total cost)

Pros

• Location--my wife and I love the outdoors, and we spend our evenings going on hikes, playing tennis, running, etc. We'd love the opportunity to be outside year-round in LA
• Curriculum--the one-year preclinicals and a completely open third year sound amazing. I'm sure there will be some growing pains, but this sounds like something that will help prepare applicants for competitive residencies
• Maybe(?) has a better ortho department. I haven't talked to nearly as many students here, but they went 10/10 in ortho this year, and the one M4 I did talk with basically said that the faculty are going to do everything they can to help you match
• Culture--talked to a student who went to Hopkins and is at UCLA for residency, and he said that the faculty at UCLA are a lot more approachable and willing to help med students compared to Hopkins. Everyone I've met/talked with at Hopkins seems extremely approachable, but I trust this person's perspective considering they were actually at Hopkins for 4 years.
• Cost-cheaper tuition/better scholarship and subsidized housing would save us a lot of money

Cons

• If I end up going into anything besides ortho (which sounds likely considering how many people change interests once in med school), UCLA's programs/matches aren't nearly as impressive as Hopkins
• "comfort"--I have friends from undergrad at UCLA, we'd live in student housing, and overall I just think that my wife and I were excited to go to med school in a place that is completely new. My wife lived in LA for years, so while it'll be fun to be back, it's also a familiar place that we're not as excited about
• huge institution--Bigger class size, and I've heard that I'll kind of be on my own--it's easy to get lost here. Maybe not true?
• curriculum? maybe less time to do research, and rotating with current M1s during clerkships at the same time could get crazy
• Lack of communication--I didn't hear from UCLA for months, and their administration just seems like a bit of a mess. The students I interviewed with (albeit over zoom) just didn't seem like my type, and people have been much harder to get a hold of/willing to offer help compared to Hopkins.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!!

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[Lemonlime98]

UCLA: it’s cheaper and a nicer place to live with your wife. Hopkins name is not worth the difference in quality of life

 

[proudofmykids]

I suggest you Don't factor in the relatively small cost difference I to your decision especially since you are likely looking at a surgical related specialty. Also, I'd say you should not worry about ranking difference, either program shoukd will get you where you want to be. It is likely get the Hopkin M4s that did not match into Ortho were probably too picky in their program and ranking list, or had some other red flag that they didnt match anywhere.

Didn't know what you meant by go back East when you said you were from the West Coast. Based on lifestyle you mention, I'd pick UCLA. ( and while I'm at it, maybe buy a new convertible with the money saved ;-)

 

[efle]

Hopkins is a miserable place to do premed. UCLA

 

[ingobingo]

Hopkins is a miserable place to do premed. UCLA

Do you mean med school or undergraduate premed?

 

[efle]

Do you mean med school or undergraduate premed?

Undergrad, sorry I misread this as a premed thread

For medschool I think youd end up with the same residency interviews, I'd go off location since baltimore and UCLA area of LA are very different