How Did You Pick Med Schools?

[Detective SnowBucket]

Hi all, I know there has to be another thread out there like this but I can't manage to find it. I'm wondering what are good objective ways to evaluate a potential school (asking for objective because everyone has different opinions on factors like location, weather, urban/rural campus, interviewer's height playing a roll....etc)

So anyways, what I've got so far is: STEP scores (which would be a good way except these aren't easy to find)
Match list (but I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for here, what's a good one look like )
Where rotations are (mandatory away?)
P/F (if that's what you're after.)
But tell me what else you looked for.

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[ciestar]

Location was a big deal for me.

 

[Kingsmen2018]

Hi all, I know there has to be another thread out there like this but I can't manage to find it. I'm wondering what are good objective ways to evaluate a potential school (asking for objective because everyone has different opinions on factors like location, weather, urban/rural campus, interviewer's height playing a roll....etc)

So anyways, what I've got so far is: STEP scores (which would be a good way except these aren't easy to find)
Match list (but I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for here, what's a good one look like )
Where rotations are (mandatory away?)
P/F (if that's what you're after.)
But tell me what else you looked for.

Interviewers height playing a role??????

Anyways, just MSAR and US News OOS stats gave me a good idea where to apply and where not to apply. Also, SDN gives u really good insight on where you should apply. After applying however the schools focus on student wellness, pass/fail, hospital on or next to the medical school, and schools vibe are what made me like/ not like certain schools

 

[CloverBale]

You don't get to choose the medical school, the medical school chooses you.

In all seriousness, this process is so tough that if you're one of the lucky few who gets the option of choosing a medical school to attend, you can decide then. Until that happens (very rare), pick a good number of schools that match your stats and start praying to a god.

 

[DrDarce]

Ya know I was looking into all those things but it finally boiled down to the one school that accepted me

 

[Goro]

You don't get to choose the medical school, the medical school chooses you.
.

Like cats!!!

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

Interviewers height playing a role??????

Anyways, just MSAR and US News OOS stats gave me a good idea where to apply and where not to apply. Also, SDN gives u really good insight on where you should apply. After applying however the schools focus on student wellness, pass/fail, hospital on or next to the medical school, and schools vibe are what made me like/ not like certain schools

Lol I was just joking about how everyone's criteria are different and subjective and may have absolutely no meaning to you

 

[DoctorCrush]

Easy! It was the only place that accepted me (so far).

 

[efle]

This is asked each year in the Matriculating Student Questionnaire

Most common answers:

 

[ndafife]

One school was twice the price of the other two. And from there I distinctly liked the feel of one school on my interview day much more than the other school.

Also from your list
1) Pre-meds don't know how to interpret match lists. You don't know what programs are good in given specialties and what everyone ranked as their top choices.
2) Step Scores are very individually driven and schools have wide standard deviations. Statistically there isn't a difference between a 233 at one school and a 238 somewhere else.

 

[Goro]

Hi all, I know there has to be another thread out there like this but I can't manage to find it. I'm wondering what are good objective ways to evaluate a potential school (asking for objective because everyone has different opinions on factors like location, weather, urban/rural campus, interviewer's height playing a roll....etc)

So anyways, what I've got so far is: STEP scores (which would be a good way except these aren't easy to find)
Match list (but I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for here, what's a good one look like )
Where rotations are (mandatory away?)
P/F (if that's what you're after.)
But tell me what else you looked for.

Read this thread!
Choosing a medical school: an insider's perspective

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

For objective measures I'm using COA (dependent on my FinAid packages), curriculum type (18 v 24 mo), P/F, and number and type of home residency programs.

 

[BombsAway]

You don't get to choose the medical school, the medical school chooses you.

In all seriousness, this process is so tough that if you're one of the lucky few who gets the option of choosing a medical school to attend, you can decide then. Until that happens (very rare), pick a good number of schools that match your stats and start praying to a god.

I think OP is talking about picking a school from multiple acceptances. It's that time of year...

 

[CloverBale]

I think OP is talking about picking a school from multiple acceptances. It's that time of year...

OH lol. Damn. Wish I had that problem

 

[HomeSkool]

You don't get to choose the medical school, the medical school chooses you.

Like cats!!!

 

[mw18]

P/F (if that's what you're after.)

This and non-mandatory attendance should be your first two filter criteria. After that, you could probably be happy anywhere.

 

[getdown]

Hi all, I know there has to be another thread out there like this but I can't manage to find it. I'm wondering what are good objective ways to evaluate a potential school (asking for objective because everyone has different opinions on factors like location, weather, urban/rural campus, interviewer's height playing a roll....etc)

So anyways, what I've got so far is: STEP scores (which would be a good way except these aren't easy to find)
Match list (but I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for here, what's a good one look like )
Where rotations are (mandatory away?)
P/F (if that's what you're after.)
But tell me what else you looked for.

My question to you is what are you trying to get by looking at a school objectively vs subjectively. Some of the happiest students are those that choose their school based on subjective factors because those subjective factors are what you will be dealing with every day and will have the biggest impact on your life.

1. Looking at STEP scores are useless. These are more of a reflection of the students individual effort and intelligence than anything the school did to prepare them.
2. Match lists are stupid to look at as there are too many extraneous factors of why a person chose a residency location which are most ... gasp ... subjective reasons
3. Any half way decent school will have a number of rotations outside the main hospital and serves to expose you to different patient populations. Mandatory aways are only in M4 year when you're auditioning for a particular field you're interested in applying to.
4. Probably the most reasonable objective variable to look at as could very well impact your experience during the first 2 years of med school

In all honesty you should be considering subjective reasons more than objective ones but if you are insistent on some then a big one should be looking at tuition cost and cost of living (how much debt you're going to be graduating with) and if they record/video your lectures.

 

[DrLightning]

OP, I'm not sure if you are currently in the cycle but what I've been doing (highly recommend everyone to do it!) is having a googledoc that compiles all of your interview experiences the evening after you attend the interview. From there, I generate a running, ranked list of schools that I would like to attend. Upon acceptance to schools, you will usually get a financial package some time in the spring that details how much each school is going to cost. From there, you make a decision! Schools usually also offer a second look of some sort where you can go back upon acceptance to assess the school (stress free this time!) and meet potential classmates.

From what I've gathered, looking at STEP scores and match list are mostly futile, especially if the schools you are comparing are in the same "tier" Of course top 20 schools will have higher STEP averages than lower ranked or DO schools but I would argue that's because of the students themselves and not the quality of instruction. Match list is also very subjective to a certain degree. I have seen people match to Harvard, Mass General, UCSF, Stanford, etc... from UC Davis or Johns Hopkins.

TLDR: Four years is a long time, I would go where me and my wallet would be the most happy!

 

[HomeSkool]

I started by asking my wife, "Where would you be absolutely unwilling to live?" That took a few states off the list. Then I sat down with the MSAR and this "internet" thing that was all the rage back in 2004, and I looked at the top 50 schools (I had a very good GPA and an excellent MCAT, and I aimed high). I crossed off any that were in locations where I didn't want to live, and then I tried to get a sense of which of the remaining ones would be a good fit for me (which, let's face it, I was young and naïve, and there was no way for me to really know that). I sent in applications to the top ten on my list, and I added three more schools later. As I went to interviews, I reordered my preference list based on additional information that I learned on site. I ultimately got two acceptances and picked the one that was higher on my list.

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[Pagan FutureDoc]

I just went to the school my wife was going to. Easy decision.