How does one decide on a "good" med school?

[Buttercup2003]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering how do you go about deciding where you want to go to medical school? Are there differences in how the curriculum is taught? Of course, there are the obvious factors such as location, but what else is it that makes you decide where you want to be? Naturally, there are the awesome med schools (Yale, Hopkins, Harvard, etc.), but I'm not even applying there since I would be killed by the competition . . . . but what would makes one school better than another. Thanks and good luck to everyone.

 

[Random Access]

Originally posted by Buttercup2003
Hi everyone,

I was wondering how do you go about deciding where you want to go to medical school? Are there differences in how the curriculum is taught? Of course, there are the obvious factors such as location, but what else is it that makes you decide where you want to be? Naturally, there are the awesome med schools (Yale, Hopkins, Harvard, etc.), but I'm not even applying there since I would be killed by the competition . . . . but what would makes one school better than another. Thanks and good luck to everyone.

Can't speak for Hopkins/Hahvahd, but Yale is sort of anticompetitive in nature because of the Yale System.

Check out curricula (PBL vs. lecture, etc), the people, their research facilities, their hospital facilities, reputation, how much you feel good there, etc. etc. etc. It's not much different from picking an undergrad, really, but you need to be happy with more places, since the acceptance rates are so low.

 

[goldenbears18]

Look at the strength of the 3rd and 4th years, rather than the first 2 years. E.g.: quality of hospitals through which students rotate; residency match rate; quality of residency programs students end up at

 

[Philism]

The Three Steps to Deciding Which School is for You:

1. Take about 3,500 USD and put them in random envelopes.

2. Spend an additional 2,000 USD to fly to (an) interview(s).

3. Whichever school graces you with the opertunity to go arse backwards in debt for 30 years is the right school.