I hate to do this, but here goes: Yale/UCSF/Stanford

[Wahoo]

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Hi everyone. I think that the AMCAS fiasco somehow led to some weird alignment of the stars which somehow led to my being accepted by these 3 schools. I know that these are all great schools and that at this point it comes down to a matter of personal preference, but nevertheless I'd love to hear your opinions if you want to share.

For the life of me, I can't decide which school is 'right' for me because they all have certain big advantages:

UCSF:
Pro: The perfect curriculum for me, the one school that felt like it "fit me" when I was there, P/F, nicest interviewers.
Con: I don't like big cities, it's a million miles from my family in Virginia, somewhat expensive since I'm out of state and they don't have much grant money.

Stanford:
Pro: The perfect climate & environment for me, they respect your life outside medicine, it will be practically free.
Con: A million miles from home, and my meanest interview.

Yale:
Pro: Closer to home! P/F, it's a small city so I could live outside the city in a more 'open' area and commute in, curriculum fits me pretty well but not as well as UCSF.
Con: I hate cold weather. I dislike crime-infested cities, especially cold ones (did I mention that I hate cold weather?).

Thanks for any advice!!

 

[A. Caveman]

stanford is the best environment & climate, it's CHEAPEST, and you will find time to enjoy your medical education.

the only good thing about yale (relative to the others :wink: ) is that they're closer to home. but so many cons....

SF is too expensive and the environment isn't as good as Stanford (from what i saw in your post).

so i say Stanford, and by the looks of your post, so do you (which is most important). am i right?

PS. this advice isn't free. in return i'd like to know the stats and other special qualifications that would get UCSF to accept an out-of-stater. cuz someone that i think was under the influence at the time said you need to have 38 mcat with ~perfect gpa and ofcourse, super ECs. whatchu got billy boy?

 

[rxfudd]

I think "practically free" says it all...

 

[Wahoo]

Thanks for the response Caveman,

Actually, if I were forced to rank them today I think I would say 1. UCSF 2. Yale 3. Stanford.

I should mention that closeness to home is especially important to me, because someone in my family is terminally ill (whether "terminally" means one year or 5 years is difficult to know, however). I'm not sure that I'd be able to get home any more often from Yale than the others, but it seems more likely since it's the same time zone, a shorter & cheaper flight, etc.

Also, by 'environment' I meant suburb vs urban, warm, etc... not academic/personal environment. I think UCSF is the best environment for me in that sense. Also, I always wonder why they say Stanford folks have so much time to enjoy their medical education, since they're in class (technically) from 9-5 almost every day, whereas UCSF students are out by noon or so. It's a paradox, to me.

 

[Wahoo]

Oops, I forgot to "pay" caveman for his response...

All I'll say is that I don't meet your friend's criteria. But, my MCAT is close, my grades are close, and I volunteer 30 hrs/wk as a firefighter/EMT on top of a few other ECs.

 

[zizo]

Hey,

Definitely go to Yale. It is just wonderful. The Medical Education there is first-rate, besides I think close-ness to home is really important. You will be able to go home often and enjoy all vacations with family. New Haven is not actually that bad. You can be to the outside of the city, it is really cool.

Stanford is not that good. THeir research has sunk and they rely more on the reputation of the University as a whole. The curriculum is NOT flexible although they tell you otherwise. But it is not.

UCSF is without doubt a great school. so i think it comes to Yale/UCSF.. and if I were you, I'd definitely go with Yale. It is known everywhere and the curriculum/faculty are the best.

-Hope you find the best match

-so long

 

[Hero]

If you dislike cold weather and crime-infested cities, Stanford would be a lot warmer and more mellow than UCSF.

It doesn't matter really where you go, just make sure you will be happy there. Each school that's up there in terms of rank will prepare you well for your boards and other future needs. But this will be the place to spend the next 4 years. Choose a place where u'd be happy. you'll learn better :wink:

 

[zizo]

I really disagree, SF is a great city. Of course as any big city there are good parts and bad parts, but hey!! Why would you wanna live in bad area!! There are a lot of beautiful suburbs and there so much in life when you are living in a big city. I love SF.

 

[Cdc28p]

Go to UCSF or Stanford. Yale has a slightly worse medical education than these two, I think. However, Yale is closest to your home, so the proximity might make up for the quality of education. San Francisco is a fantastic city, but I'm not a big city person, so I would pick Stanford over UCSF. But the great thing is that you can't really go wrong with any of these three great schools.

 

[medicine2006]

Congrats. It is really hard to get into UCSF if you're from out of state. I bow to your greatness. Go there it's cheap tuition even for out of staters and ranked higher than the other two (I think_)

 

[darkmatter]

USCF: Rankings leader
Stanford: Cheaper of the three
Yale: Closer to you, unique curriculum

Tough decision but an enviable position.

 

[matthew0126]

go between ucsf and yale; like others have said, the real meat inside stanford has dropped, it's cruising on reputation

personally, i would go to ucsf because i'm a west-coaster, but if i were you, i'd go to yale as you are in virginia. i mean, both are far, but there is a big difference between 5 hour flight and 2 hour flight

 

[ValleyGal]

It says it all the UCSF fits you the best -- that is the most important aspect and place where you will hopefully be the happiest.

 

[postbacchus]

My suggestion is go to all three accepted student's weekends if you can, or your top two. Your future classmates will really make a HUGE difference from every current med student I've talked to. See what they're like and how well you gel with that particular group of people. A great school can have a crappy class come through

Also, maybe wait for the financial aid packages before you commit. Don't know how important that is to you...

You may want to look at the associated hospitals. I've heard very sketchy things about Stanford's hospital, especially after the botched merge with UCSF's hospital.

Finallly, you may want to think about which school has the most options available for you. UCSF seems the clear winner in this area. Smaller towns like Palo Alto and New Haven might be a better fit for you, but may limit your options down the road.

That's my 2 cents. But then again, I'm biased. I'd love to see you at UCSF in the fall!

PB

 

[locitamd]

Congratulations Wahoo: I just wanted to add s'thing to the mix - although Yale is closer to home for you, it may not necessarily be easier to get home from New Haven. Driving can take anywhere from 6-10+ hours (depending on where you are in Virginia and traffic) and flights may not be that regular. If you have to frst get to JFK or LaGuardia to catch a flight home, you're talking 2 hours to the airport and then at least an hour wait before the flight. All in all, s'times catching a direct flight cross-country takes less time than dealing w/the hell that is I-95.

I'm in a similar position with regard to ill-family members, and concerned about being too far from them. However, you might be able to offer them more comfort by being at a place where you are happy rather than your close proximity.

With all of that, wait for the second look weekends - hopefully you'll have a clear winner after. Good luck w/your decision and congrats again.

 

[Wednesday]

Hey Wahoo,

Congratulations on having such a tough decision. You obviously have a lot to think about, but I wanted to add a couple of things.

When I was at UCSF, no one I talked to actually lived in SF itself. There are some really nice, relaxed suburbs in the east bay where you can live, have some space and are on the BART line. The weather in the east bay is the best in the area. Hardly ever foggy. One person I met lived in Marin, which is also beautiful. Compared to many east coast cities, it is very easy to get out of city/suburb fast and into the "country".

Palo Alto is not a very relaxed place. They have terrible traffic and there are so many people!!! I don't know if I'd pick Stanford on QOL.

Finally, I spent many years on the east coast but my family is all in California. I didn't get back very often, twice a year at the most. When I lived in the Northeast, I was much more likely to go to Virginia and stay with college friends for short holidays than I was to fly all the way out to CA. It's expensive to fly and it takes all day. Since medical school is so busy, you might not get that many opportunities to get home. Of course, the same goes for Yale. It's just a much smaller time committment from New Haven to VA.

The thing is, you are probably going to be very happy at any of these schools. You just have to decide what your priorities are and pick the one that best fits them. I made my decision this year based my family situation, which I know will make my entire med school experience better. It's hard to make decisions based on things that other people don't think about when making the same decisions (especially when you read this board a lot). Luckily you will not really have to sacrifice your medical education (or future match success, or whatever those "rankings" get you), since all of these schools are amazing.

I wish you the best of luck. And I'm sure that whichever school you pick, you will be really happy there. 🙂

 

[lady in red]

Palo Alto SUCKS!!!!!!!!! Big time. The rent is JUST AS EXPENSIVE as SF, plus the commute is HORRIBLE. You will need oil changes there every two weeks. I'd say decide between Yale and UCSF.

 

[leafs]

ucsf...it seems to be where you really want to go. Everything else will fall in place.

 

[modemduck]

Go Wahoos go!

Hey Wahoo, did you go to U Virginia?

 

[Wahoo]

Thanks for everyone's advice so far, it's been great food for thought. I really agree with the idea of going to the schools' 2nd look weekends to get a feel for the class dynamic--luckily the 3 schools have their 2nd looks on 3 separate weekends. Plus, now I have a good excuse to skip a week and a half of class to fly out to California 🙂

Modemduck--yup, I'm a true wahoo!

 

[jmejia1]

The students at Stanford seemed very down to earth and friendly, but that was ruined by some pretensious snob in the admissions office. I won't say his title because obviously that will give his name away, but if someone of his ranking has such a presumptious attitude, then I would think twice about the school.

Everyone I met at UCSF was very nice and humble.

 

[CANES2006]

They all suck because I'm not going to any of them. J/K Practically, one Ivy is the same from any other. I would pick UCSF or Stanford because California has better weather than CT. I mean do you ever see the sun up in CT? Also, isn't Yale the one where you have to do a thesis?--YUCK!!

 

[lady in red]

Just go to UCSF!! It is nice and humble, higher ranked nevertheless, has no thesis (no sun, either!!), is cheap, get done with class at noon, don't have to drive, get the BEST patient population (gunshot wounds, drug overdoses, weird traumas, HIV babies)--what more do you need from life? On the other hand, if you want an ego boost from people outside of medicine, when they ask you where you went to med school and you say UCSF-they'll say "UC-what?"; and, of course, they will be impressed if you say 'Yale or Stanford'. Anyways, I'm just joking! Just see who gives you most money and go there!

 

[Yogi Bear]

Wahoo:

Should you change your name to Yahoo!!! in light of your recent successes? j/k

Objectively, I think u can't go wrong w/ either ucsf or yale. although i'm not applying yet, i think i'd go for sf since it's closer to home for me.

on the other hand, yale's also an awesome school. if you're concerned about flying, u can take the amtrack to get to new haven from DC; about the same time it takes from dc to nh via train as it is to fly to the west coast. not too sure how much it would cost to fly from dc to connecticut. bradley airport is 1 hr away from new haven so the flight's not that long...u don't have to fly to JFK.

 

[Yogi Bear]

lady in red:

whoa... it's been awhile since we've read a post from you. how's everything going?