Good question. I'm going to assume that you also intend to say that cost of living is covered, and I have no previous financial, family, or transportation issues.
Somebody told me that Mayo was free. Is that true? Too cold!
I would want a place with a great mix of students with different backgrounds. While Michigan is a great school, aren't most of the students there still from Michigan (don't have my MSAR on me)? Don't get me wrong, I'd definitely pick it over where I am, and it's definitely in my top 5-10. I think that the deal-breaker might be the weather. Nothing wrong with Michigans, I'm just more inclined to choose a state school with a more diverse profile (Cali, Florida, Texas, NY). The Big 10 region (like where I'm from) seems homogenous from an outsider's viewpoint.
Hopkins, Harvard, etc.--they will give you an excellent edge for your career, but I'm afraid that my undergrad school (Kansas State) already makes me look like a mutt. I don't think that I'd have a lot in common with the student population there.
In all honesty, I think that I might go with Baylor. True-most there are Texans, but the curriculum style (step one after 1.5 years) is extremely attractive to me. Plus many a pageant finalist have come from the Lone Star state. Warm weather, too, and it is the best among several med schools in the area. MD Anderson is right there along with the Texas Medical Center in general. Houston? Not a great city, and the school's agreements with hospitals seem a little suspect. Some complain about the parking, but I think that you can find reasonably-priced housing not far from campus.
In general, USMLE content is the same in Alaska as it is in California, so you aren't really going to learn anything at Wash that you aren't going to learn at any other accredited school. It's how you spend your time in medical school that matters over where you go to school as far as your board scores go, and any grumblings about a school having more of a competative environment to push you is not a well-founded argument. It's definitely not like undergrad where the education is highly variable from campus to campus.
Next I might go with UCSF--great city, very liberal environment. Cali has a good mix of people, weather is nice. I know nothing about the curriculum style though.
I'd throw UNC, Virginia, and Northwestern into my top ten for sure since I've visited all of those campuses and generally liked the cities. I would have to look at how their grading systems and curricula are set up to figure out how I'd rank them relative to my learning style.
If you are going to twist my arm and make me pick in the Ivy League, I'd probably go with Yale. Can't really give you a good reason as to why. I've never been there, but at least I think that they'd have a good mix of students without the snobby sort of stigma that Harvard seems to have (or are they all jaded Harvard rejects?).
Thanks for allowing me to brainstorm.
FYI I'm an M1 at the University of Oklahoma.
FYI it is legal to use URM status as an explicit positive application factor.
