Indiana vs MCW vs Louisville:

[Mrs.MD-Hopeful]

Indiana University SOM
Cost: ~$58,000
Pros:

• impressed with my campus assignment and the community there
• Nationally known
• PD ranking of 38
• Good match list

Cons:

• good research but my campus assignment doesn’t have much accessibility to it and will require me to travel a lot. Only basic science research at my assignment and I will have to travel for clinical research
• Heard a lot of horror stories about how racist IU is
• Required rotation during fourth year
• My campus assignment has a lot of weekly mandatory meetings

MCW:
Cost: ~$83,000 *financial aid has not been released yet
Pros:

• lots of research funding and opportunities
• Research is incorporated in the specific tracks and the pay is good
• Good match list
• Heard a lot of good things about the environment and community
• Like the city and the campus
• New facilities
• Low cost of living
• More time to study, more laid back, don’t have to be in class for first two years

Cons:

• the diversity/ URM events are lacking in some areas
• Can cost more way more if I don’t get any aid
• Faculty is undiverse (very little URM faculty)
• Slow with financial aid (may not give out aid until right before or after commit date)
• No pre-matriculation program

Neutral:

• Has a decent amount of info on website about antiracism but it doesn’t really show in real life.

University of Louisville SOM
Cost ~$56,000
Pros:

• I am a URM and the URM night was very welcoming and sincere, the best one I attended and that’s important to me
• Half tuition received so far (still waiting on rest of financial aid)
• Pre-matriculation program is geared toward URM/low income students
• New hospital expansion opening in 2024
• Rose 10 spots in the last 4 years in NIH federal research funding (currently 63rd)
• Low cost of living
• Diverse faculty

Neutral:

• Okay match list

Cons:

• Lower PD ranking of 73
• Curriculum requires more class time instead of time to study
• Facilities are old
• Didn’t love the city as much but I can get used to it

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[voxveritatisetlucis]

I would go to Indiana unless MCW gives a better offer. Hard to justify paying 30k extra for MCW unless that is total COA and not annual

 

[Mrs.MD-Hopeful]

I would go to Indiana unless MCW gives a better offer. Hard to justify paying 30k extra for MCW unless that is total COA and not annual

Thank you!

 

[m1redsox]

My vote is for Louisville. The research rankings mean nothing at Indiana if you can’t access it. Some premeds tend to think that the higher ranking will get them somewhere, but outside the top 30, I would say that a residency applicant with 3 publications from Louisville > 2 publications from Indiana-rural campus any day.

Additionally, a lot of the reason for choosing a high-ranking school is because they have good residency programs, but this does not benefit you if you are at a rural campus because you cannot network with the faculty as easily (important for LORs and matching at your home program).

At Louisville, you’d get the least debt, better access to research, and networking perks with your local residency programs (Louisville has programs in virtually every specialty).

With all that said, if MCW comes back with some aid, I would pick them.

 

[Mrs.MD-Hopeful]

My vote is for Louisville. The research rankings mean nothing at Indiana if you can’t access it. Some premeds tend to think that the higher ranking will get them somewhere, but outside the top 30, I would say that a residency applicant with 3 publications from Louisville > 2 publications from Indiana-rural campus any day.

Additionally, a lot of the reason for choosing a high-ranking school is because they have good residency programs, but this does not benefit you if you are at a rural campus because you cannot network with the faculty as easily (important for LORs and matching at your home program).

At Louisville, you’d get the least debt, better access to research, and networking perks with your local residency programs (Louisville has programs in virtually every specialty).

With all that said, if MCW comes back with some aid, I would pick them.

Thank you!

 

[JesusInvert]

@Mrs.MD-Hopeful When you decide can you update us? I’m familiar with all 3 programs so I’m curious to see which one you choose. Best of luck deciding, and congrats on the acceptances!

 

[Mrs.MD-Hopeful]

@Mrs.MD-Hopeful When you decide can you update us? I’m familiar with all 3 programs so I’m curious to see which one you choose. Best of luck deciding, and congrats on the acceptances!

Thank you! Could you tell me what you know about the schools? I have narrowed it down to two.

 

[effectedtag]

You mentioned a good match-list for IU, do you happen to have a match-list on hand? I can't find one anywhere.

 

[Iammedstudent]

As someone who goes to MCW, we have a ton of URM interest groups, just go on the website and see for yourself; all these groups run events and activities on a weekly basis it feels. We also have a diversity committee in our student government, and many course directors are URM in your preclinicals. If you are interested in getting URM public-school students interested in medicine, we have a pathway for that too. Also, Milwaukee is a majority-minority city; I saw patients from Central Asia, Africa, Polynesia, and South America just last month. I do not know why MCW gets told as being lacking in URM, I see little evidence in this and think we do a great job. Let me know if you have any other questions.