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[avocado.toast]

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[Shunsui]

I'd follow the money but that's just me

 

[m1redsox]

A full tuition scholarship to any medical school is almost a no-brainer. If it’s WashU, that is definitely a no-brainer. No need to ask your family for outrageous amounts of money when you can get an extremely prestigious medical degree for free. Plus, writing “full-tuition scholarship to WashU” on your CV is more impressive than “JHU” in my opinion.

 

[Banco]

These are both highly prestigious, incredible programs where you will have no shortage of research opportunities that interest you or any trouble getting back to California for residency.

The difference is that one is giving you a lottery winning of 260k dollars while the other isn't. How happy would you be if you would win $260k in the lottery today? That's the only question you should be asking. The rest of the points on your pros and cons list are noise and you overanalyzing.

 

[Kracin]

WashU all the way. Take the money

 

[Sea Otter]

If I were in your shoes, I’d pick Wash U. As you said, both are incredible schools with top notch resources and connections. But also remember that $260k doesn’t take into account the interest that will be added on top.

 

[Detailsmatter]

I would agree with others that WashU is probably the way to go. Have you considered presenting the WashU offer to Hopkins to negotiate a scholarship from them? Or does Hopkins not do that?

 

[KatsuCurry]

I'm biased since I interviewed at WashU and haven't heard back yet (and thus anticipating WL).

260k is obviously a ton of money. If JHU makes you pay full, go to WashU. That being said, it seems besides cost, everything (besides vibes which is an unknown), you find JHU superior to WashU. In the long term, if matching at Stanford/UCSF is of high importance to you, JHU's match list is better than WashU (obviously, WashU still has a phenomenal match list).

 

[MilesDavisTheDoctor]

I had to make a similar decision a year ago, 260k is a crazy amount of money (the opportunity cost of 260k in debt is actually way more than 260k) and WashU will not hold you back careerwise in any way. If hopkins doesn't match this is a no brainer.

 

[deleted1065184]

I think you should definitely choose WashU. The cost plus the fact that you feel WashU gives you better vibes are huge factors. Also, as somebody who is in the area, the STL food scene is much better than you think 😉

Hopkins certainly has more lay prestige, but within medicine they are viewed similarly. The fact that your interests seem pretty flexible makes the price even more important. Full tuition scholarship plus low cost of living city means you won't feel quite as much pressure to pay off enormous loan debt and can follow your passions without guilt.

 

[mellex17]

I agree with others that unless JHU is willing to match, WashU is probably the best choice here. Congrats on such a successful cycle!

Also, as someone who is also strongly considering WashU, I'm curious where you heard that they're considering P/F clerkships?

 

[avocado.toast]

I think you should definitely choose WashU. The cost plus the fact that you feel WashU gives you better vibes are huge factors. Also, as somebody who is in the area, the STL food scene is much better than you think 😉

Ooh, thank you for your excellent points and providing some insider insight on the STL food scene! As trivial as it may seem to others, it honestly makes me very excited

I agree with others that unless JHU is willing to match, WashU is probably the best choice here. Congrats on such a successful cycle!

Also, as someone who is also strongly considering WashU, I'm curious where you heard that they're considering P/F clerkships?

Thank you! And it was either in a Why WashU Wednesday or my Meet the M1s session. Someone asked if clerkships were going to go P/F due to the curriculum changes, and the students in the session said they were talking about it but they weren't sure if it was going to happen.

 

[emergentmd]

Unless your parents are Bill Gates, and money is no object then its a no brainer. Do you want to be a man or still be a child?

 

[avocado.toast]

Do you want to be a man or still be a child?

*Woman, actually, but thanks for the input!

 

[crimson-cat]

I'd go WashU. St. Louis IMHO is a better city for a student (safer, greener, cheaper) and both schools have incredible medical reputations. Also graduating nearly debt free will likely give you more latitude to pursue your non-clinical interests and you can always MPH outside of WashU if you are passionate about a field/lab. The only argument I could see being made for Hopkins is if you have a very specific extra-clinical interest (policy, global health) that is the *primary* reason you're going to medical school and you therefore want to be immersed in that network. Otherwise the cost seems hard to justify.

As an FYI the matchlists are hard to compare and I'm sure both schools have similar percentages of folks who match in their top 3 programs. It's just the applicant's regional bias at Hopkins is more coastal, which has more prestigious programs.

 

[DermResidentYear3]

I would pick WashU (even if Hopkins matches, I'd still pick WashU)

 

[avocado.toast]

I would pick WashU (even if Hopkins matches, I'd still pick WashU)

Can I ask your reasoning for why you would pick WashU if JH matches?