Kaiser (Full COA) vs. USC Keck

[plzhlpme]

My entire premed career Keck was my DREAM. But the opportunity to come out debt free seems to good to pass. Regardless incredibly excited and grateful with both choices. Any thoughts??

Kaiser
Pros
-close to hometown
-FREE
-Faculty and admission were all very nice
-Nice new modern facility

Cons
-Its a newer school not much reputation (im thinking research opportunities, residency apps)
-Worried about having a limited scope in terms of patient populations (all Kaiser insurance pts)

Keck
Pro's
-Dr. Arias and all my interviewers were some of the nicest and easy-going people I encountered on the interview trail. I have a feeling I would vibe well in the keck environment.
-close to hometown
-LAC Hospital as a core training site
-Strong emphasis on serving surrounding community
-Well established and regarded research opportunities

Cons
-$$$. Estimated COA for 4 years 402,644
(this is the only con I can think of)

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[chilly_md]

This is very easily Kaiser between these two. They still have a service learning part of their curriculum to get you exposure outside of the Kaiser system

 

[ihoop24]

Kaiser. 400,000 sounds insane.

 

[Dr Meow]

Kaiser.

 

[nimbus]

Cheapest MD school vs one of the most expensive MD schools. Not too long into the future, Kaiser will likely rank above USC. No brainer.

I have a partner who attended Keck-USC. He lived in his old bedroom at his parent’s house for 4 years after he became an attending in order to pay off his med school debt.

 

[MedSD123]

I vote Kaiser so long as you don't think you'll regret not going to your dream school. But that cost difference is just pretty much insane to pass up...

 

[MDMechEngr]

Somethings are worth the price. If Keck Medicine is your dream, I'd go for it. You'll match to one of their competitive specialty and payu it off in time as money is not everything. I am sure Kaiser wasn't your dream, but it is more than getting free Tyson turkey.

 

[i-doctor]

It may depend on something that you need to have an intuition about now—namely, will you want to go into a competitive field, such as Derm or a surgical subspecialty? If you’re more non-surgically oriented then go to Kaiser for sure. Otherwise, USC has a bigger name (and a huge alumni network) which will help you match into more competitive fields.

 

[chilly_md]

It may depend on something that you need to have an intuition about now—namely, will you want to go into a competitive field, such as Derm or a surgical subspecialty? If you’re more non-surgically oriented then go to Kaiser for sure. Otherwise, USC has a bigger name (and a huge alumni network) which will help you match into more competitive fields.

That alumni network isn’t going to do much if you weren’t an ortho level candidate to begin with

 

[plzhlpme]

Thank you everyone these were all great points I hadn’t considered!