Mayo AZ vs Duke vs CCLCM

[allycat92]

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genuinely so stoked to be in this position, but also spiraling !! All three are unique programs and thus difficult for me to compare. Any insights and bias acknowledgments are deeply appreciated <3

fwiw I am a Black queer woman interested in competitive specialties like ophtho, ENT, and urology. Hoping to do a combo of academic medicine, tech innovation, and health equity work.


DUKE (aid TBD)

Pros
- P/F all four years
- Done with preclinical in 1 yr
- flexible 3rd year
- Dual MD/Master’s of Engineering (would add a 5th year though)
- Southern culture & charm (I am from the South)
- Decently diverse patient population??
- Students seem pretty chilled and well-supported by admin

Cons
- EDIT: Larger class size (100-120ish I believe)


MAYO CLINIC AZ ($40k/yr)

Pros
- “it’s Mayo” — prestige seems to carry in everyday circles and in medicine, esp. surgery
- Loveee the selectives & curriculum design
- dual degree options w/ ASU — would love to do either MS biomedical diagnostics or MS clinical and translational research (5th year)
- Small class size (50) — seems good for mentorship, collaborative student culture, leadership/starting your own clubs, initiatives, etc
- Can rotate at the main MN site pretty much as desired

Cons
- Have heard that Mayo tends to cater to affluent patients…sounds draining but maybe I’m weighing that too much since there are still street med & free clinic opportunities. I really want to do health equity work in my career, though.
- Lack of diversity in Scottsdale/Phoenix
- HOT
- Bit more of a conservative culture than Cleveland and Durham, it seems


CLEVELAND CLINIC LERNER ($30k/year)

Pros
- No exams !!! I wonder if I’m disciplined enough for that though to crush Step 1/2
- MS Engineering with Case Western
- Small class size (32), but also integrated with larger med school class
- All about academic medicine, which is aligned with my career goals
- Seasons! <3

Cons
- “Cleveland is Cleveland…” - though I’ve heard it’s more artsy/fun than people give it credit for
- Mandatory 5th year
- Mandatory attendance


All seem to match amazingly, would basically require me to have a car, and are decently far from my main support systems (family and close friends), which I am used to atp. Never visited any of the cities they’re in 🙃

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Good for you! So did you connect with anyone at SNMA or MSPA yet? Do they have opinions?

I thought Duke's class size was closer to 100. CCLCM is 32, but you have the opportunity to mingle with the University kids (130+?). So you can enjoy small cohorts but large classes. CCLCM shouldn't have a tuition charge so you'd only have to worry about COA for 5 years... is that right?

Otherwise, flip a three-sided coin (plus I think you had gotten a yes from Brown earlier, right?). Whichever gives you the least expensive option, especially if you are going into academia.

 

[catnip12]

Cheapest option

 

[riv_jordan]

Wow, congrats on these awesome options! Honestly, you sound pretty excited about each of them. I'd wait for financial aid from Duke. If one option ends up being much cheaper, I say go with that. But assuming it's mostly about the same, I really think your best bet is to visit these schools if possible, talk to current students, and get a sense of the community and vibes.

Going only off your pros and cons list, it looks like you are leaning to Duke. You only have one con for Duke and it's arguably not a con at all. For one, all the stats I can find say that duke's class size is closer to 100-120 which is on the medium/small end. And imo large class size is only a problem if you're worried about not getting adequate opportunities or support from the school, but Duke is such a juggernaut that I really doubt that any of their students feel this way. I'd still visit, but if Duke offers a similar or better financial aid package than your other options, I'd go with them.

Edit: like someone mentioned, CCLCM doesn't charge tuition so I assume the $30k you listed is your expected COL? That seems like a very high estimate, especially for Cleveland.

 

[eyeeye_captain]

Say ophtho and I appear. I’ll quote myself again:

If you want a competitive specialty, you have to have a competitive application. To do that, you have to succeed. Where do you see yourself having a better chance of succeeding?

You sound most excited about Duke, but money is obviously the question. Does the Mayo name/prestige (doesn’t matter that much really) actually extend to AZ? *shrug* Dunno, the school didn’t exist when I was coming through. #old

On the (very premature) possibility of you doing eyes, I will say that Mayo AZ doesn’t have an ophthalmology residency, so that can make it more difficult to create connections in a small field. You said you can rotate in MN, which does have one, but it may be harder logistically and longitudinally to make things work. Duke and CC are both ~T15 departments so that’s a wash, Mayo MN is a hair behind. Looks like all 3 have every other field. This information should absolutely not be placed anywhere near the importance of my first piece of advice.

You’re not going to go wrong. Pick where you think you have the best chance to win.

 

[allycat92]

Thank you so much! Yes - the $30K year is indirect expenses / COL. I pulled that estimate from their site:

Tuition: Cost of Attendance | Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine

Learn more about tuition costs for Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine based on our academic calendars.

my.clevelandclinic.org

And you and the earlier poster are absolutely right about the smaller class size for Duke. Thanks for the catch! Editing shortly.

Wow, congrats on these awesome options! Honestly, you sound pretty excited about each of them. I'd wait for financial aid from Duke. If one option ends up being much cheaper, I say go with that. But assuming it's mostly about the same, I really think your best bet is to visit these schools if possible, talk to current students, and get a sense of the community and vibes.

Going only off your pros and cons list, it looks like you are leaning to Duke. You only have one con for Duke and it's arguably not a con at all. For one, all the stats I can find say that duke's class size is closer to 100-120 which is on the medium/small end. And imo large class size is only a problem if you're worried about not getting adequate opportunities or support from the school, but Duke is such a juggernaut that I really doubt that any of their students feel this way. I'd still visit, but if Duke offers a similar or better financial aid package than your other options, I'd go with them.

Edit: like someone mentioned, CCLCM doesn't charge tuition so I assume the $30k you listed is your expected COL? That seems like a very high estimate, especially for Cleveland.

 

[rob120]

Current Duke student, its SOOO CHILL over here!!! happy to answer any questions! 🙂

 

[allycat92]

Circling back to update that in the end I went with CCLCM! Thanks to all for your insights. In the end, the fit at SLW just felt right 🙂