Mayo Clinic AZ vs. Einstein

[chromeo777]

Hi everyone!

I am very fortunate to be in a position to decide between two schools. One week ago I hadn't been accepted anywhere and was planning on reapplying. Ideally, I would love to match back into California and am interested in competitive specialties. I've listed some pros/cons but I would love to hear what you all have heard about these schools. Honestly, I think I would rather go to Einstein but I don't know if I would be making a mistake by turning down Mayo. Thank you in advance!

Mayo Clinic AZ

Pros:

• Higher ranked
• Offered a ~26k per year scholarship (Tuition would be $33,000)
• Closer to home (Grew up in Cali)
• Pheonix is a fun area (Love spring training baseball)

Cons:

• To be honest, I didn't love the feel of the smaller class size and the school didn't feel like the best fit for me.
• Don't love hot weather
• New campus and no match data. Good chance that they match well but it isn't guaranteed. I don't know if Mayo AZ and Mayo MN are viewed the same way by residencies.

Albert Einstein

Pros:

• Always wanted to live in New York
• Student housing that is dirt cheap
• Ideally, I would want to serve an urban population and the Bronx would prepare me better in that regard than Pheonix
• My S.O. is going to med school in New York and will be close by. Would have a nearby support system.

Cons:

• Tuition would be higher ($55,000). I am not sure if Einstein would match my Mayo scholarship.
• Might be more difficult to match back into California
• Lower ranked than Mayo

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[deleted688779]

I think even with the uncertainty of the AZ campus, it will still match “better” than Einstein. If it were Mayo AZ vs other T20s then that might be harder to call.

In your case, it would be support system vs prestige.

 

[sealfriendo]

I vote Einstein. Sounds like you didn't see yourself in Mayo AZ and your SO in NY will be huge.

 

[CaptainZeki]

I believe Mayo has 1-week selectives throughout the preclinical curriculum. See if you can find an opportunity in NY during those 1 week selective. In that way, you can see and spend some time (although I would argue not too much time due to the demands of medical school) with your SO.

Plus mayo is cheaper. I don't know what specialty you're aiming for but 100k with interest to be accrued over time can be paid off in 2 years. I personally would still choose the cheaper school.

I think Phoenix (and the AZ Border region) will give you great access to serving the underserved and urban populations. Bronx will too but I think you will still see many unique cases in PHX and the Border region. If you have an opportunity to provide care there, take advantage of it.

Finally, what about Mayo that made it seem not a fit for you? The faculty/admin? Student body? Infrastructure?

 

[MontanaGirl2020]

Is this a joke? MAYO. no brainer.

 

[altblue]

Depends on how much you value a support system, but lower cost + higher prestige is hard to beat. I'm sure Mayo offers its small class plenty of support.

Living in NYC is an adjustment in and of itself as well

 

[skiteflies123]

Honestly both are great schools and I think you'd end up happy at either. It seems to me from your pros and cons list that you would lean towards Albert Einstein. The biggest con that sticks out to me for Einstein is the cost. I would try to leverage your mayo acceptance to get money from Einstein if possible. Can You Negotiate a Medical School Scholarship?

Just my +1. Also have no credibility to my answer, just saying

Edit: wanted to add though that mayo is most likely going to match very well because of name and curriculum. Also there may be less matches from Einstein to California residencies, but from my experience, people typically either like the west coast or the east coast. Most people that go to med school in the east coast wouldn't really think about living in the west coast. You can raise your chances of coming home by doing elective rotations at UCLA or wherever else

 

[deleted903608]

Einstein student here and clearly biased because I'm a very happy one. I think having your SO nearby is a huge thing (mine is in NYC also and I honestly don't know how I'd do med school otherwise) but I suppose it depends on your relationship and how important being physically close is to you. If you look at our recent match lists, Einstein will not limit your ability to match competitive specialties. Our match list skews heavily East coast because most Einstein students want to stay here. We still have several CA matches a year. All that said, the money would also be a huge factor for me. Not to mention the Mayo name. Ultimately I think it should come down to your own personal priorities (money/prestige v. support system/fit) and conversations with your support system.

 

[stressedx10]

You say clearly that you prefer Einstein in your intro.
It seems like your heart is there and you’ll ultimately be happier with having your SO nearby. No matter what others think, you will have to be happy in order to do well. Ask yourself how important having a support system nearby is. 2 of your cons about Mayo are about the school not being a good fit for you with the class size and location.
Both schools are good, go where you think you’ll be happier.