Mayo Clinic (AZ) vs UCSD - similar CoA

[solarflare1230]

My ultimate goal is to match back into California, specifically in a surgical specialty at an academic center. I currently live in California and my whole family lives here too. I am torn between my top two choices and would love some insight or advice.

Mayo Clinic (AZ)
Pros

• More access to mentorship due to small class size (50)
• Cutting edge facilities, probably the nicest I've ever seen
• 1.5 year P/F preclinical phase
• Easy access to research (MS1's claim they have to decline many opportunities)
• UWorld and other resources paid all four years
• 1.9 billion being pumped into AZ campus but probably will not be realized by the time I graduate
• NBME style exams
• More prestige?? (idk the specific rankings)

Cons

• Clinical clerkship grading known to be difficult to achieve Honors
• I don't like Pheonix compared to SD
• Could be mistaken but I vibed less with incoming cohort compared to UCSD
• Further from home
• Feel like the way curriculum is structured, would be hard to visit family at home without sacrificing research or selective weeks

UC San Diego
Pros

• Clinical clerkship grading structure makes it less difficult to get Honors
• Closer to home
• I much prefer SD to Phoenix
• Majority of students match back into California (stronger chance to stay in Cali? someone please clarify if there is any real advantage)
• 9 month anatomy course which coincides with specific lecture blocks (I've never taken anatomy so would help)
• Students seemed really happy and relaxed due to new curriculum

Cons

• 2 year P/F preclinical phase
• Less prestige (?)
• Less individualized attention
• More up to me to find opportunities and mentorship
• In-house exams

Summary: I feel like my heart wants UCSD but my mind thinks Mayo is the better school with better resources. I should add that I would probably be happier at UCSD, but I do not know if its worth sacrificing the Mayo name for 4 years of San Diego living. I am also concerned that going to Mayo might make it slightly more difficult to match back into California versus if I went to UCSD.

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[pdidd3]

I truly think Mayo AZ is overstated. Its not the same as Mayo MN and its not even close, so forget about the prestige. AZ's home residency programs arent that great either. IMO UCSD is probably equivalent if not more prestigious than Mayo AZ.

I would just go UCSD if I were you. UCSD has more research opportunities than any individual student can ever fully exhaust and you seem like you would be happier there. Their match list is also lowkey better too.

Im curious why you see 2 year preclinical as a con, would it just be more time for you to do research and relax before getting thrown into wards?

 

[Dragonite7]

Personally, I would choose UCSD. If this was Mayo MN I would agree that it was worth choosing, but Mayo AZ does not have the same prestige.

 

[solarflare1230]

I truly think Mayo AZ is overstated. Its not the same as Mayo MN and its not even close, so forget about the prestige. AZ's home residency programs arent that great either. IMO UCSD is probably equivalent if not more prestigious than Mayo AZ.

I would just go UCSD if I were you. UCSD has more research opportunities than any individual student can ever fully exhaust and you seem like you would be happier there. Their match list is also lowkey better too.

Im curious why you see 2 year preclinical as a con, would it just be more time for you to do research and relax before getting thrown into wards?

Noted. I guess I just thought that it was more prestigious from all the discourse I’ve seen on this website.

Regarding the two-year pre-clinical, from my understanding having a shorter pre-clinical allows more time to build up a residency application. But I must admit that I am not fully informed regarding the pros and cons of varying pre-clinical lengths.

 

[hydroflaskhomie]

I think Mayo AZ is more prestigious. 2 year clinical is long and clunky in this day and age (You will teach yourself mostly for boards from 3rd party).

I don't think Mayo AZ would make it hard to match to CA in a surgical subspecialty.

What makes me lean UCSD is the honors thing and the small class size at Mayo - I personally was put off from Mayo MN by that.

What makes me lean Mayo AZ is the resources, the facilities, the preclinical structure, and the access to research/mentorship.

If you really hate Phoenix, seems like UCSD is the easy pick.

 

[pdidd3]

I think Mayo AZ is more prestigious. 2 year clinical is long and clunky in this day and age (You will teach yourself mostly for boards from 3rd party).

I don't think Mayo AZ would make it hard to match to CA in a surgical subspecialty.

What makes me lean UCSD is the honors thing and the small class size at Mayo - I personally was put off from Mayo MN by that.

What makes me lean Mayo AZ is the resources, the facilities, the preclinical structure, and the access to research/mentorship.

If you really hate Phoenix, seems like UCSD is the easy pick.

I disagree that Mayo AZ has more resources, facilities, and access to research/mentorship. UCSD has a much more expansive hospital network within its city. Its departments and affiliates are much more prolific in research and well renowned in its individual speciality, and much better connected to other California institutions which is important when it comes to match. IMO the only thing Mayo AZ has over UCSD is the "Mayo" name, and does it really matter if ur not getting the full Mayo (MN) experience? And if ur planning to work with MN from AZ, why not work with Harvard from UCSD?

I am also unsure on whether 1.5 vs 2 year is better, but given that it takes 4 years to graduate anyway, I never understood why people make it a big deal.

 

[chilly_md]

UCSD is a very competitive and respected school. If you don’t value having a much smaller cohort too much, then you’re not missing much by passing on Mayo.

 

[hydroflaskhomie]

I disagree that Mayo AZ has more resources, facilities, and access to research/mentorship. UCSD has a much more expansive hospital network within its city. Its departments and affiliates are much more prolific in research and well renowned in its individual speciality, and much better connected to other California institutions which is important when it comes to match. IMO the only thing Mayo AZ has over UCSD is the "Mayo" name, and does it really matter if ur not getting the full Mayo (MN) experience? And if ur planning to work with MN from AZ, why not work with Harvard from UCSD?

I am also unsure on whether 1.5 vs 2 year is better, but given that it takes 4 years to graduate anyway, I never understood why people make it a big deal.

To clarify, I'm just going off of OP's pro/con list.

When I was considering Mayo, my impression was that AZ had access to all of the MN resources aside from the physical labs in Minnesota. Many practitioners work across both campuses and/or Florida. Personal take: I was very impressed with Mayo, I just really did not like Rochester and also did not vibe with my cohort's GroupMe/the idea of going to school with only 50 people in a frozen wasteland. The people who I know who did end up there are very happy and successful - the individualized support and clinical excellence is unmatched.

Mayo AZ has outstanding beautiful facilities. I don't know much about UCSD's facilities. UCSD's hospital system, as little as I know, is great.

I think 1.5 is the sweet spot between 1 year which is too fast in my opinion and doesn't give you as much time to start research/breathe in between tests. 2 years feels too long for basic sciences and gives you a bit of a disadvantage if you decide on your specialty late as a result. Disclaimer: I went through a 1.5 year preclinical. I was dying to move onto clinicals by the end of our coursework.

OP - my additional rec is to talk to people who are actually at the school to strengthen these opinions/make sure you don't have any misconceptions, make sure you speak to at least 3-4 students from each school both underclassmen and upperclassmen. There's only so much you can get from online opinions and you don't know what baggage people are bringing to the table on these forums.

 

[solarflare1230]

Does anyone have any input on how the recent NIH funding freezes might affect UCSD? slightly concerned about that