MAYO SOM VS UW SOM

[ariri]

University of Washington SOM
Pros

• Seattle is an amazing city with nightlife and an awesome food scene
• a degree of anonymity that comes with a big city and big medical school program
• My support system is here
• I have a strong interest in entrepreneurship and having the business school and entre programs in the city make it easier to continue working on my start-up, compete for funding, etc
• Great school with an even better set of residency programs
• most classes don't have mandatory attendance policies
• I am set on moving back to Seattle for residency and I know that it will be easiest if I go to medical school here

Cons

• PhD lecturers
• meh Step 1 scores
• I have no interest in primary care, family medicine, or rural care
• I'd be going to UW for all undergrad, post-grad job, medical school, residency, etc
• their curriculum seems to be still experiencing growing pains
• there's been a lot of controversy lately (in multiple departments in the school of medicine) regarding the lack of accountability of racist/sexist/transphobic statements made in classes by professors because... tenure status and research money evidently trumps all else

Mayo Clinic SOM MN
Pros

• I'm in love with how Mayo practices medicine, I was so impressed by the vibe and attitude of the physicians there. It just seems too good to be true.
• The program, the promise of mentorship, individualization opportunities; I feel like Mayo would match my ambition and support me in any direction I want to go in medicine
• The potential to see the most obscure and rare medical illnesses at the hospital
• The dress code! I love business-wear and heels.

Cons

• My main concern is my future ability to match at UW for a competitive (surgical) residency program
• I would be uprooting my partner who won't have very many job opportunities in Rochester
• Lots of logistical problems with moving with lots of pets, finding tenants and a property manager
• Rochester.

Summary: Seattle is my current home and UW is an awesome school. But I fell in love with Mayo and am willing to give up the comfort of having my friends here and the fun of the city to get an excellent education at Mayo. However, I am concerned my ability to return to Seattle for residency if I leave and that I won't be able to develop my entrepreneurship in an isolated city like Rochester.

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[1203xx]

You'd have no trouble matching back to Seattle with a name like Mayo under your belt. I'd say it's time for you to go out and explore more, broaden your horizon, and Mayo is perfect for that.

 

[3toedsloth]

This is a tough one.

Rochester MN is a pretty hard place to live, but the Mayo name will increase your opportunities.

I can't imagine anyone being happy moving to Rochester MN for someone else. Is this is a forever-relationship or a for-now relationship? How does your partner feel? How would you feel making career sacrifices for your partner's happiness? This last questions is obviously a leading question based on what I assume any partner would feel, lol.

I think these are the questions you should ask yourself as you decide. If your partner is 110% on board with going to Rochester, and completely understands how busy you'll be... then Mayo, no doubt. If not, that's going to shake up your personal life.

 

[ariri]

This is a tough one.

Rochester MN is a pretty hard place to live, but the Mayo name will increase your opportunities.

I can't imagine anyone being happy moving to Rochester MN for someone else. Is this is a forever-relationship or a for-now relationship? How does your partner feel? How would you feel making career sacrifices for your partner's happiness? This last questions is obviously a leading question based on what I assume any partner would feel, lol.

I think these are the questions you should ask yourself as you decide. If your partner is 110% on board with going to Rochester, and completely understands how busy you'll be... then Mayo, no doubt. If not, that's going to shake up your personal life.

Thanks guys, I agree that it's a hard choice to make! I'm glad to hear that my opportunities will only be increasing if I choose Mayo. It looks like half the people voted for UW, I would love to hear from those people as well!

And I'd say my relationship is a forever-relationship, been together for close to a decade now. He's actually pretty happy to support me and his happiness isn't tied to his career. But I did bring up what you wrote about him being realistic about me being busy and unavailable sometimes, and he's now reconsidering the move. The last thing I would want to do is move there and have him be lonely and bitter.

 

[3toedsloth]

Thanks guys, I agree that it's a hard choice to make! I'm glad to hear that my opportunities will only be increasing if I choose Mayo. It looks like half the people voted for UW, I would love to hear from those people as well!

And I'd say my relationship is a forever-relationship, been together for close to a decade now. He's actually pretty happy to support me and his happiness isn't tied to his career. But I did bring up what you wrote about him being realistic about me being busy and unavailable sometimes, and he's now reconsidering the move. The last thing I would want to do is move there and have him be lonely and bitter.

Rochester MN is an hour and ten minutes away from Minneapolis, which is the nearest city. It's really cold, and winter lasts from late October through April (sometimes there is snow in May). There are like 3 good restaurants, two micro breweries, a handful of bars, and nothing else to do. It gets super boring, super fast.

Even though the Mayo name is great, I imagine your partner would get bored, or feel isolated/lonely. It's very difficult to keep a relationship alive while in medical school, and even harder if the other person is unhappy with the location.

While UW does not have the wow-factor of Mayo, the University of Washington is still a really good choice. It sounds like you'd both have a better support network there. But would you feel like you missed out on something if you don't go to Mayo?

Really talk it through with your partner. I'm sure you'll be totally fine either way... you have two great options on the table.

 

[BombsAway]

Take your own advice and go to UW.

 

[ariri]

Rochester MN is an hour and ten minutes away from Minneapolis, which is the nearest city. It's really cold, and winter lasts from late October through April (sometimes there is snow in May). There are like 3 good restaurants, two micro breweries, a handful of bars, and nothing else to do. It gets super boring, super fast.

Even though the Mayo name is great, I imagine your partner would get bored, or feel isolated/lonely. It's very difficult to keep a relationship alive while in medical school, and even harder if the other person is unhappy with the location.

While UW does not have the wow-factor of Mayo, the University of Washington is still a really good choice. It sounds like you'd both have a better support network there. But would you feel like you missed out on something if you don't go to Mayo?

Really talk it through with your partner. I'm sure you'll be totally fine either way... you have two great options on the table.

I agree, when I was in Rochester for the interview, I think I went to all of the places you mentioned above and was already feeling bored by the end of the weekend. I couldn't imagine myself living there if I wasn't going to be super busy with med school, and I feel like it'd be cruel to subject my partner to do so. At the same time, I would most definitely feel like I missed out if I don't go, and I think I might resent it at least a little.

Have you heard of anyone who has managed to keep a long-distance relationship thriving through medical school?
Thanks for your thorough explanation of your advice btw!

 

[libertyyne]

Both of these schools are excellent. I would stick with UWash since it is convienent for your partner. And everything else is kind of a wash between them. Either school is not going to limit your possibilities and Rochester is dreary.

 

[Goro]

University of Washington SOM
Pros

• Seattle is an amazing city with nightlife and an awesome food scene
• a degree of anonymity that comes with a big city and big medical school program
• My support system is here
• I have a strong interest in entrepreneurship and having the business school and entre programs in the city make it easier to continue working on my start-up, compete for funding, etc
• Great school with an even better set of residency programs
• most classes don't have mandatory attendance policies
• I am set on moving back to Seattle for residency and I know that it will be easiest if I go to medical school here

Cons

• PhD lecturers
• meh Step 1 scores
• I have no interest in primary care, family medicine, or rural care
• I'd be going to UW for all undergrad, post-grad job, medical school, residency, etc
• their curriculum seems to be still experiencing growing pains
• there's been a lot of controversy lately (in multiple departments in the school of medicine) regarding the lack of accountability of racist/sexist/transphobic statements made in classes by professors because... tenure status and research money evidently trumps all else

Mayo Clinic SOM MN
Pros

• I'm in love with how Mayo practices medicine, I was so impressed by the vibe and attitude of the physicians there. It just seems too good to be true.
• The program, the promise of mentorship, individualization opportunities; I feel like Mayo would match my ambition and support me in any direction I want to go in medicine
• The potential to see the most obscure and rare medical illnesses at the hospital
• The dress code! I love business-wear and heels.

Cons

• My main concern is my future ability to match at UW for a competitive (surgical) residency program
• I would be uprooting my partner who won't have very many job opportunities in Rochester
• Lots of logistical problems with moving with lots of pets, finding tenants and a property manager
• Rochester.

Summary: Seattle is my current home and UW is an awesome school. But I fell in love with Mayo and am willing to give up the comfort of having my friends here and the fun of the city to get an excellent education at Mayo. However, I am concerned my ability to return to Seattle for residency if I leave and that I won't be able to develop my entrepreneurship in an isolated city like Rochester.

What do you like more...covered dishes or seafood?

Your family life would say U WA, but your heart says Mayo. If your SO can handle may, go for Mayo. Just be aware that in January and February in MN, Winter makes serious attempts to kill you.

 

[KdotLB]

Wait til you get your mayo financial aid package...


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[DSM_302.0]

UW sounds like an excellent choice, especially considering you are “set” on moving back to Seattle for residency.

UW is a phenomenal school.

Mayo is a phenomenal hospital and a fantastic medica school. The prestige factor comes mostly from the hospital.

If you love a metropolitan area like Seattle, Rochester is going to be terrible.

And as someone from the Midwest who moved to the west coast, I can attest, winters are downright soul-crushing. I visited Seattle in the summer and remarked how much I loved it. My friends warned: oh, just you wait until the winter! It rains! It gets colder!

I said, after growing up in the Midwest (near Chicago for me, which is similar to Rochester in terms of weather), anything by comparison is a beautiful relief.

If you want to do residency in Seattle and your partner doesn’t want to leave Seattle and your family is in Seattle and you have residency in WA, wowsa go to that incredible in-state school of yours!

 

[sunshine859]

What field does your SO other work in? I remember at my Mayo interview, an MDPhD student mentioned that Mayo helped their SO find work.

 

[mongoose1180]

Does tuition play a factor? If you are a WA resident, tuition for UW should be around $33k/yr. Seems like a huge tie-breaker to me.

 

[KdotLB]

Does tuition play a factor? If you are a WA resident, tuition for UW should be around $33k/yr. Seems like a huge tie-breaker to me.

There’s a decent chance Mayo would end up being cheaper depending largely on parental financials. Average graduate indebtedness is like 80k or something crazy low


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[SCN1a]

Ultimately this seems to come down to your relationship and the comfortability with either long distance or bring your SO with you to Rochester or stay in Washington with your family and SO. I'm married and wanted to co-localize with my SO but we are prepared to live separately if that is the case. It seems to me like you could make it work; however, it also seems clear that you might be happier in Washington which is a highly ranked school in its own right albeit more than slightly flawed but it also may be you get out of it what you put in. medical school is stressful and a solid support system is probably necessary. Closer to family is usually better though most people don't always have that option. Cost is a factor as well but probably negligible since it's in state versus a potential good financial aid package (though even if you're instate, you could still get financial aid) with respect to your goals, it may be easier to be an entrepreneur where you want to end up but it is also true that mayo may give you enough time to pursue your goals. that's a tough decision I wish you the best.

Take my opinion with a grain of salt though full disclosure: I am on the waitlist for Mayo and not Uwash though I was trying to be as objective as possible in my opinion of the situation it would be dishonest to not let you know that I am on the waitlist at one of the schools in question.

 

[i12bMD]

Mayo attracts incredible faculty. Their home programs are outstanding. For this reason, I would choose mayo over UW. At either school you will fare very well.

 

[DSM_302.0]

Mayo attracts incredible faculty. Their home programs are outstanding. For this reason, I would choose mayo over UW. At either school you will fare very well.

This is also true of UW though.

 

[freak7]

• I'm in love with how Mayo practices medicine, I was so impressed by the vibe and attitude of the physicians there. It just seems too good to be true..

It is.

 

[thenucleusaccumbens]

This is a tough one.

Rochester MN is a pretty hard place to live, but the Mayo name will increase your opportunities.

I can't imagine anyone being happy moving to Rochester MN for someone else. Is this is a forever-relationship or a for-now relationship? How does your partner feel? How would you feel making career sacrifices for your partner's happiness? This last questions is obviously a leading question based on what I assume any partner would feel, lol.

I think these are the questions you should ask yourself as you decide. If your partner is 110% on board with going to Rochester, and completely understands how busy you'll be... then Mayo, no doubt. If not, that's going to shake up your personal life.

Current Mayo student here. I moved to Rochester from a big city and personally have not found it a hard place to live. It's changed a lot in recent years with a lot of growth projected for the future (re destination medical center ---> over 5 billion in private investments to promote growth of the city). Most of my classmates are from the coasts and even all my Cali friends who had a harder time adjusting to the winters don't hate Roch.

OP if you check out the med student run blog there's some posts about moving to Roch - Meet Mayo Med

Your situation with your significant other makes this a tougher decision. Are you able to go to 2nd look and bring them with you? If they haven't visited Roch yet I would definitely try to do that before deciding.