TXTripleDore
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Give me your best pitches. Leaving my pros/cons out because I wanna hear your perspectives!
McGovern vs Long
- Thread starter TXTripleDore
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cupcakeliberty1
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I'm struggling with this too and I know I will til Jan 30th probs! For me, I see Houston vs SA (huge big city, high COL vs smalltown type big city, low COL) and vibes on the interview day. McGovern has PF the first sem and the TMC but Long has nearly equal prestige outside of the TMC name (from what I've heard), gold's gym on campus and membership anywhere lol and "happiest medical students in tx". I do feel like it'll come down to city and campus tours for me, and I'll probably be in here asking this every week in January
etxmedstudent36
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Just got done with exam week and saw this! I can give some of the quick and dirty pros/cons of McGovern. I don't go to long so I cannot speak on it too much. More subjective pros/cons I will leave to you, such as location (i.e can't say whether being in Houston itself is a pro or con for you vs. SA)
CONS:
- Graded classes after first semester
- Foundations is pretty tough, so getting started on ECs can take time. Not recommended to start research during your first semester. Plus, in-house materials for this part.
- Longer preclinicals
- Parking is bad if you want to drive
- You only get 1 year of UWorld so you have to choose between getting that free for STEP1 or STEP2. Not sure if we cover many other 3rd party resources.
PROS:
- TMC, duh. Some people say it isn't a super great advantage because you have to 'compete' for opportunities, but I really don't think that's the case. Maybe for some of the super desired research positions that's the case but if you aren't looking to go to an ivy league residency this won't matter. You can find shadowing / research literally anywhere in anything you want, you just have to ask for it. Plus, people here love mentoring.
- NBME materials after first semester
- Match list is historically good; if you want to do X specialty, it can 100% happen here if you're willing to put in the time
- Great reputation for culture and collaborative identity as a school
- Your first summer exists for you to do whatever you want; most people use that to get the bulk of their research done to have good residency stats
- Anatomy here is unrivaled in terms of skilled faculty and high standards of knowledge. I imagine this is why we match well with surgical specialties (but not 100% sure that's the reason, this is just conjecture)
- Attendance is optional but there are enough required activities to have you in the building 2-3 times weekly during foundations. After that it eases up (have not lived in the modules life yet so I'd have to update)
- TMC library has great hours and spots for studying with friends if you don't like being at home. LRC is open 24/7 and is super clutch since it has a nice lounge and some of the best water I've ever had (this one is definitely more subjective)
Those are some of the objective parts of the experience. If you have a specialty in mind I would take a look at the match lists for each school to see how they do to make a choice in your rankings. Long and McGovern seem to have equal amounts of prestige on that end but in recent years it looks like McGovern has an edge in the competitive specialties (ortho, derm, plastics).
My advice to anyone applying is to also take into account the vibes you get at each school. Open houses, interview days, etc are all essential to gauging how you're going to fit in at the school. Half of the battle of medical school is being your own person and finding a good spot to develop as a professional. If you're miserable, your people skills are going to suffer and your life will be harder. If you feel like you'll hate a certain school but they have a marginal advantage in getting you into derm, you're better off going to the happier school. Schools have a certain 'type' they look for so if you feel like you'll fit in with the current students well the odds are that school should be higher on your list.
CONS:
- Graded classes after first semester
- Foundations is pretty tough, so getting started on ECs can take time. Not recommended to start research during your first semester. Plus, in-house materials for this part.
- Longer preclinicals
- Parking is bad if you want to drive
- You only get 1 year of UWorld so you have to choose between getting that free for STEP1 or STEP2. Not sure if we cover many other 3rd party resources.
PROS:
- TMC, duh. Some people say it isn't a super great advantage because you have to 'compete' for opportunities, but I really don't think that's the case. Maybe for some of the super desired research positions that's the case but if you aren't looking to go to an ivy league residency this won't matter. You can find shadowing / research literally anywhere in anything you want, you just have to ask for it. Plus, people here love mentoring.
- NBME materials after first semester
- Match list is historically good; if you want to do X specialty, it can 100% happen here if you're willing to put in the time
- Great reputation for culture and collaborative identity as a school
- Your first summer exists for you to do whatever you want; most people use that to get the bulk of their research done to have good residency stats
- Anatomy here is unrivaled in terms of skilled faculty and high standards of knowledge. I imagine this is why we match well with surgical specialties (but not 100% sure that's the reason, this is just conjecture)
- Attendance is optional but there are enough required activities to have you in the building 2-3 times weekly during foundations. After that it eases up (have not lived in the modules life yet so I'd have to update)
- TMC library has great hours and spots for studying with friends if you don't like being at home. LRC is open 24/7 and is super clutch since it has a nice lounge and some of the best water I've ever had (this one is definitely more subjective)
Those are some of the objective parts of the experience. If you have a specialty in mind I would take a look at the match lists for each school to see how they do to make a choice in your rankings. Long and McGovern seem to have equal amounts of prestige on that end but in recent years it looks like McGovern has an edge in the competitive specialties (ortho, derm, plastics).
My advice to anyone applying is to also take into account the vibes you get at each school. Open houses, interview days, etc are all essential to gauging how you're going to fit in at the school. Half of the battle of medical school is being your own person and finding a good spot to develop as a professional. If you're miserable, your people skills are going to suffer and your life will be harder. If you feel like you'll hate a certain school but they have a marginal advantage in getting you into derm, you're better off going to the happier school. Schools have a certain 'type' they look for so if you feel like you'll fit in with the current students well the odds are that school should be higher on your list.
