MCW vs Quinnipiac

[ecobio]

Okay, its about that time... Firstly, just want to say that as a third time reapplicant I'm super grateful to be in a position where I even have options. This has been an amazing year and I am indescribably grateful to the universe and proud of my hard work.

I've interviewed at RFU, MCW, and Quinnipiac -- currently waiting to hear back from RFU, but I dont think I would choose it over MCW/Quinny. It seems to have the less desirable traits of both programs to me. My ultimate goal is EM, but still trying to stay open minded to other specialties. I do want to be involved in some research as a student. So lets get into it.

Things that are the same: P/F preclinicals, no internal ranking, relative prestige, near 1:1 student:faculty ratio

MCW
Big pros
-About an hour from my family and childhood/high school friends. Would be so nice to have a strong support system close by.
-Home hospital / academic medical center with PLENTY of residency options, making it easier when applying to residencies
-Easier to make connections in chicago/the midwest, which is ultimately where I want to end up practicing medicine
-Extensive research opportunities as its an academic center
Mini pros
-1.5 year preclinicals, so more time for exploration.
-Old school, VERY well established, huge alumni network
-No MSPE adjectives?? (no clue what this means but it was green on admit.org lol)
-Big school, plenty of people to meet / possibly easier to find my "group"
-Seems like ample mentorship opportunities, lots of faculty support

Mini con
- 20-25 hours of mandatory lecture per week. Seems kinda like a lot, but honestly may be for the best to get me going in the mornings? Any thoughts?
-Suburb living :/ Just a 15 minute drive to the city though. Not sure how exciting MKE is, but my cousins all love it.
-Match list kinda unimpressive?? Idk hard for me to read the tea leaves on this one. Have to remember that a ton of students are 1) wisconsin residents and 2) enrolled in satellite campuses with a focus on primary care specialties.
-Has AOA before match (is this a con? i feel like it could be motivating too to some degree)
-not sure if milwaukee is quite "my vibe"
Big con
-More expensive (tuition is ~70K) and theres no information of average indebtedness that I could find. They seemingly do not give much scholarship either.

Quinnipiac
Big pro
-Cheaper (tuition is ~60k), average indebtedness is around 200k, and they seem to be generous with scholarships (many students getting 10k or 20k a year?) Not sure if i would get any though X)
-Kinda insane match list?? (NYU, Yale, etc etc). Speficially, multiple people get into Yale's EM program every year. Could be great to have that name recognition in my future career.
-Hugely supportive staff, all staff is "teaching staff" so they have more time dedicated to student mentorship and learning
-Asynchronous lectures -- I dont think you ever have to show up??? LOL
-A little over 10% of students end up doing research with Yale, which could be super cool?
-4 year capstone project sounds super promising and a great way to get involved.
Mini pro
-Small city vibe with a short train ride to major metros like NYC and boston. Would love to live on the east coast for the first time.
-No AOA (does this matter?)

Mini con
-I dont know anybody in the east coast 🙁
-2 year preclinical (do we care??)
-Primary care focus -- although im primarily interested in EM, my other interests are like, neuro or gi haha. not so much primary care
-New program, less of an alumni network
-New haven is a smalllllllll city, like 8X smaller than milwaukee. And milwaukee is small.
-There are MSPE adjectives (again, i have no clue what this means)
-They only have 3 residencies, none of which im interested in (for EM this doesnt matter, but if i change my mind and want a more competitive specialty could be difficult without a home program)
Major con
-No home hospital, and FAR commutes for clinical rotations (up to an hour drive sometimes)
-No research staff or funding so it would be more on me to find stuff to do.
-Far from family. I've already been living away from my family for almost 8 years, so I could do it another 4, but may prove to be tough.

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[loverofneuro]

ECOBIOOOOOOO congrats on MCW :') so happy for you! i say netter bc i'm biased teehee. but MCW is also an amazing school! can't speak much to the culture there but it would ofc be really nice to have your support system nearby.

I will say I'm also not interested in primary care (neurosurg or trauma surg) but Netter's match list is still suuuuper impressive for other specialties - I think we'd be super supported either way! North Haven is a small town but it's super close to Yale and a **** ton of people our age, and ofccccc NEW YORK NEW YORKKKKKK for broadway shows. also gilmore girls <3 🤓AOA usually tends to be a con bc it introduces more competition amongst classes, so it's nice that netter doesn't have that. mandatory lectures also usually stress me out a bit bc there are so many circumstances when it may be tough for you to go to a class one day, so that's another con for MCW. MSPE adjectives at netter tho also introduces some competition i think, so there's that too.

as for making a big move, I'm from California so I don't know anyone on the East Coast, but what excites me about Netter is how tight-knit the small classes are and how friendly everyone is. plus connecticut is GORGEOUS!!! i will say tho, if I had the opportunity to stay in California, I would. so I think it's so valid to lean toward MCW for that reason

ultimately though, both schools are so amazing and you should be super proud! I think what it will likely come down to for you specifically is cost and proximity to family, and how important those things are to you. I'm usually of the opinion that the cost of med school is something that every doctor has had to deal with, so regardless of expense you will ultimately come out okay and be able to pay off your debt once you're an attending.

feel free to message me if you wanna chat more about it!! you're my fave SDNer 💚

 

[Basalganglia4life]

Hey! It has been nice following your journey this cycle, congrats on your acceptances! I don’t know your whole situation but personally proximity to family, access to an academic training hospital, and location near where you would want to ultimately practice are top priorities for me. Both are great schools but I think I would lean more towards mcw.

 

[LunaOri]

Don’t underestimate the advantages of having a good home hospital. Being close to family and friends, in an area you want to stay, is a huge plus. I would choose MCW.

 

[eyeeye_captain]

$40k total isn’t a massive difference. Looks like New Haven actually has a slightly higher cost of living than Milwaukee, which, I agree with your cousins, is a cool city. Mini Chicago feel, stuff to do, surprisingly good food scene, plus close to home for you. Not to play to stereotypes, but that reminds me to get some sausages shipped in from Usinger’s. Buying some might be the best advice I give you.

While they’re not California or Texas level, Chicago residency programs have a reputation for matching students from nearby schools. EM has dropped in competitiveness, so it may not be as big a deal. I definitely wouldn’t do residency at Yale for name recognition - that only impresses the average person. That also keeps you away from your stated destination for 3 more years. Doximity’s (imperfect) rankings have 4 Chicago programs above Yale, if you count one in a suburb (my Chicago friends get worked up about people from the burbs saying they’re from Chicago). Maybe you have easier roads into the city programs, get great training, and then have major connections around town for employment and information about which jobs are good or bad.

 

[JungleTrouble]

Milwaukee is underrated. It's downtown is reminiscent of a major city for a more affordable price. Plus, its a short train ride from Chicago too! No shade to Quinnipiac but it seems solely based on your list you want MCW

 

[ClashRoyaleKing]

I'm biased as an accepted MCW applicant, but MCW all the way! I feel like it has all the major pros that I want in a medical school. So the price is less of a scary thing for me since I know I'll be attending an established school with easy-to-get research and mentorship, NBME exams, P/F, home residencies and shadowing, etc.

Match list kinda unimpressive?? Idk hard for me to read the tea leaves on this one. Have to remember that a ton of students are 1) wisconsin residents and 2) enrolled in satellite campuses with a focus on primary care specialties.

Their Wisconsin folks and satellite campuses heavily influence their match. Many come from the Midwest and probably want to stay there (are you in the GroupMe? Most of the accepted students are from the Wisconsin area or have connections it seems).

I'll let you know if I get any scholarships since I'm approaching that sometime soon. However, you can also explore these scholarships for WI med students.

 

[ecobio]

Thank you everyone for your insight!!! For now, I'm leaning pretty heavily towards MCW. I'm supposed to hear back about financial aid in April, and I plan on attending both Second Looks, so I should have an answer by the end of April.

BTW, ended up waitlisted at Rosalind Franklin. Strongly thinking about withdrawing from consideration since I doubt I'd attend it over MCW or Quinnipiac, and they told us during the interview that they don't really give out aid.

 

[loverofneuro]

Thank you everyone for your insight!!! For now, I'm leaning pretty heavily towards MCW. I'm supposed to hear back about financial aid in April, and I plan on attending both Second Looks, so I should have an answer by the end of April.

BTW, ended up waitlisted at Rosalind Franklin. Strongly thinking about withdrawing from consideration since I doubt I'd attend it over MCW or Quinnipiac, and they told us during the interview that they don't really give out aid.

see you at quinni's second look!!!

 

[olemickyd]

MCW student here btw we definitely do NOT have 20-25hrs a week required lecture. I can't remember the last time I went to lecture lol oop(they record them if you wanna watch them). Most of the blocks we have like virtual asynchronous option non mandatory lecture. I go into class like 2 days average per week and it's for the only required non-didactic actvities like lab, ethics class, PBL class.

 

[ecobio]

MCW student here btw we definitely do NOT have 20-25hrs a week required lecture. I can't remember the last time I went to lecture lol oop(they record them if you wanna watch them). Most of the blocks we have like virtual asynchronous option non mandatory lecture. I go into class like 2 days average per week and it's for the only required non-didactic actvities like lab, ethics class, PBL class.

Very good to hear 🙂 ive heard the same from other students. not sure why i had that impression from the interview's info session, I must've misunderstood.

Do you feel supported well at MCW? Is everyone generally happy? Can you have fun during the winters (lol)?

 

[olemickyd]

Very good to hear 🙂 ive heard the same from other students. not sure why i had that impression from the interview's info session, I must've misunderstood.

Do you feel supported well at MCW? Is everyone generally happy? Can you have fun during the winters (lol)

The support is good overall, it's going to be similar across most USMD schools I feel on what support they provide (mental health wise/mentorship wise). We have regularly scheduled required meetings with faculty advisors and small groups that we are forced to kinda get close with, so that is a great way in which I feel we are supported. Every med student is going to have ups and downs and not everyone is going to thrive/be happy, but the environment at MCW(non competitive/Pass/Fail, less mandatory lectures, and group-work focused) definitely helps allow for a happier environment. Med school is hard wherever you go, but you make it what it is imo, so if you're the type to seek out "fun" you will do that even if it's during the weekend. Most "fun" that I have seen people have in med school has been the weeks after our exams(monday exams) which are spiral weeks. we have no new content on spiral weeks which helps us let loose and have more fun.

 

[Iron Man23]

MCW. Quinnipiac not having a home hospital or rally any research output is a big con and one I have to consider as well as it’s one of my A’s

 

[loverofneuro]

^ on the research topic, I've been DMing current Netter students I found on reddit and asked about that bc that's one of my major concerns as someone wanting to go into a competitive specialty. they both said that research is incredibly easy to find even if you don't win the Yale lottery (which is 100% chance, no applications or anything). they said people do research with UConn, Hartford Health, CT Childrens, Trinity, and even Harvard. so even tho Quinni itself isn't a research powerhouse with its own labs/funding, the staff really try to support you and students are successful in finding research opportunities elsewhere. MCW would def be a lot easier for finding research and having a home hospital, but this is just food for thought on the research con

 

[ecobio]

Just to close the loop on this — i didnt get much fin aid from Quinnipiac &, after visiting second look, couldn’t really see myself happy in connecticut. Really loved the people + the school, just doesnt seem like a good fit for me. MCW here I come!!

 

[loverofneuro]

Just to close the loop on this — i didnt get much fin aid from Quinnipiac &, after visiting second look, couldn’t really see myself happy in connecticut. Really loved the people + the school, just doesnt seem like a good fit for me. MCW here I come!!

awwww sad we wont be ending up in the same place but so excited to see everything you accomplish at MCW!!! thanks for being my friend throughout this process <3 so unbelievably happy for you

 

[ecobio]

awwww sad we wont be ending up in the same place but so excited to see everything you accomplish at MCW!!! thanks for being my friend throughout this process <3 so unbelievably happy for you

we will of course stay in touch hehe and im so excited to see all that you accomplish !!!!!