MCW vs. Rosalind Franklin (w/some Scholarship + Family)

[Kyotoh]

Okay, so here's my situation, like everyone else posting Vs. Threads

MCW vs. Rosalind (with scholarship + family considerations)?

On the surface, I know MCW has a better reputation and associated hospitals.
However, RFU/CMS has offered me some scholarship money, to the amount of ~20% tuition renewable for 4 years.
Also, I'm married and my husband has a really great job in the city, and I'm not sure he'd be able to find something like this in Wauwatosa/MKE, and that would mean buying a second car. Additionally, his mother lives in the city, and she does require some care. So, if I went to MCW, it would likely mean living alone or with a roommate/away from my husband for awhile.
If CMS, I would be living in the city and taking Metra.

Is MCW's reputation worth the separation and increase in tuition? I don't like the small amount they give for living expenses either...however I did really like the school when I visited.

I liked a lot of the facilities at CMS, but I really liked the sense of community at MCW. I'm thrilled to have been offered a scholarship at CMS/RFU, and feel like I could have some cool opportunities there...it reminds me of my undergrad college. I'm also ultimately looking to stay in Chicago area and hopefully do a residency at a Chicago area hospital.
Thoughts? Anyone? Any input is appreciated!

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[Zarika]

Okay, so here's my situation, like everyone else posting Vs. Threads

MCW vs. Rosalind (with scholarship + family considerations)?

On the surface, I know MCW has a better reputation and associated hospitals.
However, RFU/CMS has offered me some scholarship money, to the amount of ~20% tuition renewable for 4 years.
Also, I'm married and my husband has a really great job in the city, and I'm not sure he'd be able to find something like this in Wauwatosa/MKE, and that would mean buying a second car. Additionally, his mother lives in the city, and she does require some care. So, if I went to MCW, it would likely mean living alone or with a roommate/away from my husband for awhile.
If CMS, I would be living in the city and taking Metra.

Is MCW's reputation worth the separation and increase in tuition? I don't like the small amount they give for living expenses either...however I did really like the school when I visited.

I liked a lot of the facilities at CMS, but I really liked the sense of community at MCW. I'm thrilled to have been offered a scholarship at CMS/RFU, and feel like I could have some cool opportunities there...it reminds me of my undergrad college. I'm also ultimately looking to stay in Chicago area and hopefully do a residency at a Chicago area hospital.
Thoughts? Anyone? Any input is appreciated!

I go to MCW and, although I really like it here, it sounds like you have a lot of reasons to choose RFU. I didn't apply to RFU so I don't know anything about it really, but it's a US MD school, so I'm sure it's fine. It isn't like you would be turning down Harvard for RFU, it's MCW.

If you have any specific questions about MCW I'll try to answer them. You're right, the facilities and sense of community are both pretty good. In terms of the amount of money for living expenses, it can be a little tight, but the area is also pretty cheap so most people seem to be fine on it. My parents help me out, but that's because my apartment is expensive (for the area, not by East Coast standards, hence them agreeing to help me out) and because I keep a pet here and she's a huge dog so she is expensive to feed and medicate.

You'll like having your husband with you. Both are in the same general area, so I doubt getting a Chicago residency will be a problem from either (assuming you are the same student at both of course.)

In terms of not having a car, I have no idea how the Chicago metro is (it might be faster than driving, idk), but if you can afford it and driving is faster, I would get a car. Time in transit is time you could spend studying, working out, relaxing, ect.

 

[Doc Of Life]

When I read the title of your thread I clicked on it all ready to tell you that it's a no-brainer, MCW is much better than RFU. But after reading the details of your message, you're right, you do have many personal reasons why RFU might be a better decision for you. Med school is hard enough as it is, I wouldn't suggest adding a separation from your spouse on top of it. So that makes it simple. If your spouse can't move to wisconsin with you, then I would strongly suggest going to school where you two can stay together.

Emotionally though, this starts to get into some tricky waters. You don't want to wind up resenting your spouse for holding you back from the school you really wanted to go to. So really you should play out the different future scenarios in your mind and imagine how you'll wind up feeling about your choice.

 

[Justforkicks4]

Hey,

I'm a current MCW student who also applied and interviewed at RFU. Don't hesitate to shoot me an PM if you have questions or want some thoughts on both the schools. I love MCW, but it sounds like RFU might be a nice choice for you.

Good luck and congrats!

 

[moneymill4569]

I think you should go to RFU also, for many of the above reasons.

 

[Kyotoh]

Thank you all for your input. As of now I'm probably leaning towards RFU.
The consideration with MCW is that it's not *that* far, and I'd still be able to see my husband 1-2x a week and on weekends when he could come up. It'd only be 4 years. However, this does seem to be a quality of life issue for me, in that I like RFU's financial package more and know we could live better off it, and I'd be able to come home to my spouse every night instead of just renting a room and being isolated from family. My own parents live in FL, so neither choice brings me closer to them.
I'll miss the lake if I move away from it too, I grew up near the ocean...just another thought.

I appreciate all the input, really. This forum has helped me with a lot of things for interview season.

 

[reddoc]

Forget about rankings and "reputation". RFU has had excellent match lists over the past several years. Unless there is a specific program at MCW that you are very interested in, I would suggest the family issues should take priority.

 

[DJtiesto]

I agree about the excellent match list. The last 7 years or so I've seen match lists from RFU and they consistently get people in highly competitive fields like plastics, ortho, rads, etc. and not just get people but lots of people in each of these fields. This is quite impressive to me because it shows that despite their previously having been on probation like 8 years ago, they are still able to produce physicians who are in more competitive fields. This is why I think they are under rated. I know a few people at RFU and they don't regret going there. I think being with your spouse every night and being near chicago or in chicago is worth it in and of itself.

Forget about rankings and "reputation". RFU has had excellent match lists over the past several years. Unless there is a specific program at MCW that you are very interested in, I would suggest the family issues should take priority.

1) I am confused on how you two pre-meds can deem a match list as "excellent" when you both know nothing about the quality of residency programs. I don't know either which is why I don't try to learn much from match lists.

2) You don't know how many people tried to match into a competitive subspeciality. Say 30 tried for ortho and 15 got in (which is what a match list would show). Are you going to say that is "excellent"?

3) Why is a match-list that is predominately primary care bad? Not everyone wants to specialize.

Anyway, I agree with the other posters who said to go to RFU. Congrats on your acceptances!

 

[reddoc]

My point was that both RF and MCW send their students to fine residency programs in multiple specialties. While it may be difficult to compare match lists, I do believe there is some useful information that can be obtained. While residency matches are primarily dependent on the candidate, it is nice to see that a school can match its students to fine programs in multiple specialties.

 

[nfo2010]

Who knows, OP? MCW could still offer you a scholarship of some type. They haven't handed out financial aid yet (at least I haven't gotten mine yet, hope I'm not alone!).