MD/PhD and location

[DarkChild]

---

Members do not see this ad.

How important is a schools location to mudphudders?
here's the question: would you choose school A which has one guy working in your area of interest but is in a really nice neighborhood or school B which has 5 guys working in that area, a national reputation in the field but is in a terrible neighborhood?
if this were merely a med school decision (i.e. 4 years) I wouldnt think too much of it. I can do 4 years in a nasty neighborhood. but 8 - thats a whole other ask.
assume that to all intents and purposes the schools are otherwise equal: similar reputations, similar clinical prep...

 

[isidella]

I have been trying to keep in mind that the places where I applied and have been accepted are all attractive to me, or else I would not have applied there. I think my area of interest may change throughout the course of three rotations and two years of medical school. By the time I am actually working on my thesis, my original area of interest may have evaporated.

I prefer to go where I will be the happiest, personally.

I am having my own personal delima right now. Family and old friends are pulling my in one direction (back home), and dumb boy (who is apparently quite serious about our relationship) is pulling me in another direction.

I am so neutral about my acceptances thus far because none of them are so outstanding that I would be an idiot to not attend there. The research will evolve into something I will be interested in when the time comes.

So here I am, trying to figure out what is most important to me. . . and also trying to hurt as few people as possible. (It has really gotten very complex-I was in tears all morning.) 🙁

Darkchild, are you referring to Hopkins and somewhere else?

 

[DarkChild]

Originally posted by isidella

Darkchild, are you referring to Hopkins and somewhere else?

Ha! I wish 😀
No i'm referring to Columbia. You mention this happiness thing - but where does intellctual "happiness" fit in with physical "happiness"?
as for your quandry between friends/family and b/f - which school is in a bigger (or cooler) city? for me its pretty crucial to live somewhere fun/happening for 8 years.

 

[isidella]

Originally posted by DarkChild
You mention this happiness thing - but where does intellctual "happiness" fit in with physical "happiness"?

I personally feel there is no difference. Just the nerd in me speaking. . .

Originally posted by DarkChild

as for your quandry between friends/family and b/f - which school is in a bigger (or cooler) city? for me its pretty crucial to live somewhere fun/happening for 8 years.

B/F HATES the city that my family is from. I think it is a cool place (1 million plus people, happening arts and music scene, I can buy a house there, four seasons).
The places he prefers are extremely cold and snowy most of the year and are so expensive I could not own a car or a decent place to live by myself. Sure they have happening places, but I would have to peddle my a$$ between incubations to survive. Heh! 😳

 

[dl2dp2]

About washington heights:
it's not that bad of a neighborhood, i don't think. Because the rent is cheap, a lot of young people are moving uptown. Aren't you from New York? Upper east side is so conventional and well-established...pick neighborhood that's cool and unexplored

 

[DW]

Originally posted by sluox
About washington heights:
it's not that bad of a neighborhood, i don't think. Because the rent is cheap, a lot of young people are moving uptown. Aren't you from New York? Upper east side is so conventional and well-established...pick neighborhood that's cool and unexplored

w3rd. washington heights is ok, besides, its NY. You're only a train ride from other parts of the city 😀

 

[Neuronix]

Originally posted by DarkChild
would you choose school A which has one guy working in your area of interest but is in a really nice neighborhood

Northwestern

or school B which has 5 guys working in that area, a national reputation in the field but is in a terrible neighborhood?

Baylor. Well it's not that simple, Baylor isn't in a terrible neighborhood. It's just hot and everyone lives in this suburban wasteland and busses in. Also, Northwestern has other people working on things I'm sort of interested in, but they're not as big name as the people at Baylor.

My problem here is also that Baylor is probably a tier above Northwestern. So of course everyone says "GO TO BAYLOR". I'm leaning towards Northwestern though. Just have to see where else I get in, because as you said, 8 years is a long time.

 

[surge]

Neuronix,

I know exactly how you feel. I have the same feelings about suburban wasteland. And Houston is its embodiment. Dunno, I wasn't feeling Baylor. Great school, just not for me.
Plus 8 years is a long fcuking time. I was in seventh grade 8 years ago. Definitely go where you will feel the most comfortable and be most productive. And NW is a fabulous school.

 

[pathdr2b]

Originally posted by surge

I know exactly how you feel. I have the same feelings about suburban wasteland. And Houston is its embodiment. Dunno, I wasn't feeling Baylor.

Hi Guys!

I have the same issues with Houston (University of Texas/MD Anderson). There are MANY people in the area including Baylor whose research centers around young Black women and breast cancer which is "my area" but the thought of being there for 6 or 7 years....definitely not a good proposition to me🙁 . Not to mention being an asthmatic living in such a hot and humid place....

 

[CaNEM]

Originally posted by DarkChild
How important is a schools location to mudphudders?
here's the question: would you choose school A which has one guy working in your area of interest but is in a really nice neighborhood or school B which has 5 guys working in that area, a national reputation in the field but is in a terrible neighborhood?
if this were merely a med school decision (i.e. 4 years) I wouldnt think too much of it. I can do 4 years in a nasty neighborhood. but 8 - thats a whole other ask.
assume that to all intents and purposes the schools are otherwise equal: similar reputations, similar clinical prep...

Yo Dark,

I'm having similar thoughts as you, probably about the same schools as well. There are more scientists at Columbia that I KNOW I would enjoy working with, but there are more scientists at Cornell/Rock with big names, good rep, etc. Cornell's program has an all around better reputation as an MSTP and it's certainly better organized. And the location is obviously much nicer. I dunno - I'm looking forward to both second looks. Will I see you at both?

What about the medical school? Do you prefer Columbia's lecture-based, long hours curicullum? Or Cornell's PBL, shorter hours? I'm all for less lecture time, but I'm still unsure whether or not I'll like PBL.

If you wanna chat about the schools, PM me or IM me (AOL IM - CaNEM 2003)

 

[DarkChild]

CaNEM - thats awesome. I'll be IMing you.

 

[Neuronix]

Oh yeah that's another thing. PBL and less classroom hours are awesome to me. That frees up time to be doing what matters, not learning lots of frivolous crap. Northwestern is great in that respect. I think Duke is cool too, getting it all out of the way in one year, rather than dragging it out.

As for schools like Mayo and U of Chicago... 8 - 5 classes every day. Boo.

 

[Habari]

location is a big deal for me - i hope to have some fun during my med/grad years. pretty much the only schools i'm considering are in big cities, and have a reasonable number of things to do nearby. while i didn't mind the environment around columbia, the traditional curriculum and not-so-collegial feel i got from the faculty is weighing against them. i'll try to keep an open mind at the revisit, but at this point - i'll take anything that'll help me make a decision. the only place that doesn't fall into the big city category that i like is yale - i actually like new haven (i'm sure some people are sputtering liquid onto their computer screens at the thought 😉). definately personal preference ... i'm still stuck on east vs west coast

-jot (new screenname)

 

[surge]

Originally posted by Habari
the only place that doesn't fall into the big city category that i like is yale - i actually like new haven (i'm sure some people are sputtering liquid onto their computer screens at the thought 😉). definately personal preference ...

I definitely know what you mean. I almost surprised myself when I realized I feel the same way about Yale. And I spent a summer there, too.
Hurry up and wait for March 25 😀

Still, though..... WashU is gonna be hard to match. 😕

 

[marq_bme]

chicago, and evanston!! can't beat em. ..well okay san diego whoops any school period...but im only 1.5 hours from home this way!

 

[QHamp]

What's PBL?

 

[Habari]

PBL=problem based learning

instead of conventional didactics, students are given a problem, and research all relevant aspects, then present it to the group (usually very small). some schools like cornell/harvard(np) are very much on this end of the continuum, while others like columbia are on the other more traditional end. most schools are somewhere in the middle of this continuum.

 

[QHamp]

Thanks- That was one that had left me hanging