MD/PhD program decision help

[ndp]

Hey Everybody

I'm trying to decide which MD/PhD program to accept. I have gone through all the pro's and cons (geography, class size, research opportunities, ranking, etc.) and talked with a lot of faculty/mentors, but I would love some outside opinions.

I'm trying to decide between UC Davis, UC Irvine, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (all Bioengineering PhD's). There is one caviat. UC Davis has accepted me for the MD/PhD, but waitlisted me for the MD (bizzare, I know). So i'm waiting to hear from them. If I don't get in off the waitlist, I will have to defer a year and they have guaranteed a spot for 2007 (I really don't want to defer as the program is already long as is). Irvine accepted me On May 15.

UIUC accepted me halfway through my interview day and has shown me a lot of love. They had an early acceptance deadline (April 15) which I got extended to May 15. I sent in my acceptance since they were pressuring me, but I can still back out.

I'm from California (Bay Area) so it would be nice to stay near the family, but my sister was an undergrad engineer at UIUC, so I can appreciate the strength of their engineering program. I consider myself an engineer, but I'm really passionate about medicine. What do I do? I want to come back to California for my residency. What is the best path? Appreciate any advice...

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[hawkeey]

I'm trying to decide between UC Davis, UC Irvine, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (all Bioengineering PhD's). There is one caviat. UC Davis has accepted me for the MD/PhD, but waitlisted me for the MD (bizzare, I know). So i'm waiting to hear from them. If I don't get in off the waitlist, I will have to defer a year and they have guaranteed a spot for 2007 (I really don't want to defer as the program is already long as is). Irvine accepted me On May 15.
[\QUOTE]

Oh so you are doing a Bioengineering PhD. I would defintely pick UIUC out of those three. As you know UIUC has kickass engineering and science and they are working really hard to build interdisciplinary programs.

The medicine might not be considered as strong because there is not a university hospital in Urbana-Champaign, but rather they use a community hospital. I'm not sure if it really matters where you do the medicine, but it does matter very much where you do the science. As an MD/PhD, you definitely will be able to make it back to California for your residency. There are also a lot of Californians at the University of Illinois.

 

[ndp]

Well, ended up on choosing UC Davis. Thanks so much for all the advice hawkeey. Family circumstances ended up playing a big part of my decision, but I got a pretty good offer from Davis. It was definitely hard to break the news to UIUC, but I sent a very diplomatic hand-written letter. Thanks again for all the help.