Medical Schools in Awesome Cities

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aspiringdoc007

aspiringdoc007

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Now of course it is going to be impossible to rank what cities are the coolest, because everyone has a different opinions on what is important and "cool".

But I did want to see what cities you guys have been too that you have been really impressed with?

I was really impressed with Charlottesville, Virginia. It's a beautiful city and it's not too big.

Cleveland, I thought, was kind of a dump, in my opinion. Maybe I was just in a bad part of town. Maybe if I go visit Lebron James' house I will get a different opinion of Cleveland.
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I always thought of Charlottesville more as a "suburban sprawl" than a city...
 
I think MUSC in Charleston would be a great place to go to school.
 
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I was really impressed and surprised by Burlington, VT. It was ranked as one of the top livable cities in the US and it showed. I wasn't there in the depths of winter, it was September, so I'm not sure how it is when it is cold and snowy. But it is located on a huge lake with beautiful mountains nearby and a very nice downtown. Also, the locals were really nice! It would be a great city to move to if you love the outdoors.
 
Best city: NYC, as if you had to ask. I haven't actually been to any of the schools there, but I've been to the city enough to know it is far and away the best city. Ever. Anywhere.

As for places I have visited for the strict purposes of med school interviews...

I've only been to one MD interview: Tulane. I found New Orleans to be charming as a place to visit, but I could see it getting old after a while.

In terms of DO (since there are MD and DO schools that share cities):

Glendale, AZ is pretty nice, but hot and expensive cost of living. Fort Lauderdale is gorgeous as well, and Chicago is always fun. Kansas City, MO... eh. Nice skyline when you drive into the city, but I didn't see anything that spectacular. Then again, I only saw the area around KCUMB which is known to be unsafe, so I can't really say much.
 
Please don't move to Kansas City, MO...trust me you'll f*cking shoot yourself and/or others!

Chi-town is pretty sweet...especially near Northwestern.

Of course my vote goes to: LOS ANGELES!!!!!
 
ahaydt said:
Phildelphia, duh. (Riceman will agree with me)

Jeff
Penn
Drexel
PCOM
Temple
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well "cool city" may be one thing, but I don't envy Temple's location... or Drexel's really. Jeff and Penn on the other hand are great location-wise.
 
lord_jeebus said:
How does this thread have 10+ posts and no mention of San Diego? 😕

Even Google knows that it's "America's finest city"
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Yeah, San Diego is hot. No pun intended.
 
DC!

and my second vote would go to NYC.
 
Lexington is a GREAT college town. it's a moderately big city with a small town feel. I love it.
 
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NYC is the best city guaranteed because it has everything that any other city would have plus more.

My questions is for anyone in NYC, how much do you (or will you) get to enjoy the city while in med school there? The city is ever important, but as an undergrad i dont know how much time there will be to experience it.
 
My vote's for Boston. Rich history, tons of college life, and the BoSox (with their 2 recent WS trophies). Not to mention the crazy number of great teaching hospitals.
 
OHSU is opening a program in Eugene. College Game Day Show in Eugene tomorrow. ESPN NATIONAL GAME DAY IN EUGENE TOMORROW. CHECK IT OUT.
 
maestro1625 said:
well "cool city" may be one thing, but I don't envy Temple's location... or Drexel's really. Jeff and Penn on the other hand are great location-wise.
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I can see your point. If Drexel's hospital was near its undergrad it'd be great. Temple is in a not-so-great location, agreed (There was a student attack today :-x). However, its a great city nonetheless.
 
nehcmij86 said:
Northwestern is in an awesome spot. It's located near the downtown of Chicago and by Michigan Ave. (for all of you that love to shop). It is literally 100 feet from the lake and LSD (Lake Shore Drive, not your after school special).

UCSF Medical School is located on Parnassus hill right by Golden Gate Park. It gets cold on the hill because of the fog that gets caught up there. It can get to the 40s on Parnassus (Parnasty in this case) during the summer when rest of the city is in the 70s. Transportation is very convenient in SF and there are a lot of places to eat and hang out. Golden Gate Park is just amazing. When I first walked through it, I thought I was trespassing on rich-people-property.
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go check out the botanical gardens (it's free, and amazing, both of which are rare in other cities).
 
I've noticed that the ugly continuum tends to be as follows:

ATTRACTIVE Urban > Suburban >>>>> Rural UGLY
 
I said "tends." There are obviously exceptions. I'm talking about in general.
 
Cleveland is a nice city if you don't come in with the mindset that it is the "mistake by the lake"...and nehcmij86, the Cuyahoga caught on fire in '69, not the early 1900's.
 
University of Washington at Seattle

And probably anywhere in NYC. I liked New Orleans when I visited years ago, but I hear horror stories now about what its like there. Maybe its just gossip?
 
I was gonna say Seattle, but the sonics might be moving soon and the seahawks are stinking up the place. At least they have the Hendrix museum, yeah baby.
 
Keep this in mind my pre-med friends: living in a big city for med school definitely ups the fun factor but it also increases the debt. I go to school in a fairly large metro area and our student budget is really set up for someone who is a) living in the 'burbs b) with roomates and c) not going out very much.

If you want to living that urban, "Must See TV" lifestyle you're probably going to end up putting some of it on the Visa.
 
What about Vanderbilt in Nashville?

I have only been to Nashville once, but it seemed like a great city. Everyone that I've talked to who has lived that loves the place...
 
doinmybest5840 said:
Best city: NYC, as if you had to ask. I haven't actually been to any of the schools there, but I've been to the city enough to know it is far and away the best city. Ever. Anywhere.
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As a student, particularly grad or med when you're not being supported by your parents, NYC sucks. Columbia's med school is up on 167th...the very top of Manhattan, and I'm pretty sure you're required to live in the dorms the first year...there's ABSOLUTELY NOTHING up there and everything in the "good" part of the city is an hour away by subway. Around the med school is actually pretty sketchy. There's a ton of homeless and it's getting worse. It's also really dirty and smelly. Visting NYC is WAY WAY WAY WAY different than actually living there. (To test this out, don't use an elevator for a month, only shop at the gas station for food, don't use your car, double or triple the price of every drink and then dilute it by 50%, and only wear black).

Granted, if you have rich parents that are going to give you a healthy allowance, then you might really enjoy the city. But, otherwise, why spend all the money to live in such an expensive city if you're really not going to have the time or money to enjoy it?

I'm not anti-big city either, but I'd take San Francisco any day over NYC.
 
corbis11 said:
Cleveland is a nice city if you don't come in with the mindset that it is the "mistake by the lake"...and nehcmij86, the Cuyahoga caught on fire in '69, not the early 1900's.
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Thank you!!

Keep an open mind. Cleveland has some gross parts and some really nice parts. Downtown has some great restaurants and bars, Little Italy is adorable, the suburbs are really nice, great museums, the Cleveland Orchestra, one of the largest theatre districts in the country. And the sports teams are doing better lately. Even when they are at the bottom, the fans are 100% loyal and that kinda makes Cleveland rock!
 
Although this is a DO school Touro-NV is in Las Vegas. Best resturants, gambling, Strip clubs, and legalized prostitution 45 min away what more could you ask for?
 
i've heard a lot about large cities. What about the schools in smaller cities like Morgantown WV...top rated party school and rated one of the top small cities in the nation to live in. Also how about Charleston South Carolina, I've hear a lot of good things about the city. Perhaps they are not the best medical programs, however the cities are nice.
 
My vote goes to OHSU. Its surrounded by forest, on a hill that overlooks downtown portland.
 
MCW.

Milwaukee.

I heard the cheese and beer is good.

Their freakin baseball team is the "Brewers" so the beer has got to be somthing special!
 
howdy2u said:
Please don't move to Kansas City, MO...trust me you'll f*cking shoot yourself and/or others!

Chi-town is pretty sweet...especially near Northwestern.

Of course my vote goes to: LOS ANGELES!!!!!
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Of course it's LA. If you go to USC, alot of the students live in Pasadena, which has tons of great restaurants, shops, and bars.

If you go to UCLA, you're bordered by brentwood on one side, and beverly hills on the other. On top of that, you're 5 miles (tops) from the ocean. I used to have an ocean view from my dorm room.

Although, DC when I visited was also awesome.
 
LA is by far the greatest city in the world!
 
I second Boston, it is just simply an amazing city with fantastic cuisine, nightlife, college life, shopping, sports, and an incredible network of hospitals. It's safer than LA or NYC, and also smaller, thus making it easy to get around. I think it's a great compromise, with much of the best aspects of big cities, minus some of the bad that comes with metropolitan areas.
 
futureMDderm said:
LA is by far the greatest city in the world!
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LA is a **** hole... Some of the worst air quality in the country, housing market which can rival NYC, plus the beach is on the wrong side...

Midwestern cities, especially in school seem to be the best. I'm in Minneapolis/St. Paul right now, and I love it. Reasonable cost of living, clean environment, tons of things to do- more theatres per capita than any other city in the country, lots of things to do outdoors, great restaurants.
 
Crazy4F1 said:
DC!
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the district blows. every day i spend here a piece of me dies. the people are self-important douches, the traffic is horrible, the weather... ok, lately the weather's been nice, the food is meh, everyone in NoVA is fat and i can't find any clothes my size for any less than like $250/pair of jeans at nordstroms/saks, the streets are in piss-poor shape, public transportation is spotty (metro) or unreliable (buses).... i can go on....
 
Jimmy Paige said:
i've heard a lot about large cities. What about the schools in smaller cities like Morgantown WV...top rated party school and rated one of the top small cities in the nation to live in. Also how about Charleston South Carolina, I've hear a lot of good things about the city. Perhaps they are not the best medical programs, however the cities are nice.
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I'm from Morgantown living in LA right now. There are a few good bars that are always busy and lots of fun for weekends. Transportation is good: they have the PRT that goes between the downtown WVU campus and the med camps on the other side of town. It's similar to the transporation system in the Dallas airport, same concept. There is a TON of new housing going up right now. Morgantown is definitely booming in terms of economic growth right now. Downside? Bad bad traffic when students are in town, so the PRT comes in handy a lot. Having a car is pretty much necessary. It's also a small city (if you consider that a downside, I dont personally) so there isnt as much to do as in Philly or NYC or LA.
 
Team Zissou said:
miami!
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I second that, although Jackson MH is in a cesspool of an area...Let's call a spade a spade-NorthWestern has the best school, in the best location, in one of the best cities on this earth-pound for pound...LA is a festering ****hole ( I remember reading that a 4 year old living there has already taken in a lifetime's worth of pollutants)

But I still I wish I had sick enough stats to go to any of the big 4 in NYC...Nothing like living in 'The City' and being able to get the clinical experiences that come with it, on top of everything that is the Big Apple😍
 
nehcmij86 said:
I'm going to be like Jay Mariotti and keep talking about Chicago.

Navy Pier
Art Institute
Chicago style hot dog
Museum of Science and Industry
Taste of Chicago
Sears Tower
Magnificient Mile
Shedd Aquarium
Field Museum
North Avenue Beach
BARACK OBAMA
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Hopefully you don't end up getting an angioplasty from the plane ride to the Sugar Bowl like JM...
 
Top 3

NYC>LA>Chicago

if you are a food connoisseur, dont go to boston--worst restaurants of any big city. not to mention the cheating pats and those accents.
 
joshto said:
Top 3

NYC>LA>Chicago

if you are a food connoisseur, dont go to boston--worst restaurants of any big city. not to mention the cheating pats and those accents.
Click to expand...

👍 I've never been to LA but I can believe it's better than Chicago. Lately their football team is just pissing me off. 🙁
 
badasshairday said:
MCW.

Milwaukee.

I heard the cheese and beer is good.

Their freakin baseball team is the "Brewers" so the beer has got to be somthing special!
Click to expand...

Milwaukee=America's drunkest city :hardy:

For the most part Milwaukee is really nice. There are a good deal of sketchy areas, but the art museum is AMAZING and there are some awesome restaurants and attractions in downtown. The third ward area is really cute too.

The actual MCW campus, on the other hand, isn't all that great. It's just a bunch of hospital and clinic buildings crammed into one place. It is really close to the zoo though!
 
Any place in Florida!!! 🙂👍 The weather is always wonderful!!
 
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