Michigan vs. Northwestern

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ApoK

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Which would you choose?

Also, if the financial packages are equal, then what would you pick?

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perhaps relatively unknown to the premed world, but michigan has many alums who are now residency directors, so there are tons of connections in that sense. but then again, i wouldnt worry too much about these things when choosing a school.
 
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Michigan. Better curriculum (IMO) and better hospital. This is just MY opinion though :)
 
1) In my interview day Michigan kept mentioning how great their 3rd and4th yr training is and how their students are well-recongized by the residency directors. If that is true, it's a really big plus.

2) NU relies heavily on PBL, so if you don't feel comfortable about it, don't go. Of cause, vice versa.

3) If you like living in a big city, go to NU. Ann Arbor is pretty boring (at least compared to Chicago).

So it's really depends on your preference. For me, I don't feel confortable with PBL, so I will pick Michigan over NU.

BTW, both schools are really good schools, and you cant go wrong by going to either one.
 
I would choose Michigan as well.
 
I didnt get to apply to Mich cuz I'm international. But I would probably pick Mich too.
 
I would pick Northwestern just b/c of the big city environment.
 
You can't go wrong with either one, IMO.
 
A post above brought up a good point. PBL can really be a deal breaker for a number of people. I know USC uses it heavily too. And I have had friends tell me you don't learn as well (again it's just their opinion).

So if you are aversive to the idea of having too much PBL, you might want to pick Michigan. But I think from a prestige standpoint they are both identical.
 
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A post above brought up a good point. PBL can really be a deal breaker for a number of people. I know USC uses it heavily too. And I have had friends tell me you don't learn as well (again it's just their opinion).

So if you are aversive to the idea of having too much PBL, you might want to pick Michigan. But I think from a prestige standpoint they are both identical.


Nooooooooo :(

Thish are notshhhh :(

I wish they werezzz!:laugh:
 
A post above brought up a good point. PBL can really be a deal breaker for a number of people. I know USC uses it heavily too. And I have had friends tell me you don't learn as well (again it's just their opinion).

So if you are aversive to the idea of having too much PBL, you might want to pick Michigan. But I think from a prestige standpoint they are both identical.
I think Mich is slightly better? #11 vs. #19.
 
Northwestern hands down for me.

I can offer an interesting perspective, I'm going to Northwestern next year, and am currently a Michigan undergrad. Quality of school/hospitals is a complete wash. Curriculum is different, so one might fit better for you. But for me, its ALL about location. Living in the most gorgeous area of downtown Chicago is infinitely preferable than small Ann Arbor. I know Ann Arbor very well, its a fun town for undergrad, but unless you love being in a small college town, you will be bored out of your mind during med school. Of course, you may hate big cities, so do what is right for you.

Now I didn't get into Michigan, but if I did, there wouldn't be second thoughts.
 
Michigan because they keep applicants up-to-date via Twitter, which I think is awesome btw. :cool:
 
Michigan in a landslide. The only thing NW has going for it is the city, and not everyone likes big cities anyway.

Michigan basically has better everything.
 
Michigan in a landslide. The only thing NW has going for it is the city, and not everyone likes big cities anyway.

Michigan basically has better everything.

Except maybe football. Actually, both suck.
 
Interesting results. I somehow doubt these are the perceptions outside of the medical field though. I bet most non-medical people believe NU is better and holds more prestige due to the undergrad and business programs (although Michigan is also very strong).

Northwestern: business school (#3), law school (#10) and undergrad (#12)
Michigan: the business school (#13), law school (#9), and undergrad (#27)

Personally, I think Michigan is the better medical school but NU is a great medical school in a better location. I think NU has two major downsides, and those are major PBL emphasis and weaker clinical training (NMH is too ritzy to let med students actually do all that much...). Nevertheless, I believe both schools are well-received enough to match into pretty much any residency, depending on your own step 1/clinical grades/research/interview.

Personally, I'd probably choose Michigan for medical school, because of the better clinical training. If I'm doing MD/MBA though, it's NU all the way.
 
Northwestern: business school (#3), law school (#10) and undergrad (#12)
Michigan: the business school (#13), law school (#9), and undergrad (#27)

Personally, I'd probably choose Michigan for medical school, because of the better clinical training. If I'm doing MD/MBA though, it's NU all the way.

You are also interested in MD/MBA? I am too. From that perspective (MD/MBA), then I would also choose NW. Sorry Michigan-Twitter awesomeness.
 
You are also interested in MD/MBA? I am too. From that perspective (MD/MBA), then I would also choose NW. Sorry Michigan-Twitter awesomeness.

Actually, I would disagree. UM's MBA program was ranked #1 as recently as 3 years ago. With a brand new and really sweet business school, and a $100+ million donation from Stephen Ross, I expect that it'll move up again. Also, I don't know what your intentions of wanting an MBA are, but UM is ranked #1 in healthcare management and has a top 5 overall School of Public Health. However, take my comments with a grain of salt, as I am pretty biased as a current UM B-school undergrad.
 
Kellogg rocks. But I think rank of business school only really matters if you want to go into business. If you want an MBA to help you become savy enough to be successful in medicine (set up practice, etc, etc) then I would not factor business school rank into the picture. You will learn what needs to be learned at both.

If, however, you want to go into something like management consulting instead of healthcare (go straight from med school to working at a company like BCG and work as a health care consultant) then business school rank matters.

That's how I see it, at least.
 
Actually, I would disagree. UM's MBA program was ranked #1 as recently as 3 years ago. With a brand new and really sweet business school, and a $100+ million donation from Stephen Ross, I expect that it'll move up again. Also, I don't know what your intentions of wanting an MBA are, but UM is ranked #1 in healthcare management and has a top 5 overall School of Public Health. However, take my comments with a grain of salt, as I am pretty biased as a current UM B-school undergrad.

How is recruitment from Ann Arbor, btw? I've always wondered. I'd imagine there is an advantage for schools based out of Chicago, LA, NY. Just curious.

Also, Michigan is definitely a great school that does virtually everything really well. I really liked it there.
 
this is true. michigan is top10 or at least top 15 in just about everything, so whatever if is you want to do, you can. although i dont think that really impacts what med school you would like better. id just go with the money on this one
 
How is recruitment from Ann Arbor, btw? I've always wondered. I'd imagine there is an advantage for schools based out of Chicago, LA, NY. Just curious.

Also, Michigan is definitely a great school that does virtually everything really well. I really liked it there.


Recruitment out of Michigan is very good. I can speak a lot more about the undergraduate level, but as far as I know, just about any company you could want recruits at Michigan (I actually can't think of a single large investment bank that doesn't come). Last summer, I worked at a bulge bracket investment bank on Wall St. and UM was the second most represented (behind only Harvard). However, if you are looking to go into consulting, NW might be better. All the big three consulting firms come to recruit at UM, but they only take a very small handful of kids.
 
Interesting results. I somehow doubt these are the perceptions outside of the medical field though. I bet most non-medical people believe NU is better and holds more prestige due to the undergrad and business programs (although Michigan is also very strong).

Northwestern: business school (#3), law school (#10) and undergrad (#12)
Michigan: the business school (#13), law school (#9), and undergrad (#27)

Personally, I think Michigan is the better medical school but NU is a great medical school in a better location. I think NU has two major downsides, and those are major PBL emphasis and weaker clinical training (NMH is too ritzy to let med students actually do all that much...). Nevertheless, I believe both schools are well-received enough to match into pretty much any residency, depending on your own step 1/clinical grades/research/interview.

Personally, I'd probably choose Michigan for medical school, because of the better clinical training. If I'm doing MD/MBA though, it's NU all the way.


Firstly, this simply isn't true. NMH might be on the higher end for average patient income, but the notion that it means med students don't get to do as much is ridiculous. According to current Northwestern students as well as what Northwestern says on the interview day, all patients at NMH are on MANDATORY teaching service, so "ritzy" patients can't opt-out. However, for the record, U-M hospital is quite possibly more ritzy itself. Have you ever been to Ann Arbor? It's a small town and we don't exactly have a high poverty level, so U-M patients are either Ann Arbor locals (generally well off) or people from across Michigan or neighboring states who have the resources to come from out of town to U-M. That being said, the same thing still applies. Students at Michigan will get a great clinical experience, the "ritzy" patient population will certainly not affect that.
 
Firstly, this simply isn't true. NMH might be on the higher end for average patient income, but the notion that it means med students don't get to do as much is ridiculous. According to current Northwestern students as well as what Northwestern says on the interview day, all patients at NMH are on MANDATORY teaching service, so "ritzy" patients can't opt-out. However, for the record, U-M hospital is quite possibly more ritzy itself. Have you ever been to Ann Arbor? It's a small town and we don't exactly have a high poverty level, so U-M patients are either Ann Arbor locals (generally well off) or people from across Michigan or neighboring states who have the resources to come from out of town to U-M. That being said, the same thing still applies. Students at Michigan will get a great clinical experience, the "ritzy" patient population will certainly not affect that.

Hmm, I didn't know that. I guess I was just parroting what I've heard from other people. Don't get me wrong though, I loved NU. It'll be really hard to give up my acceptance there, if that's what happens.

Haha, I love SDN. If you say anything slightly negative about any school, you'll find a dozen people who rush in to attack you. I have been seen as personally denigrating Vandy (won't really deny that one cuz BetLet is just too funny to not take advantage), WashU, Michigan (a place I'm strongly considering) and now Northwestern (also strongly considering). SDN is serious business.
 
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