Michigan vs Yale (waitlisted) [LOI advice]

[Nerdanese]

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Hola! My apologies that this is an unusual comparison as I'm on the waitlist for one, but I wanted to compare these two schools in order to determine if I should send a LOI to Yale (currently waitlisted there).

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Pros

• Dean’s Scholar scholarship, awarded to 10 students and comes with scholarship perks like networking, seminars, etc – still not 100% sure what this includes in its entirety
• FINANCES: Dean’s scholarship is full tuition + 55k for graduate degree of choice, as my family income is <30k I anticipate getting good financial aid for cost of living/cost of attendance
• Was thinking of getting an MBA through this scholarship
• Very high residency director ranking
• Ann Arbor is cute and looks like a nice area to live
• 
  Cons
  

• Away from SO for 5 years
• Not Yale System grades
• FINANCES: will have to pay for housing/living unless I receive financial aid for it
• Ann arbor is in the Midwest and is not a city
• Lower STEP 1 score (233 vs 240(?) for Yale)
• I might want to match into something competitive back east and I don’t know how feasible this will be

YALE (WAITLIST)
Pros

• SO will most likely go here for MD/PhD
• Ivy league name
• Yale System grading
• FINANCES: If my SO goes here they will cover room/board for me (co-living)
• New Haven is a city…ish

Cons

• I am waitlisted here haha
• FINANCES: At minimum I will need to take 15k unit loan a year, and I don’t know my financial aid package as I am on the waitlist
• New Haven is…New Haven

QUESTIONS:

Which school has a better match list?

Which school is better for global/public health?

Is there anything else I should be thinking about when comparing these two schools?


Summary: Michigan is financially-affordable and an amazing school, but I’m hesitant because I will be ~5 years apart from my SO and I may want to match into something competitive back east. Should I send a LOI to Yale, or not?

 

[Quantal Reasoning]

Hola! My apologies that this is an unusual comparison as I'm on the waitlist for one, but I wanted to compare these two schools in order to determine if I should send a LOI to Yale (currently waitlisted there).

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Pros

• Dean’s Scholar scholarship, awarded to 10 students and comes with scholarship perks like networking, seminars, etc – still not 100% sure what this includes in its entirety
• FINANCES: Dean’s scholarship is full tuition + 55k for graduate degree of choice, as my family income is <30k I anticipate getting good financial aid for cost of living/cost of attendance
• Was thinking of getting an MBA through this scholarship
• Very high residency director ranking
• Ann Arbor is cute and looks like a nice area to live
• 
  Cons

• Away from SO for 5 years
• Not Yale System grades
• FINANCES: will have to pay for housing/living unless I receive financial aid for it
• Ann arbor is in the Midwest and is not a city
• Lower STEP 1 score (233 vs 240(?) for Yale)
• I might want to match into something competitive back east and I don’t know how feasible this will be

YALE (WAITLIST)
Pros

• SO will most likely go here for MD/PhD
• Ivy league name
• Yale System grading
• FINANCES: If my SO goes here they will cover room/board for me (co-living)
• New Haven is a city…ish

Cons

• I am waitlisted here haha
• FINANCES: At minimum I will need to take 15k unit loan a year, and I don’t know my financial aid package as I am on the waitlist
• New Haven is…New Haven

QUESTIONS:

Which school has a better match list?

Which school is better for global/public health?

Is there anything else I should be thinking about when comparing these two schools?


Summary: Michigan is financially-affordable and an amazing school, but I’m hesitant because I will be ~5 years apart from my SO and I may want to match into something competitive back east. Should I send a LOI to Yale, or not?

Both equally good matchlists. No difference whatsoever. I'd try to get into Yale to be with SO.

 

[Gilakend]

I came into this thread fully expecting to tell you to go to Michigan, but I wouldn't wanna be away from my SO for 5 years. I'd send LOI and hope you get into Yale.

 

[ReggieVeggie]

Might be wise to wait on a letter of intent until you know your SO will be at Yale. With the family income you provided, I'm guessing you'll get full aid at Yale. Even though 60k in loans is nothing to sneeze at, it would be worth it to be in the same place as your SO for 5 years. Both are amazing schools, best of luck with your decision!

 

[dodolol21]

Hmm..thats a toughie. First, I would definitely make sure the relationship is hella serious and then wait to make sure 100% you're SO is set on going to Yale for MD/PhD. Seeing as he's gonna be there for 8 years, this means that even if you go to Michigan, you guys can't match together so would have to be apart for even longer. Seeing as your COL is covered, and your family income is <30k, I feel like its fair to say that Yale won't be too much more expensive for you.

Personally, I wouldn't want to be away from my SO for so long. Medical school although nearly debt free would be miserable, and if you don't match east for residency those years would also suck. In my book, SO is easily worth 15k extra/year. Send the LOI! Make sure its a super dope one! Sad to see you won't be at Baylor but hopefully you end up at your top choice!

 

[Nerdanese]

Might be wise to wait on a letter of intent until you know your SO will be at Yale. With the family income you provided, I'm guessing you'll get full aid at Yale. Even though 60k in loans is nothing to sneeze at, it would be worth it to be in the same place as your SO for 5 years. Both are amazing schools, best of luck with your decision!

Thanks for this input! They're not 100% committed to Yale yet, if they don't go I probably won't send a LOI. Thanks, I'm gonna need it haha

 

[Nerdanese]

Hmm..thats a toughie. First, I would definitely make sure the relationship is hella serious and then wait to make sure 100% you're SO is set on going to Yale for MD/PhD. Seeing as he's gonna be there for 8 years, this means that even if you go to Michigan, you guys can't match together so would have to be apart for even longer. Seeing as your COL is covered, and your family income is <30k, I feel like its fair to say that Yale won't be too much more expensive for you.

Personally, I wouldn't want to be away from my SO for so long. Medical school although nearly debt free would be miserable, and if you don't match east for residency those years would also suck. In my book, SO is easily worth 15k extra/year. Send the LOI! Make sure its a super dope one! Sad to see you won't be at Baylor but hopefully you end up at your top choice!

Thank you for this input! Baylor actually isn't out of the running but until I get my fin aid package from them I don't even want to tempt myself with them :'(

 

[574522]

Match lists are both great. Yale probably has a slight edge in global health with Michigan having the edge in public health. I'd argue that overall Michigan has strong +1 master's options, and a more interesting hospital system to train in, but Yale has cooler regional conference and networking opportunities. If you think your SO is forever, I'd definitely say Yale. In the end though, make sure you're picking a place that you vibe with and where you'll be happy. While the opportunities at the 2 programs are comparable, the cities and cultures of the universities are not.

 

[Nerdanese]

Match lists are both great. Yale probably has a slight edge in global health with Michigan having the edge in public health. I'd argue that overall Michigan has strong +1 master's options, and a more interesting hospital system to train in, but Yale has cooler regional conference and networking opportunities. If you think your SO is forever, I'd definitely say Yale. In the end though, make sure you're picking a place that you vibe with and where you'll be happy. While the opportunities at the 2 programs are comparable, the cities and cultures of the universities are not.

thanks for this advice! Do you think I should be concerned about matching for residency back east, especially near my SO, if I went to Umich?

 

[574522]

thanks for this advice! Do you think I should be concerned about matching for residency back east, especially near my SO, if I went to Umich?

Yale would give you a regional advantage plus a home program for matching in the NE, but Michigan is a top program that sends people to great spots all over the country. Unless you want to do something hyper-competitive for which a home program could be really helpful (e.g. IR), you shouldn't have an issue coming East from UMich

 

[fling105]

If your custodial parent only makes $30k/year, then you should receive a $80,000/year scholarship from Yale. You don't need to take out the unit loan—that's only if you need more assistance beyond $80k, which you wouldn't because you said your SO-connection will pay for COL. Even if you do end up needing to take out the loan, $15k is nothing—remember, you're going to be a doctor. That'll be easy to pay off.

I think you should send an LOI to Yale—especially if you think you'd fit well with the Yale System. Wishing you luck!

Edit: I wanted to mention my lack of bias as I believe that is important. I am not in the running for either of these schools

 

[puahate]

New Haven is unimpressive

 

[CarpeDiem1993]

YALE YALE YALE