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Hi everyone! I have been fortunate enough to have two fantastic options on the table for medical school. Any thoughts you can provide on deciding between the two would be appreciated
Personal Background: I grew up in a rural town, and have lived on the east coast all my life. I am dying to get out and move to the Midwest where the pace of living is slower and people are a whole lot nicer. With that being said, I have applied to both DO and MD programs and have gained acceptances to three DO schools (narrowed down to MUCOM) and one MD school. I’m not too interested in wet-lab research but would like the door open for some clinical research between M1 and M2.
Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Pros:
-Ideal location in the Midwest: I Liked Indianapolis when I visited, city was cool
-More affordable: Financial aid seems more abundant. This is TBD as they will not award a package until March, but they provide free housing for all rotations over 60 miles away, and they have a $15,000/year primary care scholarship for all interested students where you give one year of service in Indiana for each year you get the scholarship. When I crunched the numbers, MUCOM would be $100,000-$125,000 cheaper (total cost: ~$250,000)
-Service-driven mission/school: Aligns with my community service background
-Free range for clinical sites: I can rotate at any of their rural sites all across the state of Indiana.
-Already established social connection: I already have a friend in Indiana who goes to IU, so I wouldn’t feel totally alone and we have discussed sharing an apartment to split the cost.
-Peer mentoring available
-Felt truly at home during the interview day
Cons:
-Newer school, not as much name recognition
-No directly attached hospital like Louisville. However, they have an extensive network of clinical partners across the state.
-Limited research opportunities: Mainly clinical available (but this is what kind of research I want to do).
-DO perception (yes you can yell at me for mentioning this, I am a huge believer that DOs aren’t below MDs but my entire family is pushing this stupid perception on me).
University of Louisville School of Medicine
Pros:
-Great name recognition.
-Excellent affiliated urban hospital but most rotations are in Louisville
-Very strong mentoring programs: These include their advisory colleges and peer mentoring. This is especially needed because I am the first in my family to attend medical school.
-Trover Rural Track available: Excellent rural program for my interests.
-Plethora of research opportunities: Both wet-lab and clinical research.
Cons:
-Okay Location in the Midwest (Louisville didn’t wow me when I visited)
-EXPENSIVE: They did not award me any financial aid and I am stuck with the sticker price of $368,000.
-No guarantee (and quite frankly, low chance) of getting rural clinical experiences. All of my rotations would be in downtown Louisville.
Overall: I ultimately come down to two sticking points, the cost difference between the two, and the clinical opportunities at both. Please feel free to share your thoughts on everything I have included, including my pros vs cons list (and if I missed anything), plus my two sticking points between the two.
Thanks!
Edit: Updated some info
Personal Background: I grew up in a rural town, and have lived on the east coast all my life. I am dying to get out and move to the Midwest where the pace of living is slower and people are a whole lot nicer. With that being said, I have applied to both DO and MD programs and have gained acceptances to three DO schools (narrowed down to MUCOM) and one MD school. I’m not too interested in wet-lab research but would like the door open for some clinical research between M1 and M2.
Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Pros:
-Ideal location in the Midwest: I Liked Indianapolis when I visited, city was cool
-More affordable: Financial aid seems more abundant. This is TBD as they will not award a package until March, but they provide free housing for all rotations over 60 miles away, and they have a $15,000/year primary care scholarship for all interested students where you give one year of service in Indiana for each year you get the scholarship. When I crunched the numbers, MUCOM would be $100,000-$125,000 cheaper (total cost: ~$250,000)
-Service-driven mission/school: Aligns with my community service background
-Free range for clinical sites: I can rotate at any of their rural sites all across the state of Indiana.
-Already established social connection: I already have a friend in Indiana who goes to IU, so I wouldn’t feel totally alone and we have discussed sharing an apartment to split the cost.
-Peer mentoring available
-Felt truly at home during the interview day
Cons:
-Newer school, not as much name recognition
-No directly attached hospital like Louisville. However, they have an extensive network of clinical partners across the state.
-Limited research opportunities: Mainly clinical available (but this is what kind of research I want to do).
-DO perception (yes you can yell at me for mentioning this, I am a huge believer that DOs aren’t below MDs but my entire family is pushing this stupid perception on me).
University of Louisville School of Medicine
Pros:
-Great name recognition.
-Excellent affiliated urban hospital but most rotations are in Louisville
-Very strong mentoring programs: These include their advisory colleges and peer mentoring. This is especially needed because I am the first in my family to attend medical school.
-Trover Rural Track available: Excellent rural program for my interests.
-Plethora of research opportunities: Both wet-lab and clinical research.
Cons:
-Okay Location in the Midwest (Louisville didn’t wow me when I visited)
-EXPENSIVE: They did not award me any financial aid and I am stuck with the sticker price of $368,000.
-No guarantee (and quite frankly, low chance) of getting rural clinical experiences. All of my rotations would be in downtown Louisville.
Overall: I ultimately come down to two sticking points, the cost difference between the two, and the clinical opportunities at both. Please feel free to share your thoughts on everything I have included, including my pros vs cons list (and if I missed anything), plus my two sticking points between the two.
Thanks!
Edit: Updated some info
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