Narrowed down to 2: Pitt vs Stanford

[madamemichaelscott]

PITT

Pros

• My own & my partner’s family live here
• More clinical focus
• 1.5 year preclinical
• Diverse patient populations I wanna work with

Cons

• Not a strong derm department (one of my top specialty choices)
• Gloomy and cold weather
• Less work opportunities for partner in tech (already has a job here for now though!)

STANFORD

Pros

• Prestige aka more connections (?)
• Warm, mild weather year round
• Students seem very happy
• More work opportunities for my partner

Cons

• Very far from home for me & partner (7 hour plane ride)
• More costly (50-60k more)
• 2 year pre-clinical
• Basic science research emphasis
• Suburbia
• Imposter syndrome-inducing

⭐️ Eventually I’d like to move back to Pittsburgh for residency. But I’ve romanticized moving across the country since I was 12 and med school seems like a good time to do it (I stayed close to home for undergrad). I value my family (including family pets) very much though and am worried about not being close-by if something were to happen to them.

PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE, thank you!!

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[1692020135420]

I'm a pitt M4. I'd drop pre-clinical and imposter syndrome from your list. I've said this in other replies, but I truly think the differences in curriculum, with few exceptions, are negligible between programs. Your success will primarily be driven by your own hard work regardless of where you go.

Family
I completely understand the sentiment of wanting to stay close "just in case," but that's a tough way to live life. There's obviously more value in having in them close beyond the what-ifs, but in the grand scheme this is a pretty brief part of your life. As you said, you can always return home for residency.

Cost
If we're talking 50-60k total, I view that as a wash. 200k+ might sway me though.

Prestige / Matching
I agree Stanford opens more doors than Pitt, and your aspirations may change in med school so you'll be more marketable anywhere in the country. If I'm remembering correctly, Pitt typically matches to some solid, high-term derm residencies, even if not the same frequency as Stanford. I'm going into a surgical subspecialty, and I had an excellent mentorship experience and felt like Pitt opened quite a few doors, but can't comment much further on the derm experience.

Research
I can only speak for Pitt here, but there is no shortage of clinical and basic science research opportunities. A good chunk of students also go the CSTP route and match very well, especially in competitive specialties.

All things considered, your post reads like you want to go to Stanford. As much as I've loved my experience at Pitt, I think I'd encourage you to live out that dream. Good luck!

 

[Dr. Sahab]

Honestly a tough decision. You sound highly interested in Stanford and taking that chance for 4 years. Consider how important it is to have a support system nearby throughout med school and how much the cost difference matters to you. Congratulations!

 

[ValPak00per]

Stanford for the weather, prestige, and lifestyle in Palo Alto

 

[madamemichaelscott]

I'm a pitt M4. I'd drop pre-clinical and imposter syndrome from your list. I've said this in other replies, but I truly think the differences in curriculum, with few exceptions, are negligible between programs. Your success will primarily be driven by your own hard work regardless of where you go.

Family
I completely understand the sentiment of wanting to stay close "just in case," but that's a tough way to live life. There's obviously more value in having in them close beyond the what-ifs, but in the grand scheme this is a pretty brief part of your life. As you said, you can always return home for residency.

Cost
If we're talking 50-60k total, I view that as a wash. 200k+ might sway me though.

Prestige / Matching
I agree Stanford opens more doors than Pitt, and your aspirations may change in med school so you'll be more marketable anywhere in the country. If I'm remembering correctly, Pitt typically matches to some solid, high-term derm residencies, even if not the same frequency as Stanford. I'm going into a surgical subspecialty, and I had an excellent mentorship experience and felt like Pitt opened quite a few doors, but can't comment much further on the derm experience.

Research
I can only speak for Pitt here, but there is no shortage of clinical and basic science research opportunities. A good chunk of students also go the CSTP route and match very well, especially in competitive specialties.

All things considered, your post reads like you want to go to Stanford. As much as I've loved my experience at Pitt, I think I'd encourage you to live out that dream. Good luck!

Thank you so much for the detailed response. This is great insight to have! I guess for the family part, I’m more worried about taking my partner far from his family as well (I know it’s his choice to move with me) but I can see myself being busy with med school while he doesn’t have family or friends nearby. Palo Alto seems like a harder place to make friends than Pittsburgh bc he’s not in school and the Palo Alto area is a student, middle-aged, family bubble.

 

[1692020135420]

I think I read into your post that "more opportunities" meant that he was more excited about moving west as well. The reality is that your med school friends will likely become his friend group as well, so I wouldn't worry too much. Yes, there are times you'll be super busy like clinicals, but to be honest the preclinical years and M4 especially are pretty chill. I feel like I maintained a social life and went out with friends/sig other 90% of weekends, but everyone has to find their stride. All that to say it's a convo you should probably explore further with him.

I'm also going to say something that a lot of people in my class (and seemingly every class before and after mine) probably wishes they would have heard: a decent amount of couples, if not most, won't survive medical school. No one thinks it's gonna be them until it is. I obviously hope that's not the case for you guys, but be sure to take a moment to be selfish and consider just your goals and priorities.

 

[signomiii]

Thank you so much for the detailed response. This is great insight to have! I guess for the family part, I’m more worried about taking my partner far from his family as well (I know it’s his choice to move with me) but I can see myself being busy with med school while he doesn’t have family or friends nearby. Palo Alto seems like a harder place to make friends than Pittsburgh bc he’s not in school and the Palo Alto area is a student, middle-aged, family bubble.

I grew up in the Bay Area and I feel like a lot of recent graduates end up moving there to work for tech companies or start ups so I think there would be a lot of people in their 20-30s in the general area (as well as middle aged families). You’ll def make friends in med school too but i know it’s hard to leave a built-in community around Pittsburgh regardless. You have two AMAZING choices and I don’t think you could go wrong with either!