Penn vs. Hopkins vs. Yale

[17throwaway13579]

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Thanks all in advance for your input. I'm having a decently tough time deciding between these 3 schools. All schools are basically the same cost (no aid/scholarships).

I have a global/public health background and am interested in that and health policy (and clinical research). Right now, I'm leaning towards IM as a specialty and maybe a global/public health career. I know this is way too early but due to personal reasons/connections, I kind of want to match to one of the HMS programs (maybe IM, but again, definitely recognize this is super premature).

In terms of my values, I do kind of value prestige (which marginally favors Penn/Hopkins) as well as the usual strong research and extracurricular opportunities, supportive student/faculty culture, stress reducing curriculum. I'm from the East Coast (specifically Maryland) and so none of the options are too far away. I also haven't been able to visit any schools in-person since I work abroad (except for Hopkins which just due to where I live, I'm quite familiar with).

Penn

• Pros
  • Very strong historic reputation
  • No AOA until after match
  • Lots of global/public health opportunities
  • Fairly close to home
  • New facilities
  • Heard the medical education/clinical training is strong relative to other top programs
  • Feel like they match a lot to HMS relative to other schools
• Cons
  • H/HP/P/F clinical (could someone confirm if there is internal ranking/coded language reported to residency. Also people say honors is given out a lot so maybe this isn't a huge con?)
  • Relative to Yale, the culture is a bit less relaxed/competitive it seems
  • Public health school is not super strong since I want to do my MPH (but for me the value in an MPH is the quantitative skills and I guess those are the same regardless of where you go).
• Neutral
  • Not really familiar with the Philly area so finding housing may be a bit challenging

Hopkins

• Pros
  • Very strong historic reputation
  • No AOA until after match
  • Lots of global/public health opportunities
  • Extremely close to home/familiar with the area
  • Likely going P/F for clerkships, in addition to P/F for preclinical
  • No internal ranking (I think)
  • Somewhat cheaper to live
• Cons
  • Not sure I really like the vibe of the school/students. I'm pretty familiar with Hopkins and it just seems like students aren't that happy and like it's competitive/to me it seemed like they are a bit insecure about themselves (which they shouldn't be)
  • Don't match as much to HMS (for IM anyways) relative to Penn/Yale
  • [Minor] Potential to not go P/F for clerkships, especially as people say clinicals are quite tough here

Yale

• Pros
  • Yale system (no shelf exams, they may go P/F permanently for clerkships, generally chill all around)
  • Of the second look sessions I attended between the schools, Yale's students seemed the most relaxed/positive
  • Good amount of global/public health opportunities (but definitely less than Penn/Hopkins)
  • No internal ranking
  • Feel like they match a lot to HMS relative to other schools
• Cons
  • Though still on the East Coast, relative to Hopkins and Penn, farthest away from home/support with potentially limited transportation options
  • Relative to Penn/Hopkins, slightly less prestige in medicine
  • Smaller hospital system
  • Potential to not go P/F for clerkships
• Neutral
  • Haven't visited, but not super sold on New Haven relative to Philly/Baltimore

Currently, a very light internal ranking is Penn>Hopkins>Yale, but I'm not sure if the bump in prestige/stronger hospital system/closer to home of Penn/Hopkins outweighs the Yale system. I also was accepted at Columbia, but for me Penn>Columbia in most of the things I care about so have kind of ruled it out.

If there's anything I'm potentially overlooking, please let me know. Any help/insights would be appreciated as I really have struggled to make a decision. Much appreciated!

 

[srirachamayonnaise]

Between Penn and Hopkins, I would decide based on whether you’d like to live in Philly or Baltimore.

 

[hydroflaskhomie]

Disclaimer: Penn WL and Yale A

Hard decision here. Would say Hopkins; however, hard to recommend that if you feel like the vibe is off. I'd say Penn seems like a solid middle ground if you think the vibe of Hopkins being off is >= to the negative trade-off of a worse MPH program + tiered clinical grading.

Doesn't seem like you're fired up about Yale so I'd make the decision between Penn and Hopkins. I'm also a little worried about Yale's hospital system but it seems like people do fine. At Yale second look it did sound to me like they were going P/F clinical permanently but can anyone else confirm?

 

[MrSlark]

Current Penn student here, the school is very supportive of dual degrees in any form, and I know multiple people that have gone to get a MPH at either Harvard or Hopkins instead of Penn which the institution supported. I’m also interested in an MPH and am currently unsure if I want to go that route or get an MPH at Penn, but I just wanted to put that out as an option that most people probably aren’t aware of.

 

[17throwaway13579]

Thanks for the insights! Just rebumping in case others had thoughts, but thanks again for your feedback!