Pitt vs Duke

[studentin92]

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Duke (110K per year COA) — aid tbd
Pros

• Have family in the area
• One of my closest friends lives an hour away
• Third year curriculum will be super helpful for pursuing rigorous research for the specialty I want to
• p/f rotations

Cons

• Not sure if I have time for away rotations during the third year/be able to do them before applying for the match
• Went to pitt for undergrad and lived here for over a decade, so idea of leaving pittsburgh is a bit intimidating
• will have to build new networks for research

Pitt (90K per year with scholarship)
Pros

• already working in lab for specialty i want, know the pd and apd well
• immediate family is all in pittsburgh
• rotations end like 8 months before match application, plenty of time to do away’s

Cons

• honestly kind of sick of pittsburgh after living here for a while and a change seems nice
• seems to be not as prestigious as duke (i know it’s dumb but does matter a bit to me)
• will have to do research alongside all the other commitments bc of no dedicated time
• h/hp/p/f rotations

Summary: Basically stick it out currently with the connections I have at Pitt or take a risk and pursue something new with potentially more time for research at Duke

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Any research stipends should offset some of the cost of attendance budgets for either option. I'm pretty confident you won't have a problem making new relationships with researchers at Duke. I also know you can do some away rotations as a Duke student; one of my friends snuck in an away in Spain (the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plane).

 

[riv_jordan]

Congrats on great options! It's interesting that leaving pittsburgh is a con for Duke but staying in pittsburgh is a con for Pitt. I don't know you enough to know what your true preference is, but it sounds like you've enjoyed pitt but you're ready to leave. I also think it's a good idea to get used to moving around for the rest of your medical education. Furthermore, Duke is closer to family so you'll still have support in the area. I think the con about having to build new networks for research is irrelevant unless you truly love the work you're doing right and it's related to your specialty of interest. You'll have no trouble at Duke, like Mr.Smile12 said. The prestige difference between Duke and Pitt is minimal enough that I would not at all let it influence your decision. If you can visit Duke during their admit weekend, I'd recommend that. But for now, it sounds like Duke is the choice here, especially if they can match or beat Pitt's financial aid.

 

[rob120]

Current Duke student -- pick duke! You can definitely do away-rotations; they will help figure it out!!! As for your other cons, lol looks like living and staying in Pgh is a con, so im not sure there. in regards to research, you can very easily make research connections here! There is a whole TEAM dedicated to helping you plan and suceed in your third year, and everyone is very appraochable. The accelerated pre-clinical is a BIG PRO. It does not feel any harder than compared to my friends in 1.5 year preclinicals (its also way better than vandy's 1 year preclinical--i hear thats hell over there)

Also: https://med.admit.org/community/post/DYG3sZp/name_and_shame_pitt_comments_from_students

Happy to answer more questions!