Pritzker vs UMich?

[banana]

I was lucky enough to be accepted at both places and am completely torn. I loved michigan when I visited but don't know how excited I am to live in Ann Arbor. I think I might have liked Pritzker less but don't know if I can leave Chicago. Do you think there is actually going to be a major difference as far as residencies go, between the 9th and 19th ranked medical schools? At this point, I am thinking of some of the more competitive residencies and don't want to screw myself over. Anyone else in the same boat? I would love to hear what others think!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[unicorn06]

I was lucky enough to be accepted at both places and am completely torn. I loved michigan when I visited but don't know how excited I am to live in Ann Arbor. I think I might have liked Pritzker less but don't know if I can leave Chicago. Do you think there is actually going to be a major difference as far as residencies go, between the 9th and 19th ranked medical schools? At this point, I am thinking of some of the more competitive residencies and don't want to screw myself over. Anyone else in the same boat? I would love to hear what others think!

If you do really well at either school, you will probably be able to get a competitive residency, but as you know, being at a top 10 school does open up more doors than a top 20, even if the advantage is not huge. When you're looking at residencies, if you are absolutely equal to another applicant in every way, the fact that you went to a higher ranked school could push you over the top and secure you one of the few highly coveted residency spots. I don't really think I need to tell you this. What your decision really comes down to is whether your dislike of moving and Ann Arbor is enough of a reason to give up the slight prestige advantage. Personally, I love Ann Arbor and think it's one of the greatest and most spirited towns in the country, but that's obviously personal preference.

Another thing to consider is the ranking of residency directors. I assume you know that UMich is ranked #3 since they repeat this over and over on interview day. If Chicago is ranked much lower, that would be important given your desire to do a competitive residency.

Good luck!

 

[-Goose-]

I assume you know that UMich is ranked #3 since they repeat this over and over on interview day. If Chicago is ranked much lower, that would be important given your desire to do a competitive residency.

hey- where did you get this information about residency program director's info from?

thanks!

BTW. Pritzker's kind of in what some people would call a "scary" neighborhood... I would choose UMich.

 

[the alchemist]

hey- where did you get this information about residency program director's info from?

thanks!

BTW. Pritzker's kind of in what some people would call a "scary" neighborhood... I would choose UMich.

i went 2 u of c 4 ug (college and professional schools r on the same campus) and though the neighborhood surrounding the school isn't the best, i wouldn't call it scary. ppl who've never been there seem 2 think its the 'hood' or a 'ghetto' when its not. plus the school and the city provide good security and there r 'blue light phones' and school shuttles all over the place. we did have incidents like any other school but i seem 2 read more of those types of incidents here at upenn where i work now...and upenn, though its in west philly, isn't in the 'hood' either. go 4 the school that u like - location, curriculum, residency ops, etc - don't let 1 factor swing ur decision. find the place that gives u more of what u're looking 4. good luck either way. oh btw, having taken the 2 med school biochem classes (it was my major in ug), i can say that the curriculum at the med school, like at the ug, requires alot of studying. so if u're not into the 'grind' thing or gunners, pritzker might not b the place (but things might have changed since i graduated in 1997)

 

[unicorn06]

hey- where did you get this information about residency program director's info from?

thanks!

BTW. Pritzker's kind of in what some people would call a "scary" neighborhood... I would choose UMich.

UMich makes a big deal about the residency director ratings on interview day. You can also get the info from US News if you have the premium membership. However, I think UMich averages the primary care and research residency director ratings to get that #3 figure...I heard this somewhere but am not quite sure if it's true because I haven't done the math myself.

 

[QofQuimica]

I was lucky enough to be accepted at both places and am completely torn. I loved michigan when I visited but don't know how excited I am to live in Ann Arbor. I think I might have liked Pritzker less but don't know if I can leave Chicago. Do you think there is actually going to be a major difference as far as residencies go, between the 9th and 19th ranked medical schools? At this point, I am thinking of some of the more competitive residencies and don't want to screw myself over. Anyone else in the same boat? I would love to hear what others think!

No, I don't think there will be a major difference in terms of which residencies you'll be competitive for. You can get a great education at either school, and either way you will still have to work hard and score well on the boards to make yourself competitive. If you're truly torn, I would suggest that you sit tight for now, get your financial aid packages, go to the second looks for each school, and see how you feel at that point.

 

[banana]

Yeah, I think I will end up waiting until the last possible time to make my decision. Especially because I am also still waiting to hear from a few schools (Penn, NU) that might also change my mind. I was also wondering what everyone thinks about whether staying in Chicago will make it easier to match in Chicago come residency time. I myself think it might be a bit of a tradeoff between the connections you have made and the higher ranking at a school in another city. any ideas?

 

[housemd]

Hi,

I was in a similar situation last year. There really is no real difference in the residency opportunities between the two schools. Both have a great reputation and will open up some doors for you. When you look at these rankings, be sure not to just look at the overall ranking as school sizes differ. The reason why Harvard blows the rankings away every year (besdies it being a great school) is due to the fact that it has like 4,000 faculty compared to most schools with less than 1,000. Obviously, the total NIH research funding will increase and thus the overall ranking. A better indication is to look at research funding per faculty member. Look at Wash U's MCAT score, don't you think it bumps it up in the overall ranking? Im sure Pritzker or Stanford or Cornell could do that and bump themselves up? Bottom line is that a better indiciation is to look at the match lists at the schools in question. Where do you want to be after med school? Is it a stressful school or not? What type of speciality perhaps? Also, you should take into account where you would want to live for 4 years.

 

[nosugrefneb]

oh btw, having taken the 2 med school biochem classes (it was my major in ug), i can say that the curriculum at the med school, like at the ug, requires alot of studying. so if u're not into the 'grind' thing or gunners, pritzker might not b the place (but things might have changed since i graduated in 1997)

Apparently 1997 was a lot different, because this is simply not the case now. "Gunners" are few and far between; people work hard here, as at any school, but they definitely make time for important things in their lives outside of med school too. If you've heard somewhere that there's an intense or competitive feel at Pritzker, you definitely heard wrong. I'm WAY less stressed these days than I was in undergrad, and I'd guess most of my classmates feel the same way. (I'd imagine this is the case at Michigan too, BTW.)

 

[sanford_w/o_son]

Apparently 1997 was a lot different, because this is simply not the case now. "Gunners" are few and far between; people work hard here, as at any school, but they definitely make time for important things in their lives outside of med school too. If you've heard somewhere that there's an intense or competitive feel at Pritzker, you definitely heard wrong. I'm WAY less stressed these days than I was in undergrad, and I'd guess most of my classmates feel the same way. (I'd imagine this is the case at Michigan too, BTW.)

i know some folks at pritzker, and sat in on a class or two. i agree that the students seem to work hard but not competitively.

 

[drmota]

that asian girl from old school, you know the "gunner" type who jeremy piven tries to bribe, goes to pritzker med in real life. crazy huh.
-mota

 

[bdubz]

that asian girl from old school, you know the "gunner" type who jeremy piven tries to bribe, goes to pritzker med in real life. crazy huh.
-mota

hahah that's awesome.

where'd you do undergrad nosugrefneb?

 

[nosugrefneb]

University of Illinois.

 

[Centinel]

From the 2005 Med School Rankings, here's some data that might be useful:

1) I don't think anyone cares that Michigan is #9 and Chicago is #19, but

2) Michigan is shown as being in the '3rd' position of Residency Rankings, which is misleading because really they are tied for 4th (Harvard & Hopkins = #1, Duke =#3, and then several schools tie for #4 with Michigan). Hope that made some sense.

3) Uchicago is tied for #12 in Residency Rank with the University of Washington and UT-Southwestern.

 

[veenut]

both are terrific schools and will allow you to pursue whatever residency you want to if you do well on the boards, rotations, etc. i think the main factors that would influence your decision would be cost and location. if you are from michigan, go to umich! otherwise, the cost is probably similar, any scholarships or grants notwithstanding. if you want to be in a big city, go to pritzker. if you like the college town atmosphere, go to umich. congrats on your acceptances

 

[veenut]

sorry, one more thing...i'm currently trying to decide btw my state school and NU, and the main thing that keeps drawing me to NU despite the cost is that is seems like once you do attend med school in chicago, a LOT of people continue on with their residencies and beyond in chicago bc it offers so many opportunities.

 

[banana]

drinklord----do you happen to know what other schools are tied with michigan?
that data is really helpful (definitely more so than the US News rankings). thanks!

vn2004---congratulations on getting into NU. i interviewed there in november and think it is an awesome school. you definitely cannot beat the area. that is definitely a concern of mine too because i think i might want to ultimately end up in chicago and am wondering if staying for medical school will help me do so.

you guys are awesome, thanks so much for your input!

 

[lucklucknow]

Umich without a doubt... UMich IMHO is one of the top 5 schools in the nation...

1)great location
2)low crime
3)great location lol..
4)top education
5) Great residency options...
6)other great grad/professional schools
7)awesome students
8)decent diversity...
9)Good matching list
10) B/C I said so

I would def. choose UMICH over several schools ranked higher than it including Wash U, JHU, USCF, University of Washington, and possibly HMS…etc…

 

[tennisnr]

To play devil's advocate. The patient population in Ann Arbor is not nearly as large and diverse as a medical school located in a city like chicago, san francisco, st.louis, boston, etc. That is a drawback to mich I believe.

 

[reylting]

To play devil's advocate. The patient population in Ann Arbor is not nearly as large and diverse as a medical school located in a city like chicago, san francisco, st.louis, boston, etc. That is a drawback to mich I believe.

U of M all the way!
The rankings are there for a reason. Besides once you're there you'll adapt to the location. Ann Arbor YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

 

[thinknofu3]

let me preface this by saying that it's in complete jest

go to UMich. Give your prizker acceptance to me (I haven't heard from them yet).

That being said, good luck with your decision

 

[dajimmers]

As far as deciding on a place based on chance of getting a residency there, I think it is hard to really determine. Most hospitals seem to have a higher percentage of residents from their associated medical schools than from other schools, sometimes more than all other med schools combined. Yes, being at a school gives you a good chance to get "in" with the residency directors, get LORs from influential people at that school, get to know the hospital, etc. However, I'm sure a number of students stay in the area b/c they have connections there, and don't want to bother with moving all their belongings, their significant others, their children, and away from their friends. Regardless of where you'd like to be for residency now, it may change once you've spent four years somewhere else...

 

[DrRads101]

I was lucky enough to be accepted at both places and am completely torn. I loved michigan when I visited but don't know how excited I am to live in Ann Arbor. I think I might have liked Pritzker less but don't know if I can leave Chicago. Do you think there is actually going to be a major difference as far as residencies go, between the 9th and 19th ranked medical schools? At this point, I am thinking of some of the more competitive residencies and don't want to screw myself over. Anyone else in the same boat? I would love to hear what others think!

Well if you want to end up in Chicago for residency, I would easily pick U of C since it will give you an advantage IMO. Plus Chicago is a heck of a lot more in the real world IMO than Ann Arbor. For me a couple years ago it came down to U of M and Northwestern and I picked Northwestern and not once have I even thought "I should have went to Michigan." Chicago is a world class city that won't bore you, and it's a lot sunnier and doesn't snow nearly as much in the winter, and doesn't empty out in the summer. To be real I was totally sick of college towns by the time I made this decision since they are such bubbles, and I bored so quickly of them. They are small and you figure them out quickly.

That said, both are fantastic schools, but location is such a big deal to me as I get older and I think I would literally be going crazy if I was still living in a college bubble and not a real city with a diverse population and a diverse entertainment offering. You can only go to so many football games and coffee shops and you'll have the whole place figured out. Chicago you will never figure out and there are just so many more opportunities to do just about ANYTHING, medical or otherwise, in Chicago. And I have a feeling that Hyde Park in Chicago is actually CHEAPER to live in than Ann Arbor.

Just my 2 cents.