Raging debates: Yale, Stanford, WashU

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vkrn

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There are some raging debates on the Pre-Allo boards about the relative strengths of Yale, Stanford, and WashU--among other schools with high USNews rankings.

What's your opinion--whether you attend those aforementioned schools or not?

I've been accepted to WashU, and interviewed at Stanford and Yale (of course, maybe I'll get dinged by S and Y). My one big concern is competition among my future classmates. I don't want to have people aiming to mow me over. But at the same time I want to go to a school which will have the maximum opportunities to strengthen my medical credentials.

Flexibility is not THAT important to me, 'cause I'm going to be pretty focused on just medicine. I don't think I'll be taking that many other types of courses to warrant built-in flexible curricula.

Thoughts? I would REALLY appreciate feedback.

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OK first off I highly doubt there is any real difference in student competition amongst those places due solely to personality characteristics of those admitted.

If Yale suddenly went to a graded system like WashU, I can guarantee you that all of a sudden the perceived competition amongst classmates would be equal to WashU.

I dont know about Stanfords system but I would say the same thing.

The reason that some schools may appear to be more 'competitive' than other schools has NOTHING TO DO with the innate student body but everything to do with the curriculum the school has set up.

That being said, I would go to whatever place gave me the best financial aid. I'm applying MSTP so I dont have to worry about finances, but if I were applying regular MD it would definitely be a factor in my decision. Amongst these excellent schools, the critical factor for me would be financial aid. WashU and Stanford are superior to Yale in this respect.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by MacGyver:

The reason that some schools may appear to be more 'competitive' than other schools has NOTHING TO DO with the innate student body but everything to do with the curriculum the school has set up.
•••••Wrong. I disagree with this b/c if you look at schools you see that there are different years with different amounts of intensity. For example, Columbia tends to have every other year to be super intense gunner like mentalities...
This is why the second look weekend is so important. You get to see your future classmates and get a feel if you would really enjoy being with them for four years.
 
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thanks for the heads-up vkrn. i posted my thoughts (extensively) in the pre-allopathic forum.
 
I'm currently a student at WashU, and I have to say that I don't understand the apparent reputation it has for competition amongst classmates. I haven't felt that way at all here. It is true that the attitude of the class as a whole varies from year to year, so there may have been a class in the past that was more guilty of this than ours is. Our class is pretty close-knit, and there is a lot of group cooperation, sharing of ideas, and emotional support while studying for exams and completing take-home stuff. I heard that WashU is working on getting a 2nd look weekend for MD only students, but I don't know whether they are going to have it set up this year or not. I would definitely suggest attending if they have one so you can meet some of your potential classmates. If not, trust your own first-hand impressions of the school more than rumor. If you have any specific questions you can PM me. Good luck making your decision!
 
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