rochester and pittsburgh

[zola]

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any thoughts if you had to choose between the two? In my mind, they are pretty similar in many ways , so maybe if someone is aware of major differences they could share that?

I apologize for my first-ever post being lame, but this is an urgent situation! Thank you for any help!!

 

[ZekeMD]

any thoughts if you had to choose between the two? In my mind, they are pretty similar in many ways , so maybe if someone is aware of major differences they could share that?

I apologize for my first-ever post being lame, but this is an urgent situation! Thank you for any help!!

I was in a similar situation earlier in the year, trying to decide between Rochester and Pitt. This was before March however and I ended up not getting into Pitt (I was surprised since I got very positive feedback from the interviewers, but it made my decision easy. Anyhow I've listed what I think are some of the pros and cons of each school:

Rochester:
The curriculum is amazing, and they are constantly trying to make it better
Location (many people will argue with me on this and that is expected, but I love Rochester. It is a very funcity to live in. There are plenty of things going on year-round, and believe it or not, there is a lot of culture in Rochester.)
The facilities (new research labs, unbelieveable PBL rooms, comfortable lecture halls)
The people (It may be different for you, but I got a much better feeling from the students at Rochester. They seem like a very tight group.)
Primary care reputation (Rochester ranks high in the primary care rankings)
Ton's of cheap housing next to the school.

Cons-
Cost (the tuition is lower than Pitt, but still high...however the cost of living is extremely low)
Poor public transportation so a car is very helpful but not entirely necessary.

Pitt:
Pros-
The number of hospitals (There were a ton!)
The sim lab (best in the country...I'm not sure how much students actually use it however)
Research reputation (Pitt is movin on up)
Pitt is a great city to live in, slightly bigger than Rochester, but it also seemed more cluttered to me.
Very good public transportation

Cons-
Cost (One of the highest, both the cost of living and tuition are high)
The hill....it may get to be a pain, as well as taking the public transportation every day since there is limited housing close to the school.

I hope this helps....if you have any questions feel free to PM me.


EDIT: Thinking back on it, I would have most likely chosen Rochester over Pitt if I had been accepted into Pitt. I feel that Rochester will provide me with a better education, I will be less in debt, and be happy where I am. Let me know what you decide.

 

[zola]

Thanks ZekeMD, that is helpful. One of the cons I have down for Pittsburgh is that I remember thinking the students seemed a bit competetive - very nice and helpful but also conscious of where they stood in the ranking of the class. I'm just not sure I'd want to deal with that sort of environment, which I think comes from the grading system and curve there. I think Pittsburgh was a silly variation on P/F, along the lines of honors, high pass, pass, low pass, fail. Is that right? Do you (or anyone else) remember specifically the grading system at ROchester?

 

[someguy81]

i actually got the feeling that pitt was very non-competitive after talking with students during interview day. most of them seemed pretty chill, which i thought was a big plus.

the grading is h/p/f for the first 2 yrs at pitt.

 

[ZekeMD]

If I remember correctly, Rochester is P/F for the first 2 years and then there is more of a breakdown in the 3rd and 4th years. I'm not sure if I felt the same about Pitt being competitive, but it didn't seem like they were very close as a class at all. Rochester however seemed to be a very close group of students, and I can't imagine the class at Rochester being very competitive. Let me know if you choose Rochester, and if so I'll see you in August

 

[erinmed2k4]

As a new grad of the U of R let me back up the info about grades. The basic science grades in the first two years are graded P/F. Starting 2nd semester 1st year - end of 2nd year you will take the Ambulatory Clerkship Experience (a whole post on its own but basically it is outpatient rotations) and that is graded as a clinical clerkship. Clinical clerkships (ACE and 3rd-4th year cores) are grades honors/high pass/pass/marginal pass/fail. 20% generally get honors, 30% HP, 50% pass (hardly anyone fails).

I can also tell you that Rochester is a great environment for learning. In general I found that my classmates cared much more about learning to become competent/caring than competing/grade grubbing. Of course, during clerkships everyone wants to look good as they are our only graded courses thus tensions can be higher than they were in 1-2nd year. But that is only because there was essentially no tension in 1-2nd year.

Feel free to PM me if you have more questions about Rochester.

 

[pekq]

Despite my grudge against UR as an undergrad, I'd would whole heartily recommend UR over UPitt. However, UPitt has a better rep and thus matches better. UPitt also has more research opportunities. Reputations aside, I think UR is a much better place to learn for reasons already mentioned. Furthermore, the faculty at UR seems much more approachable and supportive of their students.

 

[zola]

Thanks everyone! this stuff is helpful. Here is another question about the two: In my informal survey of everyone I have ever met or happen to pass on the street, I keep getting something along the lines of "Well Pittsburgh obviously has a better rep..." Is this on point? Before this, I had thought they were about equivalent, if not Rochester being better b/c of the curriculum that everyone raves about.... 😕

 

[uclalee]

Well, based on US News, UPitt does have a better research reputation... but Rochester has a better primary care reputation. I think they are close enough in reputation that you should really go with your gut and go to the school that you think you'll like the best. Afterall, you've got to be there for 4 years.

 

[ZekeMD]

Thanks everyone! this stuff is helpful. Here is another question about the two: In my informal survey of everyone I have ever met or happen to pass on the street, I keep getting something along the lines of "Well Pittsburgh obviously has a better rep..." Is this on point? Before this, I had thought they were about equivalent, if not Rochester being better b/c of the curriculum that everyone raves about.... 😕

That all depends on who you are asking. Pitt is definately more well-known than Rochester. But in the medical profession, I'm willing to bet most people see them about equal. Pitt is just a bigger school in general and therefore people know of it more than Rochester. Rankings are pointless in my opinion. Both Rochester and Pitt have very good match lists. I don't think going to one over the other will change how you do in the match based on the small differences in reputation. Your performance will matter a TON however. That being said, I would go to the school where you feel you will obtain the best education and perform your best. If you're not aiming for an ultra-competitive residency, go where you felt most comfortable and where you think you'll be happy for the next 4 years.

 

[uclalee]

bump

 

[sunflower79]

sheesh, let me represent Pitt here.

Grading is H/P/F, all 4 years I believe.

Competitiveness varies by class. 2007 is a bit competitive, yeah, but not cutthroat by any means. Everybody just cares about doing well, and our means are pretty high. We still send class emails about helpful hints and etc though, you know, study hard, party hard. 2006 is really chill on the outside, but man, studying for boards they have to have dinner in the library?! Our class is not that close (there are certain ppl you hang out with after a while), but there are 150 of us and at least I'm friendly to most everyone.

More pros:
- great for future academics, tons of research opportunities
- areas of concentration for those who want to focus on an area of medicine, e.g. care for the underserved. Lots of AOCs to choose from.
- very active student body, a happy bunch
- city is a very manageable size, even for a big city girl like me and a small town girl like my friend
- last, but definitely not least, excellent rep for clinical training (3rd, 4th years help me!)

Not so great things: lecturers in basic science are PhDs, your standard boring powerpoint presenter with few exceptions. and you do feel a bit of pressure to do research over the summer, but how you respond is your call of course.

more questions?
~sunflower