Rochester vs. Wake Forest

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tessellations

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Hi all! I am incredibly lucky to have received acceptances at these two great schools. While I am admittedly heavily learning towards one of them, I wanted to post this to get some feedback to ensure that I am not missing anything important in my decision making. I received need-based scholarships from both schools, so the COA for them will be listed as what I need to take out in loans per year.

A little about me: I am a MA resident who is interested in emergency medicine, medical education, academics, general surgery, and pediatrics. I think I ultimately would like to match in the northeast for residency (preferably a large city).

Rochester (COA: 42.5k)
Pros
+ lower COA
+ higher ranked
+ closer to home (~7 hour drive or flight out of Boston)
+ I am all about the biospychosocial approach
+ opportunity to engage in medical education pathway and/or medical humanities/bioethics pathway
+ lots of research funding, could even do a funded research year (w/ or w/out masters in health education)
+ Rochester has lots to do, especially in the summer and has lots of breweries (I love craft beer) plus a great lake
+ close to Buffalo and Toronto if I feel like I need to get out of the city
+ really vibed with the school and felt their mission perfectly blends service and research
+ early clinical exposure starting in first year
+ has a huge amount of elective time and can do EM rotation in third year
+ lots of diversity
+ low cost of living, even close to the school
+ good match list, matches well in northeast

Cons
- it's cold and snowy
- lectures are not recorded (although with covid-19 that could change?)
- days, especially during MS1, seem pretty long
- buildings are kind of old

Wake Forest (COA: 61k)

Pros
+ new medical building is gorgeous
+ nice and mild weather
+ everyone seemed very friendly, especially my student host
+ low cost of living, though it can be pretty pricy close to the school/in downtown
+ lectures are recorded
+ step 1 prep materials are included in cost
+ certificate programs seem interesting
+ close to greensboro, charlotte, and (kind of) asheville
+ WS has some nice breweries
+ matches well

Cons
- more expensive
- even farther from home (probably wouldn't want to drive home)
- WS feels kind of small
- lacking in diversity
- doesn't seem to have a strong service focus
- feels a bit more conservative than i am used to
- student tour guide was a little weird
- apparently you have to leave town for good asian food :(

As you can tell I am leaning towards Rochester, but I would love to hear what others think!

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Since you already know you want to stay in the Northeast, Rochester! Seems like you’d be much happier there. Plus, it’s less expensive!
:luck::love:
 
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It seems Rochester has more pros and fewer cons for you.

Regarding the cons, you are somewhat used to the cold being from the northeast and I think you are right that because of the pandemic lectures will likely go online.
 
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Thank you everyone for the reassurances! I have officially decided to choose Rochester between my two acceptances.
 
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