Rosalind Franklin vs. Thomas Jefferson

[Neur-out-of-my-mind]

RFU
Cons:

• Farther away from home (15hr)
• Higher tuition (10k)
• Most matches are into Midwest residencies

Pros:

• Suburban
• Matched 10 people in my specialty of interest (neurology...which I know isn't a hugely competitive field to apply)
• Smaller class size

SKMC
Cons:

• Big city energy
• Not many people matched neuro

Pros:

• Close to home
• More impressive match list (many more in competitive specialties)
• Cheaper

Overall Impression/Why I need Guidance
So overall my biggest concern is what school will give me the best opportunities to succeed. SKMC matches into more competitive specialties, but I don't think I am going to go for one of those anyway. Plus I come from a rural background and am not sure I would be happy living in a huge city.
Am I crazy for wanting to pick a "lower" tiered school because it is in a suburban area?

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[Bowel-Plumber]

Why would you pay more money for the objectively worse school? SKMC is significantly better than RFU. I’ve seen horrible things about RFU online. I don’t even think they have proper rotations. I’m pretty sure they just scramble their students around wherever they can toss them. I don’t think you need to live in the center of Philly if you don’t like it. I’m sure you can find a place to live that fits your needs if you choose SKMC

 

[mdog31415]

As an RFU M2 -> M3, I concur that SKMC is your better choice. RFU does have a history- they've gotten better, but even if you aren't gunning for a competitive specialty the pros of SKMC outweigh those of RFU.

 

[pigsinacloth]

I am going to add in here that many of the RFU students end up living in chicago during M3 and M4 because that's where a lot of their clinical rotations are. My vote is for SKMC. Also Neuro may have had fewer matches, but it's a kind of niche field that is not overly competitive. It's like how one school might have more Peds matches than another school. Most likely not due to anything one school does well or another school does poorly. Just due to the interest of that class of graduates.