Hey all, I have narrowed down my choices to these two but I need help deciding. Any insight would be appreciated.
Rush Medical College:
Pros:
- Strong clinical exposure- rotations are at Stroger Cook County Hospital and Rush University Medical Center. Cook County is a safety net hospital of Chicago so I imagine I will see everything. Rush University Medical Center is highly ranked hospital in general.
-Medium Class size of 140- good size where its not a small school vibe but not large enough where students won't know most of each other and attention from faculty won't be significantly split
- tons of community initiatives in Chicago- more opportunities for exposure to diverse communities, to practice clinical skills on the side, and to really serve underserved communities and better understand socioeconomic factors they face . Additionally will probably offer more opportunities to build my resume (important with step 1 going p/f)
-electives first year that I am interested in such as medical spanish and genomics
-Location- chicago is bomb and personality-wise a larger city is more appealing as I am the type of individual that likes to get out and check out new things, even if the timeframe to do that is small
-Students seem extremely happy here and faculty seem very supportive, upbeat, and fun to be around
-Really touts striving for innovation in medicine, particularly for underserved communities, which is something my beliefs are very much in line with
-accepted students are from all over the country- potentially more diverse learning environment
Cons:
-Expensive- Probably will run me about $320k with cost of living factored in
-Name recognition is low among general population (could be bad if I end up practicing in an area outside midwest)
-curriculum is a format that is new to me so would take some adjusting to (could potentially be a postivie though)
Augusta University (Medical College of Georgia)
Pros
- cheaper- will probably only run me about
-excellent facilities- everything is relatively new/ lots of room for studying
-faculty seem very supportive and open to looking into any opportunity you want to pursue
Cons
- questionable in-depth clinical exposure- rotations are at Augusta Health and rural hospitals spread throughout Georgia. Worried that I won't get the full clinical experience since I will predominantly be working in rural regions
-Being the only public school, a significant percentage of accepted applicant I met at second look day were from metro Atlanta area and went to either UGA or GA tech. Worried that it won't be as good of a learning environment since everyone is from a very similar background
-Location: Augusta may be one of my least favorite cities. I am not a super outdoorsy person so very little to do
Overall my heart is at Rush, but the expensive is not something to push away especially since I am already in the hole 100k from undergrad and a masters degree. Reading posts online everyone is saying to go with the cheaper school no matter what particularly since ranking wise Rush isn't significantly higher. Augusta University is a very solid school that I do not think will really impede my career aspirations but overall I also think that Rush will potentially offer more things that I will be excited about and could potentially offer a better learning environment. Any advice would be appreciated
edit-got my numbers wrong for MCG tuition it’ll be closer to 180-200k not 120 like I initially posted
Rush Medical College:
Pros:
- Strong clinical exposure- rotations are at Stroger Cook County Hospital and Rush University Medical Center. Cook County is a safety net hospital of Chicago so I imagine I will see everything. Rush University Medical Center is highly ranked hospital in general.
-Medium Class size of 140- good size where its not a small school vibe but not large enough where students won't know most of each other and attention from faculty won't be significantly split
- tons of community initiatives in Chicago- more opportunities for exposure to diverse communities, to practice clinical skills on the side, and to really serve underserved communities and better understand socioeconomic factors they face . Additionally will probably offer more opportunities to build my resume (important with step 1 going p/f)
-electives first year that I am interested in such as medical spanish and genomics
-Location- chicago is bomb and personality-wise a larger city is more appealing as I am the type of individual that likes to get out and check out new things, even if the timeframe to do that is small
-Students seem extremely happy here and faculty seem very supportive, upbeat, and fun to be around
-Really touts striving for innovation in medicine, particularly for underserved communities, which is something my beliefs are very much in line with
-accepted students are from all over the country- potentially more diverse learning environment
Cons:
-Expensive- Probably will run me about $320k with cost of living factored in
-Name recognition is low among general population (could be bad if I end up practicing in an area outside midwest)
-curriculum is a format that is new to me so would take some adjusting to (could potentially be a postivie though)
Augusta University (Medical College of Georgia)
Pros
- cheaper- will probably only run me about
-excellent facilities- everything is relatively new/ lots of room for studying
-faculty seem very supportive and open to looking into any opportunity you want to pursue
Cons
- questionable in-depth clinical exposure- rotations are at Augusta Health and rural hospitals spread throughout Georgia. Worried that I won't get the full clinical experience since I will predominantly be working in rural regions
-Being the only public school, a significant percentage of accepted applicant I met at second look day were from metro Atlanta area and went to either UGA or GA tech. Worried that it won't be as good of a learning environment since everyone is from a very similar background
-Location: Augusta may be one of my least favorite cities. I am not a super outdoorsy person so very little to do
Overall my heart is at Rush, but the expensive is not something to push away especially since I am already in the hole 100k from undergrad and a masters degree. Reading posts online everyone is saying to go with the cheaper school no matter what particularly since ranking wise Rush isn't significantly higher. Augusta University is a very solid school that I do not think will really impede my career aspirations but overall I also think that Rush will potentially offer more things that I will be excited about and could potentially offer a better learning environment. Any advice would be appreciated
edit-got my numbers wrong for MCG tuition it’ll be closer to 180-200k not 120 like I initially posted
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