Rush vs. Wake Forest vs. University of Vermont

[empatheticmed]

Hi all,

I am really struggling with making a decision for where to attend medical school. I am fortunate to have acceptances at Rush in Chicago, Wake Forest in Winston-Salem North Carolina, and The University of Vermont in Burlington, VT. As of late, I find myself thinking between Wake and Rush mainly since UVM is much more expensive as an OOS student and is quite rural, but I am still considering it and open to hearing thoughts on pros/cons for that school.

Pros of Rush is that it is close to home in the Midwest (Parents in SD and my current community is in Minneapolis, MN), has a very strong mission with the community, equity, and social justice and has the history and actions to prove that, is cheaper than WFSOM by about $6k per year (base tuition), and is in the big city of Chicago (offers maybe more exposure and professional opportunities?). Rotating at Rush medical center (top 20 hospital in the US) and Cook County (one of the largest county hospitals) could be very educational and important for informing residency.

Cons of Rush: (these are somewhat speculative) Living in a massive city be difficult to be a med student in? Not sure. More expensive living. A less tight-knit community of med school potentially due to being spread out across the city and different neighborhoods. Flipped classroom annoyance (could be a pro actually). Facilities are not *as nice* as Wake Forest.

Pros WFSOM is the 1.5 preclinical, beautiful med school, chill town to live in to be a med student (minimal distraction, easy living and community, great nature), has a lot of exciting updates with opportunities to rotate in Charlotte at Atrium health in 3rd and 4th years, I have a cousin who went there, the students I have interacted with all seem really great and laid back, and the school has been very professional and accommodating thus far.

Cons of WFSOM far from home, in a small town which could limit exposures and "hidden curriculums." Starts in early July vs. the end of August.

I welcome any and all thoughts!! It seems that the financial differences between the 2 after full COA will be negligible, so that can't really help inform my decision right now.

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[m1redsox]

Full disclosure: M1 at Wake, and I am thrilled with my choice to come.

For what it's worth, limited exposures is not a problem at Wake because WFBH is the hospital that serves all of Western NC and Southern Virginia. People are literally helicoptered in from all over the region. Now that we have a massive affiliated program in Charlotte, Wake literally cares for half the state of NC, Northern SC, Southern VA, and some of Eastern TN. You may even see more at Wake simply because the South is such an underserved area with a massive minority underserved population.

As for the fact that we start earlier, that is true, but starting in July means you will literally be done with preclinical curriculum in December of next year. It is a huge plus to start rotations in early March because you will have a full year and a half before residency applications are due to figure out what you want to do and then get research and LORs in that field.

All that being said, since there is not really a prestige difference between the two schools and COA is about the same, I would probably choose to be closer to home.