Schools that you LOVED after interviewing

[Little Etoile]

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What schools did you absolutely LOVE after interviewing? Give the reason(s), too, of course. Bonus points for schools whose interview swung your opinion of them in the other direction.

Criteria to consider:
-Happiness of students
-Faculty
-Location
-Sense of community
-Support of students, both academically and mentally/emotionally
-Curriculum
-Campus
-ECs
-Clinical sites


I'm thinking this might be helpful for people narrowing down their list of schools for the upcoming cycle.

I would say in general, try to keep to aspects that would apply to the broader population rather than something personally appealing to you. (e.g. "The school has a brand new clinical skills center," rather than "I really want to go into derm and they had a high number of derm matches.")

And not that it needs to be said, but at least *try* to eliminate acceptance/waitlist bias. 😉

 

[ChubbyChaser]

SGU, Ross, AIC.

 

[blackbird11384]

Well I posted in the "which school did you hate after you interviewed" so I figure I should give the other side of the coin. Of all the schools I interviewed at, I was the most impressed by Jefferson Medical College. I have a lot of history with Jefferson Hospital (I was born there, an aunt and grandmother died there, my father had two major surgeries there), so that probably positively impacted my impression.

Up until the the interview I had been on the hospital's campus, but never the medical college's campus. I loved the large library (I'm a big library studier so that was important). I loved the organization of the interview day. I loved the enthusiam of Dr. Brooks and Dr. Callahan. The new building was very nice. The Jefferson Hospital System is AWESOME in many fields, and there was a decent amount of clinically oriented research for those who wanted it. To top it off, they have a great reputation for producing very talented clinicians and they have a long history/tradition of teaching the art of medicine.

I also got the sense from the school, students and administrators alike, that they didn't have a stick up their butts. They know what their strengths and weaknesses are, and they realize they're not a research/high ranks hungry school. They just want to educate future great clinicians. So it's gonna be a hard decision if I get in somewhere else.

 

[bcat85]

slu actually really impressed me... so much so I think I'm gonna go there... It went from about 6th on my list up to 2nd... I got rejected from JHU, which made it #1

 

[LuoYing]

I know that this is also in the "schools you hated post-interview", but I was really won over by Columbia, so much so that I'm headed there this fall. Their admissions staff and students were very friendly to me, and I felt personally well-suited for NYC. I stayed with friends, though, so maybe that made my time more relaxed and fun.

 

[notdeadyet]

UVM. I firmly believe it's the most under-rated medical school in the country. Great people, great student body, great staff, great town, great hospital. WAY too expensive, but a real diamond.

If I didn't have the opportunity to stay in northern california, I'd be in Burlington right now without a doubt.

 

[DeAlighieri]

University of Colorado. People there are ridiculously friendly and laid-back. The facilities are brand-new and absolutely top-notch. It's also in a decently large city (for the cultural/social stuff) and close enough to the mountains that it's not too hard to get some snowboarding/hiking/biking in. I was so impressed that when I got my acceptance in November, I immediately dropped all of my other applications. Highly recommended.

 

[mdgator]

Penn State, based on pretty much all the criteria you listed.

Extremely happy students, very cooperative atmosphere, student-centered school...great faculty, research built-into the curriculum, and very solid research opportunities, I liked Hershey (although if you're a city person, you probably won't), beautiful town and campus, overall I just left my interview and 2nd look knowing that I'd love to go there.

Of the 11 schools I applied to, Penn State started off somewhere in the 9 to 11 range. When I left my interview, it had jumped to top 3. However, I decided to go to my much more affordable state school.