Sorry to bother you guys...But, which school?

[hopefulM.D.]

Choosing Tulane (Private), University of Toledo (In-State), U of Cincinnati (In-State), Oregon Health (OOS)


I have yet to hear back from OHSU, and am on the waitlist at UC, but what would you guys choose? Could you also explain why?


Thnx

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[soeagerun2or]

Ugh get out of here

 

[hopefulM.D.]

can one of the mods or administrators move it to the pre-allo section...i put my poll in the wrong forum.

thanks

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Okay, so here's where these questions irritate me. Do you have no preference whatsoever? I find that pretty hard to believe. Which location did you like better? Which school impressed you more? How does money factor in? No one here can answer this question for you. All those schools can get you wherever you want to be.

 

[hopefulM.D.]

probably oregon health...big plus is that it's in Portland.


If tuition was a factor....Cincinnati or Toledo.


The nicest people though were at Tulane.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

probably oregon health...big plus is that it's in Portland.


If tuition was a factor....Cincinnati or Toledo.


The nicest people though were at Tulane.

So how big of a factor is tuition to you? Portland is great, btw. OHSU rejected me, so I couldn't stay.

Tulane's known for having really social students, right? I think OHSU has the opposite rep just because it's class has so many older students.

 

[hopefulM.D.]

So how big of a factor is tuition to you? Portland is great, btw. OHSU rejected me, so I couldn't stay.

Tulane's known for having really social students, right? I think OHSU has the opposite rep just because it's class has so many older students.

Tuition is sort of a factor...but I won't let that my by primary motivation for choosing a school. I sort of wish that Tulane was in Portland. That would be a problem solved,

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Tuition is sort of a factor...but I won't let that my by primary motivation for choosing a school. I sort of wish that Tulane was in Portland. That would be a problem solved,

So we partially answered your question. I think it sounds like you should pick OHSU or Tulane since tuition isn't a huge thing for you, and it sounds like you like both schools significantly more than the IS options.

Okay, so here's how I make decisions like this. I try to figure out which thing would make me the most unhappy not to do. Which should would be the saddest about not attending?

 

[vegetables]

This just seems a little silly, setting up a post to see how others pick your school for you. And I go to Tulane, and while I am flattered we're on the list, I still don't think this has a point. You need to be asking better questions that will help you pick your own school, not having strangers doing it for you who aren't even sure what kind of things you are specifically looking for. It's a big life decision - don't choose it based on a poll.

Ask specifics, and I am sure you will get lots of info. Good luck.

 

[Arsenic]

can one of the mods or administrators move it to the pre-allo section...i put my poll in the wrong forum.

thanks

done

 

[DropkickMurphy]

You couldn't pay me to go to school in New Orleans.......

If you don't want to go with the cheapest program, my ranking would be:
-OHSU
-Cincinnati
-Toledo

 

[Hallm_7]

I think the general state of unrest and uncertainty surrounding New Orleans would be reason enough not to go to Tulane.

I don't know what the tuition difference is between OHSU and Cincy/Toledo, but money is important (and becomes more important once you start school). I would choose between Cincy and Toledo simply b/c of the cost, but living in Portland might be worth it to you. To me, spending $50,000 (or whatever it is) to live in Portland wouldn't be worth it.

 

[Gut Shot]

Choosing Tulane (Private), University of Toledo (In-State), U of Cincinnati (In-State), Oregon Health (OOS)

Don't let anyone tell you that debt is unimportant. There's no feeling like getting that first loan statement in residency and realizing that somebody else owns your ass. That said, your best value will be Cinci, by far.

 

[nutster]

I think the general state of unrest and uncertainty surrounding New Orleans would be reason enough not to go to Tulane.

With all due respect, have you been to New Orleans? The city is in a continual state of unrest and uncertainty, even pre-Katrina. I'm with Dropkick; you couldn't pay me to live there.

EDIT: I couldn't help it, this was the first thing that came to mind.

 

[jennifermov]

With all due respect, have you been to New Orleans? The city is in a continual state of unrest and uncertainty, even pre-Katrina. I'm with Dropkick; you couldn't pay me to live there.

EDIT: I couldn't help it, this was the first thing that came to mind.

oohhh! that's harsh! for all of you guys that DON'T live in new orleans....please remember that GOOD press is rarely interesting and it is typically the BAD press that becomes the most widespread. (my parents live only two hours away and i'm tired of them telling me about issues that they hear on the news that have been completely blown out of proportion.) I have lived in NOLA pre-katrina and post....so i hope you will at least consider my perspective. I will not pretend that things are perfect here, but the energy and character that has always defined new orleans still exists. (and fyi...i'm not talking about bourbon street or women flashing to get beads during mardi gras...that's far from what the spirit of new orleans is really about.) while there is still A LOT of work to do, i am comforted by the fact that the people that currently live here WANT to be here and have a genuine interest in the fate of new orleans. i recognize that it will likely take 10-20 YEARS to properly "rebuild" the city, but there is still so much sparkle here, i can't imagine any other place i'd rather live....

now, while i don't think the actual city of new orleans should be a deterrent, i think that Tulane's tuition very well may be one! i am having a problem deciding if it is worth the $ as well!

 

[nutster]

Don't get me wrong, it's a good school...

 

[jennifermov]

Okay, so here's how I make decisions like this. I try to figure out which thing would make me the most unhappy not to do. Which should would be the saddest about not attending?

haha..this is great! i really like your idea about considering it from this angle. i am thinking of the numerous times i let someone else make a decision for me or just flipped a coin.....it would always become quite obvious to me what my true decision was if i was sad about having to go with the other option....

 

[jennifermov]

Don't get me wrong, it's a good school...

sorry....i hope my post didn't come off too strong....totally not my intention....just trying to improve the new orleans love

 

[nutster]

sorry....i hope my post didn't come off too strong....totally not my intention....just trying to improve the new orleans love

It didn't. Just giving you a hard time

 

[QofQuimica]

Choosing Tulane (Private), University of Toledo (In-State), U of Cincinnati (In-State), Oregon Health (OOS)


I have yet to hear back from OHSU, and am on the waitlist at UC, but what would you guys choose? Could you also explain why?


Thnx

Do you have your financial aid packages yet? If not, come back and ask this question again after you do.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

With all due respect, have you been to New Orleans? The city is in a continual state of unrest and uncertainty, even pre-Katrina. I'm with Dropkick; you couldn't pay me to live there.

EDIT: I couldn't help it, this was the first thing that came to mind.

FEMA Calls Rebuilding Complete As New Orleans Restored To Former Squalor
January 30, 2007 | Issue 43•05

Finally, truth in reporting.....

NEW ORLEANS—After an unprecedented 18-month cleanup and repair effort supervised by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and several state and local government bureaus, Undersecretary for Federal Emergency Management R. David Paulison announced Monday that the city of New Orleans has been successfully returned to its pre–Hurricane Katrina state of decay and deterioration.

"Our job here is done," said Paulison, who was joined by Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco in a ceremony along the banks of the Industrial Canal. "Our beloved Big Easy has its soul back. The downtown shops are open and in full violation of code, the nightlife is alive with the sound of violence, and the streets are once again safe for poverty and vice."

Until the 200,000 residents get their butts back down there, I guess the Big Sleazy will continue to rely upon the National Strategic Stockpile of Bitches and Ho's to meet the staffing needs of the city's pimps.

The $41 billion restoration of the city's hallmark abandoned buildings, shacks, vacant lots, and standing trash piles was among the most complex and painstaking ever undertaken. Starting just four weeks after the August 2005 hurricane, workers recovered millions of pieces of flood-damaged debris, cleaned them of sediments and chemicals, and then replaced them where they were originally found.

"Dead Rat, #274,458- Successfully relocated to its former home in the French Quarter."

The work, however, did not proceed without controversy, often grinding to a halt as preservationists quarreled in court over which sections of rot, toxic chemical compounds, PCBs, bacteria, and pathogens predated Katrina.

"We've done our best to ensure the city is as well off as it was before Katrina hit," Blanco said. "It's all back—the same abandoned cars, the broken bottles, the spent shotgun shells, the rat colonies, even the used diapers on the front lawns. People of New Orleans, welcome home."

What's sad.....the first part of that is an actual quote. The second part is the truth.

The most impressive progress was made in the Ninth Ward, the lowest-lying and most devastated section of New Orleans. Due to severe water and mold damage, the difficult decision was made to gut or tear down a majority of the neighborhood's houses, then laboriously reconstruct them to their previous dilapidated condition seven feet below sea level. Many returning residents, including custodial worker and father of four Stanley Gibson, 41, expressed shock at the success of the rebuilding efforts, saying he "never dreamed in a million years [he] would be going back to that place."

"Before the storm, I lived paycheck to paycheck in a run-down two-bedroom house," Gibson said. "I never thought I'd see that house again, but here it is—same sagging roof, compromised foundation and everything. Someone even found my car and put a quarter of a tank of gas back in it."

Gibson was also quoted as saying "Damn, they even replaced my Glock and left a bag of crack to replace the one I had to leave behind as the waters came in!"

As part of the citywide restoration efforts, downtown medical facilities that flooded during Katrina, such as Charity Hospital, were drained, repaired, and meticulously under-funded based on past financial records and other historical evidence. Hospital officials said the facility could be ill-prepared for overcrowding by uninsured and indigent patients as early as next week.

Staff from the recently closed King-Drew emergency medicine residency in LA are being forcibly located to NO in a vain attempt to make sure the crackheads, gangbangers, and other street people will have access to a level of care necessary to allow them to continue to breed and proliferate.

Public schools were fully reopened last Monday after being stocked with outdated textbooks and refurbished chairs for every student to share.

The city's universities and medical schools have beefed up efforts to bring in students by engaging in a campaign of rampant disinformation in an attempt to cancel out the correct response of fear mongering.

Even New Orleans' world-famous French Quarter was given a much-needed boost, with the flood-related detritus covering Bourbon Street cleared and replaced with discarded plastic beads, vomit, and used condoms

All the materials were donated by drunken frat boys from universities around the nation as a sign of solidarity.

"It's like nothing has changed," said Covenant House director Michelle Beauchamp, whose organization received FEMA funds to rebuild and reopen a homeless shelter. "The workers rebuilt all 25 rooms exactly as small as they used to be, and soon we'll be ready to serve New Orleans' 10,000 homeless men, women, and children again."

"Granted we will be stacking them like cordwood, but then again, like I said....nothing has changed."

Residents noted that the same attention to detail could be seen in the levees and floodwalls, which were restored by the Army Corps of Engineers to their "classic" pre-Katrina condition.

The latest in construction materials were used. Playdough, bubble gum, discard pizza boxes and tin sheeting normally seen on shotgun shack roofs all make up the newly restored levees.

Despite FEMA's official declaration of completion, not all facets of New Orleans squalor have been restored. City officials say the return of New Orleans citizens is essential to the survival of the city's crumbling economy and renowned 25 percent poverty rate. And in a sharp and historically inaccurate contrast, federal aid continues to flow into the city, preservationists say.

After several years of bureaucratic restructuring and appointee shuffling, FEMA assured New Orleans residents that it, too, has regained its former level of quality.

"If another hurricane hits New Orleans, we will be just as prepared to help as we were before Katrina," Paulison said.

 

[RollWave11]

You couldn't pay me to go to school in New Orleans.......

If you don't want to go with the cheapest program, my ranking would be:
-OHSU
-Cincinnati
-Toledo

I hope there are more like you out there...I want my friends to get in off the waitlist!!!

 

[hopefulM.D.]

OHSU have that bad of a rep for having a class full of non-trad students? Married students are great and all, but I definitely don't want to be in a class full of students that aren't in the social scene and all.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

OHSU have that bad of a rep for having a class full of non-trad students? Married students are great and all, but I definitely don't want to be in a class full of students that aren't in the social scene and all.

 

[Gut Shot]

OHSU have that bad of a rep for having a class full of non-trad students? Married students are great and all, but I definitely don't want to be in a class full of students that aren't in the social scene and all.

My my, a little demanding, aren't we? I heard the Morton's in Portland just got a new chef, does that impact your decision?

 

[hopefulM.D.]

My my, a little demanding, aren't we? I heard the Morton's in Portland just got a new chef, does that impact your decision?

BTW, as long as the chef can prepare a steak, that's all that matters in my book.

 

[hopefulM.D.]

bump

 

[nutster]

Choosing Tulane (Private), University of Toledo (In-State), U of Cincinnati (In-State), Oregon Health (OOS)

Thnx

I noticed you are an OH in-state. What school?

 

[Critical Mass]

Okay, so here's where these questions irritate me. Do you have no preference whatsoever? I find that pretty hard to believe. Which location did you like better? Which school impressed you more? How does money factor in? No one here can answer this question for you. All those schools can get you wherever you want to be.

I agree with Bagel's frustration. {Bagel}

Apparent SDN calendar:

MCAT season = "What are my chances?" thread X 100

Admission season = "Which school should I choose?" thread X 100

Waitlist season = "How should I spend next year since I didn't get in?" thread X 100

Summer = "What do I need to do to prepare for school?" thread X 100
(accompanied by "I'm taking anatomy and biochem right now so I'll be way ahead of you" threads)

Class of 20-- threads open like mad on a per school basis

MS 1 = no more time for SDN, a small portion of med students stick around to tell pre-allo why rankings are stupid, why you actually do need to do well on the MCAT for people to believe that you can handle it, bash mid-level providers, etc. And no, what you did before you got to med school won't make you any more competative.

late MS 2/MS 3 = no such thing on SDN

MS 4 = ha ha you people don't know what you're talking about, I'm done with USMLE 2 and on a vacation for a year

Solution? None forthcoming. Continue to give us as vague of a picture as possible, and we'll keep getting annoyed that you post the same topics over and over.

Money an issue? Take the best fit in-state

Don't care about money or have scholarship? Take the school with the curriculum, student body, and faculty that suits you best.

 

[braluk]

Looks like this thread has helped Critical Mass sustain his avatar
Sorry had to comment about CM's tirade

To the OP- good luck with your choice. If you choose Tulane, PM me and we can all go out for drinks

 

[hopefulM.D.]

I agree with Bagel's frustration. {Bagel}

Apparent SDN calendar:

MCAT season = "What are my chances?" thread X 100

Admission season = "Which school should I choose?" thread X 100

Waitlist season = "How should I spend next year since I didn't get in?" thread X 100

Summer = "What do I need to do to prepare for school?" thread X 100
(accompanied by "I'm taking anatomy and biochem right now so I'll be way ahead of you" threads)

Class of 20-- threads open like mad on a per school basis

MS 1 = no more time for SDN, a small portion of med students stick around to tell pre-allo why rankings are stupid, why you actually do need to do well on the MCAT for people to believe that you can handle it, bash mid-level providers, etc. And no, what you did before you got to med school won't make you any more competative.

late MS 2/MS 3 = no such thing on SDN

MS 4 = ha ha you people don't know what you're talking about, I'm done with USMLE 2 and on a vacation for a year

Solution? None forthcoming. Continue to give us as vague of a picture as possible, and we'll keep getting annoyed that you post the same topics over and over.

Money an issue? Take the best fit in-state

Don't care about money or have scholarship? Take the school with the curriculum, student body, and faculty that suits you best.

If you are so bitter about this thread, don't read it man. I could care less about opinions that are short-sighted. BTW Dr. Bagel gave some interesting insight regarding the school I should pick. You really shouldn't make assumptions about this thread, because I truly don't know where I'd be happy for the next four years. Not trying to out you or anything, but I find it interesting that you posted anything since you were so annoyed about my post.

Simply, if you are annoyed Critical Mass, than don't read. FYI, the poll sort of gives me an insight about what school people on SDN are interested in attending.


For those people who are not annoyed, is there a reason why OHSU has an edge over the other schools? I hope it's not related to its rankings on US News.

Thanks

HopefulM.D.

 

[DuckHunter]

What are these schools?

 

[Critical Mass]

Simply, if you are annoyed Critical Mass...

Sorry man, got off on a rant. BTW braluk is my dawg! for the avatar, now you should flip your picture over so that you can make it look like you're examining the X-Ray again. FYI I picked Tulane because braluk is going there.

Thing is, I'm skeptical about asking too many subjective Q's from folks out here on pre-allo where very few of us will have visited all of your choices and even fewer have attended any of them. If you are going to throw out specific subjective Q's (like about social scene, etc.), my advice is to ask the specific class threads over on allo.

My advice is contingent upon current debt level, family consideration, familiarity/comfort with region, scholarship offers w/ or w/o renewability, curriculum preference, interest in diversity of student body, firmness about specialty choice, state ties, interest in practicing outside of your state when finished, region of residency preferred, desired grading method (P/F variant vs. ABC), and maybe competative drive. I can usually give you a hard percentage on where you should go and why given that info.

Also, what does it mean to "out" me?

 

[braluk]

Also- and I know that you did say that you are unsure about things but I think it comes down to instinct. I think, when it comes down to choosing anything siginficant in life, save a few things, instinct is what would guide us to the right direction. Sure there are things that you of course need to rationalize, such as costs, and location and all but I would tend to think that this has some role in your instincts when visiting schools. If you want some more information about University of Cincinnati (I attend the SMP here and take the med classes in the med shool) or Tulane feel free to PM me

 

[Critical Mass]

Also- and I know that you did say that you are unsure about things but I think it comes down to instinct. I think, when it comes down to choosing anything siginficant in life, save a few things, instinct is what would guide us to the right direction. Sure there are things that you of course need to rationalize, such as costs, and location and all but I would tend to think that this has some role in your instincts when visiting schools. If you want some more information about University of Cincinnati (I attend the SMP here and take the med classes in the med shool) or Tulane feel free to PM me

Definitely agree big time. I was just about to go to bed when I remembered that braluk is pretty knowledgable about two of your choices.

Honestly, I got very good over the years at "sensing" the climate at a school, and most of what I was able to feel at interview was later proven to be true upon matriculation at my place. In my case, I let the money override my instincts. Not sure if it was the best choice, but my previous debt level was just too great for me to be able to make a more financially risky decision even if I would be happier in med school as a result.

 

[jennifermov]

Money an issue? Take the best fit in-state

Don't care about money or have scholarship? Take the school with the curriculum, student body, and faculty that suits you best.

honestly, i think this is a great way to sum it up. if you can't pay for a school (or don't want to be in massive debt), take it off your list. from there on, evaluate other factors like critical mass suggested. if you are not sure about a certain area concerning a school, then it's time for specific questions to current students.

i COMPLETELY understand your desire to poll (i would be tempted to do the same), but beware of the trap...don't go to a school that EVERYONE ELSE wants to attend....

 

[hopefulM.D.]

I noticed you are an OH in-state. What school?

....