rochester is an easy pick for me. for some reason stritch doesn't give me the right vibe, maybe because i know an immature d-bag who goes there...
That's interesting--Stritch has far less "gunners/d-bags" than most other programs, so unfortunately I think your sample is a bit biased. But the truth is on interview day you can only meet so many people and it's easy to get the wrong impression (for better or worse) about a program. My friend is at U Penn--one of the best programs in the country, but felt during the first two years everyone acted like they were still in college, drinking like they did at frat parties, hooking up, etc. Every program will have students like that (and there's nothing wrong with it--just not my cup of tea. Though I do feel we're supposed to be learning to be professionals...).
I came to Strich primarilly because I wanted to be around mature adults who really cared about their patients, but still have fun and make close friends. The people you learn from (physicians) and with (fellow students) have an immense impact on your formation as a physician, and I was honestly more impressed by Strich than any other program. It was my top choice, and it would be if I had to choose again.
Stritch students match extremeley well. We send lots of students to Mayo, Stanford, and other top programs, as well as into competetive surgical specialties. We're far more competetive than our MCAT and GPA averages make us seem, and that's because the admissions department really does look beyond the numbers (Exhibit A: that long secondary application!).
What matters more is going where you think you'd be happy, because that's where you'll excell. Some people will say Rochester has a better name, and visa versa (for what it's worth, when I was on the interview trail I head more great things about Loyola's name, but for the record I didn't consider NY programs). Anyway, think about where your friends are applying, the curriculum at each program, the city, proximity to family, geography (do you like to camp? Because it's terrible near Chicago! At least nothing compared to the SF Bay Area), and so on. There are a lot of factors that come into play.
Audition rotations and the USMLE are the great equalizers, so go where you feel you'll learn medicine the best, and it'll show on Step 1 and your audition rotations, and you're gold at that point.
