Toledo vs Temple ACMS

[Johnwicksdog]

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Hello! So I am torn between starting school this fall at Toledo or the ACMS program at Temple which I applied to as a backup before being accepted anywhere but now, I am considering choosing it over my acceptance...hear me out. For anyone who doesn't know, ACMS is a 1 year post bacc at temple where if you meet the MCAT requirement of 509 with a 126 in each subsection (currently have a 515 with a 124 in CARS so would have to retake) and get a 3.6+ GPA in the program which I've read is very doable and pretty much everyone does, you automatically enter Temple Med without a gap year afterwards. So a lot of extra work but maybe it’s worth it??

Backround
-24 year old currently in second gap year
-Extremely interested in competitive specialties (neurosurgery and ENT)
-Interested in academics long term
-Have wanted to live in a big city literally my whole life (Midwest suburbs kid) which may be clouding my judgement. I know medicine requires sacrifices but I want to enjoy my life outside of school (whatever time I have) and am desperate for a change of scene. As a single dude in my twenties, things like a diverse dating pool (as a minority myself), a great food scene, or just having more things to do matters to me aka quality of life.

Toledo

Pros
-Biggest plus is obviously not having to retake MCAT, save a year, save the 38k ACMS program cost, and start med school this fall.
-3.5 hour drive from my family (again, kind of looking for a new adventure but the ability to drive home is definitely nice)
-Has a couple NSG and ENT matches every year but not sure about location.
-Cheaper with total COA around 180k

Cons
-No home programs in NSG or ENT but again, people match
-Lower ranked
-Not excited about living in Toledo at all
-Has a lot of Ohio matches and definitely don't want to stay in Ohio for residency or maybe even the midwest -chicago. Again big city dreams mostly out east but want to keep options open.

Temple ACMS/Temple Med

Pros
-Home programs in both NSG and ENT
-Higher ranked
-More research at school and Philly has multiple other schools so research/connections would be way easier
-Get to live in a big city (with all the stuff i mentioned earlier)
-Really love the humanistic and service focus of the school

Cons
-Extra year before starting med school so 3 gap years total and Id start at close to 26
-Obviously the effort required in doing well in the post-bacc classes
-Program is 38k and then 60k for 4 years so total COA is around 280k so 100k more expensive.
-Have to retake MCAT (I know I can get the score, but obv need to put in effort)

I know this might seem crazy since I have an A in hand but in my mind, Temple gives me a better chance of matching a competitive specialty and has a location where I know I will enjoy my life more so the extra 1 year doesn't seem like a big deal...but than I think about all the extra effort + money and feel conflicted again. Honestly, I'm not even sure how much better temple is than toledo and again, maybe its the location driving my reasoning or maybe I'm just an ego driven loser who applied late this cycle and thinks they could do better but knows they cant reapply again with an A in hand. Either way, any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!!

 

[Xprem3dx]

Toledo 100000% please don't put yourself in the position to give up an A

 

[ll275]

Toledo. As mentioned above, you don’t give up an A.

 

[CoolSocks]

I would never turn down an A for the chance to get another A later + you have to pay for the postbac and you already seem solid academically with a 515 MCAT AND a low CARS (meaning you're other sections had to have been pretty great). Do you really want to go through this stress again?

Toledo matches well like you said and if you look at their match map, people do match on both coasts in addition to the midwest: Match Day Results: 2025

You've got your whole life ahead of you to move out of the midwest--4 years isn't *that* long in the grand scheme of things. I say this as a fellow Toledo interviewee (awaiting decision still lol) and an Ohioan who left the midwest about 3 years ago for my postbac. Time has flown and you're gonna be BUSY (and too broke to enjoy a lot of fun things in the city tbh) + you may start to realize you miss your family and having a relatively close support network while in med school would be nice. Also, I have a bias against the city of Toledo as a Cincinnatian so I get the distaste for the location lol, but if its the only place I get in, I would be ecstatic to know I am going to be a doctor and don't have to go through another cycle (and retake the MCAT!!!), you should be too!

This is also why I hate rankings, they get in our heads. Temple is ranked 95 on admit.org and toledo is 130. Unless this was a T20 vs T100+ situation, I don't think the prestige argument/rank holds up that well and you likely wouldn't even know the "prestige" difference if websites like that didn't exist. We (talking to myself too), need to stop letting sometimes arbitrary rankings determine our worth.