U of M vs Ohio State vs. Wayne State

[nehaj]

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I was actually stuck among these three, and just wanted to hear people's input on what they believed the pros and cons of the schools were. Also, does anyone know the deadline, I have the deposit paid for all three currently?

 

[dilemma12]

i actually go to wsu currently for my undergrad and absolutely hate it....cant wait to get out of here....its all about cliques and it doesn't matter if ur in undergrad or pharm school...the worse are the med school kids lol.. drama is unbelievable!!
BUT the experience at DMC is amazing even better than ann arbor (shadowed and volunteered at both places). You get to see a wide variety of cases n a lot of uncommon ones you wont find in u of m...
BUT i love spending time at ann arbor its gorgeous campus and city super chic, classy and modern...detroit is nice i like it..i live on campus *have for 4 yrs) but gets boring after a while...but MI is tiny you go to all the cities...i usually visit ann arbor often on weekends so its a tough choice n good luck making tht decision!

sorry am from MI so no clue abt ohio...did you get into the pharm program at all 3 schools??!! thts awesome!

 

[nehaj]

thank you so much for your input. Yes, I did get accepted to these three. I am sort of waiting to see if I get any financial help from these places. I have gotten a scholarship from U of M, so right now it is sort of leaning in that direction, but I really liked both Wayne and Ohio State as well.

 

[lvspartan]

I can give some decent input because I was in a similar situation. I grew up outside of Ann Arbor and I am finishing my undergrad at MSU. I got into each school except for UM.

As was already mentioned about Wayne, the proximity to the Detroit Medical Center gives students great shadowing and rotation opportunities. It is also in a part of Detroit that is getting a lot of attention to revitalization regarding development. The biggest reason I decided against Wayne was that I still did not feel like living in downtown Detroit, and I had some weird interactions with current students during my interview that sent up some red flags.

UM is an excellent program with a very good reputation. It was one of my top choices during the application process. The contact I had with students I knew and Dean Perry made it a very attractive place to be, especially considering the proximity to my hometown. Nonetheless, my interview didn't go very well and it probably cost me admission. Ann Arbor is a great town, but certainly the most expensive of the 3 to live in.

OSU was the first place I was admitted and I got a great vibe from everyone I encountered: from the bus drivers to the faculty who interviewed me. The program has a lot to offer, including some joint degree programs, in-state tuition after year 1 and faculty who are truly leaders in their respective fields. At the end of the day there were a lot of reasons why I chose OSU.

 

[Pharmie5]

Nehaj - I assume you have already made your decision, but I thought I would make a post on here about it anyway given my background. I actually was in your same situation one year ago. I applied to WSU, UM and OSU and was accepted to all three schools. I currently go to UM (c/o 2014).

I think when you make the decision about which school to go to, you really need to consider what you want to get out of it. I am really interested in doing Pharmacy research, or going into Academic Pharmacy. I liked that UM incorporated research into their PharmD program (requiring the PharmD investigations project). This is a really unique opportunity at UM.

I also thought about the cost of going to all 3 schools. I am from Michigan, so going to OSU would have cost me more for the first year, and then a little bit less the last 3 years assuming that I got Ohio residency. UM also has the most financial aid packages to offer students, and guarantees some scholarships during your 3rd and 4th years.

One other thing to consider is the types of rotations offered at each school. Based on my experiences, more of Wayne State's rotations are focused around southeastern Michigan. I thought that both OSU and UM had a wider breadth of places you could go for your rotations. I liked having these opportunities.

In regards to location - Ann Arbor is great. Housing is a a little expensive, but the city always has a lot of things going on. When I visited OSU I was really impressed with Columbus. It is bigger than Ann Arbor, and seems to be a fun place to live. One of my best friends is a med student at Wayne State and I have visited her a few times. She lives in an apartment in Detroit. You can get really nice places to live there for not much cost. There are some cool opportunities in Detroit, such as going to professional sports games. Overall though, I feel a little less safe in Detroit. My medstudent friend told me a story about another medstudent who stopped at a light in Detroit and had a man from the street break her window, climb into her car, and hold her at gun point forcing her to drive to the bank and withdraw $500. This occurred in the middle of the afternoon.

Anyway, I guess I have blathered on long enough. I hope you feel good about your decision. If you end up going to UM and have any questions about it, feel free to let me know!