U of Wisconsin vs. USC (Keck)

[Qwerty678]

Wisconsin
Pros

• In-state tuition and low cost of living
• Closer to home and family
• Even though its a public school, lots of research funding and opportunities
• Very solid reputation around the country
• Public health focus

Cons

• Required away rotations during M3 (school requires every student to do a block away from Madison. From what I've heard, students are not a huge fan of this)
• Familiarity (This could be a good or bad thing. Madison is very close to home so I have a support system but I have been around Wisconsin my whole life. Not sure if med school is a good or bad time to go out and experience something else.)
• Pretty new curriculum (I've heard there have been some bumps along the road in its implementation. They also have not given out any info about step scores from this new curriculum)
• Not true pass/fail

USC (Keck)
Pros

• Location (I've always wanted to experience outside my comfort zone. LA seems like a pretty good place to do it)
• High STEP scores
• True pass/fail
• Opportunity to learn and train at LA County Hospital
• Best location to continue developing my Spanish skills as a doctor (non-native Spanish speaker. Minored in Spanish in college and would like to keep up on these skills)

Cons

• $$$$$$$$$ (Do not know how financial aid or scholarships will turn out but assuming no help, there's around a $30-35k difference per year)
• Far away from home. Drastic change could be a good thing or bad thing

Summary: I'm probably missing stuff from the pros and cons of each school. Anybody have any guiding thoughts?

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[libertyyne]

do you want to live in LA and practice in california? I would select Keck. If not Madison is also a good choice.

 

[Shammyguy3]

Wisconsin for it's In-state tuition + low COL. After school, you can match into a residency program out in Cali if you want, or after residency (when you have a significant smaller amount of loans since you went to a cheaper med school) you can even move out there and practice

 

[libertyyne]

Wisconsin for it's In-state tuition + low COL. After school, you can match into a residency program out in Cali if you want, or after residency (when you have a significant smaller amount of loans since you went to a cheaper med school) you can even move out there and practice

there is significant regional bias for residency selection. Its not to say that it cant be done, or wont happen, it just reduces the likelihood, whereas if you go to school in cali you get the regional preference there.

 

[Shammyguy3]

there is significant regional bias for residency selection. Its not to say that it cant be done, or wont happen, it just reduces the likelihood, whereas if you go to school in cali you get the regional preference there.

Sure, which is why OP can move there to practice after residency

 

[deleted958249]

Personally I’d go with the more financially-sound option, which seems to be Wisconsin. Plus medical school is a pretty stressful time, and it may help having family in the area depending on how close you are to them. But as stated above, if you want to end up in California for residency, USC may be the better choice for you personally. Both are excellent options, and in terms of career prospects, I don’t think you can go wrong with either.

 

[puahate]

Idk how important moving away is for you. I think from your list you would want Wisconsin. Personally if i had this choice i would go to Keck because i ACTIVELY want to move out to cali .You dont seem to have that strong desire

 

[931408]

Keck is notorious for extremely high COA, as you pointed out. I just don't personally think there's that big of a reputation drop between the two schools. Keck is better known in the west coast but not as well known as its peers UCLA, UCSF, Stanford. UWisconsin is well known in the Midwest and an excellent public school.

I understand that you want to explore something else, and this may be the right time to do it. It also depends on where you want to match after medical school. If it's in the Midwest, I would recommend taking Wisconsin. It might be harder to match back to the Midwest if you went to USC, as previous posters have pointed out.

Don't worry about STEP scores - that's more on you as a student rather than the curriculum. Medical schools are extremely homogenized, and it's not worth worrying about differences in points. I have heard that UWisconsin is not true P/F - is that something that may be worrisome to you? If so, then USC might be a better option.

Personally, if you can ask USC to try to help match Wisconsin's COA (not sure if they do this), then it would be reasonable to go there. $120k is just so much money, and I don't believe it's worth the investment to go to Keck.

 

[Qwerty678]

Does anybody know what Wisconsin's grading system is like?

Also, when would it be appropriate to start a dialogue with both the USC and Wisconsin financial aid/scholarship offices? It's still kind of early in the cycle so not sure if I should wait until before or after USC sends me their aid offer this spring to let them know that the cost difference is a big factor holding me back.

 

[libertyyne]

Does anybody know what Wisconsin's grading system is like?

Also, when would it be appropriate to start a dialogue with both the USC and Wisconsin financial aid/scholarship offices? It's still kind of early in the cycle so not sure if I should wait until before or after USC sends me their aid offer this spring to let them know that the cost difference is a big factor holding me back.

This is an interesting question. Usually the advice is to send a nice letter indicating you have another offer from another school at the end of the cycle. However, this cycle is a little different considering the changes in when schools can see acceptances. It might even warrant a discussion in the main premed forum since the process is new and no norm has been established.

 

[rball]

If you want to go into primary care, either choice is good. If you’re thinking about specialties, USC def trumps Wisconsin in terms of reputation. Sure you can make the argument USC is behind other well known CA schools. But you could also argue that Wisconsin’s rep in the midwest is behind WashU/UMich/NW/Pritzker/Mayo/Case, and in some specialties behind Iowa, Rush, MCW.

Overall, go where you think you will be happiest and will have no regrets. They are both great schools. But if you are truly torn between the two and are thinking abt specializing, go to USC. Solid reputation, outstanding clinical training.

 

[workaholic181]

Tuition wise you're literally looking at 31k vs 61k.. I agree LA would be an awesome experience but I dont think it justifies that price. Living near family makes med school a little easier. I'd pick UW barring a big offer from Keck. Can't go wrong though, good luck wherever you end up.

 

[CarpeDiem1993]

USC! You have a more powerful national name, you get to live in a new, hopping place, you open up a lot of match opportunities in Cali (UCLA down the road, UCSD, etc.). Also, the true pass/fail is REAAALLLY nice. Will make medical school much more enjoyable.

 

[suggestionsplease]

Reputation-wise, I think both are pretty good and with strong STEP scores, you have lots of opportunities for matching. Also agree with what is said above in that STEP scores are more based off of individual students than curriculum. I've talked with a faculty member from a top-tier who interviews people for residencies and fellowships and she said either one is great.
As others point out, I think the key difference would be the cost. USC has high tuition + COL compared to Wisconsin. I don't think the price is justified. Also at Wisconsin, you would also have family support which would help make med school less stressful.
Either way, both are great options!

 

[studentdoctor2040]

UW is a top med school. Coming from someone who doesn't know the west coast very well but is trying to make a similar decision between some private east coast schools and UW (my IS), I would choose UW.

UW carries more weight than applicants think. Every clinician-researcher that I work with in NYC knows it as a research powerhouse and that it provides one of the best educations for clinical care in the country. Though you hear more about Keck because people (applicants) know of the west and east coast schools, the UW education is worth it even without the recognition it deserves, especially for the price.

In addition, many of my bosses and mentors work on admissions committees and teams that choose MD students and residents. Though I only know about the top east coast schools, they work really hard to recruit medical students from the midwest for diversity, and have difficulty doing so. The match list for UW is mostly midwest matches because people CHOOSE to stay, generally where they are born and raised, not because they are unable to match elsewhere. My mentors told me I would have a much easier time matching on the east coast as a top student from a top midwest school than being one of 10-20 students trying to match from an east coast private school. I imagine this is similar for west coast residencies, though I can't say for sure.

Lastly, you really cannot beat the warm and inviting atmosphere at UW. I don't know about your interview day, but UW was by far my best interview experience. I met the most impressive students and faculty members, those of whom completed residency at top 10s and worked hard in order to be offered a position at a school like UW for the midwest quality of life. Most applicants don't know that UW is known for their unbeatable faculty, particularly specialists, but physicians and residencies do. What's more, everyone is approachable and not only willing, but driven, to help you succeed. My interviewer (who I was so well paired with -- what a great feature!) moved from NYC to UW because of this fact alone. They said they wanted to work and teach at a place where the faculty want to put students on papers and bend over backwards for students to shadow some of the best surgical and clinical care teams in the country. I haven't heard this anywhere else (but of course, welcome to the midwest).

Just some things to think about!

With all of that being said, I am still actively deciding, which is tough knowing all of this -- being in a big city is a huge deciding factor for me, and I'm not sure I would thrive in Madison. I understand that happiness due to location can make or break your experience. Best of luck with your decision though, and I hope we cross paths in the future whether it's at UW in the fall or later down the line!


Edit: To answer your question regarding grading: UW is P/F for all four years, but there is a class rank reported as a range (or "graphical representation", whatever that means). I have some UW SMPH friends who tell me that everyone is extremely collaborative and that they don't pay attention to rankings, but I'm sure it puts the pressure on for others, especially those who are more cut-throat. This does worry me a bit in terms of how relaxed I would be for the first 2 years. You can check out the 2018-2019 MD Program Student Handbook for more info.

 

[Pharaoh95]

If you receive any sort of aid that narrows the tuition difference between the schools, I would go with USC. Life's too short.

 

[lalalallala]

30-35k a year is a lot. Plus COL and and interest... that is a major amount of money. Is 'trying something new' really worth all that money and leaving your support system?