UCLA DGSOM vs. YALE

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currycurry

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Hey fellow sdn peeps. I've been real fortunate to be accepted into both ucla and yale, and I'm having a hard time deciding which one to go. I understand they're both great schools; for that I'm grateful.

Can any current/past UCLA or Yale med student give some advice/comments on this?
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If you're having trouble with the choice, I would definitely go with which location works best for you. Both are excellent schools that will not limit your residency prospects in any way shape or form. Your future patients will likely not give a **** about which school you went to. Maybe the residency program, depending on the field, but not the med school. You're good to go.
 
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You can always return home to California for residency if you decide to attend Yale. I'd have to respectfully disagree with Slack3r that UCLA has anywhere near the same name recognition among the general population (within medicine it's obviously a different story). I hope it's not an important factor, but if it matters to you, then it matters to you and you should consider it for your own personal happiness.
 
currycurry said:
Hey fellow sdn peeps. I've been real fortunate to be accepted into both ucla and yale recently, and I'm having a hard time deciding which one to go. I understand they're both great schools; for that I'm grateful. Their second looks are also on the same days, so I won't be able to attend both!

Can any current/past UCLA or Yale med student give some advice/comments on this?

I want to stay nearby family in Cali, but I also really liked Yale's curriculum and strong research environment. One other important factor has been the "prestige" associated with Yale's name. Although UCLA is a great school, I feel like many people outside of the medical field (aka future patients) would look favorably on Yale rather than UCLA.

I'm having a really tough time deciding between the two. Help! Any specific strength/good things about either program/school I'm missing?
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!A tu salud!

Perhaps the weather is trivial in the grand scheme of things, but the winter can get ugly in NE. What's your experience with cloudy, cold and snow for three months?

Also, do you know anyone on the East Coast? It always helps to have support nearby if you need it.

Anyway, congrats and best of luck to you!
 
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I'll comment but I am biased bc I'm WL at Yale right now. I didn't get an II from UCLA so I'm little help there.

Patients never ask or care where you went, but if perceived prestige matters to you that much then it may be worth it. Both schools are excellent so you can't go wrong. I think it comes down to the Yale system curriculum vs. UCLA weather and $$ (Research opportunities are ubiquitous at both). In the medical world, I would venture to say that prestige is about the same (with UCLA's hospital maybe having a slight edge ?) At the end of the day you have to go where you will be most happy, wherever that may be. I'm from the east coast so California is really appealing to me, especially with money. I wish I was in your shoes!

currycurry said:
Still waiting for the packages! But ucla covers most of the tuition for first year at least.
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Definitely wait for fin aid packages before deciding though.
 
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currycurry said:
Thank you! I have zero experience living in bad winter. I can imagine it would be slightly difficult to be in a gloomy cloudy environment. But you're right, weather can be trivial in the grand scheme of things as well..
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I would not call weather trivial in the grand scheme, ESPECIALLY if you are from a warm and sunny state. You are going to be overworked and winters will add to your feeling of bleakness. When you have a precious day off you're going to want to maximize your benefit from it. Weather can easily be the straw that make you not want to go do something. That being said, it probably is a good idea to leave your home state at least once in your life for an extended time. It makes you appreciate what you had.
 
If you have a strong preference for the Yale system then pick Yale - otherwise I'd definitely go to UCLA if the $ is comparable given you'd rather be in CA. (Also New Haven isn't exactly paradise)
 
notbobtrustme said:
No question about it. Yale. It's a top 5 school. The difference in prestige between even a top 20 and a top 5 is astounding.
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lulz prestige. Worst reason to choose a school.

I go to DGSOM and will say we probably have the happiest students. Super chill schedule, sunny weather, beach all day, everyday, beautiful people, beautiful cars, foodie paradise, etc.
 
notbobtrustme said:
No question about it. Yale. It's a top 5 school. The difference in prestige between even a top 20 and a top 5 is astounding.
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You're overselling this. I don't think it matters but since you brought it up Yale is at 7 this year and UCLA is at 13. Yale sounds more elite but everyone in medicine knows UCLA is also a top place. Furthermore, if OP wants to match in California Yale's name isn't going to count more than connections they'd make going to UCLA.

Personally if I were choosing between in-state tuition at UCLA and Yale I'd choose UCLA every day and twice on Sunday (and I say this as somebody who is voluntarily paying more to go out of state). There are legit reasons to choose either one, but to say that the answer is obviously Yale isn't helping OP.
 
1) UCLA will be significantly cheaper
2) UCLA has an (arguably) better name in medicine
3) connections you'll make during medical school will make matching at home in California easier
4) NEVER choose a school based on what you think patients might potentially find valuable; most patients do not choose their physician based on where they went to school or even did residency. The phrase "available, affordable and affable" (may include able or accessible as well) is relevant here - they choose you because their PCP or friend/family referred them, you're close to their home/office and you take their insurance. Very, very few will care or know where you went to medical school.
5) being close to family and friends (and not dealing with snow - take it from a fellow Californian who somewhat struggled with weather during residency) is an important source of comfort during times of stress

Moving to Pre-Allo.
 
Yale is in New Haven. It's a great school, but dreary New England and one of the most dangerous cities in America versus sunny California? The choice should be obvious.
 
Correct me if I am wrong but it seems that your family is a big draw to go to UCLA but it's also your family, they will love and support you where ever you go. So I say you should take the adventure and live on the East for a while. Unless UCLA counters with a geffen scholarship then I'd punt Yale and go to UCLA.
 
The only reason why you should choose Yale is if you feel their system of education fits you better. They've got a unique way of teaching (probably giving their students the most freedom of any medical school).

But you also need to add in money...you'd have to feel that Yale would give you a much, much richer experience for that to be worth it.
 
Neither school is going to limit you in terms of residency opportunities. UCLA will give you a slight edge in California simply due to the strong connections you'll be able to make there. Location is a big deal, and you'll realize that 'real life' things (friends, family, happiness) are a lot more important than some name or anything to do with school really. This is coming from someone who does believe school name plays an important factor in opportunities, but I'm sure you will be equally impressed by the quality of both institutions. I'm also from the west coast and here, UCLA has a very big name in medicine. Congrats on your amazing choices!
 
notbobtrustme said:
No question about it. Yale. It's a top 5 school. The difference in prestige between even a top 20 and a top 5 is astounding.
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When did #7 mean top 5?

OP, Yale is dope. I have a friend who is an M1 there - he loves it. Additionally, UCLA is dope, I have a friend there who is an M1 as well and from what I can see, they party more than any other med school I've seen haha. They went to Vegas after their first rounds of tests or something back in Sep/Oct.

My biggest thing is probably the curriculum. Yale has the chillest curriculum in the country and are one of the only true P/F schools. I was chatting with my buddy there back in December and he was casually doing his finals online at his leisure. That's pretty awesome, but would be HORRIBLE for someone like me who procrastinates til the last minute. But for a good student who is on top of their stuff and schedules everything well (I'm thinking a strong J on the Meyer-Briggs lol), that curriculum would be amazing.

Both schools have great name recognition but prestige is NOT worth an additional ~100k in debt (200k when you pay it off fml).

In short: think about price and curriculum style. You'll enjoy it at either place and will have a truly amazing group of classmates and will be trained at the highest levels of clinical excellence regardless.
 
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Really there is no difference ranking wise, and connections will win out if you want to stay in Cali. Again, there is a lot to be said about broadening your horizons and getting to a different part of the country while you still can, but there is SO much more to life than school. You may really resent missing out on life as it continues on without you, which will be much more likely if you're a med student across the country instead of just a local med student. So the decision comes down to what is important to you outside of your career. Unless you have some glaring problem with the curriculum.
 
Among lay people, Yale will be more prestigious than UCLA. In the medical community, I think both schools are equally regarded, with UCLA's hospitals being a bit better than Yale-New Haven. Unless it's really important to have that Ivy League degree, I wouldn't think of Yale as the better choice, unless you like Yale intrinsically for its curriculum, people, or location.

Speaking of location, I think most people would prefer one of the nicest parts of LA (Westwood) to dreary, crime-ridden New Haven. Granted, the Yale campus is gorgeous---but UCLA's aint so bad either (and there's more to eye-candy than architecture, if you catch my drift, ha). Personally I enjoy California climate and culture (more laid back). I think the students at both campuses are great.

Don't forget cost.

But in the end, pick the one you think you'll be happiest with on a day-to-day basis as a med student. Not the one that sounds best on paper.
 
pyrrion89 said:
Among lay people, Yale will be more prestigious than UCLA. In the medical community, I think both schools are equally regarded, with UCLA's hospitals being a bit better than Yale-New Haven. Unless it's really important to have that Ivy League degree, I wouldn't think of Yale as the better choice, unless you like Yale intrinsically for its curriculum, people, or location.

Speaking of location, I think most people would prefer one of the nicest parts of LA (Westwood) to dreary, crime-ridden New Haven. Granted, the Yale campus is gorgeous---but UCLA's aint so bad either (and there's more to eye-candy than architecture, if you catch my drift, ha). Personally I enjoy California climate and culture (more laid back). I think the students at both campuses are great.

Don't forget cost.

But in the end, pick the one you think you'll be happiest with on a day-to-day basis as a med student. Not the one that sounds best on paper.
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Lots of great points here. Just to play Devils advocate, I would argue that "lay person perspective" is relative. I'd argue the IN CALI UCLA has the better reputation to the layperson. It's a facility that people hear about a lot as several celebrities use it and many, many Californians have experience with attempting admission to the university. Not that that, or layperson perspective, should have a drop of anything to do with such a life changing decision.
 
Yale might be more prestigious for its undergraduate program because it's an Ivy, but in medicine, it's a moot point. In fact, I wish people would stop even mentioning useless things like "oh, but where I am, UCLA is more prestigious" or using the word "arguably" to cautiously perpetuate this worthless debate.

I'm a student at Yale. Please don't come here if your reason is prestige. Not all students belong here, and I mean that in the way of our unique curriculum. If you are not self motivated, you will not do well here. If you are, there is no better place.

And sorry, there is just no way UCLA students are happier than Yale students. We don't have grades. We don't have tests (that count). We don't have rankings. We don't have shelf exams. Most of us honor every rotation, because there is no set cut-offs. We have the option of a fully-funded 5th year to just chill. No contest.
 
Any major difference in USMLE scores or cancer research opportunities among these schools?
 
As for the cancer research programs, the comparison is a bit difficult because both of the programs get overshadowed by their neighboring institutions. For instance, UCLA is overshadowed by UCSF (insane) and UCB and Yale is overshadowed by the Weill Cornell-affiliated Memorial Sloan Kettering and Harvard's Broad/Whitehead/Dana-Farber. So in that regard, your best bet would be to look through individual PIs in each institution and see what sort of projects that you'd like to work on. That being said, both Yale and UCLA has phenomenal faculty members doing cutting-edge research, and I think one thing that tips the scale in favor of Yale is the free one-year MHS program between second and third year.
 
I don't think there is anywhere in the entire world where UCLA would have more layperson prestige than Yale.

Yale is literally probably one of the most commonly known words of English in the entire world.
 
OscarWao said:
That was my specific question (which title is used), and you answered it. Thanks! Why so grumpy?
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I'm not grumpy. Sitting outside in the sunshine sipping iced latte.

Its just your questions were vague so I wasn't sure if there was some underlying problem you were having but didn't want to ask. That's all.
 
I'm curious as to which program you're going to choose! Or if you're going to be at UCLA second look 🙂

As everyone has said, both schools are great. I'd let your decision boil down to weather, curriculum (since Yale is so unique), and how badly you want to match into California. I suspect that research opportunities will be abundant at both places, and prestige appears approximately equal with Yale perhaps having the slight edge, but not appreciably so in my (admittedly biased and west coast) opinion.

Regardless, please let us know where you end up!
 
I can comment on UCLA as I went there for undergrad and am doing research here now while in my gap years.

Pros:
-Research at UCLA is a must and there are too many opportunities to do it lol. We have 8 buildings (all 5 stories or taller) dedicated strictly to research and this doesn't include the Center for Health Sciences (CHS) where nearly every floor above floor 1 is dedicated to research. If there is any specific niche of research that you want to do, there's at least one lab that's doing it and will be willing to take you on, as long as you're ready to dig in. Of all the schools I have interviewed at, I come back to UCLA and I just think how many more opportunities there are here. It's really astounding.
-You get to rotate in Ronald Reagan which is the highest ranked hospital in the west coast. It was completed in June 2008, and its architecture was designed by I.M. Pei, the man who built the Louvre Museum in Paris and the John F. Kennedy Library, amongst many, many other structures. He built the hospital with the idea of healing and it's the best hospital I can imagine. I'm definitely in for disappointment wherever i go to med school because of the Ronald Reagan haha.
-You are surrounded by the best physicians in the country. Think of a department and I guarantee you we have an amazing physician or two (at the least) in there. Nearly all of them do research and you can join them in doing research. Imagine them as your mentors. Both of the PIs I've had here have been nothing short of amazing, celebrity-status medical role models.
-The concentration of the research, medicine, and housing all in westwood cannot be understated. You walk 15 minutes to class from grad housing, then you go to research which is 5 minutes away, and then the hospital which is right across the street. No need for a car (unless you rotate at a UCLA hospital other than Reagan), but even then there's a reliable bus system.
-P/F is great and the lecture days are short (10am-12pm, I think?). That's out of this world. You'll have more time to study early for USMLEs, study, research, shadow, work out, etc. I think that really allows for self-directed learning, which is Yale's cornerstone, right?
-From the FB photos I've seen of friends who go here, you have a lot fun with your fellow students. They go out, party, drink, beach, Vegas, etc. I just saw photos of a few friends fighting with huge fluffy sticks on a jump machine while in their scrubs...yea lol.
-IF THERE'S SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DO, OR SOME TYPE OF PHYSICIAN YOU WANT TO BECOME, YOU CAN DO IT AT UCLA. No doubt.

Cons:
-Not as much prestige in the name as Yale
-Less Alumni scholarships?
-Honestly, I haven't done enough research at Yale to say anything else.


Great choices you have there though and by no means, should you regret your decision. You'll be grand at their school.
 
Don't assume UCLA is more affordable before financial aid packages...honestly I think the two massive differences are weather and the Yale system. Are you disciplined enough to learn/keep up without the reinforcement of tests/grades/rank? Are you able to deal with the snow?

I have no conflicts of interests regarding these schools. Both are great, and I doubt you'd find yourself significantly regretting either one. I think the main question is how much does your happiness depend on the environment around you (weather/crime) and how motivated you would be given Yale's relaxed approach. Good luck.
 
so financial aid packages came back!
 
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ChemEngMD said:
When did #7 mean top 5?

OP, Yale is dope. I have a friend who is an M1 there - he loves it. Additionally, UCLA is dope, I have a friend there who is an M1 as well and from what I can see, they party more than any other med school I've seen haha. They went to Vegas after their first rounds of tests or something back in Sep/Oct.

My biggest thing is probably the curriculum. Yale has the chillest curriculum in the country and are one of the only true P/F schools. I was chatting with my buddy there back in December and he was casually doing his finals online at his leisure. That's pretty awesome, but would be HORRIBLE for someone like me who procrastinates til the last minute. But for a good student who is on top of their stuff and schedules everything well (I'm thinking a strong J on the Meyer-Briggs lol), that curriculum would be amazing.

Both schools have great name recognition but prestige is NOT worth an additional ~100k in debt (200k when you pay it off fml).
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