UCLA (Geffen Scholarship) vs UCSF vs Yale vs Johns Hopkins

[LA_Doc]

Hi everyone,

So I finally heard back from the last school I was waiting on, and now I have to start figuring out where I’m matriculating. I’m thankful that I had a successful cycle, but I have no clue how to decide on a school now. Here’s my little blurb about each school, hopefully you all can give me advice on this decision.

UCLA (Full COA Scholarship)

UCLA is the only school that has released my financial aid package, and thankfully I was selected as a Geffen Scholar. Although this seems like a no brainer, I have grown up and lived in LA all my life (also went to college here). I want to take medical school as an opportunity to explore a new city and challenge myself to leave my comfort zone. It’s hard to turn down LA though because I love the city and the school; I would definitely want to do my residency here in LA, and I realize going to medical school here would be the best way to do that.

UCSF

I had a great interview day here, and I can see myself really enjoying San Francisco. This is a comfortable choice because I get to stay in California, but I’ll be far enough from home that I’ll get that new experience I’m looking for. As someone interested in primary care, UCSF’s exceptional clinical training is really important to me. I’m going to try to negotiate a full COA offer here, as I know they’ve given that type of scholarship in the past.

Johns Hopkins

I had a great interview day here, but everything I’ve heard about the school talks about how students here aren’t happy and that it isn’t a good environment to study in. Being able to form relationships with my peers is a huge factor for me, so hearing those rumors makes me very hesitant with Hopkins. I want to become involved with policy work, however, and I figure being so close to DC and having the opportunity to get an MPH at Hopkins would contribute positively to that.

Yale

I loved the Yale system and every interaction I had with students that day. The opportunity to direct my own learning in a stress free environment is a huge plus for me. The collaborative and friendly environment is something that is a draw for me as well. I have a gut feeling that I would do well at Yale. Living in New Haven, however, is not enticing at all.

In terms of my future career aspirations, just to sum it up: I’m interested in being a primary care physician in an underserved community, hopefully in LA. I desire to also be involved in policy work and teaching. My “end of my career” goal (and I realize it’s probably way to earlier to think about this) is to become involved in admissions at a medical school, hopefully as a Dean.

Unrelated question, but if anyone knows if Hopkins or Yale offer full COA scholarships please let me know! I’d love to be able to decide without considering finances. I’m expecting to only take out the unit loan at Yale and Hopkins, which will be 90-100k-ish.

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[asrw77]

From what you have said here, I would suggest UCSF. In-state tuition + available primary care emphasis + premier medical institution (would open up doors in policy) + desire to practice in California but still in a fun new location.

But first I would inform UCSF, Hopkins, and Yale about the Geffen and see if there is anything they can do. These three schools tend to emphasize that they do not really offer merit-based aid but maybe they will try to find something for you.

 

[klumpke]

Which school would you be most upset having to email and say you’re withdrawing from? To me it sounds like Yale

 

[Dr. Meliodas]

I know several Hopkins Med students and they all say they'er class is supper friendly with the exception of a select few who are really just looking out for themselves. But this is the case at any medical school honestly. They have also told me that the students from California are also the chillest at Hopkins so I'm sure you would find a good group of friends. I personally am sick of living in Baltimore but I've been here for 5 going on 6 years now. I think you would enjoy the grand majority of your time here I know I enjoyed the first few years. I do know some who came here from California and did not like it at all because nothing compares to the California weather. The medical school is right next to the Bloomberg School of Public Health which would be the best place to get your MPH to do Policy work. As a graduate from there I loved the school, the classes I took were interesting, people and professors were great. I am currently doing policy work during my gap year here because of connections from the School of Public Health. Hopkins Med is also the #2 school in the country, and the Bloomberg School of Public Health is the #1 school for Public Health. I think Hopkins would set you up to chose any path you are interested in. I have heard placing back to California is very difficult, but then again you are looking to place into Primary care which is probably one of the easier ones to place back in.

The biggest thing for me if i were in your shoes would be the money. The Geffen Scholarship is an amazing accomplishment and unless Hopkins gives you at least something close I would stay with UCLA over Hopkins. I can't really speak much about the other option (but again amazing options to have).

 

[efle]

I would just add to this that when you're talking about med schools like these ones, regional foot-in-the-door doesn't seem to be as big a thing as it normally is. These places draw amazing students from all over the country and send them off to great residencies all over the country. Hopkins last year sent ~20 people out to California, a couple dozen up to Boston and NYC, etc. I wouldn't worry about whether you could make it back to SoCal.

I'd go to the Hopkins second look and give a chance to make a better impression of student happiness/atmosphere. That, together with how attached you feel to home/family in LA, should be the big personal factors going into this decision. Bloomberg is great and having your rent paid for on top of tuition is great, but being happiest for the next 4+ years trumps them both for sure.

 

[Kingsmen2018]

Not only do u get a full tuition scholarship you get a stipend. I vote for UCLA because at the end of the day its still a tier 1 school

 

[Willy38]

Current Yale student here. Tough decision. If you want to end up in California then UCSF or UCLA make sense, although I would argue that for policy work Yale and Hopkins are stronger/better fits. Yale has strong ties to the law school/solomon center for health policy and regularly has opportunities to learn from and meet some of the most influential people in the field (have a friend doing the MD/JD here who wants to do policy work and has had some incredible experiences). I'm sure there are great opportunities elsewhere also but the small class size of both YSM and YLS make for a unique environment to meet and learn from these influential people on a regular basis. And then Hopkins has the best public health program in the country so I'm sure there is no dearth of interesting experiences there. Obviously all are great options and will provide you with an excellent medical education, I think they each offer something a little different with regards to the extracurricular side of things though (And if you do have extracurricular interests then the Yale system will provide you with the most flexibility to pursue them without a doubt). Obviously biased but that's my .02 . Feel free to PM me if you have questions.

 

[TRT7]

What great choices! You're obviously an excellent student, so will have many opportunities for great residency programs 4 years from now wherever you decide to go. If there was no Geffen scholarship, I would pick UCSF, because it's a fun place to work, and I like San Francisco. I trained in Baltimore for a year, and that was enough for me. Yale sounds very classy. Yale and Hopkins are certainly special places where you'll meet great professors, and have classmates that will be leaders in medicine.

None of your fabulous and exciting east coast classmates will help you pay off the crushing burden of debt from student loans, though. As a future primary care provider and administrator, you'll be in the lowest quartile of physician compensation, and will find that repaying the cost of a medical education will be more difficult and onerous than you expect.

Free is a very good price for a UCLA diploma. Take that Geffen scholarship.

 

[efle]

I think it's relevant to add that OP will most likely get a 90-100% of tuition need-based scholarship from Hopkins. He's looking at living expenses in Baltimore as his yearly cost, not $75k sticker or anything like that.

 

[dfa1513]

I think it's relevant to add that OP will most likely get a 90-100% of tuition need-based scholarship from Hopkins. He's looking at living expenses in Baltimore as his yearly cost, not $75k sticker or anything like that.

what makes you think OP will get such a high tuition need-based scholarships? I recently saw an article that Hopkins has tons of Named Scholarships available -- do you know anything about those?

 

[LA_Doc]

what makes you think OP will get such a high tuition need-based scholarships? I recently saw an article that Hopkins has tons of Named Scholarships available -- do you know anything about those?

I talked to Efle separately since he attends Hopkins! And he was right; full tuition scholarship, so Hopkins won't be too much more expensive than LA for me.

 

[efle]

what makes you think OP will get such a high tuition need-based scholarships? I recently saw an article that Hopkins has tons of Named Scholarships available -- do you know anything about those?

I believe the system is that you can donate money to be used as aid and it will bear your name when it gets assigned to students. But it's all need-based. In fact one of the deans recently wrote a NEJM piece criticizing the use of merit aid in medical admissions.

 

[mw18]

What you said about Hopkins and the environment couldn't be further from my experience.

 

[dfa1513]

I talked to Efle separately since he attends Hopkins! And he was right; full tuition scholarship, so Hopkins won't be too much more expensive than LA for me.

I see! Also, btw where have you heard of UCSF Full CoA scholarships? I heard that their FinAid is a bit limited in resources. @efle after a full-tuition scholarship, what are the remaining costs of attending hopkins (I know on the MSAR it says around 70k$?

 

[efle]

I see! Also, btw where have you heard of UCSF Full CoA scholarships? I heard that their FinAid is a bit limited in resources. @efle after a full-tuition scholarship, what are the remaining costs of attending hopkins (I know on the MSAR it says around 70k$?

Here's the breakdown they put in their financial aid award notice for me last year:

You can waive the insurance if you're covered by your parent's still, and you don't actually have to buy books. Travel, personal and so on will vary by person. I chose to spend more on rent than they suggest because I wanted an apartment in a neighborhood I liked rather than at the Hopkins-owned dorm building (called 929).

 

[SCN1a]

with this new information, it looks like Hopkins will both fit your interests AND your budget. this seems like one of those times that you may regret not taking the chance for Hopkins. though UCLA is still a tier 1 school and I do have to tell you that I am still waiting to hear back from them so you can take my comment with a grain of salt. congrats on these acceptances though you are certainly an excellent applicant.