UCLA (Geffen Scholarship) vs UPenn (21st Century Scholarship)

[koalaburrito]

So UCLA just reached out and offered me a Geffen Scholarship. This community was incredibly helpful last time in making my decision, so I thought I would reach out again. If you would've told me that I had either of these options a year ago I would've taken either of them in a heartbeat. For background, my family is all out west and I would love to end up in California for residency. I am thinking of pursuing ophthalmology or derm. I may want to do a second degree (15%chance), and if I did I would probably do an MBA or MPP. My partner works as a nurse and job prospects are great in both cities. We are outdoorsy and love hiking etc. We have an ok amount of savings and the cost difference over 4 years would be about $100k. Ultimately we will graduate from either place with savings.

UCLA (Geffen - tuition/fees + $35k/yr)
+ The money
+ More students match in Cali for residency
+ Better outdoor scene (hiking and surfing)
+ The WEATHER
+ Closer to family!
- Lower tier (can I even say that?) Will the Geffen give me all the clout that Penn offers?
- traffic traffic traffic
- Combined clinical year with the class below us, also 2 years of pre-clinical
- Harsher grading for clinical year..?

Penn (21st Century - tuition/fees + $10k/yr)
+ Penn’s match list is incredible
+ Wharton / emphasis on quality improvement and health econ which I am passionate about
+ I live my classmates and it seems like they would push me more academically..? Again I have no idea...
+ More integrated with the undergrad
- Not as stoked about Philly
- mentally and physically very far from family

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[deleted976595]

I'll be attending Penn so I'm a little biased, but even still, unless you're more strongly considering the MBA I say go for UCLA. You want to match back into California and in that regard I think UCLA will hold just as much clout to Cali PDs as Penn will, especially with Geffen scholarship attached. The weather and outdoor scene are gonna be better (you can't beat 70 and sunny most of the year). Plus, I think the Geffen provides more towards living expenses than 21st century (I'm assuming the 100k difference is in favor of UCLA). I think Penn is a little stronger in Derm (not sure about Optho), but looking at UCLA's match lists it looks like they have no problem placing people in both.

 

[Yhwach]

UCLA

 

[koalaburrito]

Did UCLA offer you a Geffen after you already withdrew or PTE/CTE at Penn?

Yes they did. The Dean said it wasn't breaking any protocols since it was less than 5 days from the PTE deadline. I'm not sure how it all works.

 

[deleted965528]

.

 

[djiboutiman]

UCLA! Penn might be a bit more prestigious, but UCLA with Geffen shouldn’t limit you in any way, even for your preferred specialties. Also your partner can tell you this, but California is one of the best places to be a nurse due to protected nurse to patient ratios, so I imagine your partner would be happier working in LA. Two awesome choices, you can’t go wrong here.

 

[Engrailed]

Disclaimer: I am on the UCLA waitlist and thus I initially didn't want to respond. But I feel like SDN's answer usually favors the cheaper option, period, end of conversation. IMO that might not always be the best fit, especially if the total cost is well below the usual amount. I personally ended up choosing the more expensive option to PTE.

Penn if you are interested in business and economics of medicine, even if you eventually decide not to pursue an MBA. Penn will definitely not hold you back when it comes to matching in CA and I would argue it might open even more doors that will allow you choice of not only CA residency but specialty and regions of CA. Take a look at match lists for both schools and look beyond the number of CA matches because both will be able to match in CA without problem; do you want the luxury of choice? Although UCLA is a top institution, Penn has more of the "Alabama trailer park" Inbreeding Factor. Is that something you see useful and desirable in your career? Another question would be whether you prefer a large public institution vs a private school with arguably more attention. And, of course, location. I think this question is more of location vs fitting opportunities, rather than free CoA vs Penn.

Echoing this, I would say it comes down to your desire to be close to home/family vs potentially leaving the door open for opportunities beyond just medicine. Penn's Wharton is ofc a world-renowned program if you're ever interested in that. (Wharton >>> UCLA's Anderson)
Like you mentioned, in your MS3 year, UCLA would be adding the MS2 (180 students) to clerkships via the curriculum change.

Since it seems like you want to be in Cali for residency anyway, perhaps, none of this matters at all, but I do agree that Penn would give a slight edge in opportunities/connections esp if you want business exposure.

Anyway, congratulations on both! It is a tremendous accomplishment

 

[RNApolymerACE]

I’d pick UCLA in a heartbeat


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DevinBookerMD]

personally I would pick UCLA but one thing to take into account is I believe Penn is #1 in the country for derm so if that is the specialty you see yourself pursuing it may be worth the extra bit of change.

 

[sealfriendo]

maybe reconsider harvard???

in seriousness, i'd probably pick penn bc of the mba