UCLA PRIME-LA vs Brown

[kattylo23]

Hello! I would love some advice with choosing between two schools. I am currently interested in public health, quality improvement studies, global health, and healthcare disparities. I know I want to live in the West Coast at some point, not sure if I should do it during medical school or residency. I am not sure which school has a better reputation. I have listed below my thoughts for each school.

UCLA Prime-LA
pros:
- very diverse patient population
- small cohort size with individualized support
- support with obtaining a master's
- ultrasound and patient simulations
- good weather
cons:
- expensive (around 160k difference)
- further from home
-heard from a mentor that the "prestige" of the school is declining?
- match list is mostly in California

Brown
pros:
-good global health program
- focus on humanities and social issues
- scholarly concentrations
- less expensive
cons:
- lack of patient simulation and fully integrated ultrasound in curriculum
- lack of activities in Providence

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[ConfusedPremed3000]

As a note to your pros to Brown and UCLA, I am almost certain that the global health program at UCLA is significantly better and renowned than Brown's. Plus the flexibility to do the Pathway, Concentration, or even Selective and Rotations are possible at UCLA as well. Similarly, the UCLA Heals curriculum is quite focused on humanities and social issues as well and the patient population in LA is much more diverse in that these focuses actually more helpful towards your medical education.

I was deciding between UCLA and a school similarly ranked with Brown, and I decided on the latter due to price (mine was at least 300k cheaper) but in your case, I think the 160k difference is worth it to go to UCLA. Also with the Prime aspect, I think this elevates your application, LORs for residency, and your future prospects as a physician leader, and I think it can certainly give you more time for research (DIY research year) to help you with residency apps.

I think the prestige declining is a bit overblown and the concerns for it were centered on the curriculum change 4 years ago and the current matching class (they matched phenomenally well!). But then again, I think it is up for interpretation and there seems to be no solid evidence of the decline (other than from flawed student-made rankings systems on admit or ever-chaning methodology on USNews).

Good luck on your decision!

 

[jvquarterback]

Prime is 160k + a fifth year right? That’s incredibly expensive. I’d pick brown.

 

[kattylo23]

Prime is 160k + a fifth year right? That’s incredibly expensive. I’d pick brown.

The 160k difference includes the fifth year.

 

[Basalganglia4life]

Full disclosure I’m on the wl to ucla. 160k is a lot of money. I am not sure if ucla is worth taking that much more debt. I dont see brown holding you back

 

[jvquarterback]

The 160k difference includes the fifth year.

Are you including lost wages? The present value of those wages is on the order of at least 200k so really you're looking at a 350k difference.

 

[kattylo23]

As a note to your pros to Brown and UCLA, I am almost certain that the global health program at UCLA is significantly better and renowned than Brown's. Plus the flexibility to do the Pathway, Concentration, or even Selective and Rotations are possible at UCLA as well. Similarly, the UCLA Heals curriculum is quite focused on humanities and social issues as well and the patient population in LA is much more diverse in that these focuses actually more helpful towards your medical education.

I was deciding between UCLA and a school similarly ranked with Brown, and I decided on the latter due to price (mine was at least 300k cheaper) but in your case, I think the 160k difference is worth it to go to UCLA. Also with the Prime aspect, I think this elevates your application, LORs for residency, and your future prospects as a physician leader, and I think it can certainly give you more time for research (DIY research year) to help you with residency apps.

I think the prestige declining is a bit overblown and the concerns for it were centered on the curriculum change 4 years ago and the current matching class (they matched phenomenally well!). But then again, I think it is up for interpretation and there seems to be no solid evidence of the decline (other than from flawed student-made rankings systems on admit or ever-chaning methodology on USNews).

Good luck on your decision!

Thank you so much for the insight! I really appreciate it.