UCLA vs. Northwestern

[deleted1052441]

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Help please! Which one should I pick! Love the vibe at NW and was super set on it until getting off the waitlist at UCLA. I am from the east coast so UCLA is FAR. Super torn still waiting to see if UCLA gives me any financial aid.

 

[djiboutiman]

Both are great schools and will help you get to where you want to go in your career. I’d pick UCLA for the great year round weather, but Chicago is also a great city(just colder). You can fly pretty much anywhere from LAX, so the east coast being far is really just a couple extra hours on the plane when visiting family compared to Chicago. Congrats on the great options.

 

[deleted1052441]

Give us some more info

- what do you think the cost difference will be?
- what friends / family do you have in each area?
- what aspects of the curriculum did you like at each school?
- where do you want to match for residency** (important!) east coast / west coast / midwest

You can't go wrong with either school. It really comes down to cost and preference. Congratulations on your acceptances!

1. Unsure of the tuition difference but I am willing to take out loans-- will update when offer comes in. NW gave me a very nice financial offer with possibly max 80k loans for all the 4 years.
2. One of my best friends from college is actually also attending Feinberg so we'd be going together. One of my other good friends however is starting a job in LA so I could always count on her. For family, I do not have any in either place.
3. I love NW's ECMH and their disease + normal combined curriculum. Feinberg has a lot of early clinical exposure that I want. It seems like UCLA is also taking the route of normal vs. abnormal next year. I interviewed so early at UCLA that I barely remember any clinical things to get involved in.
4. For residency I'd like to come back to the east coast.

I was planning on doing the combined MD/MPH at Feinberg so that's another plus there.

 

[m1redsox]

Based on your pros/cons, NW sounds like the better choice! Max $80k in loans is an AWESOME deal for a T20 school. Unless UCLA can come close to that, I’d go with Feinberg.

 

[mzlipton]

Based on the details you provided after your original post, I would also throw my vote in for NW. Warm weather is nice and obviously UCLA is a great school, but your pros seem to lean more toward NW.

 

[oioeoelgd154]

Northwestern! If you can get away with 80k in loans/4 years, go for it!

 

[wondervisions]

NW unless you get a significant scholarship from UCLA

 

[elclassico192]

NW unless you get a significant scholarship from UCLA

Isn't UCLA known for being generous with scholarships

 

[deleted1052441]

Isn't UCLA known for being generous with scholarships

Their money offer puts me at taking about 20-30k more loans. any thoughts based on that update?

 

[Engrailed]

I would choose NW all things considered

 

[oioeoelgd154]

What did you decide OP?

 

[elclassico192]

Their money offer puts me at taking about 20-30k more loans. any thoughts based on that update?

In that case, I wouldn't consider money in making your decision. A difference of 20-30k is negligible

 

[ballislife24]

First, congratulations on both acceptances! They are both great schools. Given that the cost is roughly equivalent and that you don't have family at either location, I'd go with UCLA. It will open more doors for you and likely help you match wherever you want back on the east coast. The SoCal weather is also a big plus

 

[writingdoctor]

Pick UCLA! For all the aforementioned reasons. It's beautiful, and LA >> Evanston/Chicago IMO. Plus, the medical school has a stronger ranking.

 

[deleted688779]

If you don’t mind sharing, what did you end up choosing?