UCSD MSTP v. Harvard NP

[mosquito]

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hey all, looking for ucsd/harvard students to comment or anyone with some good info on the programs. thanks for any and all help and comments
so my situation is from almost exact opposites: choosing between full-funded at UCSD or 50k/year at Harvard. Now I can hear the calls coming in saying "it depends what career you want" I'm not totally sure, so as i sees it my options are (please comment on any of my +/-

UCSD😛ros: great location, great location, great location, excellent research, full-funded, Salk/Scripps PhD program, great housing, fun people
cons: (from SDN forums) extremely competitive, 30hrs/wk in class, sub-par hospital rotations, little diversity 90% CA residents

Harvard😛ros: great hospitals, prestige, NP program, Red Sox, diversity of students,
cons: pay my way, maybe PhD program, cold Boston winters

Now this is a difficult one for me, because I love research and had a great time visiting UCSD. The MSTP class was great and incoming MSTP's were a cool bunch with a good vibe. However once meeting the incoming med students the vibe changed a bit, and I was a little put off. SD is a great place to live and I could easily see myself there for x number of years
Harvard was great, good people, decent town, however getting into the MD/PhD program internally is the tough road I see ahead of me.
I was gung-ho ucsd, however in some of the posts it seems that most are claiming that ucsd's admin and classes are not that great. just wondering....

 

[MacGyver]

this is an easy choice... UCSD all the way.

1. Financial cost: UCSD wins

2. Location: UCSD wins

3. You want to be a physician scientist? MSTP is better than regular MD for this, UCSD wins

Getting into Harvard MSTP as a first year student is NOT a sure thing..every year there are many Harvard first years who apply MD/PhD. Why go thru the application process all over again? its very difficult to get into Harvard MSTP, even if you are a first year.

Unless you really arent sure you want to be a physician scientist, then go for UCSD MSTP

Harvard @ 50k per year = 200k in debt
UCSD fully funded = 0 debt

Harvard is a better med school than UCSD, but its damn sure not 200k better

 

[neurogeek]

ditto

 

[entropy]

I can see where the advantages of saving 200K are huge. Cost was one of my decisions when deciding where to attend last year. But Harvard is a fantastic place which will offer you so many opportunities. NP is pass/fail and there is no AOA. This means absolutely no stress if you choose it to be that way, or you can study your --- off. But the choice is yours. It also really depends on what you want to do research in. I understand UCSD is amazing for neuroscience research, if that is what you want to do go with UCSD. One more thing, you will make less money as an academic physician so paying back the 200K for Harvard may be hard. It is a tough one but I think I would go with Harvard, better atmopshere, great name, amazing resd. match, and who know you might get in to the MSTP, will not know unless you try.

 

[Primate]

Boston is clearly the best city in the country, maybe the world 😀 (OK, I'm biased), BUT from what you've written this should be an easy decision.

UCSD wins. I faced a similar situation and it was clear that, although I absolutely love Boston (maybe the Sox will break the curse of the Bambino this year ), going to Harvard med was definitely not worth giving up on one of the best MSTPs. My education has far exceeded what I'd hoped for in the MSTP. Unless you NEED to have the H-bomb on your CV (in which case, you didn't need to ask the question in the first place), it sounds like your interests would be better served by going to a good MSTP. [Aside: having done research at Harvard, I can comment that their MSTP is currently a bit shaky (some would say it has sucked for the last 20 years, but that's overstating it). By the time you got in and went through, that may well be different.]

Also, my PI is "just" an MD (from a top 3 or 4 school, depending on the year) who did residency and then a full-up post doc both at Harvard. Though he just got tenure (ie, is successful), he's told me that he still wishes he'd done the combined degree. Take that as an n=1, but it's interesting all the same.

The money thing shouldn't be underestimated, either. Especially if you're considering academic medicine (in any form, not just running a wet-lab).

Remember, this advice (and all that you get from SDN) is worth what you paid for it. It's your call in the end.

Best,
P

PS - I still have season tix to the Sox. Maybe this'll be the year...... 😉