UCSD vs. Brown

[thrwaway2017]

Hi everyone! I've narrowed everything down to these two schools and I'd very much value any and all opinions and help regarding this decision. A little background: I'm from the midwest and went to school in NE, so maybe SoCal could be a nice change for me. And although I'm not sure where I'd want to do residency, I'm thinking something probably a bit more competitive so I'll likely have less geographic flexibility for residency considering fewer residency programs and other factors (e.g. going to UCSD may not open doors to CA residencies in more competitive fields as much).

Note: Regarding the schools, I only had a day at each so not enough time to form real opinions about the areas they're located and where I'll be living/working over the next few years. I also wasn't able to make it to 2nd look for either.

Brown
Pros

• Administration top-notch and quite friendly. Definitely the best of everywhere I interviewed
  
• Students seemed quite happy
  
• Cost - Reasonable (~160K COA, will be roughly 80K cheaper than than UCSD)

Cons

• Biggest con - specialties of choice from match seem PC-dominated, something I'm leaning away from considering my debt load (including debt from undergrad I still have)
• Climate - I'm kind of sick of the cold AND this would necessitate me buying a new car to handle NE winters instead of the smaller car I currently have that I could just take to UCSD
  
• City - Went to undergrad in small city, Providence would be more of the same. Also didn't love when I was walking @ downtown around dinner-time, felt pretty unsafe, which I haven't felt before in other cities I've lived in (even major metropolitan areas)

UCSD
Pros

• Location - La Jolla/SD seem pretty ideal, and although I'm not 100% sure where I'd want to live post-residency, SoCal is up there on my list. Maybe I could make connections during med school that could help me get a job after residency?
  
• Location Pt. 2 - I imagine there's a lot more to do in general living in a larger area
  
• UCSD seems to be a stronger program/academic center
• Don't have UCSD match list handy or accessible but from what I can remember they match pretty well among all the range of specialties. Can anyone confirm this?

Cons

• Cost - 240K (probably my main sticking point here)
  
• Far from family/SO - I actually am not the kind of person that needs support network or anything but will admit it may be a pain in the *** to have to fly cross-country to see family for holidays/occasional breaks of the sort
  
• Have heard some questionable things about clinical experiences (esp. driving all over San Diego county during 3rd year also seems to kind of be an unnecessary pain)

In my head I was so hyped about UCSD before financial aid packages came out, but Brown has been so good to me/I liked it there too/they offered me more scholarship money than UCSD, so I'm hesitating. Would I be making an unwise decision over ~$80-$100K?

Thanks in advance!

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[migvsu]

My opinion about the financial aspect is probably different from many other med students. I personally place a lot of value on my environment and living situation. I'd rather spend a bit more knowing I'm going to be happy for 4 years than choose a less expensive school that isn't as good a fit. If I had the choice I would absolutely choose UCSD for the reputation and the weather.

 

[Willy38]

UCSD is a much better school, worth the extra money in my opinion.

 

[Calicha]

It sounds like UCSD is a better fit for you in pretty much every regard, other than the cost. It's also just a better school in general. I would say go to UCSD - you'll make more than enough to pay off the difference in loans without issues, especially coming out of UCSD. I was torn trying to make a decision between two similar schools, with a difference in cost of $120k total - I'm choosing the more expensive, better ranked school where I will be happier. There is a reason they are more expensive, and I'm willing to pay that.

 

[deev04]

I'm actually going to differ here and say that I don't think UCSD is a much better school. I think the difference is slight. One of the most important metrics, imo, is residency director score and UCSD and Brown are almost on par with each other (3.8 vs 3.7). UCSD is an incredible school, but I actually think it's ranking is a tad bit inflated and it's prestige does not carry as much weight outside of CA. You could argue Brown doesn't carry as much weight outside of NE, but I think it actually punches above it's ranking in terms of residencies matches (last few match lists have had some great matches), particularly in the NE (Harvard, NYC, Penn) but matches well throughout the country. UCSD will definitely not lock you out of matching outside of CA, but its prestige doesn't carry as much weight outside of CA and its match list is very CA heavy.

Unless you were married to the idea of matching to CA (which you can still do from Brown), I don't think UCSD is worth an extra 80k if you already have a significant undergrad debt load. In terms of location, SD beats Providence, but you are going to be in med school spending the majority of your time studying or on rotations or super busy. It's super easy to get to Boston or catch a bus to NYC or to go skiing when you do have free time, and you'll feel better about booking cool vacations to Thailand on your breaks because you'll have an extra 80k. Providence is also pretty safe (super safe in all the Brown/Downtown areas), so I would talk to somebody about where you ended up walking because you might've really veered of course haha

 

[thrwaway2017]

UCSD is a much better school, worth the extra money in my opinion.

would you mind expanding on this a bit and talking about why you would consider UCSD as a much better school than Brown? I would definitely appreciate any additional insight you could provide!

 

[thrwaway2017]

I'm actually going to differ here and say that I don't think UCSD is a much better school. I think the difference is slight. One of the most important metrics, imo, is residency director score and UCSD and Brown are almost on par with each other (3.8 vs 3.7). UCSD is an incredible school, but I actually think it's ranking is a tad bit inflated and it's prestige does not carry as much weight outside of CA. You could argue Brown doesn't carry as much weight outside of NE, but I think it actually punches above it's ranking in terms of residencies matches (last few match lists have had some great matches), particularly in the NE (Harvard, NYC, Penn) but matches well throughout the country. UCSD will definitely not lock you out of matching outside of CA, but its prestige doesn't carry as much weight outside of CA and its match list is very CA heavy.

Unless you were married to the idea of matching to CA (which you can still do from Brown), I don't think UCSD is worth an extra 80k if you already have a significant undergrad debt load. In terms of location, SD beats Providence, but you are going to be in med school spending the majority of your time studying or on rotations or super busy. It's super easy to get to Boston or catch a bus to NYC or to go skiing when you do have free time, and you'll feel better about booking cool vacations to Thailand on your breaks because you'll have an extra 80k. Providence is also pretty safe (super safe in all the Brown/Downtown areas), so I would talk to somebody about where you ended up walking because you might've really veered of course haha

what you mentioned in the first paragraph is lurking in my mind and making this a tougher decision than I anticipated

 

[Willy38]

would you mind expanding on this a bit and talking about why you would consider UCSD as a much better school than Brown? I would definitely appreciate any additional insight you could provide!

When I say better, I mean from my own experience I've seen the UCSD name carry more weight than Brown. I can't comment on specific quality of education at either institution because I haven't attended either. I'm just saying in the medical community, I believe UCSD has more weight given the negative opinion I've heard of Brown in academic medical circles. Again, just one student's experience.