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- Apr 25, 2017
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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
Cons
UCSD
Pros
Thanks in advance!
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?
- 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)
Thanks in advance!