UCSD vs. OHSU

[timmy12!@#]

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UCSD

Pros:

• San Diego weather
• CA resident=CA tuition
• Loved the vibe of students on interview day
• Focus on community health through clinics
• I love the beach
• Ideally want to match in CA

Cons:

• I've heard bad things about competitiveness
• Difficulty getting into free clinic without speaking Spanish

OHSU

Pros:

• MD/MPH
• Portland is cool, PNW is sick
• Higher ranked for primary care

Cons:

• Rain
• OOS tuition
• Older student body

Overall: Not sure what I want to specialize in. I know I love CA, but I've never really left so could be cool and OR isn't going too far. I'm not sure which school has an overall better reputation.

 

[m1redsox]

Congrats! Both are awesome schools! I would not give much weight to OHSU’s primary care ranking unless you know that’s what you want to specialize in. UCSD is the higher ranked school for research which will apply to you if you want to match competitively. Additionally, UCSD is widely considered a top 20 school which is a big deal. It may be competitive, but it’s a better school, has impeccable weather, and could get you an “in” into the UC system for matching, which is awesome and fairly prestigious. UCSD all the way!

EDIT: I say UCSD could get you an "in" into the UCs because they widely recruit within the UC system, if that wasn't clear. Also, I say it's a better school based on selectivity, step 1 scores and match lists, and even according to @WedgeDawg, it's not ivy, but it's just beneath ivy with UCLA, Michigan, and Mayo. Meanwhile, Oregon is down in the typical "state schools" section. I say get the best education that you can! Might as well save the money too!

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[peachyhoney]

I’d pick ucsd too for the reasons mentioned above. Also, I’ve heard opposing things about how competitive it is since it is true unranked for the first two years. Additionally, I’m not sure the difficulty of getting into the free clinic without speaking Spanish is real because they have interpreters at each site who I’ve see all the medical students use.