planariaparty
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2021
- Messages
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- Reaction score
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I currently live in California. Longterm I think I would like to work in California/west coast. I am not yet decided on a specific specialty; I am really interested in dermatology, but I also really like emergency medicine and global health (esp. addressing health issues in Latin America).
UCSD
Pros
UCLA
Pros
Cons
Columbia
Pros
Cons
UCSD
Pros
- I currently live in the San Diego area and love it; the UCSD campus is beautiful
- My SO works in San Diego — we would be able to keep living together during med school, and I would prefer not to be long-distance
- Students have been really nice/chill and seem happy
- Global health opportunities - proximity to US-Mexico border
- Matching in California
- I have lots of friends/support network here
- Price - no aid but being able to live with my SO would make the price difference between UCSD and Columbia minimal (UCLA would be more expensive)
- 2 year pre-clinical curriculum - since I am not sure about what specialty I want to do, I really prefer the shorter pre-clinical curriculums
- Not sure how well they match people in dermatology/em
- Have heard not great experiences about the emergency department
- only 6 weeks for USMLE study
- Haven't found as many research projects that I am particularly passionate about
UCLA
Pros
- New curriculum - 1 yr pre-clinical, 3rd year discovery year
- Great matching record in dermatology and emergency
- Student groups: SLING Health
- Would get to explore a new city
- Great global health opportunities
- A lot of research projects that I am excited about
Cons
- Price - no scholarships or aid so it is looks like it will be >$100,000 more than the other options (all loans)
- New curriculum - I like the curriculum but it is daunting that this will be the first year, so there is no one to ask about how it was or see the results
- Don't have many friends/support network in LA
- Being long-distance from my partner
- LA - I don't LOVE LA (expensive, lots of traffic, I visited the UCLA campus and it was nice but I liked the UCSD campus more)
Columbia
Pros
- I really like the curriculum set-up (18 month Pre-clinical, scholarly project)
- I got ~$50,000/yr financial need-based scholarship and they are really supportive about helping to find additional scholarships
- 8 weeks USMLE study time
- Get to explore a new city/side of the country
- Great match list (seems to match people fine into CA)
- Great global health opportunities
- Great clinical opportunities
Cons
- Very far from partner, family, friends
- I have heard some bad things about some of the professors
- Have never visited the campus, not much support network in NY
- I have been told by a lot of people that I would not like the east coast (though not sure what to take from that)
- I probably wouldn't be able to take full advantage of being in NY since I will be studying a lot
- Housing (expensive, on-campus housing is dorm style with shared kitchen/bathrooms)
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