UCSF vs McMaster

[Bb96]

Hi! Would really love to hear some outside opinions on this. Feeling very unclear from my vantage... I should mention that I'm a non-traditional student and that I can work in either country.

UCSF

Pros:
+California
+Near my husband's family and friends
+Great school with a lot of prestige, etc.
+Skews slightly older
+Lots of opportunity for community/social justice medicine

Cons:
-More expensive (tuition and cost of living)
-Four years
-The precarious future of medicine in the US
-Further from my family
-The new curriculum seems to have some kinks

McMaster

Pros:
+3 years
+Less expensive / low cost of living
+Predominantly pbl curriculum
+Nearer to my family
+Did I mention 3 years?
+Very innovative

Cons:
-Hamilton, Ontario
-Bitter, bitter winters
-Less prestige?
-Possibly more difficult for my husband to work / make friends
-Not California
-Constant schooling (it's basically three years straight)

Thanks in advance!

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[thosewhowander]

where do you want to practice? and how much more expensive is UCSF? i do think that the condensed 3 year program could limit your ability to match back to the US (if that's what you want to do), so i would be hesitant to choose mcmaster if you want to do residency here. but if the cost differential is an important concern--considering mcmaster would probably be <$20,000/yr tuition and three years--and if the 3-year completion is a significant plus for you as a nontrad, then i would go with mcmaster.

 

[To be MD]

99% of people on here, mostly Americans, don't know **** about McM. It's one of the top universities in the world (like UCSF).

No residency program is going to look down on you for going to either school, so just go to the one you like better and ignore SDN.

 

[FlameGrilledChicken]

So where'd you end up going?