UCSF VS Yale

[LTNLTN]

Hi Everyone,

I am extremely fortunate to have the option to be choosing between UCSF and Yale. To help create a better picture on what I want to do in medical school and in the future, let me give you certain things I want to do. I really want to work with minorities, but not be limited to just primary care. Right now, I am interested in neurosurgery or trauma surgery, but also want to explore more specialties. Here are the pros and cons of both schools:

UCSF:

Pros:

• Prestige in medicine
• Love the city and seems like more fun things to do
• Closer to parents
• I got into the SJV PRIME program, which gives me more opportunities to serve minorities
• My wife, who's coming with me, will have an easier time finding a job
• Easier to stay in California for residency and in future

Cons:

• Expensive (100k more expensive than Yale)
• Probably worse living condition due to the high rent
• Seems like there's a big focus on primary care, not sure how it will affect my opportunities outside of primary care

Yale:

Pros:

• Cheaper (100k cheaper)
• Something new to live in east coast
• Prestige outside of medicine
• Seems to have a more diverse match list?

Cons:

• Far from parents
• Probably harder for my wife to find a job
• Not sure if I like the more relaxed style curriculum
• Schools relationship with the community? I have heard both good and bad things about the relationship between the school and the community and not sure if this will affect my opportunity to work with minorities.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I appreciate any input, and most importantly stay safe!

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[Kracin]

UCSF for wife + closer to parents + SF being more interesting than New Haven + 100K isn't enough to sway towards Yale for me.

Also UCSF has some of the best residency programs in all fields (including Neurosurg) while Yale does not.

 

[idiotreinventor]

UCSF, ask them to match.

 

[Pluto98]

I don't know why SDN fanboys UCSF so hard but I would choose Yale. Both will match you wherever you want to go, Yale is 100k cheaper. With Yale, you impress the layman and other doctors. With UCSF, you only impress other doctors.

 

[Engrailed]

Normally, ppl would say to go to the cheaper one (since they are both good schools), but it seems like you’d want to stay in Cali/match back to a Cali residency.

this would be easier on your family and would be worth the extra $100k in the long run. UCSF will take you far

congrats on your acceptances!

 

[Lampstrike]

I just wanted to address your concerns about UCSF potentially limiting you to primary care. If you look at this year's match data, you'll see that about 41% of the UCSF class went into primary care, which is comparable to the amount at other T5 schools, such as Harvard (Sources below). Point being that if you are looking to specialize you won't be alone at UCSF, there will likely be a large community of peers that are trying to go down the same path.

If I were in your shoes, I would take UCSF given your career goals and family situation. IMO New Haven may have diversity, but you will have way more opportunities to work with minority populations in SF compared to New Haven. Add in the "closer to family", "easier job prospects for your wife", and the fact that you seem to want to end up in California, UCSF seems like a slam dunk for you, despite the 100k extra in loans.

Ultimately, they are both great choices, but I think one of them fits your goals much better than the other. Best of luck when deciding.

Sources:

Residency Match Outcomes | UCSF Medical Education

Residency Match Outcomes for 2024 • 167 students matched Primary Care/Other Specialty No. of students Percentage Primary Care 53 32% Other Specialty 115 68% Location of Residency No.

meded.ucsf.edu

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

HMS students celebrate matches to residency programs

hms.harvard.edu

 

[Skittsie13]

I just wanted to address your concerns about UCSF potentially limiting you to primary care. If you look at this year's match data, you'll see that about 41% of the UCSF class went into primary care, which is comparable to the amount at other T5 schools, such as Harvard (Sources below). Point being that if you are looking to specialize you won't be alone at UCSF, there will likely be a large community of peers that are trying to go down the same path.

If I were in your shoes, I would take UCSF given your career goals and family situation. IMO New Haven may have diversity, but you will have way more opportunities to work with minority populations in SF compared to New Haven. Add in the "closer to family", "easier job prospects for your wife", and the fact that you seem to want to end up in California, UCSF seems like a slam dunk for you, despite the 100k extra in loans.

Ultimately, they are both great choices, but I think one of them fits your goals much better than the other. Best of luck when deciding.

Sources:

Residency Match Outcomes | UCSF Medical Education

Residency Match Outcomes for 2024 • 167 students matched Primary Care/Other Specialty No. of students Percentage Primary Care 53 32% Other Specialty 115 68% Location of Residency No.

meded.ucsf.edu

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

HMS students celebrate matches to residency programs

hms.harvard.edu

Also, when people match into a top "primary care" residency, most of them go onto subspecialize anyway.

 

[MD34289403]

Living on the East Coast might be new, but it's also a four year commitment to living there, so that is something to consider. If you don't like it, you will be stuck there for a few more years. The prestige of UCSF seems like enough to go there over Yale for 100K, especially if your wife would have a harder time finding a job near Yale.