UMass vs Temple vs GW

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

CerebralWanderer07

Full Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2024
Messages
25
Reaction score
35
UMass T.H. Chan Medical
COA: $83271; no scholarship
Pros:
+ Living at home, could save an extra $10-15k
+ Supportive Faculty: got the best vibes from faculty and students; they seem very happy
+ Flexible academic schedule
+ Match list looks great

Cons:
* Still 50/50 on how I would thrive living at home
* Idk if UMass has more reputation or prestige compared the others
* Gov’t cuts affecting research funding since it is a public institution.

Temple Lewis Katz
$20k per year scholarship
COA: $91,933 => $71933 after scholarship

Pros:
+ I loved the Temple interview; I felt really connected to the interviewers and staff. I felt there was a strong dedication to helping the north Philly community, which greatly appealed to me.
+ Cost of Living a little cheaper
+ Philly looks like a nice city.
+ Relatively closer to Home (Massachusetts) 5 hr drive/1 hr 40 mins flight

Cons:
- Is North Philly/Philly more dangerous???

GW (RMC)
$10k per year scholarship for M1& M2, $20k per year scholarship for M3/M4 RMC

COA: $109k => $99k after scholarship for M1/M2
Pros:
+ Washington DC is an excellent city to live in
+ Research affiliation with NIH
+ Great opportunities for global health experiences and public health exposure
+ Match list looks great

Cons:
- I am not sure, but I don't know if my clinical rotations will be limited to the Sinai Hospital. If so, I might ask to drop the RMC if possible.
- Higher cost of living
- Transportation: I have a car, and I am a little concerned about the parking situation in D.C.


For context: I had a strong interest in neurology or neurosurgery, but I am keeping an open mind on options like anesthesiology, IR, ophthalmology, or IM (oncology). I just want to be in a program that would set me up well for residency and would make life a little easier during med school. Research & networking is important to me while trying as much as possible to not accumulate many loans.
 
UMass keeps you closest to your support system (and you don’t have to live at home). You will be so busy that a 5 hour drive to visit family will happen rarely. The kind of research done by medical students won’t be as affected by government cuts as the bench research done by PhD students.
 
I agree with UMass. The others don't provide an advantage or significantly special opportunities for matching a certain specialty as far as I am aware.
 
Top