It's been 2 weeks lol w/no motion.
I decided to go with Pitt's program since the program is at a medical school, has more resources, seem more supportive, and better admin overall in the process.
W/Chatham I felt in the dark and had minimal contact w/admin. But the program seems solid, a bit more unknown compared to the other 2. They have a cadaver lab in their anatomy course which is a surprise (lots of programs don't offer that). The graduate assistantship was misleading since it is basically an on-campus job w/no tuition remission. My offer was $5k for the whole year (budget max) working in the lab/TA for a $15/hour payrate. There are rumors Chatham might go under w/a $10M budget hole so that is a concern.
Temple's interview day made me feel like they were better than me if that makes sense. I walked away from my 1-on-1 interview feeling like garbage (sugar honey iced tea) to be honest. They seem so stuck up which is weird. I know ppl who go there undergrad/med and loved it so that threw me off. The interview day had a student Q&A and it pretty much made it clear Temple themselves don't even take their own students or have some weird bias against them, so I thought that was suspicious. There was a student there who maintained a 4.0, retook an MCAT to get a score above Temple's "cut-off" and they didn't take her since she had a <509 score coming into the program...the girl linked to PCOM but it was clear she wanted to go to LKSOM (since she was complaining). It feels like a cash grab.
In the end Pitt's tuition was the same cost as Temple's and it felt like a no-brainer to at least secure a master's degree, get volunteer/clinical opportunities built into the program & get advising from ppl at a medical school etc. Also, Pittsburgh seems safer than Philly and is a smaller city. I hope this helps someone in the future who is deciding etc.
