Upenn vs WashU

[LeftKidney]

Hey everyone! Really need your help with this; please give me all your honest opinions and all input is appreciated.
I would like to be in a more city like environment and would prefer a larger class size. I am also heavily interested in pursuing orthopedic surgery. Parents will not be contributing financially so I am completely on my own here.

UPenn (Perelman)
Pros:

• Large class size (~150 students)
• Amazing match list, and STEP Scores
• Honestly felt the students I met here were some of the happiest I had seen on the interview trail
• Loved Philly
• 1.5 year curriculum
• Large Hispanic population; Puentes de Salud
• Strong Orthopedic surgery residency
• ~70% TUITION SCHOLARSHIP ($160K FOR 4 YEARS)

Cons:

• Highest debt following graduation
• Had originally reached out to see if they matched another schools offer (one that was lower than WashU but higher than theirs, I didn't have this offer at the time, and they were unable to match...idk if I should try again now that I have this offer?

Washington University in St. Louis
Pros:

• Medium class size (~100 students)
• Great match list
• Students seemed pretty happy and well taken care of!
• Strong Orthopedic residency program
• FULL COA SCHOLARSHIP ($0 DEBT FOR 4 YEARS)

Cons:

• Traditional curriculum
• I'm extremely concerned about being in the midst of the curriculum overhaul
• Meh about St. Louis (I didn't feel like it was a very exciting city)
• The city/population itself I felt was lacking diversity

Summary

• Location: Philly >> St. Louis
• Cost: WashU ($0) >> Penn (160K)
• Prestige: I think they are equal (Penn probably with a slight advantage?)

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[catnip12]

To me WashU takes it. I didn't see anything in your cons list that would be worth taking up a large debt burden especially given that WashU is a well respected institution. I hope you can get all your questions answered during second look.

Congratulations on an awesome cycle!!

 

[theKingLT]

I would take the money and go to Wash U, but if you're dead set on ortho, $150k won't be much to pay off. You really can't go wrong here. St Louis is not the most bustling city, but I wouldn't say it lacks diversity. Hispanic populations are less than you're used to in AZ, but growing. There's also a huge need for Healthcare among black communities and the city has faced (and continues to face) some of the worst race relations in the country as a result of the disparities seen. Take that as you will in your decision making and congrats on having such good options

 

[puahate]

Try to get Penn to match. If not WashU easily.

 

[indecisiveconvention]

STL is home to a surprisingly diverse population (although definitely not as much as NYC), including a substantial Latino population. We even have a Hispanic neighborhood (Cherokee Street area). There are several opportunities to become involved at Casa de Salud, which is the STL version of Puentes de Salud. We also have a longitudinal medical Spanish curriculum that will certify you to be a bilingual provider when you graduate (and this is noted in your Dean's Letter), if that's something that interests you.

Just posted this in another thread, but the curriculum change should not affect this incoming class - anything new your class would do would be fully "opt-in" during your M4 year.

Looking at the match list, WashU routinely matches to top ortho programs (including multiple to their own program, other top programs (JHU, Rush, UPMC), and, for the past couple years, at least one yearly to HSS (which only takes in 9 residents each cycle)).

Given all of this, and the fact that WashU is a well regarded school, it would be hard to justify taking out loans when you could attend for free and be set up for a residency of your choosing.

 

[rball]

Sounds like you would prefer UPenn just based on your pros/cons. In that case, I would highly recommend doing whatever you can to get them to match Washu’s offer (they likely will) and to go there.

Fyi for ortho you cant go wrong. WashU has a stronger residency program and bigger names (Jefferson and Pitt > Penn in the state alone), but UPenn seems to match its students equally as strongly into ortho. Both are cream of the crop for ortho at the med student level, and will give you all the tools you need to succeed and match into the specialty. So just go where you will be happiest. Best of luck!

 

[carrots28]

WashU has a strong reputation and free. I say do it. I went to city I didn’t necessarily find as exciting and no regrets. These are small things so long as your SO is ok with it.

 

[Lucca]

If I were you, I’d take WashU in this situation. I didn’t interview at Mayo AZ so don’t know much about it but I was accepted at Penn and WashU and both are great in their own ways. Both will set you up very well for what you want to do (competitive surgical subspecialty). Not having med school debt will be a huge help in the long run and it doesn’t seem like you’re making many trade offs.