I ended up choosing USC. I eliminated Northwestern due to the lack of communication, the high rent costs, and the fact that they wanted me to register for classes without ever speaking to anyone in the department. Next I eliminated Columbia because, as it turns out, NYC was more expensive than LA and I got a lot of bad reviews about the program from students I reached out to. I figured the name didn't carry enough if my GPA didn't stack up due to the extreme competition. Once it was done to Tufts and USC, I was pretty torn. However, I spoke to multiple students at Tufts and never received consistent information which I really found concerning. They all seemed very unsure about volunteer opportunities and they were very negative about the advising. When I went to tour USC I really liked the campus, I was allowed to sit in on classes and shadow a student for the day. The classes weren't as large as the ones at Columbia and the opportunities are plentiful. It seemed like the best place to really enhance my application for med school with the extra attention from advising, the class schedule, the collaboration within the program, and the volunteer/research/shadowing/global health opportunities. Classes haven't started yet and we have already had a program meeting at the director's house and a kickoff reception. The first week of classes we have a luncheon as well. So they are really involved and really supportive of their students (I say, so far).
