UT Southwestern vs USC Keck

[DelpDelp]

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Hi guys, I’m having trouble picking between UT Southwestern and USC (Keck) and wanted to get opinions. I’m a Texan and went to undergrad in California (I’ve fallen in love with LA life). For residency I either want to end up in Texas or California (another decision to make in the future haha). I’m not too sure what specialty I want to go into yet, but I’ve grown interest in Urology and Orthopedics through my shadowing experiences. I want to know which of these schools give would be good opportunities for competitive fields and matching in either Texas or California.


UT Southwestern:

Pros:

· I have a half tuition scholarship(IS)

· I’ve always wanted to go to UTSW since high school

· Immediate family lives four hours away and I have other family members in Dallas

· Felt a great sense of community during my second look weekend

· Slightly higher rank than Keck?

Cons:

· Life in Dallas?

· Name isn’t known out of Texas?


USC Keck:

Pros:

· I love life in Los Angeles

· Undergraduate Campus interaction

· I have a lot of friends in LA

· Beaches nearby

· Haven’t been to second look yet, but the students looked relatively relaxed

Cons:

· Super Expensive


Thanks for taking the time to help. I really appreciate it 🙂

 

[OrthopedicOpthoderm]

UTSW name isnt known outside of Dallas? Thats news to me. Between it and Baylor those are the two nationally recognized name brands from Texas

 

[frchuatritons]

Ranking: UTSW > Keck
Cost: UTSW >>>>>>> Keck.

Go to UTSW

 

[drwoofs]

Hi guys, I’m having trouble picking between UT Southwestern and USC (Keck) and wanted to get opinions. I’m a Texan and went to undergrad in California (I’ve fallen in love with LA life). For residency I either want to end up in Texas or California (another decision to make in the future haha). I’m not too sure what specialty I want to go into yet, but I’ve grown interest in Urology and Orthopedics through my shadowing experiences. I want to know which of these schools give would be good opportunities for competitive fields and matching in either Texas or California.


UT Southwestern:

Pros:

· I have a half tuition scholarship(IS)

· I’ve always wanted to go to UTSW since high school

· Immediate family lives four hours away and I have other family members in Dallas

· Felt a great sense of community during my second look weekend

· Slightly higher rank than Keck?

Cons:

· Life in Dallas?

· Name isn’t known out of Texas?


USC Keck:

Pros:

· I love life in Los Angeles

· Undergraduate Campus interaction

· I have a lot of friends in LA

· Beaches nearby

· Haven’t been to second look yet, but the students looked relatively relaxed

Cons:

· Super Expensive


Thanks for taking the time to help. I really appreciate it 🙂

UTSW for sure. $ and ranking.

 

[Nymphicus]

Based on your list, I would strongly encourage you to choose UTSW. You put in your list of cons that UTSW is "unknown outside of TX." For residency purposes, this is simply untrue. UTSW has strong departments with well-known, well-connected faculty. They also have much more research going on than USC if that is your thing. The fact that UTSW is also cheaper AND closer to family and support network for you should make it an even easier decision.

Of course, I would still advise going to both second look weekends if you have the resources.

 

[imymemine]

i came to utsw for the cheap tuition. my other big option was washU, which was closer to family but more than 2x the cost. i had no ties to texas. fast forward 4 years... i matched to my dream residency (on a coast), have no debt, made some great friends, and am so so SO thankful i made the decision i did.

take a look at our match list... quite of a few of my classmates matched in california.

OP's point about utsw not being well known nationally might be an exaggeration but not HORRIBLY far from the truth. a small percentage of faculty interviewers on the east coast did not know what southwestern was (or at least were unsure what city it was in). personally i wouldn't give the ranking any thought in your decision - USC and UTSW would be viewed as the same level of prestige nationally imo (any difference would be insignificant).

as a small compromise you could do as many of your 4th year electives as possible in LA (right now the requirement is 2 months of 4th year must be spent at utsw... i don't know what the new curriculum rules will be).

personally i wouldn't spend an extra $100k+ just to live in LA, especially if dallas is also a good location for you. but that's just me. i doubt your answer about whether or not that is worth it can come from strangers on the internet

 

[MRpremed-dudeguy]

You mention a pro of keck being undergraduate campus interaction, but USCs undergrad campus and health science campuses are two completely different places across town from each other. I can also say that from my experience there is little interaction between the two campuses.

 

[DelpDelp]

Thanks for the input everyone! My gut is telling me UTSW is the place to be.

 

[NoWheyBruh]

UTSW hands down

 

[Slack3r]

i came to utsw for the cheap tuition. my other big option was washU, which was closer to family but more than 2x the cost. i had no ties to texas. fast forward 4 years... i matched to my dream residency (on a coast), have no debt, made some great friends, and am so so SO thankful i made the decision i did.

take a look at our match list... quite of a few of my classmates matched in california.

OP's point about utsw not being well known nationally might be an exaggeration but not HORRIBLY far from the truth. a small percentage of faculty interviewers on the east coast did not know what southwestern was (or at least were unsure what city it was in). personally i wouldn't give the ranking any thought in your decision - USC and UTSW would be viewed as the same level of prestige nationally imo (any difference would be insignificant).

as a small compromise you could do as many of your 4th year electives as possible in LA (right now the requirement is 2 months of 4th year must be spent at utsw... i don't know what the new curriculum rules will be).

personally i wouldn't spend an extra $100k+ just to live in LA, especially if dallas is also a good location for you. but that's just me. i doubt your answer about whether or not that is worth it can come from strangers on the internet

What specialty? For surgery (and plastic surgery in particular), they are a household name.

 

[Cookiess]

Where can you see yourself being happier? It's hard to put a price tag on being in an environment you'd be more comfortable in, whether that'd be near friends and the beach at USC or near family and a more close knit community at UTSW.

I didn't interview at either place, but I'd pick UTSW based on your pros/cons list. You'll have a half-tuition scholarship at UTSW while USC is really expensive. You'll be closer to your family. There is not much undergrad interaction since the USC undergrad campus is not that close. Plus, you've had the idea of going to UTSW since HS.

 

[DelpDelp]

Does anyone know the residency director scores for both of these schools from the USNews compass?