UVA vs Geisel (Dartmouth)

[Idkwhattocallit]

Hi all - I am super torn in between these two schools and would appreciate any and all advice you have.

UVA:

Pros:

• Super close to home and I have a great support system here
• Cheaper in terms of tuition
• Great research opportunities
• Higher ranked/seemingly more prestigious than Geisel

Cons:

• Large class size
• Students currently take step 2 and then 1 after clerkships and get a 2 month studying time for both (I know very little about step exams but this seemed strange to me)
  • They might change this for the future but I don't know if that will be in time for my year
• Even though its higher ranked, it doesn't seem to match as well as Dartmouth
  • I'd ideally like to match in the northeast and know there's a regional bias so that could explain it

Geisel (Dartmouth):

Pros:

• Excellent match list in the North east which is where I'd love to do residency
• Smaller class size (which could be a good or bad thing)
• Away rotations seem really interesting and would allow me to explore more diverse patient populations and assist with higher acuity care
• Good research opportunities as well

Cons

• Cost - it's known to be not that generous in financial aid and tuition is higher
• Distance - I don't mind going far away if it is the better school for me (went to the northeast for undergrad and I was fine)
• Is more of a rural school and I am not that interested in rural medicine

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[BattalionX]

If UVA is cheaper than Dartmouth, you can't really go wrong. UVA will still prepare you to match excellently, and plenty (if not most) of UVA students are still going to top programs. A large class size isn't really a big deal. Unless the difference in cost is not significant, UVA is probably the no-brainer.

However, assuming you get aid at Geisel and the cost difference isn't significance, I would say go to Second Look Day, talk to current students, and really think about which program is a better fit for your needs. I am biased since I am committed to Geisel but you could probably expect to struggle a lot in the extremely rural environment if you're accustomed to city life. UVA is a stronger medical program than Dartmouth, but both match very well, so I'd just say go where the money tells you to. If the COA are equivalent, go to whichever is the best fit for you. Good luck 🙏.

 

[Idkwhattocallit]

Thank you so much for this answer!

 

[thefirerisen]

Disclaimer - Also got into both these programs and I will be picking UVA. I agree that this is a no-brainer towards UVA. It will be less expensive and UVA is much more prestigious in medicine than Dartmouth. I want to address your cons list for UVA because I share some of the concerns while I disagree with some of the points you made:

From my research, UVA's match list is consistently better than Dartmouth's. I don't know if you were looking at a specific year but UVA matches really really well into competitive specialties like orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, etc, and while I saw that in Geisel as well, UVA definitely edges them out. Something that really shot out to me was their orthopedic matches, which is my top choice - they matched almost 10% of their class to ortho last year and consistently have 5% of their class match every year. In terms of matching to the Northeast, I would encourage you to look at the specific match locations. Although the Mid-Atlantic and South are over-represented (ofc b/c UVA is a southern school), there are also a decent chunk of people that match into other areas including the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast. So if that is where you want to end up, it is totally doable.

The Step 2 - Step 1 situation seems really annoying and it was kind of a concern for me. I am relieved, however, by UVA's average Step 2 scores which are on par with T10 medical schools—so apparently it works out for the students. What I am planning on doing is self-studying for Step 1 and taking it right when preclinical ends so that during my dedicated, I can focus on Step 2 entirely. This is something a decent chunk of the student population ends up doing but either way, rest assured that UVA students are very well-prepared for Step 1 & Step 2.

 

[Idkwhattocallit]

^These are really good points. However, this is the issue that I have with the step 1/step 2 exam.

1) I want to conduct research over the summer and I also would like to take step 1 before step 2, just because step 2 before step 1 seems overwhelming for me. I know students have done it at UVA and they do well, and I also know that there's a small percentage of people who take step 1 after their preclinical like you suggested. However, these people most likely use their summer to continue studying for Step 1, whereas I would like to dedicate my time in the summer towards doing research.

 

[thefirerisen]

^These are really good points. However, this is the issue that I have with the step 1/step 2 exam.

1) I want to conduct research over the summer and I also would like to take step 1 before step 2, just because step 2 before step 1 seems overwhelming for me. I know students have done it at UVA and they do well, and I also know that there's a small percentage of people who take step 1 after their preclinical like you suggested. However, these people most likely use their summer to continue studying for Step 1, whereas I would like to dedicate my time in the summer towards doing research.

I also want to use that summer to do research. I think you can fit both - step 1 studying and research into that summer or study for step 1 before with classes to take it right when the summer starts.

I am going to see what my options are but I for sure as hell am not going to take Step 2 before Step 1. As an already nervous test-taker, I want that foundational knowledge and experience from Step 1 before I do Step 2.

 

[Idkwhattocallit]

Also looking back at the match lists for Geisel and UVA from last year, I still think that Geisel seemed to match better atleast for Internal Medicine and Anesthesiology (which is what I’m interested in). I agree with your point in that UVA students got into more competitive specialities.

 

[thefirerisen]

Also looking back at the match lists for Geisel and UVA from last year, I still think that Geisel seemed to match better atleast for Internal Medicine and Anesthesiology (which is what I’m interested in). I agree with your point in that UVA students got into more competitive specialities.

Not disagreeing with you but curious on how you are getting this data? MSAR for me says UVA matched 13% and 17% for Anesthesiology and IM last year. Whereas Geisel matched 8% and 16%. Also keeping in mind that UVA's class is 2x so thats 2x the amount of people matching.

 

[Idkwhattocallit]

Good point, I wasn't looking at the number of people who matched but rather where they matched into. I looked on the match lists which are publicly available!

 

[thefirerisen]

Good point, I wasn't looking at the number of people who matched but rather where they matched into. I looked on the match lists which are publicly available!

Ah makes sense. Yes, Geisel will definitely match better overall into residencies in New England since it has more name-recognition there.

 

[BattalionX]

Not disagreeing with you but curious on how you are getting this data? MSAR for me says UVA matched 13% and 17% for Anesthesiology and IM last year. Whereas Geisel matched 8% and 16%. Also keeping in mind that UVA's class is 2x so thats 2x the amount of people matching.

I do think UVA is the better choice here, but I will note that MSAR's match data seems to be inaccurate a lot of the time. Im pretty sure UMiami's MSAR says 100% of the class matches everywhere. Some schools say 25% FM and more like 15% were FM. Of all the data MSAR has, their match % is way more useless than the lists published by the schools themselves.

 

[thefirerisen]

I do think UVA is the better choice here, but I will note that MSAR's match data seems to be inaccurate a lot of the time. Im pretty sure UMiami's MSAR says 100% of the class matches everywhere. Some schools say 25% FM and more like 15% were FM. Of all the data MSAR has, their match % is way more useless than the lists published by the schools themselves.

I noticed that too - the UMiami thing is crazy, you would think that they would double-check the data considering how much we pay for a subscription. It does look like the UVA and Dartmouth data on MSAR adds up with what they publish on their websites.

OP, Match Day was today and I saw that so many folks at UVA matched in the Northeast. Definitely don't pick Geisel because you think it'll help you match in certain locations better b/c I truly believe UVA will open the same doors for you. It looks like you might be leaning towards Geisel though so go to the Second Looks and see how you like the two towns. Charlottesville feels like NYC in terms of urban-ness when you compare it to Hanover but they are very different still (one is New England and the other one is Southern-ish). I was personally underwhelmed by UVA's campus (so much construction and traffic ugh) and Dartmouth's was gorgeous w the Ivy League architecture. Lots of factors to go in here when it comes to location!

 

[Idkwhattocallit]

I think you both are right - UVA does seem to be the more obvious choice considering in state location, lower cost, etc. I'll attend both second looks to ultimately decide!