Vanderbilt vs. UNCCH

[madsmads]

Vanderbilt MSTP
Pros

• MSTP with full financial support
• flexibility for my non-traditional research interests and freedom for self-design
• faculty and research centers align with my research (intellectual disability health equity, LGBTQ health equity)
• more individualized student support
• Amazing location
• People/community really fits with me
• Could still likely return home Chapel Hill/Durham for residency with good match rates
• Could feel more independent and could see myself enjoying starting a new life there

Cons

• 8 hour drive from family- some pressure from family to stay home
• 7 years (still 1 year less than most MD/PhDs)

UNC MD (potential to switch to MD/PhD)
Pros

• Near family- strong support system, save housing money
• In-state tuition
• 4 years
• Great medical Spanish program
• Research center on intellectual disability
• I know and love the area
• Could switch into MD/PhD program first year
• Near current research PIs

Cons

• potentially more rigidity and less individualized support because public institution
• more dependent on family
• still have to pay tuition (compared to fully funded MSTP, and if switched to MD/PhD would have to pay first 2 yrs)
• If I wanted to switch into the MD/PhD program, the PhD departments do not have faculty studying my area of interest and it is more rigid/difficult to be allowed to have a main mentor from outside the department (according to students I've talked with)

Summary: I know this is a hard one because it involves both MD vs. MD/PhD and school decisions. I would really appreciate any insight people have even if its not choosing one over the other.

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[FFforM1122]

how committed are you to your md/phd route? I think depending on that, your answer will be more clear. Hard to turn down vandy, but also kickstarting your attending salary earlier could be better as well as the flexibility to switch over to md/phd at UNC.

 

[Bowel-Plumber]

Do you want to be an MD or an MD/PhD?

If you want to be an MD/PhD, go to Vandy. It’s the much better option than UNC and you also have no guarantees of getting into the MD/PhD at UNC and you’d have to pay for the first two years and it’d be 8 years at UNC compared to 7 at Vandy.

If you don’t want to do MD/PhD, then go to UNC.