VCU vs Penn State

[benignbovine]

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hi everyone! i am super grateful to have just gotten off the waitlist at VCU School of Medicine. I originally planned to enroll at Penn State College of Med.

I am having a lot of difficulty choosing between the two as their curriculums are quite similar, so I was wondering if anyone had any input based on my pros/cons list or insider information about either of the schools. both are about the same financially, VCU being slightly more expensive for me. I am unsure about specialty but think I would be interested in EM, anesthesia, ortho, and PMNR. but i want to learn about new specialties too, and am not married to any specialty.

Penn State
Pros:

• close to home (2.5 hr drive)
• great match list
• housing is less expensive
• suburban/less to do = less distractions when studying and low stress environment
• strong research
• more "well-known" in the NE
• better ranked hospital
• level 1 trauma - adult and peds

Cons:

• less to do around hershey
• part of my work has been community/city medicine, would not be able to do as much
• likely less diverse of patient population
• I was hoping to do EM work in a city, unsure if I should consider that as perhaps I will match into a city residency later

VCU
Pros:

• richmond has greater diversity
• more to do in the city + can continue city/community med harm reduction efforts
  • meaning, it aligns with what kind of work I want to do
• has similar structure/curriculum as penn state
• partner lives closer/can more likely find employment here than in hershey
• level 1 trauma - adult, peds, and burn unit

Cons:

• farther from home (4.5 hr drive)
• slightly less strong research than penn state
• slightly less strong match list than penn state
• expensive-er housing (but not by thattt much)