VCU vs Rosalind Franklin

[antonk4]

Hello SDN,

May 15th is coming up and I have to make a decision. I am currently trying to decide between Virginia Commonwealth University and Chicago Medical School. I have done quite a bit of reseach and so far it seems that VCU is a better school but CMS is located in a better city.

My question to you guys, is there anything that I missed. Is it worth living is a "worse" city to attend a slightly better school? Also I have heard that Richmond is quite unsafe but is it really and is there any neighbourhoods that anyone would recommend to live in?

Thanks for the help in advance

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[ksmi117]

Moving to School Specific Discussions.

 

[armybound]

I'd probably care more about the cost difference. Is there much of a price difference between the schools?

I remember that I didn't feel horribly safe in Richmond, but that's a mattter of perspective. I'm sure med students aren't getting robbed daily there. I do remember the school being crazy expensive, though.

 

[hung]

There are shady parts of Richmond that you shouldn't wander around at night, but I don't feel unsafe living in Richmond. It is an older city and has ghetto areas. There are renovation projects underway to modernize the city. It is almost 40k for oos tuition. The cost of living is cheaper than in a big city. If you ever get tired of Richmond, DC is over an hour drive north. NYC is a six hours drive.

 

[MD5]

If you are an OOS for both of schools then cost should be pretty much the same. I would choose CMS because Chicago is a better place to live, curriculum is comprehensive, clinically oriented in the first 2 years, grades –ABCF style, rotations are at some really good Chicago hospitals. The students do well on Step 1, match list is very impressive.

 

[GodisGood12]

Just a clarification, Im not sure if your aware or not. CMS is like almost 2 hours north of Chicago, its quite a while away. Its closer to Wisconsin actually. But the second 2 years are in Chicago.

 

[jordhen86]

Virginia Commonwealth has its own hospital and so most of the rotations take place right around campus. To me that's a pretty big advantage.

 

[Phosphorus Ylide]

Just a clarification, Im not sure if your aware or not. CMS is like almost 2 hours north of Chicago, its quite a while away. Its closer to Wisconsin actually. But the second 2 years are in Chicago.

Is this in heavy traffic? I recalled the drive being 35 minutes or so, but that was sans traffic, on aMonday morning around 7.

 

[Ari1584]

Is this in heavy traffic? I recalled the drive being 35 minutes or so, but that was sans traffic, on Monday morning around 7.

yeah it is def closer than 2 hours away....around 40-45 min

 

[antonk4]

Hey guys,

Thanks for all your help, I am beggining to get a much clearer picture.

I have just a few more questions that I hope you guys can help me out with. One thing is that I am an international student so I getting a recedency position would not be as easy for me as for a US citizen. So would VCU give me a more competitive edge to land a recedency spot since I would have more opportunities to do research?

Also, for those who live in Richmond, what area would you recommend to live that would be fairly safe?

One last thing, for all you guys at VCU, how is the student atmosphere?

Thanks again