Wake Forest (Full COA) vs (Pitt 20K/year): *I'm torn!*

[premed155180]

Hi y'all! Super grateful to have received a full COA scholarship from Wake as well as a scholarship from Pitt that would only require me to take out ~20K in loans each year (ie 80K after four years + interest). I am not sure what I want to specialize in, but am currently interested in Derm/Rads/PM&R/Psych. However, I'm open to others. What I am fairly certain about is that I do not want to do peds/FM/neurology/most surgical subs. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Pitt
Pros

• More medical prestige (#13 US News). I think this would help me, given I am not sure what I want to do but many specialties I'm interested in are fairly competitive.
• More clinical + research opportunities (example: PREP Program where I can do 2 months of protected research before classes start. Program gives a stipend that covers all living expenses during these two months).
• UPMC is a powerhouse and seems to run Pittsburgh.
• No AOA or internal rankings
• P/F 1.5 yr pre-clinical (graded clinical)
• "Flex Weeks". Single weeks spread across the year where students can essentially do whatever they want with no mandatories (e.g., research, ECs, travel, rest).
• Would not need car for first year or so, potentially all four years. (Saves me a bit of money).
• Bigger city = more opportunities? I have other professional interests outside of medicine
• Better facilities (connected to Pitt undergrad campus)

Cons

• ~80 K more over 4 years than Wake
• Cold weather
• Mandatories from 8 to 11-12 most days of the week. Would rather not have so many mandatories.

Wake Forest
Pros

• Full COA (80K cheaper than Pitt over 4 years)
• P/F 1.5 yr Pre-Clinical. Graded clinical. (same as Pitt)
• Minimal mandatories, especially compared to Pitt
• Better weather
• Slightly more layman prestige (I know these things don't matter much, but my ego still thinks about these things every once in awhile)
• Option to live and learn in Charlotte for clinicals (med school has a Charlotte campus).

Cons

• Less medical prestige (US News #47)
• Less robust research and clinical opportunities (a bit harder to match into competitive specialties, especially with Step 1 being p/f?)
• Internal rankings + AOA (pitt does not have either)
• Not as plentiful facilities (not connected to undergrad campus. For example, there's no gym for med students)

Summary: Ultimately, I feel like Pitt provides me with the best professional opportunities, specifically for competitive specialties. However, Wake would come with less debt and nicer weather. I recognize that both are great financial offers, but I'm just having trouble coming to a decision. For additional context, both are far from family. Your help would mean a lot

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[thefirerisen]

80k over four years is not that much IMO, especially if you want to do a specialty like Derm or Rads which Pitt would give you a huge edge in. Also AOA and internal rankings are a PAIN so you'll have to constantly bust your ass to be top of the class at Wake Forest. Go for Pitt

 

[premed155180]

80k over four years is not that much IMO, especially if you want to do a specialty like Derm or Rads which Pitt would give you a huge edge in. Also AOA and internal rankings are a PAIN so you'll have to constantly bust your ass to be top of the class at Wake Forest. Go for Pitt

Thank you for your feedback!

 

[yellowarmpit47]

prep application is closed now
;_;

 

[premed155180]

prep application is closed now
;_;

Submitted my application earlier this month! PI was willing despite me being on the fence with schools

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Your enthusiasm shows more with your Pitt listing.

It's interesting to me that the "cost" of the mandatories you hate looks like the "Flex Weeks" that you like.

You really don't need a car for M1 in Pittsburgh?

 

[premed155180]

Your enthusiasm shows more with your Pitt listing.

It's interesting to me that the "cost" of the mandatories you hate looks like the "Flex Weeks" that you like.

You really don't need a car for M1 in Pittsburgh?

It seems like a car is helpful in Pittsburgh but not essential. Still figuring that one out.. Have you heard otherwise?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

It seems like a car is helpful in Pittsburgh but not essential. Still figuring that one out.. Have you heard otherwise?

I don't know where med students generally live in relation to where classes are held, but whenever I visit Pittsburgh, I need a car and a very active GPS.

 

[sparky21]

It seems like a car is helpful in Pittsburgh but not essential. Still figuring that one out.. Have you heard otherwise?

went to pitt for ug- didn’t have car first three years and was fine but I did have to rely on roommates for grocery shopping etc the pitt undergrad/med campus doesn’t have a grocery store but you can also easily take public transit there too the port authority buses run frequently and are free to use with a pitt student ID. had car my last year which made my life easier but def made do without it. can’t speak on necessity for clinical sites tho. feel free to message me with any q about the city!

 

[m1redsox]

M4 at Wake here and absolutely love the school. Agreed that a car is probably a must-have but I actually had classmates who made it through all 4 years without one just fine. You could live near the downtown med school (what most people do during the first 2 years anyways) and there is a shuttle that goes from the med school to the hospital frequently (the only other place you’d be required to go).

Not sure what “internal rankings” really means, but I was never told what rank I was and nothing went on residency apps, if that is what you’re referring to. The only thing that this could possibly refer to is that only the top 25% of the class was invited to apply for AOA. This is the only time you find out whether you are in the top 25% or not. Otherwise, we have no rankings.

Additionally, Wake actually outranks UPMC in both derm and rads (doximity residency rankings), which are the most competitive specialties on your list. This is obviously important for research, mentorship, and LORs from a higher ranking program. Our derm applicants this year went 4/4 in the match and our rads people went 10/11 (the one who didn’t match rads was somewhat obvious since they took a few years off and came back to med school) which is pretty good.

With all that said, UPMC is a great school and you obviously can’t go wrong with that choice. $80k is not bad.

 

[1692020135420]

I'm a Pitt M4. The absence of internal rankings and AOA would be pretty high on my weighted pro/con list, especially with P/F step 1. I do think Pitt's name carries more weight and will open more doors for residency, even if the derm/rads home programs have lower doximity ranks. I'm not going to do a deep dive, but I feel like we've always had really solid derm and rads matches.

Pitt is an awesome mid-sized city and I've really enjoyed my 4 years here. Unless you live on/very close to campus (which a lot of students do), you'll definitely need a car for certain rotations like surgery because the buses won't always get you there early enough.

The 80k is definitely something to strongly factor; not as huge of a deal of repayment plans like SAVE are still in place when you graduate and/or if you go into derm/rads.

All things considered, it feels like a close call but I think the rankings/AOA would push me toward Pitt. Maybe I'm just horribly biased though. Good luck!

 

[premed155180]

bump..

 

[mysteryman020]

If 80k is worth going to Pitt then pick it. IMO you can’t go wrong with no debt out of med school. Both are good choices you can’t go wrong with either

 

[mysteryman020]

Everyone above is pretty much saying the same thing, 80k not bad for a T15.

 

[ByThe+C]

Pitt.

 

[m1redsox]

I'm a Pitt M4. The absence of internal rankings and AOA would be pretty high on my weighted pro/con list, especially with P/F step 1. I do think Pitt's name carries more weight and will open more doors for residency, even if the derm/rads home programs have lower doximity ranks. I'm not going to do a deep dive, but I feel like we've always had really solid derm and rads matches.

Pitt is an awesome mid-sized city and I've really enjoyed my 4 years here. Unless you live on/very close to campus (which a lot of students do), you'll definitely need a car for certain rotations like surgery because the buses won't always get you there early enough.

The 80k is definitely something to strongly factor; not as huge of a deal of repayment plans like SAVE are still in place when you graduate and/or if you go into derm/rads.

All things considered, it feels like a close call but I think the rankings/AOA would push me toward Pitt. Maybe I'm just horribly biased though. Good luck!

Since OP wants to hear more on the topic, I’m certainly not looking to be disagreeable, but AOA/“internal rankings” really wasn’t a big deal. The primary determining factor in AOA is your clinical grades. So, if Pitt had P/F clinical grading, then sure, that’s a pretty big deal that would alleviate a lot of stress, but it’s not. At Wake, everyone was pretty aware that some kids were honoring every rotation and some were passing every rotation with most people being somewhere in-between. It was pretty obvious whether or not you would be invited to apply for AOA. My suspicion is that, with a graded clinical curriculum at Pitt, PDs evaluating a residency application can still discern whether you were a top student or not. Now, if 80% of the class honors all rotations at Pitt, then that is obviously much better (to which maybe the other poster has more insight) because that is not the case at Wake. Rotation grade breakdowns shake out to be about 40% Honor / 40% High Pass / 20% Pass, but there is no curve or anything so everyone can get Honors if they meet the threshold.

I will also say that, speaking even more generally, AOA is not as big of a deal as you think. Even in the most competitive specialties (derm, plastics, ortho, etc), <40% of matchers had AOA. I received 18 interviews for ophthalmology (nearly double the average) without AOA.

Edit: but like others have stated, $80k really isn’t bad for a recognizable, top program like Pitt.