WashU vs. Northwestern vs. UChicago

[joban]

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Hey guys, long time lurker here. I'm stuck choosing between these schools and would appreciate the opinion of SDN.

Which of these med schools strictly in a career sense would you say is best regarded in the medical community ? ( please rank )

I'm not interested in cost, or location, just purely pedigree. Which would you argue provides the best education for someone interested in a very competitive specialty?

 

[Amba]

All are great institutions. Historically, WashU probably has the strongest name in medicine, especially in the midwest. But the difference in pedigree between the three is almost non-existent.

Disclaimer: I'm a WashU student.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

I don't think it's possible to rank the 3 in terms of quality of education.
Which do you think is the best fit for you?

 

[Willy38]

I'm not sure but I would think it may be specialty dependent. WashU probably has the strongest research of the three? Although UChicago probably has the edge on research regarding the intersection of medicine and social science. Not really sure though.

 

[joban]

Thank you for responding, I'm more concerned with which place will help me have better research and letters and more weight behind the name for something like dermatology, plastic surgery, orthopedics, or ENT.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

All of the above.

@NickNaylor, where are you?

 

[North meets South]

If you're interested in surgery, then WashU.

 

[resiroth]

I get that you think X Y or Z doesn't matter to you, but of the 3 I expect whether the school is a good fit/whether you feel like you fit in with the class and surrounding location will matter more.

In the end I think the USNWR is representative for purely pedigree, although I would argue that for clinically oriented careers individual performance matters more, so I would go where I feel like I would perform best, if no clear winner then I'd go where it's cheapest. Also: the reason to seriously consider the location is that especially for competitive specialties you have the best chance (generally) at your home institution. So if you don't like X, be careful since you may be there for 9 years.