WashU vs. UCSD vs. Perelman

[BrainStorm12]

Hi! I am trying to decide if I should LOI somewhere...I am extremely happy with my acceptance and grateful but could use some insight on these schools for things that I should consider to potentially LOI

Priorities: Vibe, strength of programs and opportunities to branch out & explore
Interests: Public health, entrepreneurship, quality imrovement currently interested in pediatrics, but I think this will likely change as I explore.

	WashU (Accepted)	UCSD (Waitlist)	UPenn (Waitlist)
Curriculum	PC: 1.5 years	PC: 2 years	PC: 1.5 years
Location	Big city that is pretty	Suburbs - cute	Bigger city
Culture and Student Life	“Everyone is so nice!” 124 students - i want smaller class size	Everyone seemed super happy and WEATHER ~150 students	Might be more competitive bc of rank? ~160 bigger class size
Grading System	No internal rank & P/F	No internal rank & P/F	Internal rank
Reputation and Strengths	Alot of prestige (Marginally less than UPenn) Endless community service projects Good interdisciplinary opportunities in curriculum Barnes-Jewish <3	Really interesting refugee patient population and have strong interest in Spanish Free clinic with lots of opportunity for involvement	Most prestige Stronger indisciplinary abilities - I have interest in exploring medical entrepreneurship x global health x quality improvement (no experience) many global health opportunities
Support system	None	Long-term partner lives 4 hour drive away and sister in the area. family 4 hr drive (different from bf)	None but somewhat closer to friends and extended family in NYC
Cons	No student run clinic limited global health opportunities abortion ban/political climate	Not as excited about this as I want to live in a new place	Competitiveness

TLDR: Wondering if/where to LOI. UCSD has the patient population and support system, Penn has my ideal interests to explore, WashU has almost everything Penn has with less interdisciplinary strength (imo). Assume cost is the same as I haven't received anything from WashU

Thank you for any thoughts!!

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[Mr. Macrophage]

Honestly, you seem pretty happy with WashU! They’re a very good school with a strong match list, and they tend to have very very good aid. I don’t think Penn’s name is stronger than WashU’s unless you know you want to do an MD/MBA! UCSD’s match list is great too.

I would wait a month and see if WashU throws you a scholarship. If not, and you still feel strongly about Penn or UCSD after WashU second look, you can send the LOI then! Almost all waitlist movement for a school like Penn or UCSD is not going to happen until May 1st anyways.

 

[BrainStorm12]

Honestly, you seem pretty happy with WashU! They’re a very good school with a strong match list, and they tend to have very very good aid. I don’t think Penn’s name is stronger than WashU’s unless you know you want to do an MD/MBA! UCSD’s match list is great too.

I would wait a month and see if WashU throws you a scholarship. If not, and you still feel strongly about Penn or UCSD after WashU second look, you can send the LOI then! Almost all waitlist movement for a school like Penn or UCSD is not going to happen until May 1st anyways.

Awww thank you THE Mr. Macrophage. I appreciate this piece of advice. I do think that's what I'm going to do. Let it marinate and sit and then see how I' feeling about the other. I feel the pressure to LOI immediately just to ~show~ that I'm committed yk