WashU vs. Yale (LOI)

[a-wee-animalcule]

Hi y’all, I am hoping to get some advice on whether I should send a LOI to Yale (interviewed early January, non-rolling) or WashU (interviewed early December, rolling). I appreciate any insights or suggestions y’all might have on this.





A brief comparison:


Yale


Pros

• Yale system, no shelf exams, no AOA
• prestige? (unsure)
• faculty seem to care about students quite a lot and students seem happy there
• east coast
• research thesis

Cons

• New Haven
• I’m a Canadian applicant and I’d be considered international

WashU


Pros

• P/F grading (although I think they rank students?)
• cheap cost of living
• faculty seem really invested in students and students seem happy there
• good research opportunities for students

Cons

• Located in the mid-west
• their curriculum seem more traditional
• Canadian-friendly (as in, out-of-state instead of international)

Summary:


From what I’ve seen so far, I like both schools very much and I would love to attend any of the two.


I suppose the most important question here is whether I should send letters of interest to both schools or send a letter of intent to one of them and I guess this depends on how each school weigh these letters?





Some minor questions:


Do these schools vary much in terms of match lists?


Which would be the better choice for research and for potentially doing a dual degree?


Anything else that I should consider?





Thank you very much.

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[spottedcory]

This might factor into their receptiveness of an LOI, but I don't know anything about Yale. On the Post-II A rate sheet, looks like Yale as a 50% post-II acceptance rate, and WashU has 30%, but WashU likes LOI and I think has decent waitlist movement.

 

[a-wee-animalcule]

Thanks a lot for all the responses! Appreciate the feedback and I'll keep in mind what y'all said 🙂

 

[indecisiveconvention]

Would agree with the above that WashU generally has better residency programs and slightly higher prestige in medicine than yale. Also does not have AOA!