Wayne State vs Drexel

[Wahed]

I’ve been lucky enough to be offered admission at two schools: Wayne State and Drexel. Its a really hard choice for me: Wayne is cheaper (in-state tuition) and i think the clinical training might be better, but Drexel was a much better “click” with me, and i feel that Drexel might open up doors that Wayne would not. The price difference is sizable, but I can’t help but feel it might be worth it. Here’s a pro/con breakdown of the schools.

Wayne State:
Pros:

• cheap (in state) tuition (like 120kish cheaper than Drexel)
• Maybe better clinical experience. I have a lot of interest (and background) in working with low income and homeless populations. As far as I can tell, all of Wayne’s clinical sites offer lots of direct exposure to these populations. They also seem to offer a very hands on style of training. It seems like the work of medical students is actually valued here, as opposed to them being in the way or seen as a liability.
• My mom lives in Detroit. We’re not super close, and there are honestly some challenges posed by living near her, but she is supportive and it would definitely be nice to live near her in some ways.
• Some of my oldest friends live in Detroit, but they all have plans to leave around the end of my MS1.

Cons:

• It seems like the administration is less than good. In most interactions I’ve had with them they’ve been less than helpful. Example: they told us they’d release financial aid info by April 30th. Crickets from them. Not even a “sorry, we’re working on it” email. On second look day they dodged most of the questions asked, and repeated canned responses ad nauseam. They seemed annoyed that people kept asking very reasonable questions that they really should have been able to answer. These experiences combined with their reputation for being disorganized and disinterested left a bad taste in my mouth and make me really concerned about their ability to support me as a medical student in my education and career development.
• it’s Detroit. I’m from there (although I’ve spent a lot of time recently living in other places) so I don’t mind SO much, but still. It ain’t philly...and I really love philly.
• They send a very large proportion of their students to residencies in Michigan and in the Great Lakes region. I don’t want to end up in Michigan or the Midwest for residency. I don’t want to live there long term. I know that many Wayne students self-select for nearby Midwest/Great Lakes residency programs, but I can’t help but feel that this trend will contribute to a decrease in my chance of matching in programs in other locations, because those programs might be less familiar with Wayne state grads.
• I didn’t feel so much of a connection with Wayne medicine students. They all seem nice enough, but I just didn’t “click” with any of them (no offense to any Wayne students reading - I’m sure you’re awesome, it was just a feeling I had on interview and second look day).

Drexel:
Pros:

• Instant “click”. On interview day I immediately felt comfortable at the school, and felt that the administrators, faculty, and students I interacted with had a positive attitude, and that I’d really enjoy working with them. I was especially impressed by how candid they all seemed in answering our questions, and how earnestly they welcomed us and shared their feelings about Drexel. It just seemed like a really positive environment, and I got the sense that everyone I interacted with genuinely enjoyed being at Drexel.
• It’s in philly! I really loved this city and I know that I would absolutely love living there.
• I can’t help but feel that being located in philly would afford more opportunities for career development. There’s so much medical infrastructure there, and it’s such a large city with so much going on.
• Drexel sends its students to residency programs all over the country. Looking at the match list, I feel like I’d have more options coming out of Drexel. I like big coastal cities and I think Drexel could help me land in one for residency.
• Drexel also presents lots of opportunities to work with underserved, especially if I get to rotate at Hahnemann hospital. However, I do worry about how likely that is (see con below)

Cons:

• I’ve heard that Drexel’s relationship with Hahnemann hospital is somewhat precarious. Everyone assured me not to worry but I can’t help worrying. I don’t want to get stuck with rotations at some suburban hospital. Which I suppose is a possibility even if the situation at Hahnemann is stable. (I’d really appreciate insight on this from current students at Drexel).
• Drexel has an online only lecture system. I always liked going to class in undergrad, and I worry about my ability to feel connected to the school, the material, faculty, and my fellow classmates if all the lectures are online. However, it does sound like there are a lot of on campus requirements that might assuage this concern somewhat.
• THE PRICE. At 120k more, it’s significantly more expensive.

I was hoping that @ciestar @Melchizedek @BurntFlower @MedicineN'Jazz might be able to offer their thoughts on some of the concerns I’ve outlined (please tag anyone else you know who is affiliated with either of these schools). I would really appreciate any guidance the forum can offer me. Thank you for reading!

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[ciestar]

You hit the jackpot for underserved no matter what you choose.

Anyway, as far as HUH is concerned, it is hard to say. This was never a secret, though. HUH has been losing money forever. It comes with it being a hospital where most of the population being treated is on medicare/medicaid or uninsured. It is hard not to worry but the administration wants us not to.

Yes, the curriculum has an online lecture, but, at least from M1 as i remember, you get monday off to review the lectures for the week and spend Tues-Fri doing in class stuff. Problem was, and I was on the old curriculum, the IFM kids had 200 students and maybe 20 went to lecture. I was also told there was LCME pushback to use less lecture and more other stuff.

By virtue of having a diverse class from all over the country, yes, our match list does feature matches legitimately everywhere. So this is helpful if you’re trying to go somewhere that has taken Drexel students before. The PDs know more of what they’re getting.

Yes, you’re not guaranteed anything as far as rotations are concerned. There are HUH, St. Chris, Mercy Fitz, and Mercy Philadelphia and Allegheny out in Pittsburgh that are urban hospitals. Then we have Abington and Crozer-Chester in the suburbs. Chester is a poor area, if that helps you. Then a bunch of affilations in rural PA “cities” Harrisburg, York, and Reading (although idk if Reading would be an option for your class given the plans to open a satellite campus). There are also a couple of sites in Trenton, NJ.

Yes, the price tag sucks.

 

[Wahed]

You hit the jackpot for underserved no matter what you choose.

Anyway, as far as HUH is concerned, it is hard to say. This was never a secret, though. HUH has been losing money forever. It comes with it being a hospital where most of the population being treated is on medicare/medicaid or uninsured. It is hard not to worry but the administration wants us not to.

Yes, the curriculum has an online lecture, but, at least from M1 as i remember, you get monday off to review the lectures for the week and spend Tues-Fri doing in class stuff. Problem was, and I was on the old curriculum, the IFM kids had 200 students and maybe 20 went to lecture. I was also told there was LCME pushback to use less lecture and more other stuff.

By virtue of having a diverse class from all over the country, yes, our match list does feature matches legitimately everywhere. So this is helpful if you’re trying to go somewhere that has taken Drexel students before. The PDs know more of what they’re getting.

Yes, you’re not guaranteed anything as far as rotations are concerned. There are HUH, St. Chris, Mercy Fitz, and Mercy Philadelphia and Allegheny out in Pittsburgh that are urban hospitals. Then we have Abington and Crozer-Chester in the suburbs. Chester is a poor area, if that helps you. Then a bunch of affilations in rural PA “cities” Harrisburg, York, and Reading (although idk if Reading would be an option for your class given the plans to open a satellite campus). There are also a couple of sites in Trenton, NJ.

Yes, the price tag sucks.

Thank you for this!!!

I have a few follow up questions if you don’t mind:
1. What proportion of the class rotates at HUH or Mercy Philadelphia?
2. What proportion of the class has a preference for those sites?
3. Is it competitive to get a placement at one of those sites?
4. If you are placed in one site, is that where you end up doing all of your rotations? Or do students change sites for different rotations?

 

[ciestar]

Thank you for this!!!

I have a few follow up questions if you don’t mind:
1. What proportion of the class rotates at HUH or Mercy Philadelphia?
2. What proportion of the class has a preference for those sites?
3. Is it competitive to get a placement at one of those sites?
4. If you are placed in one site, is that where you end up doing all of your rotations? Or do students change sites for different rotations?

1. I am not completely sure how the numbers break down. HUH is the most sought after spot. Mercy Philadelphia only rotates for EM and Medicine, I believe.
2. MOST of the class has a preference for "Philly area". Someone has to go to York or Reading every block for each rotation and there is no guarantee you won't have to do it.
3. Competitive in the sense that you're competing against everyone else for a spot at those places. It is lottery based and you rank your choices and just hope the computer loves you.
4. No. Unless you're at an all-year site, you will be changing sites. Again, this is dependent on the lottery how many sites you will end up. I had a classmate who did the first four blocks at one hospital just by luck of the draw. The all-year sites as of now are Abington, Allegheny, Crozer-Chester, Kaiser-Sacramento, Reading, and York.

Not all the suburban sites are bad. Abington, for example, has a lot of patients on medicaid or assistance. Abington also delivers the second most babies in the STATE. Abington and Chester are both very close to the city.

 

[MedicineN'Jazz]

I’ve been lucky enough to be offered admission at two schools: Wayne State and Drexel. Its a really hard choice for me: Wayne is cheaper (in-state tuition) and i think the clinical training might be better, but Drexel was a much better “click” with me, and i feel that Drexel might open up doors that Wayne would not. The price difference is sizable, but I can’t help but feel it might be worth it. Here’s a pro/con breakdown of the schools.

Wayne State:
Pros:

• cheap (in state) tuition (like 120kish cheaper than Drexel)
• Maybe better clinical experience. I have a lot of interest (and background) in working with low income and homeless populations. As far as I can tell, all of Wayne’s clinical sites offer lots of direct exposure to these populations. They also seem to offer a very hands on style of training. It seems like the work of medical students is actually valued here, as opposed to them being in the way or seen as a liability.
• My mom lives in Detroit. We’re not super close, and there are honestly some challenges posed by living near her, but she is supportive and it would definitely be nice to live near her in some ways.
• Some of my oldest friends live in Detroit, but they all have plans to leave around the end of my MS1.

Cons:

• It seems like the administration is less than good. In most interactions I’ve had with them they’ve been less than helpful. Example: they told us they’d release financial aid info by April 30th. Crickets from them. Not even a “sorry, we’re working on it” email. On second look day they dodged most of the questions asked, and repeated canned responses ad nauseam. They seemed annoyed that people kept asking very reasonable questions that they really should have been able to answer. These experiences combined with their reputation for being disorganized and disinterested left a bad taste in my mouth and make me really concerned about their ability to support me as a medical student in my education and career development.
• it’s Detroit. I’m from there (although I’ve spent a lot of time recently living in other places) so I don’t mind SO much, but still. It ain’t philly...and I really love philly.
• They send a very large proportion of their students to residencies in Michigan and in the Great Lakes region. I don’t want to end up in Michigan or the Midwest for residency. I don’t want to live there long term. I know that many Wayne students self-select for nearby Midwest/Great Lakes residency programs, but I can’t help but feel that this trend will contribute to a decrease in my chance of matching in programs in other locations, because those programs might be less familiar with Wayne state grads.
• I didn’t feel so much of a connection with Wayne medicine students. They all seem nice enough, but I just didn’t “click” with any of them (no offense to any Wayne students reading - I’m sure you’re awesome, it was just a feeling I had on interview and second look day).

Drexel:
Pros:

• Instant “click”. On interview day I immediately felt comfortable at the school, and felt that the administrators, faculty, and students I interacted with had a positive attitude, and that I’d really enjoy working with them. I was especially impressed by how candid they all seemed in answering our questions, and how earnestly they welcomed us and shared their feelings about Drexel. It just seemed like a really positive environment, and I got the sense that everyone I interacted with genuinely enjoyed being at Drexel.
• It’s in philly! I really loved this city and I know that I would absolutely love living there.
• I can’t help but feel that being located in philly would afford more opportunities for career development. There’s so much medical infrastructure there, and it’s such a large city with so much going on.
• Drexel sends its students to residency programs all over the country. Looking at the match list, I feel like I’d have more options coming out of Drexel. I like big coastal cities and I think Drexel could help me land in one for residency.
• Drexel also presents lots of opportunities to work with underserved, especially if I get to rotate at Hahnemann hospital. However, I do worry about how likely that is (see con below)

Cons:

• I’ve heard that Drexel’s relationship with Hahnemann hospital is somewhat precarious. Everyone assured me not to worry but I can’t help worrying. I don’t want to get stuck with rotations at some suburban hospital. Which I suppose is a possibility even if the situation at Hahnemann is stable. (I’d really appreciate insight on this from current students at Drexel).
• Drexel has an online only lecture system. I always liked going to class in undergrad, and I worry about my ability to feel connected to the school, the material, faculty, and my fellow classmates if all the lectures are online. However, it does sound like there are a lot of on campus requirements that might assuage this concern somewhat.
• THE PRICE. At 120k more, it’s significantly more expensive.

I was hoping that @ciestar @Melchizedek @BurntFlower @MedicineN'Jazz might be able to offer their thoughts on some of the concerns I’ve outlined (please tag anyone else you know who is affiliated with either of these schools). I would really appreciate any guidance the forum can offer me. Thank you for reading!

This is a really tough one. Especially since I moved from Philly to come to Wayne. My take on this: go to Wayne. I ultimately chose this school over my other acceptance because it was literally $120k cheaper. Given that you’d also have to pay back interest, I wouldn’t go sneezing on that chunk of money.

Now to address some concerns:
Administration: sucks for premeds (sorry), but they’re pretty badass for enrolled students. The ladies in the office are literally the best, and you can go to them for almost everything.

Click: During my white coat ceremony, I was actually freaked out by how nice everyone was. Like seriously, it was almost as if someone dropped a happy pill in everyone’s water. Are we always like that? Of course not. Generally, anytime we have to be in school...we’re not going to be happy lol. And with the crazy accelerated schedule last year, most of us were absolutely miserable to be attending required events on top of the super sonic M1’s course

City wise: You’re right. Detroit isn’t Philly. But I’d say the biggest difference is the food. The night club scene is new, but seems very lively. And there’s so many concerts, sport games, and holiday festivals, that you hardly even notice.

Residency: As for residency, you’re thinking of the placement in the wrong way. For one, unlike Drexel, majority of the students in Wayne are not only from Michigan...but also plan to stay in Michigan. Meaning, it’s not that students aren’t getting picked to go to NY, Cali, Ontario, etc. It’s more that they just don’t rank those out-of-state programs so highly. Also, Michigan residencies have a preference for Michigan trained students. And this is very VERY important. Why? It means you already have a huge advantage to match already, which will be incredibly useful if you decide to pursue a competitive specialty. I guarantee you, Pennsylvania residencies (with the exception of Geisinger) do not have that same preference. Matching is incredibly difficult, and I feel like people down play it sometimes. Every little bit of help, helps.

 

[Wahed]

This is a really tough one. Especially since I moved from Philly to come to Wayne. My take on this: go to Wayne. I ultimately chose this school over my other acceptance because it was literally $120k cheaper. Given that you’d also have to pay back interest, I wouldn’t go sneezing on that chunk of money.

Now to address some concerns:
Administration: sucks for premeds (sorry), but they’re pretty badass for enrolled students. The ladies in the office are literally the best, and you can go to them for almost everything.

Click: During my white coat ceremony, I was actually freaked out by how nice everyone was. Like seriously, it was almost as if someone dropped a happy pill in everyone’s water. Are we always like that? Of course not. Generally, anytime we have to be in school...we’re not going to be happy lol. And with the crazy accelerated schedule last year, most of us were absolutely miserable to be attending required events on top of the super sonic M1’s course

City wise: You’re right. Detroit isn’t Philly. But I’d say the biggest difference is the food. The night club scene is new, but seems very lively. And there’s so many concerts, sport games, and holiday festivals, that you hardly even notice.

Residency: As for residency, you’re thinking of the placement in the wrong way. For one, unlike Drexel, majority of the students in Wayne are not only from Michigan...but also plan to stay in Michigan. Meaning, it’s not that students aren’t getting picked to go to NY, Cali, Ontario, etc. It’s more that they just don’t rank those out-of-state programs so highly. Also, Michigan residencies have a preference for Michigan trained students. And this is very VERY important. Why? It means you already have a huge advantage to match already, which will be incredibly useful if you decide to pursue a competitive specialty. I guarantee you, Pennsylvania residencies (with the exception of Geisinger) do not have that same preference. Matching is incredibly difficult, and I feel like people down play it sometimes. Every little bit of help, helps.

Thank you for this response!! I really appreciate your taking the time to talk about your experience at Wayne. I have a couple follow up questions I was hoping you might be willing to answer.

1. how well do you feel that Wayne supports its students in career development stuff? Like mentoring, advising, help finding research opportunities? Are you mostly on your own? I’m a little concerned about the level of support the school is able to extend to its students.
2. How good is the quality of teaching? I’ve heard some people gripe about the quality of instruction.

 

[Wahed]

1. I am not completely sure how the numbers break down. HUH is the most sought after spot. Mercy Philadelphia only rotates for EM and Medicine, I believe.
2. MOST of the class has a preference for "Philly area". Someone has to go to York or Reading every block for each rotation and there is no guarantee you won't have to do it.
3. Competitive in the sense that you're competing against everyone else for a spot at those places. It is lottery based and you rank your choices and just hope the computer loves you.
4. No. Unless you're at an all-year site, you will be changing sites. Again, this is dependent on the lottery how many sites you will end up. I had a classmate who did the first four blocks at one hospital just by luck of the draw. The all-year sites as of now are Abington, Allegheny, Crozer-Chester, Kaiser-Sacramento, Reading, and York.

Not all the suburban sites are bad. Abington, for example, has a lot of patients on medicaid or assistance. Abington also delivers the second most babies in the STATE. Abington and Chester are both very close to the city.

Sorry for all of the questions, but obviously it’s a hard decision and I just wanna make sure I make the right one. I have just a few more if you don’t mind:

1. What has been your experience of the mentoring/advising services at Drexel? How difficult is it to find research opportunities?
2. One thing that I love about Wayne is how mission driven it is. Are there a lot of people at Drexel who take community service seriously and make an effort to work with underserved populations?

Thanks again!! I really appreciate it.

 

[premed9901]

Thank you for this response!! I really appreciate your taking the time to talk about your experience at Wayne. I have a couple follow up questions I was hoping you might be able to answer.

1. how well do you feel that Wayne supports its students in career development stuff? Like mentoring, advising, help finding research opportunities? Are you mostly on your own? I’m a little concerned about the level of support the school is able to extend to its students.
2. How good is the quality of teaching? I’ve heard some people gripe about the quality of instruction.

Wayne's big schtick is "we won't hold your hand at like other schools", Drexel has decent research opportunities, and Penn is right next door to Drexel. Drexel will certainly set you up better than Wayne.

 

[Wahed]

Wayne's big schtick is "we won't hold your hand at like other schools", Drexel has decent research opportunities, and Penn is right next door to Drexel. Drexel will certainly set you up better than Wayne.

Huh, I guess I missed that piece completely. That doesn’t sound good at all. On what planet is less support a selling point? Lol

 

[ciestar]

Sorry for all of the questions, but obviously it’s a hard decision and I just wanna make sure I make the right one. I have just a few more if you don’t mind:

1. What has been your experience of the mentoring/advising services at Drexel? How difficult is it to find research opportunities?
2. One thing that I love about Wayne is how mission driven it is. Are there a lot of people at Drexel who take community service seriously and make an effort to work with underserved populations?

Thanks again!! I really appreciate it.

1. They’ve been great. We’re assigned peer mentors day 1 and have faculty advisers for everything else along the way. As I am getting ready to apply, I have a pathway adviser and a student affairs adviser. Research is not hard to find.
2. Yes. A lot of my classmates are big into this. Our HOP clinics all serve those greatly in need.

 

[MedicineN'Jazz]

Thank you for this response!! I really appreciate your taking the time to talk about your experience at Wayne. I have a couple follow up questions I was hoping you might be willing to answer.

1. how well do you feel that Wayne supports its students in career development stuff? Like mentoring, advising, help finding research opportunities? Are you mostly on your own? I’m a little concerned about the level of support the school is able to extend to its students.
2. How good is the quality of teaching? I’ve heard some people gripe about the quality of instruction.

I agree with what one of the posters down below said. When it comes to research and stuff like that, you’re not on your own per say....but Wayne really does stick to the “not about to hold your hand” kind of thing. However, most of us do NOT do research at Wayne. We do it at neighboring/partner hospitals and holy smokes, the amount of research some of us are able to publish in a year is ridiculous. I’m talking like 25 papers man. But that guy was an exception. Most of us plateau at 5-10

2) As for teaching. It doesn’t matter. We take NBME exams, and our anatomy practical grades don’t matter. For neuro, I literally only memorized first aid and still passed even though I didn’t go to class. Plus, with all the supplemental resources out there...you don’t really need class to score well on step. If you use Board and Beyonds, Kaplan, Picmonic, Sketchy, Pathoma, Khan Academy, Forst Aid/Express Videos/Rx Q bank, you could literally honor all your exams no joke. NBMEs are a blessing in disguise (since most professors at every school sucks anyways)

 

[lalalallala]

I don't think drexel is worth the extra 120k. Keep in mind that interview days and second look weekends are a bit artificial and short, so while you may have not clicked as much at Wayne State that doesn't mean you won't find people that you click with there.

Wayne state still costs around 215k total for the four years so if you are paying all of that with loans (idk if you are but hypothetically) then that is still a lot of loans. That's still over $14,000 in interest every year, which you may not be able to pay off all of that during residency when you are making 60k so that interest will compound. The 335k in loans for Drexel would increase fairly steeply during residency and fellowship (could definitely get into the high 400s). Even if you go into a high paying field (which also usually means more years of residency so more years of interest) that is still a ton to pay back and money you could have spent on buying a house or anything else

I would do the math (1 yr tuition, add interest, add another year tuition, interest, tuition, interest, tuition, interest, interest during residency and fellowship, etc) on how much that 120k price difference would really turn out to be. I think you will see that 215k in loans and 335k in loans both grow significantly with interest but that the difference between them also grows as those higher interest payments compound

 

[MedicineN'Jazz]

I don't think drexel is worth the extra 120k. Keep in mind that interview days and second look weekends are a bit artificial and short, so while you may have not clicked as much at Wayne State that doesn't mean you won't find people that you click with there.

Wayne state still costs around 215k total for the four years so if you are paying all of that with loans (idk if you are but hypothetically) then that is still a lot of loans. That's still over $14,000 in interest every year, which you may not be able to pay off all of that during residency when you are making 60k so that interest will compound. The 335k in loans for Drexel would increase fairly steeply during residency and fellowship (could definitely get into the high 400s). Even if you go into a high paying field (which also usually means more years of residency so more years of interest) that is still a ton to pay back and money you could have spent on buying a house or anything else

I would do the math (1 yr tuition, add interest, add another year tuition, interest, tuition, interest, tuition, interest, interest during residency and fellowship, etc) on how much that 120k price difference would really turn out to be. I think you will see that 215k in loans and 335k in loans both grow significantly with interest but that the difference between them also grows as those higher interest payments compound

One of the girls from IU, graduated from med school with $500k in loans. Poor thing

 

[Luckyivy]

I’ve been lucky enough to be offered admission at two schools: Wayne State and Drexel. Its a really hard choice for me: Wayne is cheaper (in-state tuition) and i think the clinical training might be better, but Drexel was a much better “click” with me, and i feel that Drexel might open up doors that Wayne would not. The price difference is sizable, but I can’t help but feel it might be worth it. Here’s a pro/con breakdown of the schools.

Wayne State:
Pros:

• cheap (in state) tuition (like 120kish cheaper than Drexel)
• Maybe better clinical experience. I have a lot of interest (and background) in working with low income and homeless populations. As far as I can tell, all of Wayne’s clinical sites offer lots of direct exposure to these populations. They also seem to offer a very hands on style of training. It seems like the work of medical students is actually valued here, as opposed to them being in the way or seen as a liability.
• My mom lives in Detroit. We’re not super close, and there are honestly some challenges posed by living near her, but she is supportive and it would definitely be nice to live near her in some ways.
• Some of my oldest friends live in Detroit, but they all have plans to leave around the end of my MS1.

Cons:

• It seems like the administration is less than good. In most interactions I’ve had with them they’ve been less than helpful. Example: they told us they’d release financial aid info by April 30th. Crickets from them. Not even a “sorry, we’re working on it” email. On second look day they dodged most of the questions asked, and repeated canned responses ad nauseam. They seemed annoyed that people kept asking very reasonable questions that they really should have been able to answer. These experiences combined with their reputation for being disorganized and disinterested left a bad taste in my mouth and make me really concerned about their ability to support me as a medical student in my education and career development.
• it’s Detroit. I’m from there (although I’ve spent a lot of time recently living in other places) so I don’t mind SO much, but still. It ain’t philly...and I really love philly.
• They send a very large proportion of their students to residencies in Michigan and in the Great Lakes region. I don’t want to end up in Michigan or the Midwest for residency. I don’t want to live there long term. I know that many Wayne students self-select for nearby Midwest/Great Lakes residency programs, but I can’t help but feel that this trend will contribute to a decrease in my chance of matching in programs in other locations, because those programs might be less familiar with Wayne state grads.
• I didn’t feel so much of a connection with Wayne medicine students. They all seem nice enough, but I just didn’t “click” with any of them (no offense to any Wayne students reading - I’m sure you’re awesome, it was just a feeling I had on interview and second look day).

Drexel:
Pros:

• Instant “click”. On interview day I immediately felt comfortable at the school, and felt that the administrators, faculty, and students I interacted with had a positive attitude, and that I’d really enjoy working with them. I was especially impressed by how candid they all seemed in answering our questions, and how earnestly they welcomed us and shared their feelings about Drexel. It just seemed like a really positive environment, and I got the sense that everyone I interacted with genuinely enjoyed being at Drexel.
• It’s in philly! I really loved this city and I know that I would absolutely love living there.
• I can’t help but feel that being located in philly would afford more opportunities for career development. There’s so much medical infrastructure there, and it’s such a large city with so much going on.
• Drexel sends its students to residency programs all over the country. Looking at the match list, I feel like I’d have more options coming out of Drexel. I like big coastal cities and I think Drexel could help me land in one for residency.
• Drexel also presents lots of opportunities to work with underserved, especially if I get to rotate at Hahnemann hospital. However, I do worry about how likely that is (see con below)

Cons:

• I’ve heard that Drexel’s relationship with Hahnemann hospital is somewhat precarious. Everyone assured me not to worry but I can’t help worrying. I don’t want to get stuck with rotations at some suburban hospital. Which I suppose is a possibility even if the situation at Hahnemann is stable. (I’d really appreciate insight on this from current students at Drexel).
• Drexel has an online only lecture system. I always liked going to class in undergrad, and I worry about my ability to feel connected to the school, the material, faculty, and my fellow classmates if all the lectures are online. However, it does sound like there are a lot of on campus requirements that might assuage this concern somewhat.
• THE PRICE. At 120k more, it’s significantly more expensive.

I was hoping that @ciestar @Melchizedek @BurntFlower @MedicineN'Jazz might be able to offer their thoughts on some of the concerns I’ve outlined (please tag anyone else you know who is affiliated with either of these schools). I would really appreciate any guidance the forum can offer me. Thank you for reading!

I’m literally in the same position as you trying to decide between Drexel and Wayne except that I am from Philadelphia. I went to grad school at Drexel and I can tell you that I absolutely love Drexel. The students are very nice, you’d make long term friends, the city is lively and the faculty are supportive. Now I won’t have instate tuition at Wayne but I did qualify for their need based scholarship however I don’t think it’s worth leaving Philadelphia for because I won’t be saving any money, I might be living at home in Philly rather than rent which adds to cost. It seems to me that clinicals is gonna be better at Wayne seeing the hospitals they work with and Drexel HUH problem is very disappointing. Also going to Drexel you get to know people all over the country rather than Wayne which is a commuter school and most of them are ending up in MI anyways lol. Tbh both Drexel and Wayne are disorganized in terms of getting things together but I’m yet to see a perfect school, my undergrad was a mess. One more thing, Drexel need to update that medical school building, it’s old, and dirty, I’m not even sure they clean the windows. There are bugs, flies and mosquitoes everywhere at HUH, it’s not well taken care of and it’s filty!! Wayne state is beautiful in and out *had to get that off my chest*. For you I’d go where I’ll save the most money and feel supported (either way I wont be saving money at Wayne nor Drexel unless Wayne offer me IS tuition or more money lol. Drexel doesn’t give much money and that’s sad because their cost is high). But if you feel like you’ll fit in better in a Philadelphia and Drexel, I’ll choose that because environment is also part of success as a future physician. You’ll get good education regardless of where you go ~ thanks! What a messy speech lol.