What are the MOST & LEAST IMPRESSIVE schools you have visited/interviewed at so far?

[Dookter]

---

Members do not see this ad.

So how much does that one year suck? Somebody I talked to at one of the other med schools said she couldn't imagine it being any shorter and more condensed (But I guess what they cut out of the curriculum is another question).

Well, first of all, the "one year" we have is actually longer than the first year at other med schools. It's like 11 months long. We start earlier and end later than other medical schools to squeeze it in. And then after that Duke does two things: 1. cut out the fat 2. cram in the rest.

I actually find the first year to be fine. It's about what I expected, and I think we just eliminate a lot of things that you don't really need to learn [or won't remember anyway]. One thing I do like about this method is that I feel I have more organized, trimmed-down classes that really focus on what we need to know. When I study for the boards, I feel like I will have an easier time b/c reviewing what I learned will include much less B.S. to sort through and discard. And what I REALLY like about it is that I will not be sitting in a classroom next year!

 

[Dookter]

I think "big and public" should be the mantra. Tertiary care is out because you won't even get to start an IV. (exaggeration) I have family friends at the Mayo, and they all encouraged me to go elsewhere for med school (not saying that I really had a shot at getting in b/c who really knows what they're looking for) because at a world-renowned tertiary care center like Mayo, you'll probably leave having seen things that few people in your intern class will have seen, but you won't get to do much. Really, do you think that someone who flew from Kuwait to have the best care he possibly could is going to let you put in a central line? Heck no. He's going to want the attending who's done 10,000 of them.

One very good option is to go to a school that offers both. Emory and Baylor come to mind. You rotate through big-name private hospitals as well as big public hospitals. I think that mix provides great clinical training.

On the same topic, remember that often medical schools with big name centers have local hospitals that you can rotate through. For instance, here at Duke we have the VA and some other places you can go.

 

[trying]

Do you lnow this from personal experience?

when i interviewed there a 2nd year told us that a patient, doctor and society class turned sour between students when unconscious bias re. race was brought up and that certain minority students had a meeting to determine wheter or not their classmates were racist. when i asked other students later in the day about this i got the uncomfortable "ha...ha....yeah....well....ummm"

 

[Bubblehead-to-MD]

when i interviewed there a 2nd year told us that a patient, doctor and society class turned sour between students when unconscious bias re. race was brought up and that certain minority students had a meeting to determine wheter or not their classmates were racist. when i asked other students later in the day about this i got the uncomfortable "ha...ha....yeah....well....ummm"

V. interesting. I interviewed early, so this may have happened after I had come and gone. The whole scenario sounds a bit immature.

Thanks for clarifying your statement. 👍

 

[Towelie]

I think "big and public" should be the mantra. Tertiary care is out because you won't even get to start an IV. (exaggeration) I have family friends at the Mayo, and they all encouraged me to go elsewhere for med school (not saying that I really had a shot at getting in b/c who really knows what they're looking for) because at a world-renowned tertiary care center like Mayo, you'll probably leave having seen things that few people in your intern class will have seen, but you won't get to do much. Really, do you think that someone who flew from Kuwait to have the best care he possibly could is going to let you put in a central line? Heck no. He's going to want the attending who's done 10,000 of them.

I'm not sure that I agree with this. Outside of Mayo, virtually all schools with tertiary care hospitals will give you plenty of opportunities to get broader clinical experience. Many, like Stanford, are affiliated with VAs and other hospitals where you can get more basic clinical training. If you want to be a specialist, it seems like it would be better to go to a tertiary care hospital, where you could see more interesting procedures and work with more prominent people.

 

[trying]

V. interesting. I interviewed early, so this may have happened after I had come and gone. The whole scenario sounds a bit immature.

Thanks for clarifying your statement. 👍

i don't mean to imply that Northwestern is a bad school, but this is the slice i saw.

 

[LIRRfriend]

did you interview at Upstate...if so, what did you think?

Nope, I didn't apply there. I was already applying to 16 schools when I realized that my money was starting to run out 🙂. It happened to be the SUNY I was least interested in at the time.

 

[Bubblehead-to-MD]

i don't mean to imply that Northwestern is a bad school, but this is the slice i saw.

No worries! I personally had an amazing experience at Northwestern, so I am a bit skeptical of negative statements that don't have anything included to support them. Based on the info that was shared with you by the MSII's, I can see why you formed that opinion.

This example illustrates how difficult it is to paint an accurate picture of the school environment based on a one day experience.

 

[diosa428]

Well, first of all, the "one year" we have is actually longer than the first year at other med schools. It's like 11 months long. We start earlier and end later than other medical schools to squeeze it in. And then after that Duke does two things: 1. cut out the fat 2. cram in the rest.

I actually find the first year to be fine. It's about what I expected, and I think we just eliminate a lot of things that you don't really need to learn [or won't remember anyway]. One thing I do like about this method is that I feel I have more organized, trimmed-down classes that really focus on what we need to know. When I study for the boards, I feel like I will have an easier time b/c reviewing what I learned will include much less B.S. to sort through and discard. And what I REALLY like about it is that I will not be sitting in a classroom next year!

Haha I think that SDN should ban negative comments about Duke, cuz there are too many Dukies patrolling the boards!

Anyway, I'm another MS1 and I totally agree with UTpremed. I 😍 Duke, it was my first choice, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Yeah, it's annoying when we're studying for our 3 finals this week and my roommate's boyfriend only has ONE (he goes to UNC), but the workload is not too much. You do not have to study all the time, and as long as you put in a decent amount of studying, you will not fail. Honors is a big more of a struggle, but still very possible without working 24/7. And every time I have to do work or study for a test, I just think how great it is that I only have to do this for one year instead of two.

 

[DrZeke]

What is your preference among these groupings? I would have a very tough time choosing between public and private, tertiary care vs. more primary care, etc.

My issues right now with choosing are:

1) PBL vs. traditional and the correlation of PBL with higher board scores
2) tertiary vs. ambulatory, including patient diversity

Biggest issue with this is the fact that even though I would rather be at a big tertiary care hospital where I can see EVERYTHING...I think that more and more residency programs like when people have a double edge = ambulatory and tertiary setting experiences, so that they know what it takes to follow a patient from start to finish, but also have experiences with very diverse EM settings too. I dunno, I think in order to gain both of those experiences there is some travel involved for rotations with the schools I'm looking at, but it may be worth it.

3) both schools are affiliated with public hospitals


PS - when I talk of ambulatory vs tertiary - both schools I went to emphasized regional affiliated settings for ambulatory emphasis and then the major urban public hospitals for more tertiary experience. This is why travel factors into the equation for me.

 

[Mickeyd4d]

Best: UPenn
Worst: University of Washington hands down

Also Liked: Harvard, Jefferson, & Dartmouth... but UPenn was definitely the top

 

[Guile]

I'm not sure that I agree with this. Outside of Mayo, virtually all schools with tertiary care hospitals will give you plenty of opportunities to get broader clinical experience. Many, like Stanford, are affiliated with VAs and other hospitals where you can get more basic clinical training. If you want to be a specialist, it seems like it would be better to go to a tertiary care hospital, where you could see more interesting procedures and work with more prominent people.

I think it's important to have both. I don't think I would go to a school that didn't have a public hospital where you get excellent, hands-on experience. The private, tertiary care center has its merits, but I've generally heard sub-optimal reports from those rotations from the med students I've talked to.

Why do you think you'll work with more prominent people in a tertiary care setting? That's a pretty presumptuous statement. I know lots of "big name" people in medicine who work at public hospitals because a) that's where the help is needed b) that's where they'll see the crazy pathology, and c) many have a heart for the underserved. (Not saying people at tertiary care centers don't...) I'm just saying that if you go to a place with primarily public hospitals, it's not like you're committing yourself to a medical school career without working with prominent physicians. On the contrary, you're likely to work with some of the biggest names in medicine.

 

[WitchDoctor]

MOST IMPRESSIVE: Mount Sinai

LEAST IMPRESSIVE: Pritzker
WHY?- students- although they were nice, they seem MUCH more stressed than other places where I interviewed. when i arrived, my hosts told me that they studied until about 1am every night (they didn't have an exam coming up soon) I also was suprised that many students I met weren't involved in other activities outside of the classroom (not counting specialty/interest groups) 😴 It seems like the students are in class ALL day also! When i talked with students, asking them why they chose Pritzker, most just said they wanted to stay close to their family (my family is in the south, so I'd need a better reason) Chicago is beautiful, but I was suprised that when I was walking around campus to my interview, the place was DEAD, like a ghost town! and it was the middle of the day and there was beautiful weather. this shocked me because at my undergrad, there are ALWAYS people around, laying int he grass, BSing in front of the library, but there was NO one around at Pritzker. i just thought it was strange

all in all, i bet pritzker is a great school but i was extremely disappointed after my visit. after all the things i read, i expected to fall in love but i didn't.

 

[Towelie]

I think it's important to have both. I don't think I would go to a school that didn't have a public hospital where you get excellent, hands-on experience. The private, tertiary care center has its merits, but I've generally heard sub-optimal reports from those rotations from the med students I've talked to.

Why do you think you'll work with more prominent people in a tertiary care setting? That's a pretty presumptuous statement. I know lots of "big name" people in medicine who work at public hospitals because a) that's where the help is needed b) that's where they'll see the crazy pathology, and c) many have a heart for the underserved. (Not saying people at tertiary care centers don't...) I'm just saying that if you go to a place with primarily public hospitals, it's not like you're committing yourself to a medical school career without working with prominent physicians. On the contrary, you're likely to work with some of the biggest names in medicine.

You make a good point. I was just stating the obvious, as virtually all of the top hospitals in the country are tertiary care hospitals--Stanford, Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, MGH, BWH, Hopkins, UCLA, UCSF, etc. Unless you're in a primary care field, the more prominent physicians tend not to work at public hospitals, because they have less research money. The "biggest names in medicine" are almost exclusively at tertiary care hospitals.

 

[owenmichael]

I think "big and public" should be the mantra. Tertiary care is out because you won't even get to start an IV. (exaggeration) I have family friends at the Mayo, and they all encouraged me to go elsewhere for med school (not saying that I really had a shot at getting in b/c who really knows what they're looking for) because at a world-renowned tertiary care center like Mayo, you'll probably leave having seen things that few people in your intern class will have seen, but you won't get to do much. Really, do you think that someone who flew from Kuwait to have the best care he possibly could is going to let you put in a central line? Heck no. He's going to want the attending who's done 10,000 of them.

As a student at Mayo I can assure you that is a myth. There are 1200 physicians at this clinic and only the ones directly involved in our new curriculum know what day to day life for a med student is like. I'm a first year and I have already sutured a c-section, started an IV, done patient interviews and parts of physical exams on real patients and practiced casting, intubation and shots. Alot of my classmates have done even more crazy stuff like inserting catheters, sutured in the OR, seen patients by themselves (and this is as FIRST years!!). We get a ton of clinical experience our first year and the doctors we work with are awesome. THey are open to letting us do whatever we are comfortable with. Part of our new curriculum (6 weeks of class followed by a 2 week break through out the year) STRESSES us being in the clinic alot and learning clinical skills most students don't pick up until their third year. THat is the purpose of our 2 week break "selectives." Our new curriculum focuses on getting tons of clinical experience right away and reducing stress. Its really almost too good. I honestly don't think there is a school in the US that gets more clinical experience than us. Our entire second year is spent seeing patients by ourselves in the morning, and having class in the afternoon. Sorry, I just feel like this is a common misconception about Mayo. If anything, patients understand that this is a teaching institution and welcome us being involved. The doctors view us as "hot commodities" and love having us work with them and really take the time to teach and integrate what we are learning in class to clinical cases we see in the clinic. However I will acknowledge that the reason we can actually accomplish things in clinical settings is because we take alot of "Tradition second year courses" our first year --> Thus we can make differnetial diagnoses, understand mechanisms behind disease etcc.... while we are in the lcnic.

 

[Towelie]

Mayo and CCLM sound like such awesome schools...😀

I just wish they weren't in Minnesota and Cleveland. Yuck.

 

[dopaminesurge]

I guess when I said Harvard was the most impressive, I meant that it seemed like the school with the most resources and most intelligent students.

Where would I see myself best? UCLA and NYU. At both schools I got the sense that students were able to live life and have many experiences, and the academics are excellent. Many resources. Similar vibes, different cities. Of course NYC>LA, but LA weather>>>>>NYC weather.

I'm still not going to say anything about unimpressive schools in order to not jinx myself. Or maybe, since I'm already in the post-interview hold, I'll say UCSD seemed really dreary and the students were overworked. They do have Matt, though - he's a great asset. Still, I can basically see myself everywhere I interviewed (including UCSD.)

 

[Guile]

As a student at Mayo I can assure you that is a myth. There are 1200 physicians at this clinic and only the ones directly involved in our new curriculum know what day to day life for a med student is like. I'm a first year and I have already sutured a c-section, started an IV, done patient interviews and parts of physical exams on real patients and practiced casting, intubation and shots. Alot of my classmates have done even more crazy stuff like inserting catheters, sutured in the OR, seen patients by themselves (and this is as FIRST years!!). We get a ton of clinical experience our first year and the doctors we work with are awesome. THey are open to letting us do whatever we are comfortable with. Part of our new curriculum (6 weeks of class followed by a 2 week break through out the year) STRESSES us being in the clinic alot and learning clinical skills most students don't pick up until their third year. THat is the purpose of our 2 week break "selectives." Our new curriculum focuses on getting tons of clinical experience right away and reducing stress. Its really almost too good. I honestly don't think there is a school in the US that gets more clinical experience than us. Our entire second year is spent seeing patients by ourselves in the morning, and having class in the afternoon. Sorry, I just feel like this is a common misconception about Mayo. If anything, patients understand that this is a teaching institution and welcome us being involved. The doctors view us as "hot commodities" and love having us work with them and really take the time to teach and integrate what we are learning in class to clinical cases we see in the clinic. However I will acknowledge that the reason we can actually accomplish things in clinical settings is because we take alot of "Tradition second year courses" our first year --> Thus we can make differnetial diagnoses, understand mechanisms behind disease etcc.... while we are in the lcnic.

This is good to hear about Mayo. (What I had heard was from an attending at Mayo, so I didn't immediately discount it, but of course the most applicable word on the subject would come from a student.)

BTW: All of those "crazy" things that you mentioned, I've been doing for over a year now as an undergrad. 😀

 

[Lorienne7]

when i interviewed there a 2nd year told us that a patient, doctor and society class turned sour between students when unconscious bias re. race was brought up and that certain minority students had a meeting to determine wheter or not their classmates were racist. "

Yup, I heard the same story when I interviewed at Northwestern, only it was a third year who told us about it.

 

[dbhvt]

Better than expected
Vandy - friendly, intimate, happy students, admin/fac clearly happy too and enthused about their school
UVa - best organized, most personal , no grades for 2 years (!) = happy students
Wash U- great school despite ST Louis for all the reasons mentioned
Yale- other than New Haven, whats not to like ? they treat you like adults here and all the students have transcended the pre-med mentality
Michigan - agree with everything said here- class size may be a bit large for some, and weather may be too much for anyone outside of the midwest

Less than Expected
Duke- hospital was not all that - no where near as impressive as Wash U- and people year 1 is like undergrad again - nothing but studying and tests- life is TOO short IMO
Hopkins- great place for residency, but med school ?? (and truly isolated in run down section), claustrophobic; do students ever get to touch the patients ?
Columbia - student education has been an afterthought here(indeed recently cited for this shortcoming on recent accreditation visit) -ugly part of an already tough city
UCSF - hospitals were not all that impressive/modern
U Wash- a really nice state school - but a top 10 institution ??
Emory- students werent that positive; Grady has issues obviously...

I'd be interested to see why you feel that student education has been an afterthought at Columbia. It sounds like you have some misinformation on the (resolved) accreditation issues. Though it's not perfect, there are some really great things about the education here. I think it's interesting to note that the course director for the main first-year basic science course was awarded the 2006 columbia university-wide 'presidential award' for great teaching. I think it says something about the medical school that our course director stands out for his teaching among all the different schools under the CU umbrella.

 

[TexasFool]

best: toledo (simple and to the point, i liked it), pitt (I feel that this school had the best interviewers), A&M (fun experience driving in a carpool to temple)

worse: columbia (complete jerks), vanderbilt (didn´t think they were able to get to know who I am due to poor interviewing on their part)

 

[medtastic]

Loved: Sinai
Students were cool and happy. The hospital is great.

Did not love: Temple
Students gossiped with eachother constantly while giving the tour.

 

[Cirrus83]

Now that I'm in somewhere else, wouldn't go there: SUNY Buffalo
They made a huge deal about the complimentary lunch (bad cold cuts)

Oh wow, now this is my #1 choice!

Haha seriously though, it's still a nice perk for when you're too poor to eat anything but ramen.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

even though you guys were unimpressed by some of the schools, would you still consider going to them if you got an acceptance?

If I had no other option. I will not turn down an acceptance until I have a better option.

 

[dasacohen]

Most impressive: Miami. I thought the size of their medical complex was unriveled...esp if you're interested in bilingual (spanish) patient populations

Least: Drexel. it already felt like a safety school to me...classes in one building far away from anything remotely interesting. I had bigger expectations, but was sad to meet the students and the faculty which seemed less than enthusiastic about its program...not to mention its distance from Philly (not even close!)

 

[Misfit!]

Most impressive: Miami. I thought the size of their medical complex was unriveled...esp if you're interested in bilingual (spanish) patient populations

Least: Drexel. it already felt like a safety school to me...classes in one building far away from anything remotely interesting. I had bigger expectations, but was sad to meet the students and the faculty which seemed less than enthusiastic about its program...not to mention its distance from Philly (not even close!)

?? 😕 Drexel IS in Philly....

 

[dasacohen]

Drexel is in Queenslane, a wonderfully quiet little street about what seems a light-year (but only 30 minutes shuttle) to downtown philly. I thought the school would be in a urban setting with cheese steaks and rando's wandering the street, but realistically, it is one modest looking building, on a bumpy-sidewalk street in the middle of suburbia. I signed on for an urban medical school, not drexel.

In addition to the area being subpar, (in addition to the surrounding food options), I felt that little/no one was excited about the school...even the dean. It certainly is a good school, but the level of energy and excitement, even in the interview room, was well below what I expected.

on the otherhand, when I went to miami, the other interviewees I chatted with were all amazing people. Not one dud. In drexel, all but 2 were duds, and the interview group was much larger...

 

[Eric Lindros]

Drexel is in Queenslane, a wonderfully quiet little street about what seems a light-year (but only 30 minutes shuttle) to downtown philly. I thought the school would be in a urban setting with cheese steaks and rando's wandering the street, but realistically, it is one modest looking building, on a bumpy-sidewalk street in the middle of suburbia. I signed on for an urban medical school, not drexel.

In addition to the area being subpar, (in addition to the surrounding food options), I felt that little/no one was excited about the school...even the dean. It certainly is a good school, but the level of energy and excitement, even in the interview room, was well below what I expected.

on the otherhand, when I went to miami, the other interviewees I chatted with were all amazing people. Not one dud. In drexel, all but 2 were duds, and the interview group was much larger...

Drexel's location flat out sucks and is a major reason why many students place it on the safety list. It is in Philadelphia, but not center city. There are no places to hang out; no bars, no shops, nothing. Also, its not even a particularly safe area (A drexel med student was murdered in '03) Worst of all, there is no hospital in close proximity to the medical campus.

 

[Guile]

Drexel's location flat out sucks and is a major reason why many students place it on the safety list. It is in Philadelphia, but not center city. There are no places to hang out; no bars, no shops, nothing. Also, its not even a particularly safe area (A drexel med student was murdered in '03) Worst of all, there is no hospital in close proximity to the medical campus.

Where do they do rotations, and where is it located?

 

[yalla22]

Drexel's location flat out sucks and is a major reason why many students place it on the safety list. It is in Philadelphia, but not center city. There are no places to hang out; no bars, no shops, nothing. Also, its not even a particularly safe area (A drexel med student was murdered in '03) Worst of all, there is no hospital in close proximity to the medical campus.

Yeah, Drexel is a total dump. It hardly looks like a medical school-old, secluded, dingy, in the middle of a random part of town, super dangerous...the hospital is going bankrupt...

 

[yalla22]

Somebody asked a "why" about Temple:
I didn't like Temple because of the location and the overall highly ghetto feel. Aside from being extremely dangerous, the environment is really demoralizing-i mean its in the slums and when you look out the windows of a lot of buildings you see vacant buildings, and just neighborhoods you would see in movies trying to depict the poorest of the poor.
What does everyone else think about this?

 

[maestro1625]

Best: Case... I just got a good vibe from the place... too bad my interview was beyond strange.
Wake Forest: seeing as though this was my first time ever in the state of NC, I liked the facilities and the small class size. First interview where no one there seemed full of themselves. the only downside... no videotaped lectures... wtf?

worst: Wayne State. the place hasnt been updated since my parents went there and thier interview day was ummm... nonexistent. However, I give them credit that under the weak asthetics, the school is sound in the technology department.

 

[Eric Lindros]

Where do they do rotations, and where is it located?

This was my biggest gripe with Drexel. Because there is no established "Drexel University Medical Center" the 3rd year rotations are scattered all over the place. You could be anywhere from Reading and Lancaster PA to the middle of New Jersey. I believe the system is based on a lottery too. They even have some rotation options in Pittsburgh. I'm just not a big fan of that.

If you had to pick a "main" hospital for Drexel, it would be Hahnemann University Hospital (Drexel used to be Hahnemann University) which is located in center city Philly right off the Vine Street expressway. I don't really know the whole story of why Drexel sort of "detached" from HUH but its one of the main aspects of Drexel that turned me off.

 

[Eric Lindros]

Somebody asked a "why" about Temple:
I didn't like Temple because of the location and the overall highly ghetto feel. Aside from being extremely dangerous, the environment is really demoralizing-i mean its in the slums and when you look out the windows of a lot of buildings you see vacant buildings, and just neighborhoods you would see in movies trying to depict the poorest of the poor.
What does everyone else think about this?

I think this sums up how I felt too. I come from a place called "Happy Valley" and North Philly, which in my opinion is the worst part, is just a little too much for me.

 

[EmbellisMaVie]

Best: Case... I just got a good vibe from the place... too bad my interview was beyond strange.

What happened during your Case interview? Mine was a little odd, too... one of the first questions my interviewer (a retired neurosurgeon) asked me was, "Rap or hip-hop?" 😕

I really liked the people at Case, but I felt like everything was a little off when I visited. Though it may have been because everyone was gone for Thanksgiving Break at the time.

 

[peezyweezy]

I guess I'll chime in here

Best:
Harvard: The people there were cooler than I expected. The facilities are great. This is undeniable.

Upenn: I love the intergrated campus. The people were great. Hospitals, especially the childrens' one, were great.

Emory: Didn't know what to expect, but I think there is a nice hospital system when u think about the Grady aspect and then the tertiary care Emory's other hospitals provide. People seemed enthusiastic. The new building should be cool.

(If i had to choose one, probably Upenn)

Least:

Hopkins: I didn't feel like life really existed outside the school. I could be wrong. They are impressive in terms of their hospitals/research, but there was something lacking that I can't quite put my finger on.

 

[Lulu8]

I guess when I said Harvard was the most impressive, I meant that it seemed like the school with the most resources and most intelligent students.

Where would I see myself best? UCLA and NYU. At both schools I got the sense that students were able to live life and have many experiences, and the academics are excellent. Many resources. Similar vibes, different cities. Of course NYC>LA, but LA weather>>>>>NYC weather.

I'm still not going to say anything about unimpressive schools in order to not jinx myself. Or maybe, since I'm already in the post-interview hold, I'll say UCSD seemed really dreary and the students were overworked. They do have Matt, though - he's a great asset. Still, I can basically see myself everywhere I interviewed (including UCSD.)

random tangent....Dopamine I love your pic! 👍 👍

 

[DrZeke]

This was my biggest gripe with Drexel. Because there is no established "Drexel University Medical Center" the 3rd year rotations are scattered all over the place. You could be anywhere from Reading and Lancaster PA to the middle of New Jersey. I believe the system is based on a lottery too. They even have some rotation options in Pittsburgh. I'm just not a big fan of that.

If you had to pick a "main" hospital for Drexel, it would be Hahnemann University Hospital (Drexel used to be Hahnemann University) which is located in center city Philly right off the Vine Street expressway. I don't really know the whole story of why Drexel sort of "detached" from HUH but its one of the main aspects of Drexel that turned me off.

Yes, I completely agree with everything said about Drexel. I got the same feeling, and NOBODY was excited to be there. It was my only interview last year, and I'm so happy that I screwed it up, because once I interviewed at other places this year, I realized just how bad their interview day really is. Also, the hospital situation completely sucks. Having to compete for other hospitals with the rest of the Philly students at the different schools is not fun. I wouldn't want to be 4th out of 4 schools in a city. Sorry for those of you that love Drexel, this is just the way I felt.

 

[Hednej]

I guess I'll chime in here

Best:
Harvard: The people there were cooler than I expected. The facilities are great. This is undeniable.

Upenn: I love the intergrated campus. The people were great. Hospitals, especially the childrens' one, were great.

Emory: Didn't know what to expect, but I think there is a nice hospital system when u think about the Grady aspect and then the tertiary care Emory's other hospitals provide. People seemed enthusiastic. The new building should be cool.

(If i had to choose one, probably Upenn)

Least:

Hopkins: I didn't feel like life really existed outside the school. I could be wrong. They are impressive in terms of their hospitals/research, but there was something lacking that I can't quite put my finger on.

What's so good about Penn that people would even choose it over Harvard? It seems like a lot of people here have been impressed by Penn. Mind pointing out the reasons?

 

[HumbleMD]

What's so good about Penn that people would even choose it over Harvard? It seems like a lot of people here have been impressed by Penn. Mind pointing out the reasons?

It doesn't have the ego of Harvard. It's not in Boston. Many reasons.

 

[Severus]

It doesn't have the ego of Harvard. It's not in Boston. Many reasons....

What Humble means here is FOOD TRUCKS! At Penn, you are literally only ever like a minute away from food no matter where you are on campus.

 

[Towelie]

It doesn't have the ego of Harvard. It's not in Boston. Many reasons.

Penn definitely has an ego. Maybe not the ego of Harvard, but still a big ego. What's wrong with Boston? (other than the fact that the Red Sox and Patriots suck).

 

[Teee]

...the Red Sox and Patriots suck).

😱 oh no you didn't! 🙄

 

[Hednej]

😱 oh no you didn't! 🙄

😱 Oh yes Towelie just did😱 . Panic in the disco!

 

[Towelie]

😱 oh no you didn't! 🙄

Don't get me wrong, I love Boston. However, Red Sox fans are the most pathetic, whining, and flat-out obnoxious breed of human waste on this planet.

And Tom Brady is the most overrated player in the history of sports.

Sorry to ramble about things unrelated to medicine. Sadly, I'm much more passionate about Red Sox and Patriots-hating than I probably ever will be about medicine...

 

[biggoron42]

lol if you want the most self-loathing fans of sports on the planet, look no farther than philly.

 

[Towelie]

lol if you want the most self-loathing fans of sports on the planet, look no farther than philly.

True. They did boo Santa.

 

[melissainsd]

Most (in order I interviewed at):

Baylor- Really fun people, great curriculum. Interview day was well organized and they acted as though we were doing them a favor by coming there.

Mayo- Nicest people ever. Love the new curriculum. Some people hate the location but for me (with a family), it was great.

Harvard- Amazing facilities. The faculty was surprisingly down-to-earth and really welcoming.

Least: No such thing. For everyone here that complains about a school there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of students dying to go there. Perhaps I am still a little wide-eyed but I was excited to go on all of my interviews. One funny thing did happen though. During my tour at Drexel the student kept relating everything back to TV shows. "The PIL students work in groups like 'House'...blah blah blah like 'Gray's Anatomy', etc. Before we left she told us the most accurate show was 'Scrubs'. 😕

 

[peezyweezy]

What's so good about Penn that people would even choose it over Harvard? It seems like a lot of people here have been impressed by Penn. Mind pointing out the reasons?

They are both great schools. I liked them both. Personally, I would rather be in Philly than Boston for one. I liked the more integrated feel of Penn. I like that basic sciences are just 1.5 year at Penn. I just had a better overall feeling I at Penn. And I think that even the fact that Penn gives out merit scholarships indicates a slightly smaller ego than Harvard. This doesn't mean i would neccessarily choose penn over harvard though if i got into both. (A BIG IF). Harvard's Pass/fail lasts longer which is a plus on its side. And lets be real......Harvard has that "name factor" that garners instant respect more so than just about any med school in the US.

 

[evade]

A side note:

As we're talking about impressive schools, I just gotta say that my *own* school has successfully impressed the crap out of me. If anyone here has interviewed at UC Davis, I strongly suggest you come back and check out the new medical education building, which opened just this last week. HOLY CRAP it is nice! I'm completely wowed (and excited, becuase we start class there in January!). I'm also thrilled I won't have to apologize to interviewees anymore for our crappy facilities!

I can safely say that it's the nicest facility I have seen, including all the schools I interviewed at back in '04. 🙂

/plug