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

[yalla22]

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

MOST IMPRESSIVE: Penn

LEAST IMPRESSIVE: Temple & Jefferson

What are your choices?

 

[dopaminesurge]

Most: Harvard
I don't know about least.

 

[maestro1625]

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

MOST IMPRESSIVE: Penn

LEAST IMPRESSIVE: Temple & Jefferson

What are your choices?

wow, no subjectivity here or anything... 🙄

 

[yalla22]

wow, no subjectivity here or anything... 🙄

Well no..lol..i mean, i had much higher expectations of Jeff and when i visited i was really disappointed by the facilities..so for me, because of the expectation i had, i became very unimpressed.

I guess i'm interested in knowing if people were pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised by any schools?

 

[swtiepie711]

I guess i'm interested in knowing if people were pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised by any schools?

I was most unpleasantly surprised by Pritzker (University of Chicago). It was my 1st interview, I was psyched & thought I would love it - I left thinking it would be the most miserable place to spend 4 years.....

Since then, all other schools have really impressed me, making Pritzker look even worse in hindsight

**I do not mean to offend any current or future Pritzker students - I'm sure it's great, but I was truly shocked (in a bad way) by their interview day & it's not a good fit for me***

 

[Stolenspatulas]

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

MOST IMPRESSIVE: Penn

LEAST IMPRESSIVE: Temple & Jefferson

What are your choices?

Most impressive: UPenn (followed by hopkins, columbia)

Least impressive: dont know?

 

[Towelie]

MOST: Stanford, Harvard

LEAST: Northwestern, by far. After the interview, I'm shocked that it's even considered a good school. I would go to Hollywood Upstairs Medical College over Northwestern.

 

[oxeye]

MOST: Stanford, Harvard

LEAST: Northwestern, by far. After the interview, I'm shocked that it's even considered a good school. I would go to Hollywood Upstairs Medical College over Northwestern.

Come join me! 😀

 

[Smokey]

MOST: Stanford, Harvard

LEAST: Northwestern, by far. After the interview, I'm shocked that it's even considered a good school. I would go to Hollywood Upstairs Medical College over Northwestern.

Hey Towelie,

Why didn't you like Northwestern? I was pleasantly surprised with the place.

 

[Depakote]

Come join me! 😀

HUMC is good, but don't make up your mind until you've seen Evil Medical School...

The Evil Anatomy Lab is great and don't forget the Evil Patient Simulator.

Their curriculum is PBL based... which is also evil, I'm told.

 

[Stolenspatulas]

Their curriculum is PBL based... which is also evil, I'm told.

hahahah!

 

[HumbleMD]

Completey subjective, the schools I've been most impressed with are UPenn (man, we should start a club), and Baylor.

Least impressed was Mighigan State CHM (halfway through the interview day I knew I'd rather kill myself than go there), and I wasn't impressed with UPitt at all (but that's just me - tons of people love it).

 

[Anastasis]

Most Impressive: Michigan or Baylor

Least Impressive: Honestly? Southwestern or UTMB

 

[Dookter]

Most: DUKE! I love it here! [I also really liked Baylor and WashU]

Least: not gonna go there

 

[45408]

LEAST: Northwestern, by far. After the interview, I'm shocked that it's even considered a good school. I would go to Hollywood Upstairs Medical College over Northwestern.

I liked it when I interviewed there. what's the deal?

 

[Falco2525]

Most: U Chicago-Pritzker, WashU
Least NYMC

 

[cowme]

most: Penn, Hopkins
least: BU, by far

 

[p9142]

LEAST: Northwestern, by far. After the interview, I'm shocked that it's even considered a good school. I would go to Hollywood Upstairs Medical College over Northwestern.

Hmm, Northwestern seemed fine to me. It didn't compare to the top tier schools, but I certainly wouldn't say it was the worst. Maybe you should check out this: http://facebook.com/group.php?gid=2209846268

 

[seamonkey21]

Most: Marshall University (they were very welcoming and willing to work with me), I was ultimately accepted here and I will be there in the fall. Plus their step 2 board scores are about 20 points higher than the national average, and they have GREAT residency placement. I feel as though this is a school that is over looked.

Least: University of Cincinnati, University of Kentucky (UC was god awful, I was so turned off by how dirty the school was, and how unhelpful the administration was, I am even from Ohio and was considering it one of my top choice schools)

 

[Guile]

.

 

[LolaGene]

I have interviewed at Northwestern and Vandy so far and personally I was impressed by Northwestern. They have something like 7 different hospitals and I talked to an 85 year old man at the airport who had come from CA for 1 day to see his doctor (which is a little strange but clearly he likes the care). I also like that Chicago draws in many immigrants and since no one is denied care at Northwestern, the doctors there get to treat very diverse patients. There are so many free clinics served by Feinberg docs that serve concentrated numbers of people of similar ethnic backgrounds (maybe around 5 of them but i lost count when they were listed), and the med students can get hands on experience.
Vandy has 5 great hospitals and there is also opportunity to offer free care to the underserved at the Shade Tree Clinic. I love Vandy too and Nashville is a great city to live in but if I am fortunate to choose between the two, it will be pretty tough.

Anyway, from this long informational babble I was equally impressed by Vandy and Northwerstern. But dont have a least favorite. 😳

 

[p9142]

An undergrad Facebook group with 26 members in it is supposed to apply to a med school decision?

No it was a joke to show to Towelie. No need to get bent out of shape about it. Like I said, I was impressed with Feinberg.

 

[Guile]

Not bent out of shape here. I just had no way of knowing that it was a joke. I thought you were serious...

 

[p9142]

Not bent out of shape here. I just had no way of knowing that it was a joke. I thought you were serious...

Yeah that is my bad. I sometimes forget to turn on the sarcasm tags.

 

[MedSchoolFool]

Most: UT San Antonio: Combo of good people, good facilities, and good area.

Least: EVMS.... Just felt very out of place there.

 

[braluk]

Least: University of Cincinnati, University of Kentucky (UC was god awful, I was so turned off by how dirty the school was, and how unhelpful the administration was, I am even from Ohio and was considering it one of my top choice schools)

I cant speak for the other schools. but I am in their SMP in their school of medicine at UC and I certainly understand how dirty and dank it is. However, as they probably told you on the tour, the new building being built next door will be opened up by the next incoming class, and it looks like it could boost poor med student morale by alot. Can't say much about the administration though...

 

[Doc Martins]

most: Penn, Hopkins
least: BU, by far

may I ask why you say that about BU?

 

[Towelie]

I didn't like Northwestern for a lot of reasons:

1) The interview. I think that it went fine for me, but I hated the entire process. The interviewers asked tons of questions that had no relation to medicine, only to try to make the applicants look stupid. I was asked questions like--"if you could be an animal, what kind would you be?," and other equally weird questions. Others that I know had the same experience. To me, there is something fundamentally wrong with interviewing in this way. Out of my 15 interviews, this was by far the worst experience.

2) The curriculum. It was mostly PBL based, and while PBL is the new "hot" method of teaching, I think it's hard to learn from a PBL-based curriculum. The students were constantly complaining about it when I was there.

3) The cost. Their financial aid department, from what students told me, is weak. Very weak. Compare that to Pritzker, which gives tons of merit and need based aid. I don't think I would pay 150K more to go to Northwestern than to my state school.

4) The facilities. They have a nice, new hospital, but in general their hospital system is regarded as nothing special. Compare that to a similarly-ranked school like Pitt, which has one of the top ranked hospital systems in the country.

5) The gut feeling. Everything about the place just didn't feel right for me, on a personal level. I have many friends that had an entirely different experience. But you have to go with your gut in this process, and my gut tells me that anywhere would be better than Northwestern.


The area of Chicago, however, was gorgeous. It was so nice that I really wish I had liked Northwestern.

 

[aglaiaer]

.

 

[szhao]

COMPLTELY SARCASTIC and NOT SERIOUS

text

I didn't like Northwestern for a lot of reasons:

1) The interview.

i want to be a puppie, its so cute and seems very warm hearted, can bring joy to anal premeds

2) The curriculum.

bummer, i mean who needs to solve problems, just just memorize stuff

3) The cost.

come on don't be cheap it is like only one year of your salary at worst

4) The facilities.

who needs new hospital systems, paper and pencil are just as searchable, i come algorithmically is the same.

5) The gut feeling.

guts is not a logical reason, so come on you don't want to work against logic do you.

The area of Chicago, however, was gorgeous. It was so nice that I really wish I had liked Northwestern.

come on chicago have a C in its name, i can think of many bad things that start with a C like crap, curse, curfew, and etc, so chicago must not be a good thing either.

 

[DogzRool]

I didn't like Northwestern for a lot of reasons:

1) The interview. I think that it went fine for me, but I hated the entire process. The interviewers asked tons of questions that had no relation to medicine, only to try to make the applicants look stupid. I was asked questions like--"if you could be an animal, what kind would you be?," and other equally weird questions. Others that I know had the same experience. To me, there is something fundamentally wrong with interviewing in this way. Out of my 15 interviews, this was by far the worst experience.

2) The curriculum. It was mostly PBL based, and while PBL is the new "hot" method of teaching, I think it's hard to learn from a PBL-based curriculum. The students were constantly complaining about it when I was there.

3) The cost. Their financial aid department, from what students told me, is weak. Very weak. Compare that to Pritzker, which gives tons of merit and need based aid. I don't think I would pay 150K more to go to Northwestern than to my state school.

4) The facilities. They have a nice, new hospital, but in general their hospital system is regarded as nothing special. Compare that to a similarly-ranked school like Pitt, which has one of the top ranked hospital systems in the country.

5) The gut feeling. Everything about the place just didn't feel right for me, on a personal level. I have many friends that had an entirely different experience. But you have to go with your gut in this process, and my gut tells me that anywhere would be better than Northwestern.


The area of Chicago, however, was gorgeous. It was so nice that I really wish I had liked Northwestern.

I'm an M1 at Northwestern right now. I'm sorry that Towelie (btw, I LOVE that icon!) didn't have a good experience here. The only thing about the above post I want to comment on is this: I've seen Towelie say on SDN several times that Northwestern's curriculum is mostly PBL based. For the record - PBL is NOT a major part of what I do here, not by a long shot. At most, we have 2 two hour sessions of PBL per week, which is a lot less than the 8 - 10 hours a week of lecture and 6 - 8 hours a week of histo/anatomy lab that we also have. The only other small group stuff we do is patient exam skills and ethics, which together add up to another 4 hours every week.

Personally, this is a great balance of teaching/learning styles. It may not be for everyone, though. "Fit" and a good "gut feeling" were really important when I was choosing which school to attend, and Northwestern had both for me.

 

[p9142]

I didn't like Northwestern for a lot of reasons:

1) The interview. I think that it went fine for me, but I hated the entire process. The interviewers asked tons of questions that had no relation to medicine, only to try to make the applicants look stupid. I was asked questions like--"if you could be an animal, what kind would you be?," and other equally weird questions. Others that I know had the same experience. To me, there is something fundamentally wrong with interviewing in this way. Out of my 15 interviews, this was by far the worst experience.

That is hilarious! I agree that their interview system is lame, but I never got anything that stupid for my interviews.

15 interviews? Holy crap that is crazy!!!!

To be totally honest, the only real turnoff I experienced with my interview there was that it seemed to be an upper tier safety school, and for that amount of money it should be a top tier school. Both of my guides mentioned that they would have gone to UChicago if they had been accepted, and as I was walking around with the 10 or so other interviewees people kept talking about how this would be a nice place to go if they didn't get into Harvard, Stanford, WashU etc. . .

 

[coco11]

most impressive: vandy
least impressive: wright state

 

[swtiepie711]

what was a turn-off about Pritzker?

a bunch of things, the main one being that everyone there keeps saying how happy their students are - but no one I met seemed all that happy, and one person I met flat out told me that they didn't like the school, felt they picked the wrong one when they chose pritzker over another school & can't wait to get out of there!

There were not a lot of students around that day (strange - the other schools always had TONS of students around for you to talk to) and the one's I met pretty much all indicated that it would be better to go elsewhere for med school.....

 

[doctorsareneat]

most: Rochester
least: University of South Carolina

 

[Guile]

.

 

[cowme]

may I ask why you say that about BU?

I don't mean to bad mouth the school, because obviously BU is an incredible medical school. But I have been to 16 schools, and BU was the only one I came away from thinking that there was no way I could see myself there. My opinion is mostly due to the high costs of attendance, the students (who seemed very unhappy and unfriendly), and inflated expectations. I thought BU was going to be one of my favorites, and I just wasn't too impressed. Obviously, this is a completely subjective answer...I have noticed people badmouthing Northwestern on this thread, but they were by far and away my favorite school.

 

[ADeadLois]

2) The curriculum. It was mostly PBL based, and while PBL is the new "hot" method of teaching, I think it's hard to learn from a PBL-based curriculum. The students were constantly complaining about it when I was there.

Is this even accurate?

I have a friends who are M1s at Feinberg and they never bring up PBL when I ask about the school, let alone complain about it. Isn't it only 4 hours a week?

 

[thesauce]

HUMC is good, but don't make up your mind until you've seen Evil Medical School...

The Evil Anatomy Lab is great and don't forget the Evil Patient Simulator.

Their curriculum is PBL based... which is also evil, I'm told.

You must be talking about University of Washington...I agree with you.

 

[ADeadLois]

1) The interview. I think that it went fine for me, but I hated the entire process. The interviewers asked tons of questions that had no relation to medicine, only to try to make the applicants look stupid. I was asked questions like--"if you could be an animal, what kind would you be?," and other equally weird questions. Others that I know had the same experience. To me, there is something fundamentally wrong with interviewing in this way. Out of my 15 interviews, this was by far the worst experience.

There is value to those kinds of questions, in my opinion. Maybe they want to see if you can think creatively or have a sense of humor. They want to get a picture of you as a person, not just your personality in relation to medicine.

 

[BNSN]

Just out of curiousity...anyone interview at UAB? What were your impressions of my state school?

🙂

 

[cstar23]

yalla22, what didn't you like about Temple?

I agree with MilkofAmnesia, a "why" explanation really makes this thread more useful, even when everyone agrees that it's a very subjective decision.

 

[dkcase]

Most: UPenn, Duke, Columbia, UVA
Least: Georgetown

Georgetown seemed to be a failing institution. Most schools I've visited had a lot of construction going on, which to me meant there was money flowing into the school and was a sign of a prosperous institution. Georgetown, from what I saw, had no construction and the facilities seemed very old. I learned later that the Georgetown Hospital was sold to a private company a few years ago, which did not really surprise me. On top of that, the religious affiliation of the school made you have to put up with nonsense like being able to perscribe birth control pills but then the patients could not fill the perscription in the hospital pharmacy.

 

[Wordplay]

Most: UPenn, Cornell
Least: Columbia (I think my bad interview colored my whole experience, since I've heard great things from other people)

I'm basing this on the "vibe" I got at the interview day. Pretty subjective, I think mostly based on how happy/open the students seemed and the quality of facilities/opportunities available.

 

[Towelie]

There is value to those kinds of questions, in my opinion. Maybe they want to see if you can think creatively or have a sense of humor. They want to get a picture of you as a person, not just your personality in relation to medicine.

Maybe there is value in asking one of these types of questions per interview. I don't see the value in asking virtually only these types of questions.

 

[evade]

Unimpressed with Northwestern

Hey Towelie, it's cool, I felt the same way about Northwestern. Northwestern is a great place. . .for other people. It was not a good fit for me.

But you know, the best part of it all is that I ended up somewhere that I 😍LOVE😍
With luck, someone who loves Northwestern ended up there, and is having a great time.

Not every school is right for every person. It'd be tragic if I were at Northwestern and someone who wanted to be there was at my school instead. Honestly, I'm glad we have to interview. It really gives you a chance to take a look around the place and learn things you'd never learn from a glossy brochure.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Most: UIC, KCOM, Indiana, GW
Least: Harvard, Northwestern, Maryland, BU, Georgetown

 

[Guile]

Least: Harvard

Why'd you have to drop this bomb on a perfectly good thread? Now it is going to be hijacked by a million, "OMG, how could you say that about the big H?!?!?"

 

[airshad8]

Why'd you have to drop this bomb on a perfectly good thread? Now it is going to be hijacked by a million, "OMG, how could you say that about the big H?!?!?"

Honestly, it's not that uncommon for people to not like Harvard. I mean sure, these people are super smart and take craps of gold for even being offered admission there and turning it down, but I do know quite a few. For some Harvard just doesn't do it.

 

[Guile]

Honestly, it's not that uncommon for people to not like Harvard. I mean sure, these people are super smart and take craps of gold for even being offered admission there and turning it down, but I do know quite a few. For some Harvard just doesn't do it.

I agree that there's more than one who doesn't like Harvard. I have a friend who interviewed there and withdrew her application afterwards because she didn't like it. I've just seen a thread where DKM posted something similar about Harvard and the thread went south really fast.