What should you REALLY look for in a school?

[m.a.r.r.]

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Hey all,

after gaining a couple acceptances I am looking back and realizing that I can't really find many factors that make or break a school. As far as i can tell, pretty much every school out there these days has tons of early clinical exposure, lots of opportunities for research, good step 1 scores and match lists, many advising resources and a strong and supportive student community, and excellent affiliated hospitals. Many people tell me they just got a good "vibe" from a certain school, but I feel as if I would fit in very well at almost any school I have interviewed at barring one or two. So at this point what do I look at? As of right now I mean there are marginal differences in cost and location, but are there any factors that I should really look for in choosing a school? Should I go almost purely based off residency match lists because ultimately I am attending med school to be a doctor? Are US news rankings a good representation of this? Just curious how other people chose what school they are attending if medical students or what other people in the same situation are going to use to decide upon their school. And again, I feel as if I would "fit" at any of these schools very well and don't have a gut feeling towards any particular one at this point. At this point I am considering choosing almost purely based off location which I feel is kind of a shallow criteria.

 

[Catalystik]

Just curious how other people chose what school they are attending

Cost of attendance (which includes cost of living and transportation costs), closeness to home (if you care), weather and nearby recreational availability, city vs nonurban location, safety of area, clinical sites, grading system (P/F is much less stressful than an ABCDF system), type of curriculum (traditional lecture, small group learning, systems-based, block). Some might be interested in whether a school offers low-cost health insurance vs making you find coverage on your own.

 

[TxC]

See if there are things about the schools that you don't like; to make proper comparisons, you should look at both the pros and the cons.

There's really nothing wrong with choosing a school based on location. The weather can be brutal sometimes in certain places.

Attend Second Look and compare the schools again. Congrats on your acceptances and good luck making a decision.

 

[NoDakDok]

Congrats on your acceptances! Make sure to take a moment to let your good fortune sink in. The best part of medical school is often the time between acceptance and matriculation 🙂

As for selecting schools, since every US MD LCME-accredited program is going to provide you an excellent education, this is your opportunity to be picky and decide where you would be happiest. This is done through weighing multiple things that are important to you, NOT necessarily other people. E.g. in no particular order:

Cost of ATTENDANCE

Location

Prestige

Class Format

Grading Style

Curriculum; Preclinical, Clinical

Educational Extracurricular Opportunities; Research, Travel, Clinical Exposure

Living Circumstances

Family, friends

Noneducational Extracurricular Activities; Culture, Wellness, etc

No one can make the decision for you. Just make it based upon your desires and once you make that decision accept it and be content. There truly is no bad choice other than one that makes you miserable.

Edit: Congrats, not Xongrats

 

[Lil Mick]

Classmates. You'll be spending most of your waking hours with your class, and if it is a good fit, the long hours won't be as bad. Conversely, they will feel much longer if you don't fit well with them. Go to the Second Look weekend. Other than that, cost and location can make a huge difference.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

Classmates. You'll be spending most of your waking hours with your class, and if it is a good fit, the long hours won't be as bad. Conversely, they will feel much longer if you don't fit well with them. Go to the Second Look weekend. Other than that, cost and location can make a huge difference.

I spent most of my time with PowerPoints and question banks.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

Cost is factors 1, 2, and 3.

 

[claduva94]

Cost is factors 1, 2, and 3.

Under what circumstances would you recommend the more expensive school then?

 

[NoDakDok]

Classmates. You'll be spending most of your waking hours with your class, and if it is a good fit, the long hours won't be as bad. Conversely, they will feel much longer if you don't fit well with them. Go to the Second Look weekend. Other than that, cost and location can make a huge difference.

If you have mandatory class, maybe. But if you don't, I could go entire weeks without seeing a single member of my class, if that was my desire.

I spent most of my time with PowerPoints and question banks.

Exactly. Studying is your job MSI/II, not spending waking hours with classmates, unless you need to study with others to succeed. Not that's bad, if you need to study in groups, this point becomes more important to you. Otherwise, you could hate your entire class and be fine.

Cost is factors 1, 2, and 3.

Depends on the person. If your parents are paying your tuition, you probably don't care much.

Under what circumstances would you recommend the more expensive school then?

Generally only in situations where your personal preference significantly outweighs the difference in cost. If you really want to be an academician at a top medical school and have fallen deeply in love with a prestigious university it might be to your benefit to attend that program.

If you just want to be a physician in X specialty, the more expensive, prestigious schools are rather irrelevant barring personal circumstances.

 

[Zelda840]

If you don't already have that gut feeling that one is a better fit than the others, I'd personally go with whatever is the least expensive. If cost is comparable everywhere (including cost of living), I'd go to whichever location was the best. For me, the best location is one where I feel safe and parking is abundant. For someone else, it might be nightlife, etc. It's probably going to be different for everyone.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

Under what circumstances would you recommend the more expensive school then?

Spouse absolutely cannot move, parent is dying and you cannot defer, etc.

One has to set a number under which the cost is considered equivalent, though. A small difference maybe doesn't matter so much. A $50k difference compounded over 5+ years does.

 

[redpanda]

Eh, I'm not really sure that "every" school has tons of "early clinical exposure" that is actually useful based on a few allo threads recently. It seems to me one might want to ask upperclassmen (MS3-4) what the quality of the interviewing + physical diagnosis course and associated clinical exposure was and how well it prepared them for MS3 (read: not remediating their lack of skills in taking a complete H+P).

 

[circulus vitios]

1. Recorded lectures and non-mandatory class attendance
2. Pass/fail curriculum
3. Cost of attendance

Proximity to home and weather are whatever they are to you.

 

[Lil Mick]

I spent most of my time with PowerPoints and question banks.

I am assuming that you are not in the clinical years yet. Once you are in rotations with your classmates, you will see them most of your waking hours. Disliking most of the people in your class will not help make this time pass more easily...