YALE vs BROWN Please help

[JaeCho]

YALE vs BROWN
Please educate me on the strengths and weaknesses of the program from your perspective.

Some considerations:
1. Yale $15K more per year, but that is not the biggest concern in the bigger scheme of things
2. Both are about a 6-hour drive from home.
3. Undecided about the specialty I would like to pursue however residency match and reputation among residency directors is an important consideration
4. Yale offers a lot of flexibility and limited testing (take-home tests, no grading). This all sounds good, but it also brings concerns about feeling lost in the absence of structure or finding the drive to study as hard without the added pressure from regular testing. (I would love to hear about this point from someone who has been in the program)

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[hydroflaskhomie]

You should definitely go to Yale (edit: if this is your only concern). You won't get lost here, the structure is there, it's just your choice when to engage with it. Your classmates are studying all of the time so it would be very hard to not study. If you have to cram for a qual you'll never repeat that mistake again (it sucks). Nice thing about New Haven is that it is big/nice enough to have everything you need but it's also not big enough to get distracted. Feel free to DM with more questions.

 

[JaeCho]

You should definitely go to Yale (edit: if this is your only concern). You won't get lost here, the structure is there, it's just your choice when to engage with it. Your classmates are studying all of the time so it would be very hard to not study. If you have to cram for a qual you'll never repeat that mistake again (it sucks). Nice thing about New Haven is that it is big/nice enough to have everything you need but it's also not big enough to get distracted. Feel free to DM with more questions.

Thanks!! I am a huge procrastinator, so I am questioning my ability to stay disciplined in the absence of mandatory classes and weekly quizzes. I appreciate your assurance. Georgetown is 20 minutes away from my home, but they didn't offer any aid compared to Brown ($45k merit scholarship) and Yale ($25K Institutional aid). I am waitlisted at Northwestern and Sinai, so there is a chance. I would love to hear your thoughts

 

[deleted1177770]

Yale tends to have a stronger match list, and I've heard students at Yale only say great things about the program. Students have also said they love their time at Brown, but if I were in your shoes I'd choose Yale. Yale seems like the stronger program of the two and I think it's worth the extra price in tuition.

 

[Egg-Benedict]

One thing I'll say is that, while Yale is certainly a bigger name, plenty of people match into competitive specialties from Brown. I have friends who went there who are at top derm residencies now, for example. So, if you feel like you would prefer the curriculum/structure of Brown (not to mention the fact that it's cheaper), you wouldn't be crazy to choose Brown here.