Any more inputs, anyone? please help me out
I feel so weird responding to my own thread...
So far, my summary about these 2 schools are:
#2 UMD:
Pros:
-More prestigious? (rank higher, but isn't that just the TC campus?)
-More research and clinical leaning, seems to benefit for residence placement
-Higher graduation rate (98% as of 2015)
-Other stats are good as well (90% NAPLEX, ~34% residency placements, etc)
-They always improve their curriculum from feedbacks of the students
-has a decent amount of CA students
-Duluth is pretty
-I would feel so proud to be called a U of M student (i know, so vain, but still)
Cons:
-location/weather (too cold and winter being too long)
-driving in the snow for much of the time I'm there.
-more expensive (tuition + COL for OOS) - probably ~10k higher in tuition than Creighton for 4 years, higher rent too it seems, higher cost of traveling as well.
- Being a regional campus so more ITV classes and less benefits than the main campus students
-doesn't allow me to take any rotations in CA, gonna have to travel around MN for the 4th year APPEs. So less chances for me to network in CA, pretty much stuck in MN for all 4 years.
-no Asian market.
#40 Creighton:
Pros:
- Location/weather (less cold and shorter winter)
- Easier to drive, I can even drive there from CA (gonna take 2 days, but it means I can bring my car)
- a bit less expensive than UMD (both tuition and rent), still expensive as it's a private school, but as of right now it seems like it is 20k cheaper than Duluth
- more flexible with rotations, they allow me to take 2 IPPEs and 3 APPEs in Central Valley CA, they have some preceptors here. The rest of them I can take in Omaha or Lincoln, so less driving and less costly.
- have Asian markets.
-a sizable CA alumni.
- other stats seem comparable (89.9% NAPLEX, 8/13 passed CPJE, 23.8% residency placement)
-doesn't have regional branch, so professors are not spread out (distance pathway don't count because I applied to campus pathway)
Cons:
- less prestigious, and being private as opposed to public.
- a harder curriculum it seems, and stricter standard (1 D and you're in probation, 2 D's and you're out)
- less research funding, I don't know about their clinical focus...
- lower graduation rate (81.5% in 2015)
-competing with U of Nebraska also in Omaha
I can't think of anything else right now. I want to come back to Central Valley (CA) to work and also find a residency spot. I know the market is supersaturated right now, so I'm trying to utilizing all my chances to establish a network in CA ,so that's why rotations in CA seem appealing to me. But idk if I'm making wrong decision just based on that alone. Maybe I should expand my horizon beyond CA? But I want to see my family and friends
I'm asking everybody and it seems opinions are split, but leaning towards Creighton, just because of its location and cheaper cost. Please give me some more inputs, because I'm unfamiliar with both schools. Thank you so much!
PS: sorry for long post!