NU vs NU vs Vandy

[flubber07]

Thanks everyone in advance

So that May 15 deadline is creeping up and I still am being indecisive about which medical school to attend next year. So I'm semi-desperate right now and what to get as many people's opinions

My choices are Michigan, Vanderbilt and Northwestern.

I wanted to get people's impressions about each school's pro's and cons of each school.

Things of importance to me are:
1) Location (especially diversity)
2) Patient population (I am interested in Urban medicine)
3) Quality of Life (Both in class and outside)
4) Faculty and student interaction (how accessible are the faculty and how often do you interact with them)

I went to Vandy's and NU second looks but not UM and wish I did.

HELP PLEASE if possible, especially if you attend the school or attended a second look.

Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[startswithb]

 

[Long Way to Go]

There are a few things you didn't mention: (1) What would you end up paying for each of the schools, and how would you do so? (2) What kind of location would you prefer? (3) Do you have family or friends in {Nashville, Ann Arbor, Chicago}?

 

[Geekchick921]

Moving to SSD.

 

[flubber07]

There are a few things you didn't mention: (1) What would you end up paying for each of the schools, and how would you do so? (2) What kind of location would you prefer? (3) Do you have family or friends in {Nashville, Ann Arbor, Chicago}?

1) I would be paying around the same. About 15K less out of pocket at Vandy compared to UM and NU which are the same.

2) In terms of location, I would like a diverse population. I would prefer an urban location but am not tied to that preference. But being from the Midwest and going to school in StL, I want more exposure to different cultures and a less homogeneous location.

3) I would know people from my undergrad in all of those places but no family. But this is not a major factor for me.

 

[DoctwoB]

1) I would be paying around the same. About 15K less out of pocket at Vandy compared to UM and NU which are the same.

2) In terms of location, I would like a diverse population. I would prefer an urban location but am not tied to that preference. But being from the Midwest and going to school in StL, I want more exposure to different cultures and a less homogeneous location.

3) I would know people from my undergrad in all of those places but no family. But this is not a major factor for me.

Obviously nw wins for diversity. That being said, I would tale vandy and 15k/year no questions asked. If it's only 15k over 4 years, then go with which one gave you the best impression.

 

[flubber07]

That being said, I would tale vandy and 15k/year no questions asked. If it's only 15k over 4 years, then go with which one gave you the best impression.

Just to clarify. Each school maxed out my stafford loans at 40k. But at NU/UM I'd have to take out 15k extra per year.

Thanks!

 

[Long Way to Go]

Michigan and Northwestern are about the same price then? All right, how about this: Assume you didn't get into Vandy. Which one would you prefer to go to (even by the slightest margin)?

 

[ButImLETired]

Thanks everyone in advance

So that May 15 deadline is creeping up and I still am being indecisive about which medical school to attend next year. So I'm semi-desperate right now and what to get as many people's opinions

My choices are Michigan, Vanderbilt and Northwestern.

I wanted to get people's impressions about each school's pro's and cons of each school.

Things of importance to me are:
1) Location (especially diversity)
2) Patient population (I am interested in Urban medicine)
3) Quality of Life (Both in class and outside)
4) Faculty and student interaction (how accessible are the faculty and how often do you interact with them)

I went to Vandy's and NU second looks but not UM and wish I did.

HELP PLEASE if possible, especially if you attend the school or attended a second look.

Thanks!

I can answer specifics about Vandy, obviously I don't know the details as far as Michigan and NU are concerned.

1) Diversity was a big thing for me too cause I wanted to keep up with my Spanish, and while Nashville obviously is no Chicago, I was really pleasantly surprised. A HUGE part of the patient population is hispanic and african american (the traditionally "underserved" populations), especially at the free clinic where we all volunteer a ton. There are also these strange little pockets of refugees- a ton of Kurdish people, a ton of Sudanese people, and the like. So while we're obviously no downtown Chicago, we don't have "competition" from any other hospitals in the area really, so Vandy gets a little bit of everything. I know at least in New York there are so many teaching hospitals that despite the diversity of the city's population in general, each hospital often just/mostly sees the makeup of its own neighborhood. We don't have that issue.

2) Yeah...not much to say here. I wouldn't call Nashville "urban", though to be fair I don't really know what you mean by "urban medicine" in the first place. But if it's a huge metropolis you want, that's not Nashville. And Vandy is in a really nice side of town, very college-y, so if you want to be amidst public transportation and gun violence () this isn't the right place.

3) This is a hard thing to figure out because it's hard to separate what sucks about med school to gripes you might have about your own school. I can say that I really think our quality of life is as good as we want it to be. Vandy stresses wellness like crazy, which is good, and they're generally pretty willing to work with you if you're struggling with trying to find a good balance. My classmates are all very happy, and we all seem to get along quite well, and I don't think anyone has gotten lost in the shuffle. We all work extremely hard, but most of us know how to play hard and relax when it's time, and most importantly we really take care of each other. I imagine most med school classes become like a family eventually (lots of togetherness), and that's really how I consider my classmates.

4) This is one of our strengths, I think. I have personally met every one of my course directors (the one-time lecturers are totally available, but I rarely look for them) and thanks to the awesome mentoring of our advisory college system, I've worked with various clerkship directors, faculty members etc. I can't tell you how absolutely awesome these people are. They'll invite you over for dinner if you seem stressed, they'll answer your emails in under an hour, they'll get you tutoring if you need it, they'll give you extra time to study if you've broken up with a boyfriend...seriously, I never ever have to wonder if my professors will be willing to work with me on any issues or meet with me whenever. Case in point: I got sick before one of our big path midterms last semester. I could probably have made it to school if I really had to, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to focus 4 hours straight and that I wouldn't perform as well as I would have wanted. I emailed my professor the night before the test and asked him what I should do. The test was on a Friday btw, so I couldn't even just take it later in the week. He told me to take it under the honor system, left it in my mailbox, and gave me the cell number of all the course directors so I'd have a chance to call them up and ask questions if I had them while I took the exam over the weekend.
Honestly, I have many more stories like that. Our faculty is absolutely fantastic.

Anyway, you can't go wrong with this decision. Good luck!

 

[flubber07]

Any one have anything to say about Michigan?

I didn't go to the second look so I haven't entirely bought into it. And I interviewed in September, so its been a while, so I'm afraid I forgot things about UM that I didn't write down.

 

[SisterDisco08]

Any one have anything to say about Michigan?

I didn't go to the second look so I haven't entirely bought into it. And I interviewed in September, so its been a while, so I'm afraid I forgot things about UM that I didn't write down.

I just graduated from U of M for undergrad--it's a very good school, and gives you a lot of opportunities, but I could not STAND the environment there. The students suck in a big way--everyone seemed to think they were the biggest/most important deal, and it's extremely competitive in an unhealthy way (freshman year someone wouldn't even tell me/my fellow premeds where the premed club meeting was, and people would rub getting 1% better than you on exams in your face.)

Good school, and Ann Arbor is amazing, but you have to weigh if you can stand your fellow students.

And if you're not a Michigan native the weather can REALLY bring you down. Most of the OOS kids and a good portion of IS kids absolutely hate most of the year here because of the weather. Summer/spring and fall are amazing but it snows from October/November all the way into April and even May. With windchill it can get to -teens

Also, like a third of the kids at second look got food poisoning, so don't feel too bad that you didn't go

 

[flubber07]

REPOST: I wanted to add a poll

Thanks everyone in advance

So that May 15 deadline is creeping up and I still am being indecisive about which medical school to attend next year. So I'm semi-desperate right now and what to get as many people's opinions

My choices are Michigan, Vanderbilt and Northwestern.

I wanted to get people's impressions about each school's pro's and cons of each school.

Things of importance to me are:
1) Location (especially diversity)
2) Patient population (I am interested in Urban medicine)
3) Quality of Life (Both in class and outside)
4) Faculty and student interaction (how accessible are the faculty and how often do you interact with them)

I went to Vandy's and NU second looks but not UM and wish I did.

HELP PLEASE if possible, especially if you attend the school or attended a second look.

Thanks!

 

[flubber07]

In terms of location, I would like a diverse population. I would prefer an urban location but am not tied to that preference. But being from the Midwest and going to school in StL, I want more exposure to different cultures and a less homogeneous location.

 

[Potatoman1800]

I think you got some good input in your first thread. A poll would be pretty useless at this point unless people add info to substantiate their choice.

 

[bobow98]

For urban medicine, go to Chicago.
They have good quality of life in that area of Chicago my friends tells me.
All 3 are awesome schools, count your lucky stars you have the luxury of such a choice.
Diversity - again Chicago.
I don't know school specifics though.

 

[nabeel76]

Just to clarify. Each school maxed out my stafford loans at 40k. But at NU/UM I'd have to take out 15k extra per year.

Thanks!

15K a year of extra loans that you would have to take out on your own makes the choice between those schools obvious. Go with Vandy...

 

[loua0731]

I just graduated from U of M for undergrad--it's a very good school, and gives you a lot of opportunities, but I could not STAND the environment there. The students suck in a big way--everyone seemed to think they were the biggest/most important deal, and it's extremely competitive in an unhealthy way (freshman year someone wouldn't even tell me/my fellow premeds where the premed club meeting was, and people would rub getting 1% better than you on exams in your face.)

Good school, and Ann Arbor is amazing, but you have to weigh if you can stand your fellow students.

And if you're not a Michigan native the weather can REALLY bring you down. Most of the OOS kids and a good portion of IS kids absolutely hate most of the year here because of the weather. Summer/spring and fall are amazing but it snows from October/November all the way into April and even May. With windchill it can get to -teens

Also, like a third of the kids at second look got food poisoning, so don't feel too bad that you didn't go

I agree that UMich's undergrad pre-med environment is very competitive, but I think the atmosphere of the med school is very different based on students I've talked to and what I saw at 2nd look. From what I understand, because the first 2 years are pass/fail, it's a very collaborative atmosphere - students share notes and help each other out so that everyone does well. It isn't until the 3rd year that it might start getting kinda cut-throat, since that's when you're in the hospital, and how you perform in relation to others starts to matter. But I think you'd have that extent of competition at any medical school.

Michigan's med students were definitely the happiest of any that I've seen. It's clear that the med school does a good job of allowing their students to have a balance between school and outside activities, and they WANT their students to have that balance.

And I personally am super pumped about the podcasted lectures. Being able to watch lectures from home? Mad points in my book.

Anyway, that's my schpeal. Best of luck w/ your decision!

 

[Geekchick921]

I'm merging this into your post with the clicky poll.