Penn State vs Jefferson

[jetd3]

Just wanted to get some thoughts on which is the better school. Both will have similar cost of attendance and both seemed to be very clinically orientated even though research is required at Penn State. I thought Jefferson had a great vibe and am leaning towards attending JMC. I know my career goals will likely change in the future during my clinical years, but as of right now I plan on either entering orthopedics or neurology which are both great programs at Jefferson. Basically I will most likely attend JMC, but am leaving myself open to Penn State because I may change my mind on what specialty I will enter or if it has a much better reputation than Jefferson. Although from what I have heard the schools are comparable for residency directors.

One last thing, I am not a big fan of large cities and Hershey would be preferable to me over Philadelphia. This is a factor although it would not make me choose one school over the other.

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[adoggie]

Can anybody explain their rational for the vote? Penn State is currently a school I'm planning to apply to, but I have no idea what Jefferson is like.

 

[jetd3]

bump

 

[mdeast]

Hershey, PA vs. Philly. If you hate big cities choose Penn State. Otherwise, Jeff is great...there's no real reason not to choose it. Nice facilities, good options in some competitive specialities (Wills Eye Institute-optho, Orthopedics-Jeff) as well as family medicine/IM/peds, and Philly is actually a great city to live in. Penn State is a state school but it's still expensive and not very fun. I can't imagine why you'd choose Hershey over Center City Philadelphia in a great area if you had the option (assuming you don't dislike urban centers, although, to be honest, Philly is very live-able).

 

[Kb041]

If you don't like big cities I would say that Philly might be tough. Its really your typical "big city" in almost every respect.

These schools are pretty equivalent in prestige and opportunity. Penn State is building a new Children's hospital which could really lead to great opportunities to see a lot of interesting cases despite whether or not you like kids. Also another thing to consider is that Penn State is pretty much the go to hospital in central PA. Any particularly difficult case/surger/trauma gets shuttled to Hershey bc the surrounding hospitals are not as equipped to handle it.

Both are great schools, but don't chose Jeff becuase you think Penn State has less to offer. I would argue that Penn State also has greater potential for research because it is within the framework of a large university. Plus you get to live in a town that smells delicious everyday.

 

[dru2002]

if you don't like big cities i would say that philly might be tough. Its really your typical "big city" in almost every respect.

These schools are pretty equivalent in prestige and opportunity. Penn state is building a new children's hospital which could really lead to great opportunities to see a lot of interesting cases despite whether or not you like kids. Also another thing to consider is that penn state is pretty much the go to hospital in central pa. Any particularly difficult case/surger/trauma gets shuttled to hershey bc the surrounding hospitals are not as equipped to handle it.

Both are great schools, but don't chose jeff becuase you think penn state has less to offer. I would argue that penn state also has greater potential for research because it is within the framework of a large university. Plus you get to live in a town that smells delicious everyday.

+1

 

[Rzarecta]

Hershey, PA vs. Philly. If you hate big cities choose Penn State. Otherwise, Jeff is great...there's no real reason not to choose it. Nice facilities, good options in some competitive specialities (Wills Eye Institute-optho, Orthopedics-Jeff) as well as family medicine/IM/peds, and Philly is actually a great city to live in. Penn State is a state school but it's still expensive and not very fun. I can't imagine why you'd choose Hershey over Center City Philadelphia in a great area if you had the option (assuming you don't dislike urban centers, although, to be honest, Philly is very live-able).

They also have a great radiology program.