U of Kansas Med vs MCW-Milwaukee

[irishdoc28]

To give some background:
I live in Chicago, but my family is from Wisconsin, and my sister and mom work in Milwaukee. My significant other is from a Kansas City suburb and my college best friend is an M1 at KU Med. I am very fortunate that CoA is not a major factor in my decision making. I am interested in Ophthalmology, General Surgery, or Internal Medicine, and I would love to move out to the West Coast for residency to follow family.

**University of Kansas School of Medicine**

PROS
• New Facilities
• Kansas City is a new fun city to explore, absolutely love it when I visit
• P/F pre-clinical grading, P with distinction/P/F clinical grading
• Ranked #75 research and #14 primary care on USWNR
• Super good vibes from students, work hard play hard culture, school pride/sports teams
• Support System (KU Med M1 best friend, significant other’s family nearby)
• Ophthalmology home residency (3-4 spots), KU Eye Center
• Global Scholars Distinction Program
• Medical Spanish Course Electives
• Exams on Fridays, Multiple assessments before final exam (so I don’t cram lol)
• Highly regarded in Primary Care, would be huge if I chose Internal Medicine

CONS
• Match Placement (less ophtho and gen surg matches overall, most people stayed at KU or in/around Kansas) *honestly don’t hate the idea of staying in Kansas though
• 2 Years Pre-Clinical
• Required Rural Clinical Rotation
• Less Elective Time


**Medical College of Wisconsin**

PROS
• Impressive Match Placement (more ophtho and gen surg matches, more spread out over the country)
• New Facilities
• Lots of Research (required research capstone projects called Scholarly Pathways, can do many in different topics, very easy to get involved)
• 1.5 Years Pre-Clinical
• P/F pre-clinical and clinical years without internal ranking
• Distinctions available (Medical Spanish, graduating with honors)
• Support System (mom and sister in Milwaukee, extended family lives there, close to fam in Chicago, know a MCW M1 from my undergrad)
• Ophthalmology (great ophtho department, Eye Institute on hospital campus, ranked #26 in NIH funding, home residency program 4 spots)
• Would live with my sister in an apartment (she’s a nursing student)

CONS
• Location (suburb of Milwaukee, (Wauwatosa), feels like a medical hub island with nothing else around it, I’ve known Milwaukee my whole life and it just seems SO boring and unexciting to me, my sister personally dislikes Milwaukee and she lives there (but n=1))
• 2nd class to have new Fusion curriculum
• Unranked on USWNR
• Vibes (2nd Look Day just confused me more on this tbh), no undergrad so no school pride/teams
• Monday Exams, Final exam is pretty much what counts for your whole grade (that’s a lot of pressure!!)
• Early start day (July 1st yikes)

—-> TLDR:
KU Med would be more fun/exciting in KC and I’d have the mentorship and friendship of my best friend there while also having a mix of both research and primary care opps, but it may be more difficult for me to match if I decide on a competitive speciality outside of Kansas.

MCW aligns more with my future career goals in terms of possible specialty, wealth of research opps, and national (vs regional) residency matching, but Milwaukee severely kills my vibe and I’ve yet to hear a lot about student culture/happiness. I’m also worried 1.5 year preclinicals with only one final exam per block will kill me.

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[irishdoc28]

Bumping this because I REALLY need advice/thoughts

 

[zalgiris]

Whats the cost diff?

 

[zalgiris]

Honestly your happiness is really important too to take into account. Where would you be overall happier to live for the next 4 years of your life? IMO i dont think Kansas is THAT much worse where it would necessarily close any doors if you want to leave after those 4 years, most people just tend to stay bc it's prolly easier/they want to. MCW education-wise probably has the slighter edge in terms of matching into a competitive specialty, but not enough for you to choose it over being happy.

On the flip-side (n=1), I know an M1 rn at MCW and he's having the time of his life so I dont think its that bad in Milwaukee as you may think

 

[Premed@ForestParkForever]

congrats on your acceptances, I think these are both great programs!! I am not familiar with KU and not from WI (though been accepted to MCW)

From your pros and cons list it seems like you are really more excited to attend KU with the main reason holding you back is whether it's better for matching the specialities you are interested in. You have a support system in both and the cost is not a factor, and you prefer to not live in Milwaukee which makes KU better for your happiness if you like the city and the school vibes, and also your partner and friend live there.

The other thing to consider is KU is a public medical school and from MSAR about 75% (157/211) of its class are from Kansas which naturally makes them want to stay/ match in Kansas. I would choose the place that will make you happy which will make med school so much less stressful and easier to match. I heard on the Premed years podcast Dr. Gray mentioned along the lines of "Do not go to great medical school, go to medical school that will make you great." And these two schools are really comparable so not a huge difference but either way I think you will be fine.

 

[irishdoc28]

Whats the cost diff?

MCW is slightly cheaper by like $1k-2k a year (I don’t remember the exact numbers), so it’s not a huge difference.

 

[irishdoc28]

Honestly your happiness is really important too to take into account. Where would you be overall happier to live for the next 4 years of your life? IMO i dont think Kansas is THAT much worse where it would necessarily close any doors if you want to leave after those 4 years, most people just tend to stay bc it's prolly easier/they want to. MCW education-wise probably has the slighter edge in terms of matching into a competitive specialty, but not enough for you to choose it over being happy.

On the flip-side (n=1), I know an M1 rn at MCW and he's having the time of his life so I dont think its that bad in Milwaukee as you may think

Yeah that’s the thing with trying to compare a public school to a private school. A lot of public schools like KU attract applicants who will be more likely to want to stay in Kansas for residency anyways.
And ok that is actually very good to hear about your M1 MCW friend!!!

 

[irishdoc28]

congrats on your acceptances, I think these are both great programs!! I am not familiar with KU and not from WI (though been accepted to MCW)

From your pros and cons list it seems like you are really more excited to attend KU with the main reason holding you back is whether it's better for matching the specialities you are interested in. You have a support system in both and the cost is not a factor, and you prefer to not live in Milwaukee which makes KU better for your happiness if you like the city and the school vibes, and also your partner and friend live there.

The other thing to consider is KU is a public medical school and from MSAR about 75% (157/211) of its class are from Kansas which naturally makes them want to stay/ match in Kansas. I would choose the place that will make you happy which will make med school so much less stressful and easier to match. I heard on the Premed years podcast Dr. Gray mentioned along the lines of "Do not go to great medical school, go to medical school that will make you great." And these two schools are really comparable so not a huge difference but either way I think you will be fine.

Thanks for the advice!! I think you make amazing points. I’m hoping after the Second Look Day this upcoming Friday my dad and I can determine whether or not I truly can see myself happier overall at KU.