Monica_David2024
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- Feb 26, 2020
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Never posted before but longtime lurker and would love some insight. Sorry for the long intro, but I’m trying to give as much context as possible for my decision.
In the future, I have three specialty choices in mind: ophthalmology, dermatology and ortho. As all three of these are competitive, I’m looking to put myself in the best position to succeed. I’m also potentially interested in academic medicine and don’t want to close any doors on that front either.
I’ve lived in California my whole life but have more family in Southern California than Northern California. I don’t have a preference for where I match, and the east coast actually sounds exciting to me post-medical school as I’ve never lived outside of California before.
With regards to cost, obviously that’s the biggest difference here. I will say, though, that I didn’t have to pay for my undergraduate education (scholarship) and have worked in the private sector for several years so I have saved enough money to pay for medical school myself for the most part, which is great because I have saved money but not great because I won’t qualify for need-based aid and therefore will have to use a lot of that money if I go to Stanford. Ultimately, I’ve calculated that using the money I have earned I won’t have to take out more than 25k in loans total for housing for the 4 years of medical school (I’ll be able to pay full tuition and part of housing).
I think that in the competitive specialties I hope to pursue, I am okay with paying back those loans over time if it means giving me an advantage in terms of getting the best residency possible. I’ll post pros/cons below, but for me it comes down to this: Is the Stanford education worth paying full tuition/ taking out 25k in loans for housing over the UCLA education keeping in mind my future career goals and the fact that I have saved money precisely to keep all options open.
Finally, I loved interview day at both schools and came away from both thinking that if I got in I would 100 percent want to attend. I recognize this is a good problem to have and never thought I would be in this situation. I’m extremely grateful and would love any tips when making a decision.
Stanford:
Pros:
Pros:
In the future, I have three specialty choices in mind: ophthalmology, dermatology and ortho. As all three of these are competitive, I’m looking to put myself in the best position to succeed. I’m also potentially interested in academic medicine and don’t want to close any doors on that front either.
I’ve lived in California my whole life but have more family in Southern California than Northern California. I don’t have a preference for where I match, and the east coast actually sounds exciting to me post-medical school as I’ve never lived outside of California before.
With regards to cost, obviously that’s the biggest difference here. I will say, though, that I didn’t have to pay for my undergraduate education (scholarship) and have worked in the private sector for several years so I have saved enough money to pay for medical school myself for the most part, which is great because I have saved money but not great because I won’t qualify for need-based aid and therefore will have to use a lot of that money if I go to Stanford. Ultimately, I’ve calculated that using the money I have earned I won’t have to take out more than 25k in loans total for housing for the 4 years of medical school (I’ll be able to pay full tuition and part of housing).
I think that in the competitive specialties I hope to pursue, I am okay with paying back those loans over time if it means giving me an advantage in terms of getting the best residency possible. I’ll post pros/cons below, but for me it comes down to this: Is the Stanford education worth paying full tuition/ taking out 25k in loans for housing over the UCLA education keeping in mind my future career goals and the fact that I have saved money precisely to keep all options open.
Finally, I loved interview day at both schools and came away from both thinking that if I got in I would 100 percent want to attend. I recognize this is a good problem to have and never thought I would be in this situation. I’m extremely grateful and would love any tips when making a decision.
Stanford:
Pros:
- Prestige (for academic medicine) especially with step 1 going p/f. The name seems to carry a lot of weight and stays with you forever
- Smaller class size (90 as opposed to 175? I think) means easier to find research mentors, get good LOR; all students seemed to know each other on interview day
- No AOA, don’t want to be in too competitive of an environment like undergrad
- Curriculum is not changing
- Match list is WILD (in a good way). Didn’t see many better.
- Been my dream school since I was young. Flat out denied here for undergrad
- $$$, have to spend a lot to go/live here (but Westwood isn’t cheap either) and move from Southern California
- Family closer to UCLA
- Many students take longer to complete medical school. As I’m non-trad, want to get done in 4 years and get to residency.
Pros:
- FREE, everything covered with Geffen scholarship. Don’t have to spend the $$$ I’ve made or take out any loans for housing (albeit small loans)
- I love Los Angeles and the weather can’t be beat anywhere
- Closer to family
- Loved Reagan hospital (didn’t get to visit Stanford’s new hospital as it wasn’t open during interview)
- Somewhat less prestige/ name recognition across the country (don’t just want to match in CA)
- Bigger class size and changing curriculum: very worried about 3rd year rotations with both 3rd years and 2nd years having to rotate at the same time. Don’t want to be driving through LA traffic 2 hours to get to a hospital
- AOA means at least some competition between students during clinical rotations, which could be further amplified with 2nd and 3rd years working at same time. Don’t want to have to worry about comparing myself to anyone
- AOA could mean focus on doing a lot of extracurriculars just for the sake of putting them down rather than investing yourself in a few that you actually want to take part in.
- Crowded rotations could affect Step 2 score, which may replace step 1 as very important piece of residency application
- Match list is great but not as good as Stanford in the specialties I want to pursue
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