Blessed to have a choice between these two schools but as the summer draws nearer I'm more and more confused about which one I should choose. I'd appreciate any current students who go to either of these institutions help divulge some more insight if there are any! Or any thoughts/comments would be appreciated!!
UWSMPH (Wisconsin)
Pros:
- In-state tuition makes this cheaper by ~$30k /year
- Have lived in the Midwest and I love it here
- Madison >>>> Rochester
- I work in an ophthalmology clinic with doctors who graduated here and only have great things to say about the school. One of them wrote my rec letter and is an amazing mentor to me. He's emphasized many times that he wants me to go graduate and then come back to work in the clinic as a doc (and I'd be able to, considering that he's a partner here). I love this clinic and my coworkers and can really see a future working here/living in the area, so I guess staying in the midwest is a real possibility. My mentor also has many connections to doctors working at the school and would give me a lot of advice into going into ophthalmology (which is one of the specialties I'm leaning towards)
Cons:
- far away from my family and I don't really have many friends here.
- if I do change my mind and decide that I want to move back to the east coast (where I'm originally from), I'm not sure UW would match me well into that part of the US as I've been told that most people match somewhere in the midwest.
- I heard you have to move for rotations which sounds awful. Anyone know more about this? I
- Supposedly higher COL but it looks like the rental price of a 1br/1ba is approximately the same as Rochester, which is supposedly one of the cheapest places to live in NY lol. So expensive city in midwest = cheapest city in NY ??? Or am i bonkers here
U of R
Pros:
- really great school, everyone in my family is rooting for me to go here
- 3 hr drive from Toronto and Albany, which are both places where my friends/family are since I grew up in those areas. Would receive a lot of social support, which is very important to me
- small class which is a pro for me
- non-trad friendly, which is great because I'm nearly 30 by the time I start.
- has more diversity
- has many at-home residency programs. I'm interested in ophthalmology, dermatology, ENT, plastic surgery. These are all competitive specialties that I believe UR
- not sure if this is accurate but it seems like the rotations would be in Rochester. so i wouldn't have to move, which I would prefer
- amazing hospital system and match list
Cons:
- most expen$$$$ive school and got shut down when I asked for aid (they told me that the low COL makes it worth it.....umm lol)
- Rochester gives me rust-belt vibes which makes me kinda sad. I didn't like the campus as much as Wisconsin. The houses here all look kinda run down
- Seems like one of those places where people just leave after getting their education. I know it's useless to speculate but I'd like to try to build up my personal life outside of medicine soon: making friends, building a family..etc. I don't have a partner and I want to date but it seems like people in wisconsin are more likely to stay in the area and build their families there whereas people in New York tend to flock to other places after a while
- seems like they have recorded lectures now but students have told me that they have a lot of mandatory events which makes it less flexible to do your own thing throughout 1st and 2nd year
- was told that they go really in-depth with neurology which isn't so great for students who aren't interested in neurology (i.e. me)
- I've lived in the upstate NY area for half of my life and I just don't really like it there
- I'm not sure if they have a shortened curriculum (1.5yr preclinical?)
Neutral:
- Cold winters. I actually grew up in cold climates so I don't mind winters.
- Cost of living appears to be more or less the same in both places ??
- Both have p/f preclinical and graded clinical
- Both are well respected in their areas
UWSMPH (Wisconsin)
Pros:
- In-state tuition makes this cheaper by ~$30k /year
- Have lived in the Midwest and I love it here
- Madison >>>> Rochester
- I work in an ophthalmology clinic with doctors who graduated here and only have great things to say about the school. One of them wrote my rec letter and is an amazing mentor to me. He's emphasized many times that he wants me to go graduate and then come back to work in the clinic as a doc (and I'd be able to, considering that he's a partner here). I love this clinic and my coworkers and can really see a future working here/living in the area, so I guess staying in the midwest is a real possibility. My mentor also has many connections to doctors working at the school and would give me a lot of advice into going into ophthalmology (which is one of the specialties I'm leaning towards)
Cons:
- far away from my family and I don't really have many friends here.
- if I do change my mind and decide that I want to move back to the east coast (where I'm originally from), I'm not sure UW would match me well into that part of the US as I've been told that most people match somewhere in the midwest.
- I heard you have to move for rotations which sounds awful. Anyone know more about this? I
- Supposedly higher COL but it looks like the rental price of a 1br/1ba is approximately the same as Rochester, which is supposedly one of the cheapest places to live in NY lol. So expensive city in midwest = cheapest city in NY ??? Or am i bonkers here
U of R
Pros:
- really great school, everyone in my family is rooting for me to go here
- 3 hr drive from Toronto and Albany, which are both places where my friends/family are since I grew up in those areas. Would receive a lot of social support, which is very important to me
- small class which is a pro for me
- non-trad friendly, which is great because I'm nearly 30 by the time I start.
- has more diversity
- has many at-home residency programs. I'm interested in ophthalmology, dermatology, ENT, plastic surgery. These are all competitive specialties that I believe UR
- not sure if this is accurate but it seems like the rotations would be in Rochester. so i wouldn't have to move, which I would prefer
- amazing hospital system and match list
Cons:
- most expen$$$$ive school and got shut down when I asked for aid (they told me that the low COL makes it worth it.....umm lol)
- Rochester gives me rust-belt vibes which makes me kinda sad. I didn't like the campus as much as Wisconsin. The houses here all look kinda run down
- Seems like one of those places where people just leave after getting their education. I know it's useless to speculate but I'd like to try to build up my personal life outside of medicine soon: making friends, building a family..etc. I don't have a partner and I want to date but it seems like people in wisconsin are more likely to stay in the area and build their families there whereas people in New York tend to flock to other places after a while
- seems like they have recorded lectures now but students have told me that they have a lot of mandatory events which makes it less flexible to do your own thing throughout 1st and 2nd year
- was told that they go really in-depth with neurology which isn't so great for students who aren't interested in neurology (i.e. me)
- I've lived in the upstate NY area for half of my life and I just don't really like it there
- I'm not sure if they have a shortened curriculum (1.5yr preclinical?)
Neutral:
- Cold winters. I actually grew up in cold climates so I don't mind winters.
- Cost of living appears to be more or less the same in both places ??
- Both have p/f preclinical and graded clinical
- Both are well respected in their areas
