<p>I'm in a bit of a pickle. For those of you who are already in medical school, please give me your advice.</p>
<p>I was fortunate enough to be admitted to two medical schools - Pitt and Mt. Sinai today (Wednesday, June 20th). I'm absolutely flabbergasted at the coincidence.</p>
<p>Here's the scoop: I read the email from Mt. Sinai around noontime, and promptly replied with my acceptance. At midnight (about 30 minutes ago) I checked email again and found that I received an offer from Dean Davis at Pitt. The offer from Pitt was kinda informal - Dean Davis and I had been corresponding for a week or so, and she gave me the offer in a reply to my latest email. There was no timeline on the acceptance.</p>
<p>At this point in time, I figure I ought to reply to Dean Davis and ask for a week or two to consider my options. Looking at the big picture, though, how do I decide between the two? What factors should I really be looking at?</p>
<p>I like the location of Pitt - it's close to home, and I'll have the support of my family, as well as access to cheap food and other goodies. However, I absolutely loved Mt. Sinai when I went to interview - the staff was great, the students were great, the facilities were great, etc. I really like the fact that I'd have the opportunity to practice medicine in a language other than English.</p>
<p>If you'd share your pertinent thoughts with me, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!</p>
<p>Not in medical school, but here are some factors you should be looking at.</p>
<ol>
<li>Location (big or small city? preference?)</li>
<li>Cost (tuition + living around the school)</li>
<li>Curriculum (system-based, lecture, PBL, etc)</li>
<li>Grading (letter, p/f)</li>
<li>Average board scores from past classes</li>
<li>What hospitals will you be rotating at? (Are they busy, good rep., etc)</li>
<li>....</li>
</ol>
<p>I'd probably not worry about board scores or the hospitals. There's not a whole lot that those things can tell you. </p>
<p>I know it sounds corny but just go with your guy... which place did you get the vibe from? Which one did you think when you walked in that "this is it"? Might be really tough if it was some other school, but it's good to think about.</p>
<p>Other than that, cost is a huge consideration. If they're fairly close in cost, then don't worry about it if one place is going to make you happier than the other.</p>
<p>I got the excited-tinglies from Mt. Sinai. Didn't like Pitt so much, but I'm wondering if that's because of the way they do their interview day.</p>
<p>I'm currently scrambling to get my financial aid documents in. I suspect that Mt. Sinai will give me a better deal, just based on what other people have said. Personally, my parents would prefer me to go to Pitt, all things being equal, but I suspect even $5k more from Mt. Sinai per year would change their minds.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that $5k for 4 years is only 20k out of what? something well north of 200k for private school tuition. In the long run, that's not going to be huge (even though 5k sounds like a lot). It's great if Sinai is going to give you a little extra, b/c they also seem like the place you really want to go, but you're still going to be in debt up to your eyeballs, and eventually will think things like "eh...what's another 10k in loans?"</p>
<p>Finally, make your decision soon so that someone else gets the joy of telling everyone they know they got in!</p>
<p>1.) Go to Mt. Sinai. That sense is the most crucial component, because it tells you so much. I agree that board scores can be very limited instruments outside of context, but I think the breadth -- not necessarily depth -- of a hospital is quite important as well.</p>
<p>2.) The University of Pittsburgh is a very well-regarded medical school.</p>
<p>You guys probably want to punch me for being so paranoid, but I have to get this off my chest. The admission clock is ticking for me - I have to respond to Pitt's offer by Thursday.</p>
<p>Pitt's financial aid estimate and MSSM's package are virtually the same. Same amount of grants, same amount of loans, etc. So cost is basically out of the picture now.</p>
<p>By now, I'm pretty damn sure I want to go to MSSM. Sure, I love Pittsburgh, but frankly, the facilities and school culture at MSSM are the big draw for me. I wouldn't mind spending another four years in NYC. As I said before, I got the "excited-tinglies" at MSSM.</p>
<p>That being said, am I being an idiot for turning down Pitt? I've been trawling the Internet for information comparing the two schools, and pretty much "everyone" agrees that Pitt is the more "highly ranked" school and receives more research funding. Am I undermining my future chances at the residency of my choice by going to a "lower ranked" school? Am I torpedoing my chances of participating in really interesting research by attending a school with less NIH funding?</p>
<p>Facts, opinions, and advice from knowledgeable people would be greatly appreciated. I really feel that I would be happy at MSSM, but I'm terrified I might be doing something wrong.</p>
<p>Pretty much everything you asked, the answer is no.</p>
<p>1) 84% of US 4th years in the 2007 Match got into one of their top 3 residency choices - the odds are highly in your favor. The process is set up to the benefits of the students.</p>
<p>2) There's fascinating research going on EVERYWHERE, just in different things. MSSM might have a really cool department looking at surgical robots, while Pitt is doing more research on glaucoma...but they each are putting out interesting stuff. Do you know that you'll have equal research opportunities at both? Maybe all the really cool NIH stuff is super popular and near impossible to get in on b/c so many people are involved. Also keep in mind that while USNWR uses NIH funding, there's lots of other sources of funding out there - and it all spends the same.</p>
<p>3) It's okay to be terrified. I spent nearly 8 weeks going back and forth over my decision on which school to go to...you're getting like 8 days. And no matter what you choose, you'll catch yourself every once in awhile thinking "how might things have been different?". But you can't live that way, you've got to do what feels right for you.</p>
<p>Given that you're "pretty damn sure" about MSSM, I think you need to pull the trigger. Congrats once again, and think how lucky you were to be faced with this decision.</p>