I have been accepted to the Penn State and VCU medical programs and would greatly appreciate insight in order to ultimately make a decision. I have also been accepted to the Hofstra, Union, and SLU medical programs but believe the aforementioned ones to be stronger - please write if you think this is an inaccurate assessment.
My interest in attending a program is to have the freedom to do extensive research and community service, and continue developing my leadership skills (I do not plan to be lazy haha). My preference (Penn State vs. VCU) has been continually shifting these past weeks (which is the motivation for this thread); however, below are some key points I identified for each program.
PENN STATE with JEFFERSON MEDICAL________________________________________________________
-7 years.
-Moderately higher ranked medical school and much higher ranked undergrad.
-Great feel (I understand this is subjective, but, I believe, nonetheless an important factor).
-Isolated (so potentially boring) location for undergrad; however, Penn State is known to be fun.
-Higher MCAT requirement (504; 64th percentile) and perceived to be more difficult to maintain 3.5 GPA.
-Approximately $70,000 MORE expensive for all 7 years.
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH with VCU MEDICAL_________________________________________________
-8 years.
-Moderately lower ranked medical school and much lower ranked undergrad.
-Richmond seemed like a more ideal location for undergrad (diverse community, great volunteer opportunities, more interesting overall), although VCU is known to be a commuter school (which may create less of a community feel than I would prefer).
-Ability to apply out (should be noted I was told only ~10% do so successfully).
-Lower MCAT requirement (502; 57th percentile) and perceived to be easier to maintain 3.5 GPA.
-Mandates healthcare exposure and service (this is beneficial if I apply out).
-Approximately $70,000 CHEAPER for all 8 years.
*If I chose this program I would work towards being able to apply out to strong medical schools.
@Toshka I think you laid out the pros/cons fairly well. From that list, the only compelling reason I see favoring VCU is that you can apply out while keeping your spot in the medical school. Assuming you were to attend the program-affiliated medical schools, the quality/reputation of psu/jeff (and saving a year, which neutralizes the cost difference in a sense) would likely serve you better in the long run.
They are both large schools that should provide you the opportunity to fulfill your leadership/research/community service hopes & the grade reqs. shouldn’t be an issues, esp for someone like you who is willing to take undergrad seriously. So I don’t weigh them as much…
Agree with @dblazer. The only positive for the VCU program is that you could still apply out to other medical schools, but I believe VCU is still weak even as an undergraduate school. That’s why only 10% of students are actually able to do that successfully.
I would go with the Penn State/Jefferson program, esp. with the relatively lower MCAT, but it has so many other positives – being in Philadelphia, ability to find research in the specialty of your choice, strength of its match lists, etc. You will not be held back in anyway by going to Jefferson Medical College in terms of name. It was probably one of the strongest 6 year programs when it used to be one, along with Miami HPME when it also used to be a 6 year program. Congratulations!!
@dblazer@Roentgen I have heard that the moderate benefit of Jefferson’s reputation (considering reputation is holds relatively little benefit in the field of healthcare) is not worth sacrificing the freedoms provided by VCU (ability to apply out, lower MCAT, easier GPA, more diverse community). Also, my impression was that few successfully apply out of VCU due to mindset - “I’m in; why try?” - rather than poor resources/environment.
I would be interested to read opinions about what I’ve just written. All that said however, I can certainly see myself at and thriving in the Penn/Jeff Prog.
@Toshka, that’s actually not true that reputation holds little benefit in the field of healthcare, it definitely does especially when it comes to matching into competitive specialties for a variety of reasons - more research opportunities, more big wigs who can write you big letters for the residency match, etc. It’s definitely not the only factor, as there are others - i.e. Step scores, clerkship grades, letters, etc. but it can tip the scales in terms of interviews esp. at great places.
I guess it really does depend on how driven you are to apply out. I mean it’s usually never good to enter a program with the intent to apply out already, but I can understand especially with getting to hold your spot in the VCU program. Does the Penn State/Jefferson program not allow you to apply out and hold your spot?
@Roentgen I fully agree with what you’ve written in regards to candidacy for residency match. Penn State doesn’t allow applying out.
I have already compared the match lists which seemed to support one school would not provide a significant advantage over the other, ergo my difficulty in selecting a program.
@Toshka, for the ones that have been succesful in applying out, do you know what medical school they have been able to get into or what tier those schools are in? That will tell you probably what is the best you can hope for.
@roentgen During my interview day a current student said she had received interviews at top schools (Harvard, Yale, Duke, etc.). I understand that is a single case, and will make sure to speak to more students in the program.
@Toshka as @Roentgen mentioned, it’s definitely not true that reputation holds little benefit - just look at a match list from any top 20 school and it will be obvious. But yes, while Jefferson does have a better match list than VCU on the whole, it’s not a night/day difference like it would be if you compared it to a top 20.
Have you visited both undergrads? It seems like you have an affinity for VCU’s, which would not be an unreasonable rationale for selecting one program over the other.