Mayo Clinic Arizona vs BU

[Anonymous654654654]

Mayo Clinic Arizona

Pros

• Higher ranking/name/prestige (and a good shot at Mayo Clinic residencies)
• Significantly less overall debt upon graduation
• Closer to family/friends in California

Cons

• New school; no current student culture/clubs because we'll be the first students
• Location is a bit boring
• With the small class size and being the first class, I might feel a bit suffocated and feel more pressure to do well (this is a major con for me)

Boston University

Pros

• I loved the city of Boston when I visited
• I loved the culture/atmosphere; the mission of the school really aligns with my personal and professional career goals
• They showed me a lot of love and gave me a scholarship

Cons

• Cost; even with the scholarship, it is very expensive. However, in the grand scheme of things, I am not too worried about debt.
• Lower relative ranking/name (though I'm not too sure if this is correct).

Summary: At this point, I'm not leaning towards either school. In terms of career goals, I am undecided on which field to enter. I don't even know yet if I'll go for a specialty or primary care. I know I want to work with underserved/poorer patients.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[BeingTime]

If I was in your shoes, I would pick Mayo Clinic in Arizona. You would get a fantastic education, with little debt, and the opportunity to work with the underserved in Arizona. And I love Mayo's small class size. That's just my opinion though.

 

[Gurby]

People who are "in the know" that I've talked to have been discouraging about Mayo AZ due to its newness. I'm confident that the school will be amazing and 10 years from now it will be a moot point, but for us in the very first class I think coming from BU would probably be better when it comes to residency matching. Given that you view the AZ location as a negative, seem to prefer BU and got a nice scholarship there... I think I would vote for BU in your case.

 

[aegistitan]

What people forget about Mayo Arizona is that you will have first dibs at everything, including research.

There are already tons of research opportunities available at Mayo, but if you want to work with a specific person, perhaps a person that is a leader in that field, it is quite likely that you will be able to as a part of the inaugural class

 

[Winged Scapula]

How can you find the 5th largest city in the US boring? There's tons of things to do here: professional sports, outdoor activities 10 months per year, museums, nightclubs with famous people (if that's your thing), more restaurants per capita than most cities, great Mexican food (believe me, if you're a Californian, you'll miss it back east), proximity to Mexico, the ocean, mountains for skiing etc.

True if you want a college town experience with a walkable downtown with cafes/bars, brick and ivy, then PHX isn't for you.

IMHO there are both pros and cons of being the first class but Mayo has experience in education so there's that (as opposed to a for profit school without any).

 

[Chromium Surfer]

How can you find the 5th largest city in the US boring? There's tons of things to do here: professional sports, outdoor activities 10 months per year, museums, nightclubs with famous people (if that's your thing), more restaurants per capita than most cities, great Mexican food (believe me, if you're a Californian, you'll miss it back east), proximity to Mexico, the ocean, mountains for skiing etc.

True if you want a college town experience with a walkable downtown with cafes/bars, brick and ivy, then PHX isn't for you.

IMHO there are both pros and cons of being the first class but Mayo has experience in education so there's that (as opposed to a for profit school without any).

Woah WS I've been living here for over a decade now where are these nightclubs with famous people you speak of? I am finally old enough to go haha

 

[raiderette]

Mayo is not re-inventing the wheel with the med school, and Mayo Rochester is an amazing program. I would pick Mayo. Boston is great, but it is expensive, with lousy traffic and harsh weather for a Californian.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Woah WS I've been living here for over a decade now where are these nightclubs with famous people you speak of? I am finally old enough to go haha

Ha ha...

not any place I go either!

But I see it mentioned in the Scottsdale magazine and on E! tv sometimes.

Most likely they're at the higher end places like Four Seasons at Troon, the fancy spas etc.

 

[thenucleusaccumbens]

I've posted about this before in the Mayo AZ thread but I'll reiterate some points that are relevant - AZ may be a new campus, but the med school is not new. The hospitals where students will do clinical training are also not new. In fact Mayo AZ is the highest ranked hospital in the state of AZ. Mayo AZ students can also choose to do rotations at the Rochester, MN campus which is ranked #1 in the country. Mayo Clinic Phoenix and Scottsdale have established residency programs that are well respected. I would be willing to bet that this concern about the match list will not be realized. It won't take 10 years - I'd bet the first class will match very well.

Something I've noticed is that programs do seem to favor their own somewhat. In general, a good number of Mayo students match to Mayo Clinic residencies. This is not unique to Mayo by any means. I have friends at other schools who have have noticed the same trends with their med schools and affiliated hospitals. So I predict that Mayo AZ students will be given some preference by Mayo Clinic residencies (and I do mean at all of the campuses) and (according to the Doximity & US News rankings) Mayo residency programs rank in the top 10 for a bunch of different specialties including Anesthesiology, Derm, Neurosurgery, Ortho Surg, Urology, Internal Med, Rad Onc, Neurology, Path, PM & R, etc.

Step scores are super important for residency and yeah we can't know what the AZ campus average will be, but given the fact that Mayo MN does not have the highest average MCAT, but does have one of the highest average Step scores, I really do think it's because of our curriculum (the same curriculum the AZ campus will have). Research is also really important for residency and at Mayo we get 12 weeks of dedicated research time in 3rd year. There are tons of research opportunities and you'll get matched with a mentor in 1st year. I've been told around 80% of Mayo students graduate with a first author pub and everyone graduates with at least one pub.

I also wouldn't discount the Mayo Clinic name. When I was deciding between different schools, one of my mentors, who is a program director at a hospital in NY and trained at Hopkins, told me that just having trained at Mayo Clinic will open doors.

TLDR - I think people who go to the AZ campus are going to do very well and personally would not be worried about matching.

 

[thenucleusaccumbens]

To the OP - the above post wasn't really aimed at you but more to address the comments from people about matching from the AZ campus.

While I personally would choose Mayo AZ, it sounds like you really love Boston and your only major con was that BU has a lower relative ranking/name. BU is a fantastic school, so I wouldn't let the fact that it isn't ranked as high dissuade you. As far as I know it's still ranked very high (in the top 30 I think), so I definitely wouldn't let that be a huge factor in your decision. Go where you think you'll be happiest. Also, are you planning to go to second look at either school? That could be helpful in making your decision.

 

[Winged Scapula]

All of the above about Mayo Arizona is correct.

While some will lament the dilution of the Mayo name, the fact is that the clinic has no interest in producing a bad product. so students will be well-trained and remember most of the faculty are mayo trained as well and have a lot of connections.

That being said if the OP really loves Boston then there's something to be said for that college town experience.

 

[ChrisMack390]

I cannot understand this idea that Mayo is going to simultaneously operate the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine and also Hollywood Upstairs Medical College.

Mayo students have done rotations AZ for 30 or 40 years at this point. Mayo AZ students will rotate in MN. The preclinical curricula are identical, to the point that MN faculty have actually moved to AZ to help teach it. So far, AZ students have been included in all kinds of announcements for the MN students in things like research and global health. I can't figure out where the secret disaster is hiding.

 

[thenucleusaccumbens]

I cannot understand this idea that Mayo is going to simultaneously operate the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine and also Hollywood Upstairs Medical College.

Mayo students have done rotations AZ for 30 or 40 years at this point. Mayo AZ students will rotate in MN. The preclinical curricula are identical, to the point that MN faculty have actually moved to AZ to help teach it. So far, AZ students have been included in all kinds of announcements for the MN students in things like research and global health. I can't figure out where the secret disaster is hiding.

Agree 100% and I have no doubt that the naysayers will be proven wrong.

 

[ChrisMack390]

Agree 100% and I have no doubt that the naysayers will be proven wrong.

I'm going on the Global Brigades pre-matriculation trip in July. By some of the SDN posts I've seen you'd think they are going to brand a big red AZ into my forehead while I'm there.

 

[Gurby]

I cannot understand this idea that Mayo is going to simultaneously operate the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine and also Hollywood Upstairs Medical College.

Mayo students have done rotations AZ for 30 or 40 years at this point. Mayo AZ students will rotate in MN. The preclinical curricula are identical, to the point that MN faculty have actually moved to AZ to help teach it. So far, AZ students have been included in all kinds of announcements for the MN students in things like research and global health. I can't figure out where the secret disaster is hiding.

To quote one of my advisers who is a naysayer, "I am not so much worried about you learning medicine, I am worried about you matching to a top residency." The $1,000,000 question is, will PD's view Mayo AZ as a completely new school, as an unknown? Will they view it on the same level as MN, or somewhere in between?

On one hand the Mayo name counts for a lot I think, and it's a kind of different situation from other new schools that have popped up recently IMO. On the other hand I think nobody can say for sure what will happen. My gut feeling says AZ grads will match really well, but I am a lowly pre-med and there is a lot I don't understand about the process.