UMass vs. Geisel (Dartmouth)

[sleepyseagull]

Hi! I feel super lucky to be in this position but am having an extremely hard time making a decision. I'd appreciate any advice on what factors I should weigh more heavily and thoughts on the schools in general.

Background: I don’t know what specialty I want to pursue. I was initially thinking about peds and psychiatry, but I also have some interest in derm, ophtho, and anesthesiology. No idea if I am interested in surgery yet, the lifestyle always seemed offputting to me at first but I've barely had any exposure to it. I've lived in the New England area all my life and am happy and grateful that I will get to stay no matter which school I choose.

I don’t have financial aid packages from either school yet. However, I am from MA, so based on each school's COA estimates, Geisel will cost about ~120k more over the course of four years.

UMass

Pros:

• Much lower cost of attendance for me since I'm an in-state resident (about 75k/year)
• Current students seem very happy + the faculty were welcoming and people emphasized that they're very approachable
• Closer to family
• More things to do in Worcester
• Has "WIN" weeks after each block where you have three "free" days and an opportunity to retake an exam if you fail it
• Match list is great for primary care specialties/matches are primarily in the Northeast

Cons:

• Larger class size
• Very primary care focused (could also be a huge pro if I choose a primary care specialty but at this point I'm not sure)
• ^Along that same vein, most matches are into primary care specialties
• No P/F clerkships
• I went to school very close to home near undergrad and would still be really close to home here, so I'd have less of an opportunity to branch out and live in a different environment

Geisel (Dartmouth)

Pros:

• Smaller class size, which I really like
• P/F pre-clinical curriculum
• Current students seem to love their time there and the faculty felt so warm, a lot of people emphasized how easy it is to approach faculty for research opportunities
• The vibes during Second Look Day were amazing, I had that "gut feeling" that I would love it there but this is of course super subjective
• Cool electives (wilderness medicine?!)/opportunities to create your own electives
• Match list seems great, and there are more matches in non-primary care specialties
• There are a lot of unique away rotations for exposure to more diverse patient populations (could also be a con, current students/alumni said they loved it though and that the school provides housing)
• There was a lot of emphasis on how Geisel prepares you well for intern year/residency
• "Ivy League" name, although I understand this is no Penn or Columbia

Cons

• More expensive (COA is about 101k/year)+slightly higher COL in terms of housing
• No P/F clerkships
• Less diverse local patient population
• More rural, I've always lived near a city but am open to trying a new environment; I went to undergrad near family and a change of pace while still being close may be a good opportunity (so maybe this could be a pro? Not sure). It wasn't as rural as I thought it would be when I visited though.
• Gross anatomy starts in January of your first year, I'm not sure if this is important but I heard this is late compared to some other schools.

Summary: Both schools are ranked very similarly, and the research opportunities also seem similar. I’m not sure if the opportunities for matching into non-primary care specialties at Geisel are worth the additional ~120k. I also thought both schools had similar student cultures but really loved visiting Geisel and the feeling I got from the people and faculty.

Thanks in advance!

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[thefirerisen]

Yeah, Geisel has the Ivy League name but its ranked below UMass. And Dartmouth isn't that prominent in medicine. I think considering the significantly lower COA for UMass and the fact that you'll get better access to research makes UMass a win here. It is a great primary care school but it won't hold you back from pursuing competitive specialties and probably will give you better opportunities in research. I also don't know if you are aware but there was a scandal at Dartmouth with the administration and there is a reputation of them being strict and restrictive.

Unless you're planning on taking advantage of Dartmouth connections such as doing an MD/MBA with the Tuck Business School, UMass will give you an equivalent education with better opportunities for a lower price tag.

 

[everythingis onfire]

(I’m curious what the fun things are to do in Worcester haha)
UMass won’t hold you back from pursuing a competitive specialty if you decide to.
Also P/F clerkships can be seen as a con as well, since your clerkship grades can be used to your benefit for residency apps and it’s hard to distinguish between students if all rotations are P/F.
The class size at UMass seems big but the learning communities makes it a real intimate environment, and the WIN weeks are really amazing because you get so many benefits (more time to rest/travel, less burnout). I was really impressed by UMass and their faculty and how everything works there. You can’t go wrong, especially if you get IS tuition.

 

[sleepyseagull]

Yeah, Geisel has the Ivy League name but its ranked below UMass. And Dartmouth isn't that prominent in medicine. I think considering the significantly lower COA for UMass and the fact that you'll get better access to research makes UMass a win here. It is a great primary care school but it won't hold you back from pursuing competitive specialties and probably will give you better opportunities in research. I also don't know if you are aware but there was a scandal at Dartmouth with the administration and there is a reputation of them being strict and restrictive.

Unless you're planning on taking advantage of Dartmouth connections such as doing an MD/MBA with the Tuck Business School, UMass will give you an equivalent education with better opportunities for a lower price tag.

Thanks so much for your insight! Your point about the research and opportunity to pursue competitive specialties is really compelling. I’ll definitely take these thoughts into consideration as I make my decision!

 

[sleepyseagull]

H

(I’m curious what the fun things are to do in Worcester haha)
UMass won’t hold you back from pursuing a competitive specialty if you decide to.
Also P/F clerkships can be seen as a con as well, since your clerkship grades can be used to your benefit for residency apps and it’s hard to distinguish between students if all rotations are P/F.
The class size at UMass seems big but the learning communities makes it a real intimate environment, and the WIN weeks are really amazing because you get so many benefits (more time to rest/travel, less burnout). I was really impressed by UMass and their faculty and how everything works there. You can’t go wrong, especially if you get IS tuition.

Thank you for your response! I agree, the WIN weeks are really appealing and seem like they would help foster better school/life balance. The faculty also seemed very welcoming. And regarding fun things to do in Worcester, it seems like there may be some more opportunities than in Hanover, although I have yet to discover what those are LOL. Thanks again for your insights, I’ll keep them in mind!