SS: Secondary Submitted
II: Interview Invite
I: Interview
I was too lazy to worry about marking secondary received/complete/etc.
But I was complete at most schools between early to mid August.
9/12: Yale - Got to see some sides of the med school I hadn't seen before. The low-stress curriculum seems to be the biggest selling point, and better than sliced bread according to the students. Indeed the student tour guides themselves were quiet impressive -- the kinda guys I'd imagine hanging out with at home ... not med school-esqe at all. I'd imagine not every med student there was this cool, but if so I'd fit right in.
9/16: UPitt - Cool kids. Met a lot of 1st years, really chill. This was another medical school I was familiar with before, but I still learned a few things new. My faculty interview went well, and my student interview went so-so. Pittsburgh seems like a cool city--and indeed the 'med school tour' was more like a tour of the med school and the town, unlike Yale's.
9/19: Baylor - CANCELED due to hurricane Ike. Decided not to reschedule.
9/25: Cornell - NYC is awesome. Very surprised how much I loved the atmosphere at this school.
10/2: Johns Hopkins - WOW. Awesome awesome people, not nearly as competitive as I thought it would be. I got an amazing impression, and I had by far my best interviews so far here. I definitely need to check out second look if accepted.
10/3: UPenn - Amazing curriculum, would definitely do joint MD/MBA if I went here. Very cool/chill people at a great institution = great combo. Love the curriculum and atmosphere. Highest board scores is a plus.
Burnt out on writing about interviews, so the following will be filled in more later:
10/16: UCSD - Warm. That's about it. This school was not a very good fit for me. The tour was really short, we basically just saw their library and a few hallways. Alas, UCSD suffers from the same fate as the other publically funded California schools -- limited student resources and state-mandated restrictions on which foreign countries for which you may receive travel funding (ie. I couldn't go to Haiti -- boo). The people seemed happy, but not really my type. Once upon a time I got along with other Californians, what has northeast schooling done to me?
10/17: UCLA - Felt very LA. Beautiful hospital -- one of my favorite UC's. LA is my favorite city on earth, and I hope to finally return here to live one day (I was born here). If I don't end up here for med school, it'll still be in the back of my mind for residency or fellowship. My interviewer was very nice, and basically spent the hour convincing me why I should do academic dermatology. Not a bad gig if you ask me.
10/20: Stanford - One of my top choices now for sure. For an MD only, Stanford is nice -- but it shines in my eyes because of the flexibility it would allow me if I decided to do the MD/MBA (with the #1 Business school to boot). Their business school is also more focused on entrepreneurial start-ups and techno stuff, since it's in the silicon valley. It is also very close to home (though I consider this more of a con, I want something new). The students seemed extremely happy (like UPenn happy), with plenty of free time for outside endeavor.
10/21: UCSF - I mean, it's UCSF. Cool school, my interviewer had his ear pierced -- so it's definitely a very 'bay area' place (which I like). My interviewer actually knew the surgeon I shadowed at Stanford quite well, apparently he had a huge falling out with UCSF and moved to Stanford. Thus, it probably wasn't a good idea to put his name on my application :D. All well.
10/23: Wash U - Cozy. Very different feel here -- huge buildings like the northeast, but where are all the people? So spacious and quiet. One of my interviewers said they loved WashU because it's a relaxing environment with no real threatening major institution nearby, and I definitely felt that contributed to the relaxed atmosphere. There was, however, a disgruntled 4th year cautioning me about the school. Though I couldn't quite grasp what his specific concerns were, he just didn't seem happy heh. Oh, and at the lunch I saw the guy from the cover of the MD pamphlet they send out. That was money.
11/6: Columbia - Toughest interview I've had. I don't think he liked me much -- I felt always on the defensive, little talking was done about my application. This interview was more like him lecturing me about why I should respect nurses. All well.
NOTE: So I found out from my Columbia interviewer that one of my LOR writters addressed his letter specifically to Harvard. Except every school got that letter. So basically, he recommends me for HMS in the letter everyone gets. The interviewer found this quite comical. DOH. >.<
2/5: Harvard - Cool place. If Harvard gives me good news, it's gonna come down to Harvard vs. Hopkins. I was actually 10 mins late to my first interview and came in panting from the sprint there (lost track of time). But fortunately my interviewer was very nice. He even gave me a hug at the end and gave me the advice to 'not take Harvard too seriously', so I think that's good. My second interview was much more formal, but I think I presented myself well. The students are definitely what you'd expect. Not exactly the warmest, most approachable folk but that's okay. I can run with the wolves too. And overall they seemed nice. I could see myself there for 4 years.
After interviewing, here is how I would rank the schools based on fit for me:
1a.) Hopkins
1b.) Harvard
2.) UPenn
3.) Stanford
4.) UCSF
5.) WashU
6.) UCLA
7.) Columbia
8.) Yale
9.) Cornell
10.) UPitt
11.) UCSD
Making the UPenn + $168k vs. Hopkins + love is going to be a tough decision. Gah, I don't want to make that decision!
UPDATE: Going to Hopkins. The merit scholarship from Penn isn't actually all that great, unless you're rich and would otherwise be paying full-price. Since that scholarship disqualifies me for need-based aid at Penn, and since I got a decent amount of need based aid at Hopkins, the difference is only about ~$12k/year (~105k +interest debt vs. ~150k +interest debt after 4 years). Not enough to sway me from my first love. Money is just money.
So I'll be at Hopkins :P It's nice to be done.
