Excited and grateful for the opportunity to attend these schools, but going back and forth on which to pick. Would appreciate any opinions/advice or comments on other things to consider. No aid packages yet, but cost will likely be similar for me.

Stanford:

Pros:

-P/F clinicals, close to support system (same as UCSF)

-Has home residency in current preferred specialty

-Lots of $ for students to conduct research

-I like the pre-clinical schedule with T/Th afternoons and Wed free. Gives time for me to pursue other interests.

-Like the scholarly concentration. Provides space in curriculum to pursue other interests.

-Opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration (important to me as I am interested in translational engineering/medical research)

Cons:

-Less clinical diversity and large public health system exposure (compared to UCSF)

-Likely need car during clinicals (same as UCSF)

-Some commuting but just for particular clinical rotations.

-Was a grad student for several years at Stanford, might benefit from new environment / learning how medicine is done elsewhere / expanding my network for future collaborations.

-Would be interested in residency here, but grad school + med school + residency feels like a long time at one institution, and might not provide as much space for growth.

UCSF:

Pros:

-P/F clinicals, close to support system (same as Stanford)

-Strong clinical diversity

-Opportunities for new research projects and collaborations, particularly clinical (my feel is that there is more emphasis on clinical research at UCSF than at Stanford? Could be wrong about this.)

-Living in a new city and enjoying city life. Lived in a big city in undergrad and loved it. I miss it now.

-More non-trads / older students (according to MSAR). Not sure how big of a pro, as Stanford also seems to have a good number of non-trads (though less, proportionally, in recent years than UCSF)

-No undergrad campus. Not necessarily a pro or con for me. It means less opportunities for interdisciplinary work, but at this point in my life, might feel nice to live in the city rather than on/close to an undergrad campus. (Stanford feels like a bubble sometimes since if you live on campus, you don't really need to leave much…)

Cons:

-Does not have home residency in current preferred specialty. However, did match several students to top programs in my preferred specialty last year. (So not necessarily a con?)

-Less $ for students (for research, etc.)

-Likely need car during clinicals (same as Stanford)

-Major commuting in general during clinicals and potentially pre-clinical depending on where I am able to get housing (students tend to live pretty dispersed in the city and have many rotation sites that require public transit or driving to get to).

-Renting in SF is expensive and difficult. If I stay at Stanford, I could keep living where I am now (relatively lower rent for me, at least for now).

-Slightly worried and unsure about how strongly social justice themes might be emphasized in the curriculum and how that balances with other parts of the curriculum. I haven't been able to find clear info online about the Bridges curriculum and what it's like in practice.

Feel free to let me know if you think there's something else I should consider. Also would love to know what current med students at these schools think of the vibe.