Hi everyone! I know it seems like there’s an obvious answer here based on school name alone, but I really do have genuine reasons for being conflicted between the two. UCSF was originally my dream school; I only just received my UCSF A today so I had already figured I would be going to Vandy (and had been very happy with my decision) since I thought UCSF would WL or R me post-II. Also, the more I had learned about Vandy following my A in December, the more I fell in love with the program, but the more cognitive dissonance I began to feel about UCSF being my “dream school.” Although tbf it could just be bias because I’ve spent months researching Vanderbilt and planning my life there just in case I didn’t get accepted to UCSF. All of that aside, here are my pros/cons for both. Also, I’m gonna exclude finances from the conversation because I’m grateful to not have that be an issue (but I would like to note that Vandy gave me free tuition; still waiting on fin aid from UCSF), and I want to end up choosing the school where I would be the happiest/have the best QOL; I’m just struggling to identify exactly which one that would be. It’s truly a 50/50 split for me atm.

UCSF Pros:

- T5 program

- Location: have lived in the Bay all of my life so would be close to my support system (which is VERY important to me); also, I absolutely ADORE SF and to be able to live there in my 20s is an absolute dream

- The weather >>>

- UCSF is my dream program for residency, and it’s easier to match here (or anywhere in CA for that matter) if you’re already a med student here

- Interested in DR, and, looking at the list of current UCSF radiology residents, every year, ~2 UCSF students stay at UCSF for radiology residency, whereas in the past four years, only one student from Vandy has matched at UCSF for rads

- Great work-life balance

- Preclinical has a tough block followed by a more chill block to give you a bit of a break

- Getting adjusted to the rigor of med school would be sm easier without having to worry about getting myself situated and comfortable in a new place

UCSF Cons (keep in mind that a lot of these are in comparison to Vandy):

- Driving around the bay for clinical rotations isn’t something I’m the biggest fan of

- 1.5 yr PC - less time to solely focus on building app for residency

- I’m a no gap year applicant, and most of the class is older; I’m a pretty introverted person to begin with but I feel like this would just make it extra difficult to make friends

- I’m interested (as of now) in radiology, and UCSF doesn’t have many electives to explore the field as Vandy does (which is expected given UCSF’s mission); Radiology is already a pretty difficult specialty to decide on imo just because you can’t gauge your interest in it simply based upon shadowing, so it’d be nice to have other opportunities to expose myself to the field so I could be sure it’s what I want to do

- On another note, I feel a bit odd/guilty about going to a school centered on health equity/social justice/service and ending up doing a specialty with less patient interaction than pretty much all the other specialties (although of course students from UCSF do match radiology, so this could just be a personal opinion). ***To be clear about this, I am interested in pursuing health equity/service-related opportunities while in med school. But that’s separate from my interest in radiology as a potential career path.

*Also I’m not sure I quite understand the whole multiple-campus thing quite yet, but ideally I’d like to stay in the same apartment for all four years (moving during med school sounds like such a hassle), and I’m not sure how wise of a decision that would be if different aspects of the curriculum take place at different campuses. Would love if anyone has any extra insight into this!

Vanderbilt Pros:

- Still a T15 even though it doesn’t have the name recognition that UCSF does

- 1 year preclinical → more time to develop resume for residency apps later on (by which point I will be confident about what specialty I want to apply) → relatively chill 3rd + 4th yr

- 4 “flex months” available in 3rd and 4th yr to do literally whatever I want (could spend it doing research/improving residency app, or even traveling as well!! More time w/ friends + fam!!)

- ~⅔ are 0-1 gap year → easier to connect with classmates

 - More opportunities (electives) to explore if diagnostic radiology is the right field for me

- ~8-10% match into DR from Vandy every year

- Most students live 10-15 min walk from campus, and most rotations occur in the main hospital, so I’d be able to walk to my rotations - would have more sleep (I know this sounds silly but sleep is important :P) compared to during UCSF rotations

Vanderbilt Cons:

- Exams during preclinical year range from 10-20 hours (split across 2-3 days)... there’s only 6 (?) of them but I’ve heard first year at Vandy sucks

- Exams have a lot of content that is high yield at Vandy’s exams but not high yield for STEP (per students I’ve spoken to)

- Anatomy lab is spread throughout the year rather than all at once at the beginning of M1 like most schools. Every exam has an anatomy practical and it’s cumulative so you can’t anything slip when it comes to identifying structures throughout the course of the year. *Though this could be a blessing in disguise considering I’m interested in rads (???) Although first impression for me is def that I’d hate this format; would rather just get it all over with at once

- Location: Far from home = far from support system; Long flight to take in order to be able to visit home - I’m extremely close to my parents and if I go to UCSF I’d realistically visit home once every 2-3 weeks at the least but I couldn’t do this if I went to Vandy; Red state; Lack of Asian people in Nashville so concerned about racism in the South (coming from a South Asian woman); Taking all of my stuff that far away is going to be a hassle; would have to spend a lot of time setting things up for life in a new state, which is a lot in conjunction with getting used to med school classes

Have heard the culture at both schools is amazing so thankfully that’s not something I’ll have to worry about. I’ve also heard the faculty at both schools are wonderful and do their best to support you and do whatever they can to help you achieve your career goals. I know that I’d be happy at both schools, which is why I’m conflicted on which one to commit to. If anyone has any insights or thoughts on anything else I should be thinking about/do more research about with respect to either school, that’d be much appreciated. Thank you!!