Guest bfong07MD Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 I posted this earlier, but it was wiped out. Basically, I've been accepted to UofT, Western and Mac. I'm not considering Mac, so my choice is down to UofT or Western. I'm from Toronto, and the majority of my family and friends are in Toronto. If I stay in Toronto, I will be living close to campus at a fraternity where the rent is fairly cheap (approx. $300 per month). However, if I go to Western, they will give me $20,000 per year up to 4 years in scholarship. My main considerations thus far have been financial issues, family (parents really want me to stay in Toronto), quality of education (curriculum, clerkship, learning opportunities, H/P/F vs P/F system, atmosphere) and competitiveness for matching for residency (I want to do residency in Toronto or a large US centre). If any medical students or residents can give me their opinion, it would be greatly appreciated. Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ezrock Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 hey. i'd take western hands down personally. both are great schools, and the $20,000 will make a difference in the end. it will wipe out like 2/3 of the debt you'd have otherwise. -Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bfong07MD Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 I did the math. considering that almost 50% of OSAP loans are non-repayable and grants from UofT, the difference is closer to $10K per year. At an estimated $140K needed for 4 yrs of meds, and money set aside by family for my education, I'm looking at roughly $30K in debt after graduation from going to UofT vs 0 from Western. In the long run, $30K is really not that much money (a bit more than the price of my Toyota Matrix ). I'm more concerned about the other factors in making my decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve U of T Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 You mentioned an interest in leaving the country. I'm currently at a meeting of the Shock Society in Florida, and a lot of the American surgeons I've spoken to aren't familiar with either Western or U of T, although they are much less familiar with Western. If you're interested in moving to the U.S., U of T will probably earn a bit more recognition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ezrock Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 hey. wasnt expecting you to have that little debt either way (i know i wont). anyways, if its only a $30,000 difference, then you'll really need to do some more thinking. which school fits your learning style better? what about the type of lifestyle you want while going to medschool? do you like the big city better, or are you more comfortable in the (comparatively) small city life like in london? -Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HavingaCoronary Posted June 9, 2005 Report Share Posted June 9, 2005 Oh good lord... give your head a shake. Go to UofT and you'll never, ever regret it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest workiholic Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 I was fortunate enough to interview in several American cities including: Houston, Los Angeles, Durham and New York. If you're considering an American Residency than UofT is probably the best choice. Most Americans I met (interviewees, faculty and general public) are familiar with only 2 Canadian schools: UofT and Mcgill. Hope this helps with your decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest avarrin2001 Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Honestly, please dont ever make a choice based on what American's can identify. Have you ever seen "Talking to Americans"? This is our neighbor, who thinks our 'president' is Tim Horton. Decide on which is best for you overall... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest michca Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Hi Bryan Unless the scholarship is going to make or break you, I wouldn't let it be the deciding factor as to whether or not you to go Toronto or UWO. Although 20,000 a year is a lot of money! Also, you mentioned your parents really want you to go to UofT. I wouldn't let that be the deciding factor either! Remember this is 4 years of your life- not theirs. If you hadn't received the scholarship/if your parents didn't have a preference- which school would you have chosen? Which school would you be happier at/ more comfortable with? Which curriculum appeals more to you (big differences between Toronto and Western!)? Does H/P/F vs. P/F make a difference to you? Are you interested in rural medicine? Would you be comfortable with the mandatory rural component that is part of Western's curriculum? Do you like London or Toronto more? How important is it to you that you are in the same city as most of your family/friends? I would be more likely to pick a school based on these factors than international reputation as well. Hope that helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest studentz Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 If there are any born & raised Torontonians at UWO meds* (particularly in the later years), please comment on how you found living in London. Yes, I'm still deciding and I'll probably same-day courier my stuff, or go on a road trip to Guelph and London, on Monday.:\ * Not undergrad, it's a different experience. I've repeatedly heard that UWO meds students are anything but emmersed in the undergrad scence there, which I found a bit disappointing as Western has a lot of interesting student groups. Feel free to correct me if necessary. Hey Bryan, send me a personal message if you've decided either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HavingaCoronary Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Let's ignore everything about the med school at western compared with the med school at u of t. That's a easy choice. let's talk only of london v. toronto. London is a land-locked, out-of-sight, out-of-mind rest-stop on the 401 whose economy is driven in equal parts by beer sales to frat boys and insurance sales by ex-frat boys. Looking to get away for the weekend?... ooh, try sunny windsor, or perhaps you'll meet some of the locals kids and garner and invitation to a bush party. And london's also notably diverse and progressive... you have white, middle-class people from north london, white middle-class people from west london, white middle-class people from... all of whom drive a grey volvo and don't wear white after labour day. The best part of london is finally making your way through the mass of street-level traffic on your way back to toronto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TimmyMax Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Hey HavingaCoronary, What do you have against London, anyway? It sounds like you tried out for one of the fraternities and didn't get in- that's exactly what your little rant sounds like! Let's stick to what's relevant here (ie: the differences between the two medical programs) rather than turning this into people venting their personal biases against cities. Timmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HavingaCoronary Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 my apologioes... I thought the prior post asked for comments about LIVING in london. geez do I feel stupid! It takes a real gomer to fail to read the question. thanks for the input though, timmy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Isoceles Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 HavingaCoronary: Have you ever BEEN to a bush party?! Seriously... you don't know what you're missing...:rollin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ploughboy Posted June 11, 2005 Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 I second that - ahh, my misspent youth! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest csp0304 Posted June 11, 2005 Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 Could someone elaborate on the mandatory rural component of Western's curriculum? Does it constitute a large part of the curriculum? Is it similar to the rural medicine programs at UBC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aneliz Posted June 11, 2005 Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 At UWO, you are required to spend one week at the end of first year in a rural setting (the school pays for your accomodation) and one month (4 weeks) during 3rd year. You may do additional rural time if you chose. You may do up to 12 weeks in 3rd year and you can choose to spend your summers after 1st and/or 2nd year doing a rural studentship. I don't know anything about UBC's progam, so I can't compare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest studentz Posted June 12, 2005 Report Share Posted June 12, 2005 So there are no current med students at Western who use this forum and grew up in T.O.? Oh well... Can anyone shed some light on the PCL component please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TimmyMax Posted June 12, 2005 Report Share Posted June 12, 2005 So there are no current med students at Western who use this forum and grew up in T.O.? There are tons of Toronto people wo came to Western (but don't necessarily post on this forum)! I have no idea where they all are, though. JSS02??? therealcrackers??? T-dawg??? Your input here would be greatly appreciated! Timmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JSS02 Posted June 12, 2005 Report Share Posted June 12, 2005 studentz, I sent you a PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest larasmith Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 Bryan, you were accepted into three schools?? that's amazing. what was your gpa/mcat and what volunteer/employment experience did you have? and why not mac?? congrats!! Lara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Sorry - this message might be coming a bit late as I was out in Tofino the last 15 days. More about that later. . . and competitiveness for matching for residency (I want to do residency in Toronto or a large US centre). Hmm. This is a toughy. You can match to anything from anywhere, but based on what I've seen it sometimes DOES matter where you go if location is going to be important for you. Do you have ANY inkling what you want to do and whether it's competitive? For super-competitive specialties like plastics, optho, ?FRCPC emerg?!?!?, ENT, urology, derm - it might be important to go to Toronto to get into Toronto, as you'll have some more familiarity with that school's programs. People DO get into these programs from schools other than U of T (I think one of the plastics spots went to a guy from Calgary and UWO grads have matched ENT and Optho in the past) BUT HONESTLY - if you are thinking about super-competitive programs like these, you might need to get the whole idea of matching to a specific center completely out of your head!! Most of my classmates going for the ubercompetitive spots were ecstatic just to match to ANY program. . . and many of the U of T grads who match to these programs DON'T match to Toronto. For these programs, you pretty much go wherever will take you. . . but a large percentage of students going for these programs will match to the same center as they did medical school in. If you're interested in less competitive specialties like Family, Neurosurg, Pathology, etc or - it really doesn't matter where you go. . . if you're pretty good any center will take you! The intermediate competitive specialties, it's debateable. UWO routinely matches grads to U of T internal medicine and gen surgery. AND vice-versa. It's a total toss-up. Even with the intermediates, many med school grads are just glad to go where they match. . . even if it's 2nd or 3rd choice. I'll repeat the fact you might want to play down the necessity of matching to Toronto unless you're going for the less competitive specialties. But Hamilton and London pretty much ARE Toronto these days! Kingston isn't THAT far off - there isn't a whole lot of tolerance for non-Maple Leaf fans in any of thes cities! :rollin So you have 2 or 3, maybe 4 choices residency wise where you will be NEAR Toronto and family and friends. That's a whole heck of a lot better for the people wanting to match to Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, St. John's, or Halifax! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bfong07MD Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Thanks to everyone for their insightful comments/input. I chose UofT in the end for fairly personal reasons. Both are excellent schools, and I feel very privileged for having the choice to go to either one. Congrats to the next person on Western's waiting list and also the one next in line for the Schulich. Lara, I didn't consider Mac mainly because my learning style favours a more didactic approach than PBL. Also, I'm not too fond of their cramming 4 years into 3. My undergrad GPA at the time of application (after 2nd year) was 3.90, not that impressive since a lot of people here have 3.99s/4.00s. MCATs were 12/11/12/T (BS/PS/VR/WS). As for extracurriculars, I did a wide range of things from traditional health centre volunteering to Toronto International Film Festival to running my own soccer team and campus club. I think having research experience is also invaluable these days; I was lucky enough to be first author of a paper to be presented at this years CSVS conference in Toronto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 The 3.99s stick out when you're reading them. Western has never published "average" GPA scores, but my guess is 3.90 would be above. Don't be ashamed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.