Stanford University School of Medicine

Beautiful campus. A lot of renovation going on. Nice classrooms with beautiful views. Gives everyone free iPads

I have a love-​hate relationship with this place, but despite that it’s very important to me… so here goes for the 100^th first.
Pros/​Cons:
+Top 10, name brand… and attracts amazing classmates. I thought they made a mistake with my letter, because there were PhDs, people who’d started schools in Nepal, Olympic gymnasts, NCAA track stars… you’d be hard-​pressed to find a more diverse, well-​rounded group.
–That diverse, well-​rounded class you started out with? Med school makes everyone focus on the same thing… and all of a sudden hardly anyone’s got time to pursue outside interests. Kinda sad.
+Flexible academic scheduling and encourages time off for research…
-…if academic research is your thing.
+Administration is high-​powered and is able to obtain tons of opportunities for students via connections.
–High-​powered admin also means students don’t get as much of a say. There have been several student life issues that’ve been «in talks» for the last 5 years.
+total immersion in a lifestyle; really the best way to learn.
–I could do without living in the hospital for 3 days straight, though.
+You get to wear scrubs.
–You don’t get to watch Scrubs.
++Overall, you can make of the experience what you want. The friends, the patients, the mentors… late nights, panic attacks, finals, getting wasted, coping with death, and helping others to cope. Without these 4 (or more) years I guarantee you would’ve become a different person. It’s truly a humbling and eye-​opening journey.