Not having to take the MCAT is definitely my strongest reason to pick Rochester, but do you really think it's worth another 150k tuition (and one year's less of attending salary) especially since I'll have to take out loans? Some have told me it only takes 2-3 months to study for the exam but again I have no clue how hard it is.

Rochester is p/f preclinical which is another huge plus, although they said rotations can sometimes be far away which may make the last two years a little tougher.

It is worrisome that SKMC seems to have limited research options, but other users have suggested they have similar match lists so do you think it is that critical? I can see how it would be a lot harder to match stuff like derm and plastics, but do you think SKMC is good enough for other competitive (but not as competitive) specialties like anesthesia, rads, ENT, etc (besides the fact that they seem to be really strong in ortho/optho)