to each their own, and thanks for your clarifying post, i liked how you increased your ranking list from top 20, to now 20-30, and i also enjoy how you knew exactly what ranking the schools were from previous years, you were case and point, if you pay attention to it this much of course others will, you knew it to the point where you knew where the schools were ranked last year and this year, and you really dont count seeing as you are from florida and lived here for a substantial time, a native here, and its not like your biased at all no offense but the only people i take advice from is unbiased people, id be willing to listen to someone who got into all the schools and THEN chose which one was best
if there is such a person out there, your who id like to hear from
Sorry I just reread my post and realized I accidentally made some typos in the end of the post. I was typing from the comp lab and stressed cuz my coworker was totally bothering me at the time I was typing it. I just realized it said....
I disagree with all of it.
That's not what I meant to type. Again I apologize. I meant to say I disagree with SOME OF IT not ALL OF IT.
Sorry again.
And top 20 or top 30, my point was the first half of the list is the only extent to which people look at rankings. Beyond that like first half or so of the list, no one is going to brag and say "oh i went to the 50th ranked school or the 37th ranked school". People only are impressed by those that are in the upper half or so of that list.
And yes I may look at the lists, however I don't base my opinion of a school on its rankings. It just means that I've looked at the rankings. If I did base my opinion on rankings, then UF would be my top choice. However, I don't believe in such things. And if I have respect for a school like HMS it isn't because of its ranking more so as because it has students who've done such extraordinary things that go beyond what the average student has done not solely because they have more research dollars or because it says its the number one school.
Also, I have a number of friends who have applied this year and who have all told me that after interviewing at all the major Florida schools, they would not recommend UF to anyone because they felt they were rubbed the wrong way by the school. One friend interviewed at Miami, UF, and USF along with some out of state schools and the phone interview at Mayo. If you want to talk rankings, the schools she interviewed were top 20 schools. The one's that least impressed her were Upitt and UF both because their facilities were old and really dingy and because she felt that the personality of the people (at least at UF) were a bit snobby. She told me that at her interview, UF kept acting liking they needed to put down every other school to make them feel better. Told me that of the Fl. schools Miami was her first choice if she gets in. And this was from a person like you who kept thinking UF would be her top choice at first, but later walked away with a bad impression of the school. Out of state her top choice is one of the IVY league schools which is hard to get into because you only have a 1 in 3 chance of acceptance at that particular school.
Another person I know, who also had offers for interviews for all 4 Fl. schools told me she went there originally thinking she'd do anything to get into UF but then had the worst possible interview experience there in which the interviewer was putting her down for being poor and not going to an IVY league school even though she had great grades, MCAT scores, ECs, etc. On top of that she said that the interviewer was both late and completely rude to her, and that the rest of the people she met at the interview made her feel completely uncomfortable. This person originally was putting USF on their last choice and changed their mind to making it first choice, although I think Miami-Boca might have been first choice if they didn't need to cancel the interview due to lack of money or money to get a ticket to fly down there. On top of that their car wasn't exactly in the best shape and its not like she could just pull the money out of a cap to get it fixed where she would be able to drive down there so she didn't go.
I've heard other similar stories to this from other people too. So continue calling me biased and misunderstanding every post I make. Yes, I post about USF a lot but its because I know a lot about their program. It doesn't mean I'm saying its the only good school. But if I don't seem too enthusiastic as you would like me to be about UF its because there are several occasions I've been rubbed the wrong way by them. First, most every premed forum I've ever been to, they've either cancelled at the last minute, didn't know the answer to the most basic questions, or danced around the issues when you'd ask them a question and act a bit with a god complex. Then, I met a lot of students who interviewed there and most of them didn't feel it was as impressive as other schools both in state and out of state in terms of what they had to offer in certain non research areas. Third, I got the impression that I wasn't alone in feeling like they had a god complex and heard several horror stories of which the above 2 are just samples of. These were people who as you put it, are unbiased. So that's why I don't particularly like UF.
I'm not saying its a bad school or that if you feel its a good fit for you that you should not go there. I just am saying that its not the school i'd choose for me and am not going to get enthusiastic as you may wish me to be about UF.
Lastly, I apologize if I am misinterpreting any of what you have said or come off as attacking you. In no way shape or form do I intend to do that. i am merely trying to explain myself and hope that you don't take my post the wrong way.
