Creighton vs UCF vs Colorado

[chzsux]

Leaning heavily towards Colorado but wanted to get an unbiased opinion here.

Creighton (Omaha)
Pros:

• COL is pretty good (total COA is 90,000)
• very established medical school with a great reputation especially in the midwest
• curriculum focuses a lot on social justice
• pretty sure the school is pass fail
• environment feels very supportive and current students seem happy
• good hospital network in the city

Cons:

• even though the school is Jesuit, they do seem a little too religious for me (priest gave a talk at the second look)
• technically unranked for US news
• Omaha is not very diverse which is concerning as an Asian American
• like UCF, doesn't have a ton of home residency programs for competitive specialties
• match list doesn't seem to have a ton of derm/plastics/ophthamology

UCF
Pros:

• in a pretty nice city in Florida (although Orlando is pretty touristy)
• got 10K merit aid per year (total COA is 83,701)
• COL is pretty good even though it's in a large city
• school has great step score averages and seems hungry to go up the ranks
• scholarly project required for all students so it seems research is at the very least a priority there
• new teaching hospital recently opened

Cons:

• Orlando seems like a soulless city because of all the tourism
• the school lost rotations with the largest healthcare networks in the area a few years ago and hasn't been able to get them back
• talked with a recent grad and he said that because there aren't a lot of home residency programs, matching to competitive specialties is very difficult
• have to go all over the state for rotations
• teaching hospital is through HCA
• graded preclinical years

Colorado
Pros:

• Denver is a great city (even though the school is in Aurora) with great diversity and recreation
• COL is pretty decent even though COA is high (100K)
• know a current student who loves it there
• new curriculum focuses a lot on longitudinal/holistic care
• admin seems very committed to students
• great hospital network and match list
• has research/global health tracks which I'm really interested in
• great ranking/reputation

Cons:

• curriculum doesn't seem like it has all the kinks ironed out yet
• there was a 2020 thread about how unsupportive the admin and how toxic the environment was
• have heard the school can feel "cliquey" as an OOS student

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[MedSD123]

Definitely eliminate UCF. That cons list looks like a nightmare. Looks like either Creighton or Colorado would be a good pick, and it seems like you have your heart set of Colorado, so go there! Congrats on a successful cycle!

 

[Mikiras]

I agree with the other post. UCF sounds bad, especially with the rotation set-up. It honestly does sound like your mind is made up with Colorado and given that the COA is close to Creighton's, may as well go where you'll be happy. Especially if Colorado has more home residency programs. I also was turned off by Creighton's lack of certain home residency programs. And I'm not religious so the priest's speech during second look was... interesting lol.

 

[MDMechEngr]

Absolutely love Father Ken, who is an MD also. Go to Colorado 100%, but I absolutely love Criehghton.

 

[deleted1131301]

Given your pro list and the fact that you know a current student, Colorado seems like the best choice. Its a great program in a fun city, and the cost is only a little more than your other options. As for the "cliquey" nature of the school, I don't think this is a major issue. It should be possible to find a close group of friends if you make an effort early on.

 

[Entadus]

It sounds like you will pick Colorado, I had a great time at Creighton and I don't think you should worry about Omaha's diversity being a problem. Pretty good restaurant scene. I lived in North O and most of my neighbors were African American. You definitely wouldn't the first or only asian med student there. Since you would save money at Creighton over Colorado I think it's worth a second look. Also the school is not "religious" even if they do have a priest involved with wellness activities.

I didn't get into Colorado so maybe I would have gone there, who knows?

I agree with eliminating UCF based on your con list. Traveling for rotations plus HCA hospital? No thank you!