Suomi-leijona
New Member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2020
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 22
Hi,
I have been fortunate to receive a few different acceptances. Right now I am trying to decide between UCF and Dartmouth and need some serious help deciding.
A little bit about me: I'm a 25-year-old male from Utah, married so my wife's salary will pay for living expenses throughout medical school. I am unsure about what I want to do specialty wise, but I like the idea of family medicine and have recently been intrigued by vascular surgery (very different, I know.)
Dartmouth
Pros
-Prestige/name recognition (pro for academic medicine/more competitive specialties like vascular surgery?)
-Great match list
-1.5-year curriculum and P/F unranked
-Only 92 people in class, so lots of opportunities for research, etc.
-My brother will be a 4th year at Dartmouth and he is hoping to stay for residency, so family would be close by.
-Large hospital close to the school
Cons
-Higher tuition cost (~$67k)
-I like the location, but my wife isn't a fan. She says it is too rural and everything feels old.
-Older facilities
UCF:
Pros
-Beautiful, brand new facilities and lots of technology integrated into learning
-We both would love to live in Florida, and would prefer to get out of the snow
-Cheaper tuition (~$46k)
-Only take tests 6-8 weeks and they are always on a Friday with a week off to study.
-Research built into curriculum
Cons
-A surprisingly good match list, but not comparable to Dartmouth
-Graded preclinical years
-2-year preclinical (I have heard mixed reviews about the 1.5 year preclinical, so I'm not sure If that's a pro or con)
-Not as highly regarded as Dartmouth
My wife says that she would move to New Hampshire if I feel like that's where I should go, but that it would be really hard for her compared to Orlando. So I guess my question comes down to: is the pass/fail curriculum and better name recognition/match lists worth $21k/year and my wife being disappointed if there is a decent chance that I will end up doing family medicine?
I have been fortunate to receive a few different acceptances. Right now I am trying to decide between UCF and Dartmouth and need some serious help deciding.
A little bit about me: I'm a 25-year-old male from Utah, married so my wife's salary will pay for living expenses throughout medical school. I am unsure about what I want to do specialty wise, but I like the idea of family medicine and have recently been intrigued by vascular surgery (very different, I know.)
Dartmouth
Pros
-Prestige/name recognition (pro for academic medicine/more competitive specialties like vascular surgery?)
-Great match list
-1.5-year curriculum and P/F unranked
-Only 92 people in class, so lots of opportunities for research, etc.
-My brother will be a 4th year at Dartmouth and he is hoping to stay for residency, so family would be close by.
-Large hospital close to the school
Cons
-Higher tuition cost (~$67k)
-I like the location, but my wife isn't a fan. She says it is too rural and everything feels old.
-Older facilities
UCF:
Pros
-Beautiful, brand new facilities and lots of technology integrated into learning
-We both would love to live in Florida, and would prefer to get out of the snow
-Cheaper tuition (~$46k)
-Only take tests 6-8 weeks and they are always on a Friday with a week off to study.
-Research built into curriculum
Cons
-A surprisingly good match list, but not comparable to Dartmouth
-Graded preclinical years
-2-year preclinical (I have heard mixed reviews about the 1.5 year preclinical, so I'm not sure If that's a pro or con)
-Not as highly regarded as Dartmouth
My wife says that she would move to New Hampshire if I feel like that's where I should go, but that it would be really hard for her compared to Orlando. So I guess my question comes down to: is the pass/fail curriculum and better name recognition/match lists worth $21k/year and my wife being disappointed if there is a decent chance that I will end up doing family medicine?