FIU or UCF MED Schools

[chemolupusMD]

How many people are going to apply to FIU med or to UCF med school? These are the 2 new med schools of florida, who is seriously thinking on applying here?

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[stephi1684]

I'm definitely applying to UCF because my parents live in Orlando, but I'm not applying to FIU.

 

[ChemGrad08]

I'm applying to UCF, not FIU because I didn't know about it when I made my list in January that I had to send to my undergrad. I'm not the biggest Miami fan so I'm not too upset (but if I only get into UM, that's where I'm going!!)

 

[pianola]

You can probably count me in for both, although I do need to do a bit more research into FIU...

 

[pianola]

I'm applying to UCF, not FIU because I didn't know about it when I made my list in January that I had to send to my undergrad. I'm not the biggest Miami fan so I'm not too upset (but if I only get into UM, that's where I'm going!!)

You had to submit a list of schools in January?? Is this for rec letters?

 

[tiedyeddog]

Doesn't one pay all of your tuition for a full year? I'm applying to that one.

 

[pianola]

Doesn't one pay all of your tuition for a full year? I'm applying to that one.

Yup, that's UCF.

 

[ChemGrad08]

You had to submit a list of schools in January?? Is this for rec letters?

Yeah, if I wanted my committee letter sent out before Sept. it had to be in the Early Decision pile and they claim they only make one mailing per student so all my schools had to be on that list.

 

[pianola]

Yeah, if I wanted my committee letter sent out before Sept. it had to be in the Early Decision pile and they claim they only make one mailing per student so all my schools had to be on that list.

oh wow...kudos to you for having everything in order.

(The school handling my rec letters is a bit more flexible, fortunately. I have no idea what I would have done if I had to have everything ready by January.).

 

[tantekari]

I'm going to apply to UCF's med school because I'm doing my undergrad at UCF and I love it here. I probably won't apply to FIU though.

 

[chemolupusMD]

Yup, that's UCF.

FIU is also giving scholarships, but is only to 5 ppl

 

[p30doc]

applying to both

 

[pianola]

FIU is also giving scholarships, but is only to 5 ppl

Really...? Interesting and good to know. Do you happen to know if they are full scholarships?

 

[MossPoh]

I am banking on the fact that EVERYONE is appying to UCF but not many to FIU.

I am applying to UCF, but honestly they seem a little overly cocky for a first year medical school. Yea yea yea. I understand the full ride scholarship thing but man that is ridiculous. Of course, florida schools have pretty massive grade inflation, so I guess their gpa requirements aren't too ridiculous for the EDP. No, I'm not mentioning the grade inflation to piss people off...just something I've noticed here.

 

[REL]

I am banking on the fact that EVERYONE is appying to UCF but not many to FIU.

I am applying to UCF, but honestly they seem a little overly cocky for a first year medical school. Yea yea yea. I understand the full ride scholarship thing but man that is ridiculous. Of course, florida schools have pretty massive grade inflation, so I guess their gpa requirements aren't too ridiculous for the EDP. No, I'm not mentioning the grade inflation to piss people off...just something I've noticed here.

No question - generally Florida does suffer from rampant grade inflation, but some other states do as well. Thankfully AAMC provides data to medical schools regarding the applicant/matriculant pool from all UG institutions to help all med admissions to see where an applicant has excelled above their peers at their undergrad institution. For several schools around the nation, graduating with a 3.5 is a very superior achievement. If you take it for face value and compare it to the average Florida graduate where ~3.7's~ are common, it wouldnt match up and might otherwise be missed. As for EDP, if if that average entering class in Florida has 3.7-3.8 GPA's and 30-33 MCAT's, you would at least want "average" applicants entering via EDP?

 

[chemolupusMD]

Really...? Interesting and good to know. Do you happen to know if they are full scholarships?

Last thing i heard those 5 were going to be full, also, some ppl at the med school told me they are trying to get more spots but they cannot say anything about it yet. They are trying to get more money to at least give partial scholarships to more ppl.

 

[chemolupusMD]

No question - generally Florida does suffer from rampant grade inflation, but some other states do as well. Thankfully AAMC provides data to medical schools regarding the applicant/matriculant pool from all UG institutions to help all med admissions to see where an applicant has excelled above their peers at their undergrad institution. For several schools around that nation, graduating with a 3.5 is a very superior achievement. If you take it for face value and compare it to the average Florida graduate where ~3.7's~ are common, it wouldnt match up and might otherwise be missed. As for EDP, if if that average entering class in Florida has 3.7-3.8 GPA's and 30-33 MCAT's, you would at least want "average" applicants entering via EDP?

Thats interesting, i didnt know that about florida

 

[pianola]

No question - generally Florida does suffer from rampant grade inflation, but some other states do as well. Thankfully AAMC provides data to medical schools regarding the applicant/matriculant pool from all UG institutions to help all med admissions to see where an applicant has excelled above their peers at their undergrad institution. For several schools around the nation, graduating with a 3.5 is a very superior achievement. If you take it for face value and compare it to the average Florida graduate where ~3.7's~ are common, it wouldnt match up and might otherwise be missed. As for EDP, if if that average entering class in Florida has 3.7-3.8 GPA's and 30-33 MCAT's, you would at least want "average" applicants entering via EDP?

Interesting REL, what about smaller OOS schools? My school might only have about 20 medical school applicants in any one year.

Incidentally, is there any way for ME to find out what information AMCAS provides colleges? I know my school doesn't report school ranks or GPAs to anyone including outside sources (or at least, that's what they claim).

 

[gplex86]

Good luck, non-Floridians. I'm from West Palm Beach and the FL schools are notorious for pretty much only taking FL residents. And yes, their grades are quite inflated. And they're a bunch of fanatics, which I find odd because generally the school system in FL is terrible. Cheap tuition, though.

So I ran to University of Michigan.

 

[pianola]

Good luck, non-Floridians. I'm from West Palm Beach and the FL schools are notorious for pretty much only taking FL residents. And yes, their grades are quite inflated. And they're a bunch of fanatics, which I find odd because generally the school system in FL is terrible. Cheap tuition, though.

So I ran to University of Michigan.

Hey now...not all Florida schools are terrible and not all Florida schools are the same. I'm from Gainesville and, while UF probably isn't perfect, it certainly can and does offer a lot to both students and community members.

What do you mean by "a bunch of fanatics"...? You mean about getting all A's or something?

Anyway...FL schools have always been very generous in my experience. You know, after 4 years of depressingly-expensive, top-tier, grade-deflating, undergraduate private-school education, I'd just like to respectfully say a "thank you" to state schools that have never let me down in my quest to fulfill my educational goals.

That's all. Just my two cents.

 

[Dendrite]

Good luck, non-Floridians. I'm from West Palm Beach and the FL schools are notorious for pretty much only taking FL residents. And yes, their grades are quite inflated. And they're a bunch of fanatics, which I find odd because generally the school system in FL is terrible. Cheap tuition, though.

So I ran to University of Michigan.

This discussion has been carried out before. We can all agree to disagree on the caliber of the education system in FL. I think this is an appropriate time to ask whether there is a correlation between low-rated public education systems and medical schools - without any statistical data to support this, I don't think this is an appropriate place to speculate on how the school system in FL is. The secondary and pre-secondary education in FL is what is nationally not as highly-rated in the country - there is no legitimate correlation with FL universities.

Let's not get off-track with the topic of this thread.

 

[gplex86]

This discussion has been carried out before. We can all agree to disagree on the caliber of the education system in FL. I think this is an appropriate time to ask whether there is a correlation between low-rated public education systems and medical schools - without any statistical data to support this, I don't think this is an appropriate place to speculate on how the school system in FL is. The secondary and pre-secondary education in FL is what is nationally not as highly-rated in the country - there is no legitimate correlation with FL universities.

Let's not get off-track with the topic of this thread.

Agreed. Not the right thread. But do keep in mind that Florida colleges are very exclusive of OOS students. Same for med school - check the MSAR.

I brought it up because unless you're a Florida resident, I wouldn't get your hopes up for getting into any of their med schools except for UMiami, which is private.

 

[Dendrite]

Agreed. Not the right thread. But do keep in mind that Florida colleges are very exclusive of OOS students. Same for med school - check the MSAR.

I brought it up because unless you're a Florida resident, I wouldn't get your hopes up for getting into any of their med schools except for UMiami, which is private.

You are correct. REL can correct me if I'm wrong here, but I heard that UCF is opening up their first year to all U.S. residents, because the scholarships are privately funded. It will be interesting to see the proportion of IS:OOS students that get in.

 

[pianola]

Agreed. Not the right thread. But do keep in mind that Florida colleges are very exclusive of OOS students. Same for med school - check the MSAR.

I brought it up because unless you're a Florida resident, I wouldn't get your hopes up for getting into any of their med schools except for UMiami, which is private.

Even UMiami heavily favors state residents. I mean, if I were the average OOSer, I don't think I would apply, myself.

 

[chemolupusMD]

Even UMiami heavily favors state residents. I mean, if I were the average OOSer, I don't think I would apply, myself.

I was part of a UM med mentoring prog. I dont have exact numbers but i would say that of the state ppl that they take like 75% are from UM undergrad (maybe even more than that). Really few ppl in the prog were not UM alumni. I really dont find this fair but i guess since they are private they can do anything they want

 

[pianola]

I was part of a UM med mentoring prog. I dont have exact numbers but i would say that of the state ppl that they take like 75% are from UM undergrad (maybe even more than that). Really few ppl in the prog were not UM alumni. I really dont find this fair but i guess since they are private they can do anything they want

Wow that's a huge percentage. Interesting.

 

[chemolupusMD]

Wow that's a huge percentage. Interesting.

Yeah, i was kind of mad when i found that out. the med students were telling me that if i wanted to really go to UM ur best chance is to transfer there. i mean other ppl make it but usually the care for their own only

 

[gplex86]

If I recall from my MSAR, all the other FL schools only take a handful of OOS applicants. I mean, like single digits. There's a huge physician shortage in FL, as you can imagine. So, I really don't blame them.

But it's nice to hear that UCF's admissions are open. It's going to be a small first class, though, right?

 

[pianola]

If I recall from my MSAR, all the other FL schools only take a handful of OOS applicants. I mean, like single digits. There's a huge physician shortage in FL, as you can imagine. So, I really don't blame them.

But it's nice to hear that UCF's admissions are open. It's going to be a small first class, though, right?

40 people I believe. I was reading the MSAR last night because I couldn't sleep (bad strategy for getting to sleep, really) and it said UCF was having 2 closed-file interviews in terms of the interview process.

That should be interesting.

 

[gatorsforchrist]

I am applying to all MD schools in the state. Sure would love to stay down here where the weather is warm...

 

[ripsta]

I just graduated from UF, and I intereviewed at 9 different schools. The most unpleasent interview I had was at my own undergraduate institution, the University of Florida. The comittee was extremely arrogant, and most of the interview consisted of them bragging about numbers. Purely political and it shows in the firing of the Dean, who insisted on accepting a student who didn't even take the MCAT.

From what I hear, FIU wants to integrate a lot of Spanish in the curriculum. I am not 100% postitive it's true, but it's what I have heard. UCF seems to offer a better deal. I am Latin myself, but I feel like FIU's large Hispanic population is going to make it very difficult for the program to gain prestigue. When I interviewd at Miami, students who were not from South Florida, always complained about the minorities.

 

[ripsta]

PS. A lot of Floridians tend to overlook FSU when applying to instate schools. I had a great time during my interview and think the school has a lot to offer.

 

[pianola]

I just graduated from UF, and I intereviewed at 9 different schools. The most unpleasent interview I had was at my own undergraduate institution, the University of Florida. The comittee was extremely arrogant, and most of the interview consisted of them bragging about numbers. Purely political and it shows in the firing of the Dean, who insisted on accepting a student who didn't even take the MCAT.

From what I hear, FIU wants to integrate a lot of Spanish in the curriculum. I am not 100% postitive it's true, but it's what I have heard. UCF seems to offer a better deal. I am Latin myself, but I feel like FIU's large Hispanic population is going to make it very difficult for the program to gain prestigue. When I interviewd at Miami, students who were not from South Florida, always complained about the minorities.

Integrate Spanish how? Like adding medical Spanish courses? I'm just curious as to what you mean.

 

[ripsta]

I hear they might offer some classes in Spanish. Don't hold me responsible for this rumor but it's what I heard. I also don't doubt it; FIU is predominantly Hispanic, and I am sure they will cater to the Hispanic population. I am from Ft. Lauderdale and plenty of my highschool friends went to FIU for college. They didn't want to leave home.

 

[pianola]

Yeah I wonder.

I wonder also where the students that go to UCF/FIU are primarily going to come from --> in the sense that if these students HADN'T gone to UCF/FIU would they be UF students? UMiami students? USF students? etc.

I mean, I guess we'll see.

 

[sglec]

I still got a long way to go but I plan to apply to all Florida Med Schools

 

[thegold91]

Unless you are OOS, you would be doing yourself a disservice by not applying to all of the florida schools. Remember, just cause you have great grades/ extra curiccular activites/ mcat does not mean your gonna get in somewhere. Ask yourself if you would rather be at one of the first year med programs or sitting a year out. Best of luck in this process.

 

[gplex86]

Unless you are OOS, you would be doing yourself a disservice by not applying to all of the florida schools. Remember, just cause you have great grades/ extra curiccular activites/ mcat does not mean your gonna get in somewhere. Ask yourself if you would rather be at one of the first year med programs or sitting a year out. Best of luck in this process.

Funny thing, I'm a Florida resident and got 5 MD interviews and 2 DO.... all out of state. Not a single Florida school interviewed me. But if anyone has been following my posts then you know I didn't want to go back to FL anyway. Much prefer New York.

But, yes, you are correct. Usually your chances are better at in-state schools. Usually.

 

[Dendrite]

I just graduated from UF, and I intereviewed at 9 different schools. The most unpleasent interview I had was at my own undergraduate institution, the University of Florida. The comittee was extremely arrogant, and most of the interview consisted of them bragging about numbers. Purely political and it shows in the firing of the Dean, who insisted on accepting a student who didn't even take the MCAT.

From what I hear, FIU wants to integrate a lot of Spanish in the curriculum. I am not 100% postitive it's true, but it's what I have heard. UCF seems to offer a better deal. I am Latin myself, but I feel like FIU's large Hispanic population is going to make it very difficult for the program to gain prestigue. When I interviewd at Miami, students who were not from South Florida, always complained about the minorities.

How is there a connection between the area's population and prestige? It shouldn't matter, as they are two different points.

 

[MossPoh]

I really didn't mean to start a grade debate if that is what I did. (I didn't read all the posts) It is just that it is easy for someone like me coming from a school in the northeast and a competitive major (for jobs and what not) to get disheartened when you see the average GPAs for entering classes of florida med schools. It is important to note that I am not talking down on the quality that is received. I feel that I have received a perfectly adequate education here and don't want to lead on otherwise. The Florida education system has MUCH greater priorities right now than worrying about inflation of grades. (*cough* money *cough*)

Does anyone know whether the FIU medical program will be affected by the recent FIU cuts? I haven't heard much about it, other than a friend said they cancelled a bunch of undergrad programs and people had to go to places like BCC and Miami-Dade for their education. No school should have to worry about that crap.

 

[MossPoh]

How is there a connection between the area's population and prestige? It shouldn't matter, as they are two different points.

It shouldn't matter, but arbitrary things like that do end up playing a role sometimes. Not saying it is right, but it does happen.

I have heard a lot of people say they think only "stupid hispanics" will apply to FIU and they joke that me being white is a supposed advantage. Anytime a school starts with a perception like that, there is going to be a bit of an uphill battle. The good thing is that it tends to be easier for medical schools to shake that than the undergrad institution. So far I've heard pretty blatant stereotypes for nearly every major university in Florida. Some of the pointless rivalry for the sake of rivalry amazes me.

 

[DrMattOglesby]

well...i just gotta say that I would be absolutely THRILLED to go to FIU. It was my undergrad and arguably the home of some of the best years of my life. I'd LOVE to go back again.

 

[gplex86]

I really didn't mean to start a grade debate if that is what I did. (I didn't read all the posts) It is just that it is easy for someone like me coming from a school in the northeast and a competitive major (for jobs and what not) to get disheartened when you see the average GPAs for entering classes of florida med schools. It is important to note that I am not talking down on the quality that is received. I feel that I have received a perfectly adequate education here and don't want to lead on otherwise. The Florida education system has MUCH greater priorities right now than worrying about inflation of grades. (*cough* money *cough*)

Does anyone know whether the FIU medical program will be affected by the recent FIU cuts? I haven't heard much about it, other than a friend said they cancelled a bunch of undergrad programs and people had to go to places like BCC and Miami-Dade for their education. No school should have to worry about that crap.

Yeah, old people don't like to pay taxes. Go figure. Thankfully, this is a problem that time (their worst enemy) and migration will eventually solve.

 

[thegold91]

Funny thing, I'm a Florida resident and got 5 MD interviews and 2 DO.... all out of state. Not a single Florida school interviewed me. But if anyone has been following my posts then you know I didn't want to go back to FL anyway. Much prefer New York.

But, yes, you are correct. Usually your chances are better at in-state schools. Usually.

That is kinda odd, but it does go along with one of the major themes of the medical school admission process: It's a total crapshoot. The pre-med advising office at my alma mater told us that if we wanted to figure out where we would end up for medical school that we should close our eyes and throw a dart at a map of the U.S. I think they may have been on to something.

 

[chemolupusMD]

It shouldn't matter, but arbitrary things like that do end up playing a role sometimes. Not saying it is right, but it does happen.

I have heard a lot of people say they think only "stupid hispanics" will apply to FIU and they joke that me being white is a supposed advantage. Anytime a school starts with a perception like that, there is going to be a bit of an uphill battle. The good thing is that it tends to be easier for medical schools to shake that than the undergrad institution. So far I've heard pretty blatant stereotypes for nearly every major university in Florida. Some of the pointless rivalry for the sake of rivalry amazes me.

I go to FIU and i know some ppl in the med school, they told me that the school is not really gonna be affected by the budget cuts (eventhough, a lot of departements got cut and chunk of faculty is leaving cuz of it) by the way, someone else donated another 10 mil to the school last week, that was good news. And the stupic hispanics thing is just stupic, the first class is probably gonna be super hard to get in. From what they told me they want the best students that they can get. I dont really think being white or any other race will be a disadvantage but after looking at the curriculum of the school i dont know if i would apply if i didnt know at least a little bit of spanish or creolle. They want the med students to be really involved in the community and since miami has a lot of ppl that speak these 2 languages it might be a little bit difficult for someone who doesnt speak it.

 

[chemolupusMD]

Yeah I wonder.

I wonder also where the students that go to UCF/FIU are primarily going to come from --> in the sense that if these students HADN'T gone to UCF/FIU would they be UF students? UMiami students? USF students? etc.

I mean, I guess we'll see.

From what i heard, they are not accepting any oos students. I guess if you are a Floridian it wouldnt hurt to apply to any of the two schools, i mean a free ride sounds nice

 

[pianola]

From what i heard, they are not accepting any oos students. I guess if you are a Floridian it wouldnt hurt to apply to any of the two schools, i mean a free ride sounds nice

Yeah, I'm def. applying to all in state (+ some OOS). I do kind of wonder what it would be like to be at a predominantly hispanic school, simply because I'm not hispanic and I don't speak any Spanish worth mentioning. If I ended up going to any of the South Florida schools, I might decide to take some courses in conversational Spanish before entering in 2009.

 

[chemolupusMD]

Yeah, I'm def. applying to all in state (+ some OOS). I do kind of wonder what it would be like to be at a predominantly hispanic school, simply because I'm not hispanic and I don't speak any Spanish worth mentioning. If I ended up going to any of the South Florida schools, I might decide to take some courses in conversational Spanish before entering in 2009.

have u ever lived or visit miami?

 

[pianola]

have u ever lived or visit miami?

Neither, actually. I lived in Southern California for undergrad and it has a predominantly hispanic population (largely Mexican American) but the school I went to wasn't really reflective of the surrounding population.

(I grew up in Gainesville, FL myself.)

 

[chemolupusMD]

Neither, actually. I lived in Southern California for undergrad and it has a predominantly hispanic population (largely Mexican American) but the school I went to wasn't really reflective of the surrounding population.

(I grew up in Gainesville, FL myself.)

Well, miami has a huge hispanic population. Some places they only speak spanish, not many only in certain hoods. FIU is no different than any other univ. a lot of international students (after all the name is Florida International Univ.) so u can be in a room and ppl will be speaking like 3 diff languages, i like that about fiu. In terms of the med school, my anatomy prof. told me that the curriculum is going to be different to any med school (u ll still take the same basic classes for M1 and M2 but will make u see patients from the first or second semester). I think the idea of a new med school in miami is cool