TOP TIER:
UF - PROS: Hands down had to be one of my favorite interviews both in state and out. The school makes a sincere effort to get you know and you will immediately pick up on this as you enter the building. One of the staff members held the door open for me and said, "Hey ___!" and I had to look behind me REAL QUICK thinking they were talking to someone else. NOPE! The staff had memorized the name and home town of all the interviewees the day of, and its small details like this that really made me feel right at home and comfortable throughout the day. Interviewers were carefully selected to be of similar background as the interviewee; I had a medical student interview with exact same specialty/research interests and a faculty interviewer from the same city of my birth country! All the medical students clapped for us during lunch and sat down to talk with us; it truly felt close knit and homey. Much love for my Gators I give them a 10/10 for interview day hospitality !
UF is objectively one of the two powerhouse schools in Florida for both research and prestige alongside UMiami. You can virtually find research in any specialty of interest with faculty that are eager to teach and see students succeed. There is a great opportunity for clinical exposure in Shands although you might find it to be a bit lacking in patient diversity due to population make-up of North Florida (students do rotations in Jacksonville for a bit for this reason).
CONS: The big fat con for this school would have to be: GAINESVILLE. If you live in Florida you should know by now that the state is divided into South Florida, Orlando, and everything past Orlando. Gainesville is in the middle of swamp land with very little to do in terms of food, nightlife, and after-school activities. While UF has a very solid match list, I found that it was a bit subpar compared to the prestige people would normally hold UF to in the state of Florida, and especially due to the fact that most of the students that were matching were matching right back at UF; there is NOTHING you could do to convince me to stay in Gainesville for that long.
UM - PROS: Miamiiii. Love it or hate it, the city of Miami itself is an international hub for food, arts, nightlife, beach, and a wide variety of exciting opportunities. Miami is one of the most thrilling and unique cities in the U.S and it's definitely a great opportunity to be able to experience it for 4 years. Serving as one of the largest international ports in the U.S due to its close proximity of South America, you will have both incredible clinical and lifestyle opportunities in South Florida. Jackson Memorial is well known and due to the large ethnic population there is tons and tons of diverse patient populations and experiences available.
The NextGen program that UMiami is switching up for the incoming class is also very convenient now with Step 1 being P/F as this virtually reduces the preclinical curriculum to 1 year to further maximize the clinical exposure you will receive. I also really like the symptom based curriculum they are implementing as I find it more accessible and relevant to clinical encounters. With a wide variety of opportunities in research, clinical experiences, international programs, and the mammoth that is Jackson itself, Miami is no question the clinical heavy hitter of Florida. One look at their match list will be all you need to further confirm this.
CONS: . On the staff side of things, rude security on interview day and inaccessibility to contact the adcoms through phone topped the list before II even started. As for the interviews themselves, coming in 15 minutes late, forgetting my interview packet, answering your telephone twice throughout the interview, insulting my choice of LORs, making me recall EXACT DATES for Freshman year ECs, making rude comments about my grades, and asking GOTCHA questions that would easily be answered by actually reading my packet are NOT ways to make me feel comfortable and excited about attending your program. For the record, I've been stress interviewed before and this was not a case of that. I spoke with at least 5 other individuals who had similar experiences, and this has not been the first time where I have heard anecdotes like this from UMiami. While I understand that I should not judge a program based on certain individuals, having had multiple rude interactions with staff and faculty members is definitely a glaring issue .
In regards to clinical experiences, diversity, location, and match list, I definitely think UMiami edges out an advantage on UF but you cannot go wrong attending either, and I think the choice generally comes down to the type of environment you are looking for (citylife vs collegetown) and overall COA for the next couple of years.
