congrats on all the acceptances!!
i really liked NSU so hope i get your spot there 😀 but im curious about KCUMB. can i ask you to compare the two and what ultimately made you lean towards KCUMB?? congrats tho!
So, there were a number of factors that went into my decision on KCUMB over Nova, but to sum it up quickly (you can PM me if you want more details).
Overall, they were my favorite two places. If I didn't get into KCUMB I would have gone to Nova.
The one thing about Nova that I could never get past though is the way they stack your first year with so much additional work (medical Spanish, etc.). I don't think they are bad courses, but I didn't like how they were all just kind of tossed on to the curriculum. Being a more systems based guy at heart, KCUMB's curriculum just made more sense to me. Nova's second year curriculum is basically systems based, but you have to get through the first year of a traditional, very heavy and front loaded, curriculum (I don't buy into the philosophy that more is always better).
The second thing for me was location. I really couldn't see myself in Davie, FL, where I could see myself in KC, MO. It's a preference thing. I just don't like all the heat/humidity year round. I mean it's still 85 there!!! I like seasons. I enjoy having a variety when it comes to weather, not just heat, humidity, and rain. Now if I was interested in Geriatrics, I would have chosen FL hands down, but I'm not... The cost of living in FL is also 2-3x higher than it is in KC, MO. I figure that for every dollar I borrow I'm going to have to pay back $1.50, I don't think the additional rent is worth it in the long run, especially since I'm not really a huge fan of the area.
As far as clinical rotations go, they both seem good. I compiled a list of the rotations from both and like some and don't like others, but that's the nature of the beast. I won't select sites I don't like for the lottery (and there is a lottery at both places, although 96% of KCUMB students get their #1 choice). I did, however, like that Nova places you at one site for your entire third year, but this also has a downside, if you don't like where you end up getting as far as a site, you're S.O.L.. Now, Nova does do something that is pretty cool, they allow you to visit the sites prior to ranking them and they even organize dinners to allow you to meet with people who were in those programs before you, which gives you a great opportunity to check them out and get the low-down on them before hand. I'm not sure if KCUMB has this option, but it is unlikely because they didn't mention it, or they didn't think it was a big selling point, so they didn't mention it. Either way, I'll know in about a year and half... haha.
Ok, and finally... I'm still looking for the "official" KCUMB 2010 match data, but I do have Nova's, and while it looks very good it is very loaded with residencies in FL and areas I have no real desire to practice in. Whereas the KCUMB "unofficial" match list has students matching all over the place into a variety of specialties I'm more interested in. Also, KCUMB has a very low primary care match percent, which is good for me since I'm not interested in primary care. It's not to say they don't support primary care, because they do (you can even do an optional 4th year curriculum that gives you 3 months of primary care, this is not an option at Nova - it is required), but for me I am interested in other fields including surgical subspecialties which KCUMB has a strong history of matching into.
In terms of administration, I feel like any school that has a call center handle the majority of their application calls might be a little too big for me. I really enjoyed my interactions with Tracey and the other KCUMB administrators and they seemed to be on top of everything, which gives you a little insight into how they operate on a day-to-day basis. I liked the administration at Nova during my visit, but once again, it was a big school feel which doesn't suit me quite as well.
I must say though, the students at both places were great. I really enjoyed interacting with both groups of students. Even the ones we met that weren't involved in the tours were great, at both places. So, I don't think you can go wrong student wise at either of them (although, I'm sure this is the case at most schools, but it just seemed to stand out to me at these two places...). But Nova is a much larger campus with close to 200 different programs, so if a larger campus is your thing, then Nova would win that one. But I also felt that KCUMB was designed primarily as a medical campus and that is exactly what it feels like. It's the perfect size for me. Not too big and not too small.
All in all, they were both great places and it was a tough decision, but I just feel that KCUMB will be a better fit for me.
If you have your heart set on Nova, I hope you get my spot as well.
😉 Good luck, man.
