Miami Miller vs. Central Florida

[motu]

Hi,

I am accepted to both Univ. of Miami Miller and Univ. of Central Florida for the MD Class of 2021. UCF is home for me and very up and coming, but Miami is so appealing in many ways as well.

Please share any thoughts on how to decide between both and what you think about each school. I am interested in radiation oncology, but am open to experiencing more and narrowing my specialty during medical school.

Thanks

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[desiredmembername123]

IMO Miami

 

[cellsaver]

.

 

[Say]

Whichever is cheaper is prob the way to go. If they the same, go miami unless you are way more comfortable at UCF

 

[WedgeDawg]

Moving to our new school choice subforum

 

[speedyxx626]

disclaimer: my husband is from N. Florida and when we visited his family for the holidays and announced we were going to visit Miami, his sister said, "we don't want to go to Miami because we don't want to be ducking every time they shoot". I responded, "that's OK. In Miami, they think all of the rednecks in the Deep South are passed out on Fentanyl /Heroin or cooking Crystal Meth in their vans" Her response was priceless: "they're right!" LMBO.

Pick UMiami. You'll get exposed to more trauma than you'll see anywhere. Plus the diversity of infectious diseases, abx / antiviral drug resistance trends, geriatric, cultures, world class travelers with world class medical diseases, bizarre pathogens, great deals on botox (!!!), not to mention mutli languages, multi cultures, multi suntanning locations...ya can't go wrong!

UCF = Orlando.

meh. I'm so over the Mouse

by the way, congratulations! Learn Spanish ASAP and boost your future in the medical profession

Well...I think you're underestimating Orlando quite a bit here. Orlando Health has one of the busiest ERs in the entire country and gets tons trauma. It's also the #1 travel destination in the entire country so you'll see patients from all over the world. If infectious disease is your thing, then maybe Miami is a better choice for you, but in terms of patient diversity I don't think you'll be disappointed with either med school.

 

[Uqbar]

I would definitely pick Miami. They have an amazing school


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[Manual Disimpaction]

Isnt UCF relatively new? Id go with miami personally.

 

[gcuddles]

Well...I think you're underestimating Orlando quite a bit here. Orlando Health has one of the busiest ERs in the entire country and gets tons trauma. It's also the #1 travel destination in the entire country so you'll see patients from all over the world. If infectious disease is your thing, then maybe Miami is a better choice for you, but in terms of patient diversity I don't think you'll be disappointed with either med school.

Maybe Orlando has one of the busiest ERs in the country, but Ryder Trauma Center (a free-standing trauma center in addition to the regular ER) is one of the best and busiest in the world. Not saying that UCF doesn't have something to offer here, but if trauma's your thing, not much will compare with UM.

Hi,

I am accepted to both Univ. of Miami Miller and Univ. of Central Florida for the MD Class of 2021. UCF is home for me and very up and coming, but Miami is so appealing in many ways as well.

Please share any thoughts on how to decide between both and what you think about each school. I am interested in radiation oncology, but am open to experiencing more and narrowing my specialty during medical school.

Thanks

I'm a student at UM (happy to answer any questions you have), so I'll try extra hard to not be biased but I don't know much about UCF. I think there are 3 general things that go into making a decision like this. Do you feel like you fit at the school? Can the school help you go where you want for residency? What will each program cost you?

1. Since you're still considering both after your acceptances, obviously you feel like you fit at both.
2. You say you're interested in rad onc (but good for you for being open to other specialties!): Sylvester Cancer Center is a great hospital. Since the JMH/UMH hospital system services all of South Florida and the Carribean, you'll see a ton of patients here, with all stages and types of cancers. We have a ton of research here too, with some leaders in the field. These are experiences that make your residency app look just that much better. I really don't know much about UCF's cancer stuff, but I'm sure it's good too.
3. UM is private (though the second cheapest private med school in the country, and we offer a ton of scholarships) while UCF is public. For in-state, UCF is probably going to be cheaper.

As a student, I can give you one other piece of advice that many will disagree with me on: don't go to a school because your family is there (with perhaps the exception of a SO). I wanted so badly to go to school near to where my parents were, but am SO HAPPY that I didn't. Rad onc is a really competitive specialty: you'll need to work hard in med school. Living near to family is an additional pressure to spend time with them. Were I nearer to home, I would feel guilty about not spending as much time with them. People outside of med school rarely realize how much time this is: between academics, research and other extra-curriculars, I fill up probably 14/15 hours of my day, 7 days of the week (I also want a competitive specialty). Of course I miss my parents, but now when I see them, I don't have the stress of an upcoming test or a project deadline poisoning my time with them.

Best of luck with your choice (but Go 'Canes!)

 

[Willy38]

Miami hands down. One of the best ophtho programs in the country if you are interested in that.

 

[aegistitan]

look at this thread... https://www.reddit.com/r/premed/comments/5t8vq5/sit_on_acceptance_at_ucf_or_interview_at_western/

"UCF is trash. When I was interviewing there there was 2 current MS1 students I was eating lunch with. The two students were talking about how 9 (yes 9) students emailed 1 professor to work with him on research, and the professor was only able to take 2 of those students. This reminded me too much of undergrad, I absolutely do not want to compete with such a large group of my peers over research opportunities.

But what pissed me off is that no one would outright tell you that there is a lack of access to research at UCF, what the other person told you about sipping cool aid is true. I had to have two people sit in front of me and talk about it among each other to figure that one out, but glad I did. But at the end of the day you'll still be a USMD at UCF."

Go to Miller

 

[cellsaver]

.

 

[chirugien97]

I got into both as well this cycle. My take is go wherever you want and focus less on what you think you should want. Regardless I think the advantages of a lot of these schools are very marginal and it's all really not that big of a deal when considering your end goal. Also look at costs and be careful of advice. Talk to as many current students and faculty as possible to get a feel for the environment and ask any/all questions you have.

 

[Blanky]

+1 Miami

 

[hiddencurriculum]

UM. I'm from miami metro area and Miller has a strong reputation in Fl. It's gonna be my top choice IS when I apply next cycle.

 

[motu]

Maybe Orlando has one of the busiest ERs in the country, but Ryder Trauma Center (a free-standing trauma center in addition to the regular ER) is one of the best and busiest in the world. Not saying that UCF doesn't have something to offer here, but if trauma's your thing, not much will compare with UM.

I'm a student at UM (happy to answer any questions you have), so I'll try extra hard to not be biased but I don't know much about UCF. I think there are 3 general things that go into making a decision like this. Do you feel like you fit at the school? Can the school help you go where you want for residency? What will each program cost you?

1. Since you're still considering both after your acceptances, obviously you feel like you fit at both.
2. You say you're interested in rad onc (but good for you for being open to other specialties!): Sylvester Cancer Center is a great hospital. Since the JMH/UMH hospital system services all of South Florida and the Carribean, you'll see a ton of patients here, with all stages and types of cancers. We have a ton of research here too, with some leaders in the field. These are experiences that make your residency app look just that much better. I really don't know much about UCF's cancer stuff, but I'm sure it's good too.
3. UM is private (though the second cheapest private med school in the country, and we offer a ton of scholarships) while UCF is public. For in-state, UCF is probably going to be cheaper.

As a student, I can give you one other piece of advice that many will disagree with me on: don't go to a school because your family is there (with perhaps the exception of a SO). I wanted so badly to go to school near to where my parents were, but am SO HAPPY that I didn't. Rad onc is a really competitive specialty: you'll need to work hard in med school. Living near to family is an additional pressure to spend time with them. Were I nearer to home, I would feel guilty about not spending as much time with them. People outside of med school rarely realize how much time this is: between academics, research and other extra-curriculars, I fill up probably 14/15 hours of my day, 7 days of the week (I also want a competitive specialty). Of course I miss my parents, but now when I see them, I don't have the stress of an upcoming test or a project deadline poisoning my time with them.

Best of luck with your choice (but Go 'Canes!)

Thanks man, appreciate you taking the time writing this out. Very good point on not making the decision based on parents. Miami's racking up the points tbh.

look at this thread... https://www.reddit.com/r/premed/comments/5t8vq5/sit_on_acceptance_at_ucf_or_interview_at_western/

"UCF is trash. When I was interviewing there there was 2 current MS1 students I was eating lunch with. The two students were talking about how 9 (yes 9) students emailed 1 professor to work with him on research, and the professor was only able to take 2 of those students. This reminded me too much of undergrad, I absolutely do not want to compete with such a large group of my peers over research opportunities.

But what pissed me off is that no one would outright tell you that there is a lack of access to research at UCF, what the other person told you about sipping cool aid is true. I had to have two people sit in front of me and talk about it among each other to figure that one out, but glad I did. But at the end of the day you'll still be a USMD at UCF."

Go to Miller

I wouldn't go so far as to say UCF is trash. For its age, I think its the best in the country. If I was Dr. German (UCF Med Dean), I would make the same moves she's making in terms of publicity, fundraising, education, research, etc. While it's in their best interest to hype up their school, I believe in general that it is over-hyped with the public.

As a current UCF undergrad student, I experienced the low research opportunities and lack of funding during my early years. Like I said earlier though, its still growing but in no way shape or form can it compete with Miami in research opportunities. While UCF is building one teaching hospital in the near future, I wouldn't be around to fully benefit from it yet I guess. More points to Miami...

 

[chirugien97]

Also as a UCF undergrad and someone that knows many in the first year and 4th year class I can tell you from first hand experience that it's really not that hard for them to find research. Every first year is required to complete a research project where they present it at a conference with a research mentor who you can then continue to do research with or they can put you in touch with somebody that can help you. Obviously Miami has a very large research fund but to be completely honest with you past the point of you being able to actually work on a project it doesn't really matter. The chances of them giving a 1st year med student the latest and biggest research project is very slim. I know people don't like hearing that but its kind of just the truth. Look at practical reasons and figure out what ACTUALLY matters to you and I promise the decision will become easy. Again I got into both so I have no hard feelings for either school.

 

[libertyyne]

MM.