I am currently accepted to Minnesota and Nebraska, and am still on the waitlist for Wake Forest. I need to make a decision here soon and am curious to hear opinions on my situation. I definitely am trying to keep an open mind in terms of residency, but I like surgical/proceduralist specialties and am leaning towards ortho.
All Have:
Pros
Pros
Pros
All Have:
- 1.5 Year Curriculum
- In person or remote lecture option
- Essentially all in house residency options
- P/F preclinical
Pros
- In-state tuition - Lowest 4-year COA (305,000)
- Close to family - note - I have lived away from home for over 5 years and have enjoyed my independence, but understand the benefits of having a close support system. Would be curious to hear thoughts on how important this pro is in med school.
- True P/F for preclinical and clinical (maybe a con in clinical due to interest in competitive specialties)
- Well known and trusted in Minnesota if I eventually return to practice (70% of physicians in Minnesota are UofM graduates)
- Good ortho match
- Top 20 for NIH funding
- Entering in blind: of the three, I haven’t toured the campus and do not know anyone in the classes, so I know the least about what its like to be a student there
- Lowest opportunity to work with Spanish speaking patients
- Tests on lockdown over the weekend - offers flexibility but also room for procrastination; not taking exams in person could be annoying
- 2025 match list has a significant number of students deferring residency. Maybe it is due to MN displaying the future plans for all students and others excluded non-matched students? Have not seen this on other match lists and am not sure of its significance
- Some access to a car M1
- Switched to 1.5 year didactics 2 years ago, have been told it is still a WIP
- Unknown what Fairview and UMMS ending partnership in 2027 means for clinical education (would be first M3 class to experience the split)
- Class culture seems to be variable year-year
Pros
- Tests usually every 2-3 weeks (Pro or maybe Con? I could see this keeping me more on track with studying vs quiz + test format blocks)
- More condensed medical campus: convenient for shadowing and clinical years. The medical school and all buildings in the hospital are connected, almost all rotations are at the medical center
- Very familiar with hospital layout, medical campus, and Omaha area
- Have several friends in Omaha and at UNMC
- High access to a car M1 year
- Enhanced Medical Education Track (EMET)
- More expensive than Minnesota – 345,000 4 year COA
- Lowest of the three for Ortho and other top specialty matches
- Already have lived here for several years and would like a new place (some benefits to this in terms of comfort)
Pros
- Phenomenal match list: commonly match top 10-20 programs into very competitive specialties, home program itself has many strong residency programs
- Most interesting research opportunities, especially its Regenerative Medicine Institute
- Best of the three schools for things I am interested in (MAESTRO Medical Spanish, global health electives/track, etc.)
- Ability to do clinical years in Charlotte – new medical campus, Carolinas Medical Center, Pearl District (partnerships with many biomedical devices companies for training opportunities)
- Best location: new place and weather – would be excited to live in a new place outside of the Midwest
- Great class culture
- Expensive: 400,000 4-year COA
- No possibility of having a car M1 year
- Anatomy is front loaded, not as integrated into blocks
- Further from family
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