RFU vs FIU

[pandasaregreat]

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[watermelon master]

Tuition? In state student? Geographic location? Hospital/Rotation situations? You answer these and let me know

 

[pandasaregreat]

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[watermelon master]

Tuition will be similar. To be honest, I'm not too concerned about location.. as long as I can make friends I'll be okay in either north Chicago or Miami haha. They both don't have hospitals attached, so I would rotate in either Chicago or south Florida.

Well damn. Usually those categories can make a big difference between the schools. What else can you think of that differentiates them? P/F curriculum? How did interview day feel? What are the required rotations? What type of medicine do you think you want to get into? Size of the class? Where do you want to practice medicine (I think RF has a more national reach, a lot of California/Illinois matches which are both good places to be)

 

[Levrone]

chose fiu but im biased because im probably going there. i got an interview to rfu but declined it. im a fiu alumni and miami native

 

[radioactive15]

If all factors are similar, choose FIU. Chicago weather is brutal during the winter.

 

[pandasaregreat]

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[pandasaregreat]

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[pandasaregreat]

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[Levrone]

Haha both class sizes are large (I believe both are about 190). From what I can recall, RFU is P/F the first two years. I cannot remember is FIU is. Both interviews felt awesome, and I feel that I would like both atmospheres! The thing is, I'm more concerned about residency placement because I would like to go into surgery. I am not sure where I want to practice yet but so far my SO has a job in North Carolina, so I may end up wanting to move there. I think clinical rotations are similar? With all the basic rotations 3rd year.. neither have anything out of the ordinary from what I remember. But is match list an appropriate thing to compare? Because out of the specialities I am interested, more people from RFU placed into them.

fiu class size is ~120, rfu is 190. fiu uses grades like A/B/C i think, i know it's not P/F

 

[pandasaregreat]

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[pandasaregreat]

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[pandasaregreat]

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[partypantss]

I'm someone who is currently accepted to RFU but will also likely be accepted to at least one other school in the coming months, so I just want to say I'm finding this thread helpful to learn more about RFU. I'd say based on your preferences it's a really tough call. How much more expensive is the COA of RFU compared to FIU? If it's significant than IMO that should sway you to go to FIU since so much else is so even. Having more people match into one specialty versus another isn't rely indicative of anything other than that classes preferences IMO. On the other hand, it looks like your quality of life during m1/m2 may be a bit better at RFU with their P/F curriculum and general culture, so you need to decide how important that is for you.

If I had to guess, I would also say with RFU being a larger more established school with graduates all over the country, you may have a bit more options come residency time compared to the newer/ smaller FIU.

Tough call, I too am struggling to compare schools! Keep us updated with where your decision ends up.

 

[pandasaregreat]

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[partypantss]

Thank you for your input! It would be $80k more for RFU for the 4 years. But living in Miami is more expensive, so maybe it would even out more than I think? So you think the past accreditation problems don't hinder RFU with connections?

Well total estimated COA should account for living expenses and everything, so that is what you should compare. I don't even really look at the tuition, just COA. 80k is a hugggeeeee difference of debt.. I would go with FIU in that case.

And yes, some past probations should not affect who has connections with who.

 

[pandasaregreat]

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[partypantss]

is the Chicago area worth it to attend that school? I feel that FIU is similar, cheaper, with higher step scores....and I can handle the grading system for the first two years (I say that now at least)...but should I choose RFU for the chance to rotate in Chicago and have connections to take me better places?

Edit: is it really that much more stressful to have a grading system instead of P/F?

Personally I would pick FIU due to that huge price difference. 80K is obviously ALOT. The schools are comparable for opportunities/ "prestige" so save the 80k.

 

[Lifschitz]

I am interested in a specialty, almost anything besides primary care.

RFU pros:

-in an amazing area (Chicago!), good networking
-P/F grading system
-matches anesthesia better
- tries hard not to hold class back (barely anyone held back)
-3rd year EM rotation
-community clinic
-interprofessionalism
-1-on-1 preceptor model program
-online spanish med program
-graduate w/ distinction in research
- matches radiology oncology better

cons:

- step 1: national average or just slightly above
-more expensive
- worst out of 7 med schools in Chicago (harder to get things over other med students)
- apparent past problems finding rotations
-rotate 3rd year at worse Chicago hospitals compared to hospitals in area (only one is ranked high at #2)
-community hospitals
-larger class size (~190)
-not easiest to get research
-cold
-lower rank (116)
-matches worse in general surgery

unsure if pro/con:
-step 1 taken after year 2

FIU pros:

-near family
-step 1: 240 average
-cheaper
-3rd year radiology rotation
-rotate 3rd year at some of best hospitals in South Florida
-smaller class size (~120)
-warm
-neighborhood HELP (clinical experience)
-higher rank (99)
-matches general surgery better
-better match % in specialties

cons:
-different culture than I am used to since it is in Miami, Florida
-drop bottom 1/5 class to repeat the year.....
-matches worse in anesthesia
-A/B/C/D/F grading system
-community hospitals
-not sure if research opportunities are easy to get???
-very new school (doesn't have an established reputation)
-prossected cadavers (can dissect 4th year in elective)

unsure if pro/con:
-step 1 taken after year 3

Some comments on your FIU list:

• 3rd year radiology rotation is not hospital based - it's 2 weeks of sitting in a class room at FIU going over slides and doing quizzes. Not saying it's not a chill / educational experience, but I don't think it's much of an advantage if you're going for radiology. In addition, looking at RFU's match list, a couple of students have been able to successfully match into interventional radiology. I don't think FIU has ever matched IR yet, despite several people gunning hard for IR the last couple years.
• In 3rd year you might have the luck to rotate at "some of the best hospitals" in Florida, but you won't always have a choice in the matter, and often may end up in the very worst hospitals / rotations.
• Neighborhood HELP - this is arguably FIU's worst con, not a pro.
• Not sure where you're getting rank from? FIU refuses to release the necessary information (per one of the deans) to be ranked by USNWR, probably because it looks better to be unranked than bottom ranked.
• Regarding the option to dissect in 4th year as an elective - I was looking forward to this option for years after the awful anatomy experience in M1 with "prosected cadavers" = more like 95% slides and plastic models. When 4th year came around, we learned it was only offered during ONE month, and if I remember correctly this was one of the heavy interview season months, so unfortunately it was impossible to attend.

 

[pandasaregreat]

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[partypantss]

I see you removed all your posts, but I'm just wondering if you're a Florida Resident? If you aren't than FIU is MUCH more expensive than RFU.. If you are in state than the costs are about the same.. No clue where you got the 80k difference in favor of FIU over 4 years figure from but COA of RFU is ~70k per year while its ~100k at FIU!! If you are a Florida resident than FIU is ~70k... So no, FIU isn't cheaper...

EDIT: here are the links to COA in case anyone seeing this is also looking into these schools:
Budget Guide MED

Cost of Attendance | College of Medicine | Florida International University | FIU