Second Look (Vanderbilt vs. UNC)

[pianosa]

Vanderbilt and UNC have their second look on the same weekend...thoughts on which is better to go to? I'm an NC resident, so UNC is the obvious and cheaper choice for medical school for now. I'm basically 90% set on UNC because , but I'm pretty sure I don't want to go into primary care and UNC didn't amaze me on interview day. I'm not sure how to describe it, but UNC is both a great fit and the last place I wanted to end up.

On the other hand, I liked Vanderbilt a lot because of the people I met there (after one of my interviews I literally walked out and thought "wow, I want to be like this guy when I grow up...can he just be my personal guru for the next 4 years?? "), but didn't have time to explore Nashville and don't have a great feel for the place. I've heard second look there is really fun and that I should definitely go, but it's from March 27-28 and UNC's is March 28. Based on last year's agenda for UNC's second look, it seems like it's mostly a day of curriculum overview and then a short "getting to know you" thing in the afternoon. Is this worth going to? Doesn't sound terribly exciting, but if I'm going to end up there it would be nice to meet potential classmates and roommates.

Anyone have recommendations? Am I being silly even considering Vanderbilt when I'm IS for UNC? My family is like ...wait until you get into Harvard with a full scholarship, then we'll talk. Ha. Ha. I am waiting to hear back from some other schools, but I'd like to book flights and things earlier rather than last-minute in March.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[blueharbor]

Maybe you can go to Vanderbilt on the 27th and UNC on the 28th? Also, remember that you don't know what financial aid package you could end up getting from Vanderbilt.

 

[pianosa]

Maybe you can go to Vanderbilt on the 27th and UNC on the 28th? Also, remember that you don't know what financial aid package you could end up getting from Vanderbilt.

Yeah I thought maybe that would be the best route, but I also feel like it's a lot of hassle and probably not worth it to go to Nashville for half a day, possibly before they even hold any activities, and then fly out again so soon to make it to Chapel Hill in time.

So it sounds to me like you are confident you love Vanderbilt, but unsure about UNC. But UNC has a tremendous financial advantage.

To me, that sounds like what you don't necessarily need the extra exposure to Vanderbilt; what you need is to learn more about UNC and decide whether or not you can be happy/successful there.

So I say go to UNC's second look.

Also (a) there is no real cost advantage to booking flight now for either; most "experts" say that the optimal window is ~7-8 weeks out from the flight, and (b) Southwest flies to both nashville and raleigh-durham so you can always change your flight plans.

Good point about the booking...I'll definitely wait a couple more weeks. Thanks for the reminder about Southwest. I always forget they exist!

 

[625233]

I can't believe we're having this conversation. Vanderbilt is a top 10 Med School. Go.

 

[samsunimomo]

I can't believe we're having this conversation. Vanderbilt is a top 10 Med School. Go.

Top 20

 

[Ismet]

Moving to school-specific discussions

 

[Nymphicus]

- both schools are good
- UNC is far cheaper if you are in-state
- UNC has larger class size
- UNC has more focus on primary care

- (biased) of the second look events I went to, Vanderbilt's by far was the most involved and also the longest

 

[Juldarus]

I would say go to the Vanderbilt second look. Vandy has a one year pre-clerkship phase and is supposedly shifting to pass/fail clinicals next year.

Both of these are fairly unconventional. You should know what you are getting into should you decide to attend. I've been accepted here and while I really loved a lot about Vandy, that 1 year preclerkship phase has me feeling very ambivalent. Maybe it's the greatest thing ever...at this point I'm just not sure, so I'm waiting for second look to make any decisions.

 

[jaga1603]

I would say go to the Vanderbilt second look. Vandy has a one year pre-clerkship phase and is supposedly shifting to pass/fail clinicals next year.

Both of these are fairly unconventional. You should know what you are getting into should you decide to attend. I've been accepted here and while I really loved a lot about Vandy, that 1 year preclerkship phase has me feeling very ambivalent. Maybe it's the greatest thing ever...at this point I'm just not sure, so I'm waiting for second look to make any decisions.

Perhaps this is thread hijacking, but keep in mind the "1 yr. preclinical" is July-July, so 12 months, with only short breaks in the winter/spring. While it is shorter than typical 1.5 yr pre-clinicals, the actual amount of "in school" time is not as dramatically shorter as it may appear, at least, thats the sense I got from looking through some things on the website.

 

[DocNextDor]

Happiness over money. Hence go with where you think your happiness lies..Vanderbilt?

 

[Earl Simmons]

Happiness over money. Hence go with where you think your happiness lies..Vanderbilt?

Graduating debt free would make one quite happy.