U of South Florida (USF) vs. Miami Miller

[zuercherhan]

I am deciding between USF and Miami. Both are located the same amount of distance away from family. I initially was set on USF, but after second look day at USF, I felt like I did not fit in as well with the people that would be my classmates as I would've liked. I got into Miami after their second look day, and so I cannot judge based on that.

USF
Pros

• Tampa is the ideal city to live in
• Brand new medical school building downtown
• I like how their classes are set up
• Research is really stressed here and abundant
• Lots of opportunities for things abroad (research, volunteering, rotations, etc)
• Tuition and cost of living is cheaper than Miami
• Has a great program called scholarly concentrations where you get to pick one and do research/learn more about that area of medicine
• Tampa general=great hospital to train at
• They seemed like they want you to succeed and will help you as much as you can to get there
• High Step 1 scores

Cons

• New med school building won't be open until after one semester of me being there- will have to commute to undergrad USF campus outside of Tampa (about a 25 min drive) for one semester if I live downtown by new med school building
• Not as well-known reputation-wise as Miami
• Did not feel as if I fit in too well with other potential classmates at second look day (however, I did really connect with a lot of second-years)

Miami
Pros

• High Step 1 scores (same exact score as USF actually)
• Well-known reputation
• Very good match list
• Good hospitals to train at, wide patient population variety
• I am outgoing, so I feel like I would fit in more with the type of students that would be attracted to this school

Cons

• Miami is more expensive to live in as a city and tuition is more (although I am in-state, so it's slightly cheaper than out of state tuition)
• I don't like how they have class-based classes, instead of systems based
• They want to switch over to 3 years normal med school, 1 year just for research- they weren't sure if this would happen in my time there or not, but I would NOT want to do that

Summary: USF is up-and-coming I feel like, although their reputation isn't as well-known as Miami's, they have a lot of potential. I like the city of Tampa, abundant research opportunities, and way classes are set up, however, I did not feel as if I fit in well with my future classmates. This is the only large thing holding me back from USF. Keep in mind I am very outgoing and easy to get along with, so maybe half a day just wasn't a long-enough time to get to know people.

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[pinkowl250]

I'm looking at both of these schools too! At the end of the day, I think you should go with where you think you'd thrive and feel happier. If costs are a concern for you, I'd strongly consider USF. It's definitely up and coming, so I think you'd receive a great education from either place. And I think you'd make good friends there if you're outgoing and plan on getting involved 🙂

 

[dnalwoh]

Based on your list, it seems like you want to be at USF. Both are great schools, Miami probably does have the better reputation among the two. You can't go wrong! Also:

They want to switch over to 3 years normal med school, 1 year just for research- they weren't sure if this would happen in my time there or not, but I would NOT want to do that

As far as I know, this isn't happening any time soon!

 

[nlax30]

Purely my anecdotal subjective opinion but I’m not sure I’d consider Miami as having the better reputation. Certainly in the past it was more well known and easily had the better reputation but lately I just haven’t heard much of the Institution as a whole. I’m certainly biased but haven’t lived in FL a long time and just going off the impression I get from interactions in the medical community. At least in my field I haven’t seen much involvement of Miami in our specialty’s meetings.

 

[Detailfanatic]

What did you choose