UAB or USA?

[southbelle]

Not for me. A friend here is an alabama resident and these are the two schools she is deciding between. Cost is pretty similar with UAB costing perhaps a bit more because downtown birmingham is a little more expensive than mobile.

Right now she is leaning towards UAB, but I'm trying to convince her to head to South Alabama. I understand that UAB has more of a national reputation, but this girl is an anti-gunner just like me. We actually became pretty good friends this year, but we did know each other before that. Her stats going into medical school aren't particularly outstanding(3.55, 9/9/9) and I'm pretty sure she will want to do primary care(still trying to convert her to occ med though!) For those familar with south alabama, what are some positives to the campus or the city that I could mention that might push her in that direction?

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[freaker]

I think being on the Gulf Coast would be reason enough. It's always nice to feel as if you can escape for a little while, and the ocean is always great for that. While Mobile is more of a port city, it's not far at all from towns like Orange Beach. I don't know. Mobile is gorgeous in spring with all the azaleas blooming.

I like both Mobile and Birmingham, though I've only visited each for a short period of time. It's nice that Alabama has its med schools in such ideal locations. I'm from a neighboring state, and I guess I don't feel as fortunate.

Though Johnson City really isn't as bad as people make it out to be.

 

[Sharkfan]

Why would you want to push someone into any school? This doesn't make sense...

 

[seev99]

if she hot, she should go to south alabama...otherwise, she'd fit in better at UAB...we keep it crunk down in the M.O.B....holla!

 

[celticmists18]

Why would you want to push someone into any school? This doesn't make sense...

I agree, besides UAB is a great school. Which med school is best is really a personal decision, let your friend decide which school is best for her!

 

[Perrin]

USA is in a great location...

1. 1.5 hours to NO
2. casinos in Biloxi and Gulfport
3. 1 hour to Pensacola
4. Dauphin Island

I-10 is the highway of sin, everything you need is along this interstate.

If accepted I would lean towards UAB, girlfriend, last 2 years in Huntsville, friends, etc.

Both would be fun, but I would let her make her own decision.

 

[scootad.]

Right now she is leaning towards UAB, but I'm trying to convince her to head to South Alabama. I understand that UAB has more of a national reputation, but this girl is an anti-gunner just like me.

Anti-gunner? perhaps you are trying to hold back your own friend b/c of your own gunner tendencies. just a thought.

 

[exmike]

I love the USA! We have more nukes than anyone else! We have the largest economy! We use the most oil! USA USA USA! (chanting)

 

[Doctor&Geek]

if she hot, she should go to south alabama...otherwise, she'd fit in better at UAB...we keep it crunk down in the M.O.B....holla!

Never going to happen. Hotness assuredly will choose UAB over USA. Its definitely more sunny up here!

 

[Hercules]

I understand that UAB has more of a national reputation, but this girl is an anti-gunner just like me.

There are plenty of us anti-gunners up here at UAB. I can promise she would not be alone. In fact my class had an Anti-gunner Social Society (A.S.S.) complete with shirts and everything.

 

[Schedule_II]

There are plenty of us anti-gunners up here at UAB. I can promise she would not be alone. In fact my class had an Anti-gunner Social Society (A.S.S.) complete with shirts and everything.

It's true. I was also a member of the A.S.S.

...sort of. I never showed up to class to pick up my t-shirt.
Hercules, did you guys order me one?
p.s. I still have your beer.

 

[Shades McCool]

I am shooting for UAB ED.

 

[Marvin O'Connor]

Man that A.S.S. is a great idea. I may have to get with you guys and discuss the constitution for A.S.S. I will be at UAB next year if they let me in and it would be an honor for me to carry on this tradition. One question: did A.S.S. take any violent militant action against gunners? If so, that is even better. Thanks, A.S.S. veterans for blazing new trails so that the future can be brighter for those of us who realize that school is not life. I salute you.

 

[bnichols0330]

I am a MS1 at USA and I will list a couple of advantages and disadvantages from my vantage point.

USA over UAB
1) Class size - we have ~67 vs. UAB's ~160
-that translates into much more hands on experience during clerkships (not much difference during 1st 2 years except for auditorium size)
2) Early decision criteria - If your friend has a 27 she would be eligible to apply early decision and (if her interview goes well) probably be accepted in the before October 1. A 27 in standard admissions is not stellar at either UAB or USA, but early decision applicants usually are accepted at USA.
3) Lifestyle - USA is probably a more laidback med school b/c there is not the pressure of cutting edge research that UAB has and the school & hospitals are not downtown and difficult to get to.
4) All 4 years are done at USA - When I interviewed at UAB I hated the idea of moving somewhere for 2 years and then having to move again b/c then I couldn't really buy a house for 4 more years. To me that equals throwing money down the drain in rent for 4 years.

UAB over USA
1) Research - If your friend wants to go into research of any type UAB is a much more reputable research institute than USA.
2) Reputable name - UAB has a more reputable name than USA, but most of the people I have talked to (admittedly most are biased) would claim that when it comes time for the match both would even out b/c of USA's hands-on experience.

Mute Points
1) Location - USA has the beach and New Orleans (each about 1.5 hours) Birmingham has Birmingham and Atlanta. Birmingham has a cooler and drier climate, but in Mobile you can be outside in shorts year round almost.

This is just my 2 cents worth, but I hope it will help you or your friend make a more educated decision.

 

[safrat]

this whole usa is more hands-on, there for their students will do better in matching is a crock of shizit created by the infamous car salesman mark scott. He's just trying to sell his school, desperately enough that he would make something up as being "more clinical". That's absolute bull****. Just look at UAB's primary care ranking. Don't get me wrong these rankings aren't all they are cracked out to be, but consider this, two ppl from usa and uab with same med school grades and same usmle scores, who is more likely to get in? The most reputable school of course. But, of course, uab does have that overly competitive feel. And, usa isn't a bad school at all, it's just the difference between picking gold and silver. People are trying everything to get into the top 20-25 schools. She got in. That's awesome. Don't ruin it for her. But an important factor is that she'll definetly stand out in usa. I hear it's not as hard as uab, so she would probably do better, but this is what I've noticed. Not a hard and fast rule. I have heard of ppl getting into good residencies at both schools. But this whole hands-on thing is so overrated.

 

[Shades McCool]

Let me tell a little story.

I was up at UAB on a tour with some other students looking to attend UAB. One of the student on tour asked Dr. Hand(who giving it) what the advantage someone had in going to UAB over USA.

He turned around and said, "If you were to ask Mark Scott what the advantage in going to USA over UAB was he would start talking about smaller class sizes, more hands on training and lord knows what. Well all I am going to say is the UAB does not have to compete with USA. We all know why one would choose UAB over USA so I won't even bother answering the question."

I thought that was the most confident, bad ass answer ever.

Bring on ED.

 

[Doctor&Geek]

FYI:

USA Match List 2004
http://www.southalabama.edu/matchday/

UAB Match List 2004
http://www.dpo.uab.edu/~paik/matchlist.xls (Excel)

 

[safrat]

well, in my preference, I think UAB kicked USA's ass. But, usa did pretty well also. Damn, two good schools.

 

[meanderson]

One difference in the match lists between the two schools is going to come from the out of state students and mstp students. UAB's out of state admission averages are just unreal(3.9, 37). Since this represents about 25 students out of 160 every year, that's actually going to put a small dent in UAB's overall average. Since their total average mcat was a 30.0 with these students, it doesn't take a stats major to figure out that the in-state average is probably about a 29.0, which is in line with other state schools across the southeast and actually lower than the florida schools.

I bet if you separated the out of state and mstp students from UAB's match list every year it would look really similar to USF, UF, MCG, U of Tennessee, etc. Without knowing anyone at the school, I'd guess that at least two of those 4 bigtime derm matches were mstp or out of state students. I'm sure it's a fine school, but as an alabama resident it really isn't any harder to get into than a Tennessee resident trying to get into U of T.

 

[Doctor&Geek]

One difference in the match lists between the two schools is going to come from the out of state students and mstp students. UAB's out of state admission averages are just unreal(3.9, 37). Since this represents about 25 students out of 160 every year, that's actually going to put a small dent in UAB's overall average. Since their total average mcat was a 30.0 with these students, it doesn't take a stats major to figure out that the in-state average is probably about a 29.0, which is in line with other state schools across the southeast and actually lower than the florida schools.

I bet if you separated the out of state and mstp students from UAB's match list every year it would look really similar to USF, UF, MCG, U of Tennessee, etc. Without knowing anyone at the school, I'd guess that at least two of those 4 bigtime derm matches were mstp or out of state students. I'm sure it's a fine school, but as an alabama resident it really isn't any harder to get into than a Tennessee resident trying to get into U of T.

The MSTP match this year is:

Dermatology Stanford
Dermatology Michigan
Surgery OHSU
Medicine Duke
Neurology Cornell
Pediatrics Vanderbilt
Neurology UAB
Anesthesiology UAB
Medicine UAB

 

[Shades McCool]

I can't wait to be in BHam and be a Blazer(even though I will always be an Auburn Tiger at heart).