UC Irvine vs. Georgetown vs. Hofstra vs. UMiami

[wowdascoo]

Still waitlisted at my #1 but any help here would be much appreciated!
A little about me -- most important factors are cost, location, student lifestyle, and school "reputation" for lack of a better term...and as of now I think I'm most interested in basically the more competitive "lifestyle" specialties.

UC IRVINE
Pros:

• location (very, very, very strongly want to stay in southern CA for residency and beyond)
• cost (~$50K/yr [even cheaper if I can get on-campus housing])
• less than a 2 hour drive from home
• on undergrad campus
• free iPad lol

Cons:

• H/P/F grading M2
• small class size (~100 students per class)
• hospital is ~30 mins away from main campus
• no Second Look?!
• campus/student life felt a bit dead to me...not sure why, maybe this is just my impression of suburban Irvine...
• low prestige/ranking??

GEORGETOWN
Pros:

• large class size (~200)
• prestige of Gtown brand
• really liked D.C.
• innovative yet flexible curriculum
• on undergrad campus

Cons:

• cost! (~75K/yr)
• really far from home
• east coast weather
• need a car

HOFSTRA
Pros:

• cost (they gave me a merit scholarship so ~$48K/year)
• true P/F
• they have been extremely responsive/engaged post-interview and seem to really, really care about their students!
• close to NYC
• on undergrad campus
• seem to be climbing in reputation? they also seem very focused on trying to become a top-tier school

Cons:

• PBL-based curriculum
• mandatory attendance
• really far from home
• east coast weather
• small class size (~100)
• low prestige/ranking (both USNews and residency PD ranking but idk how accurate this is...)
• not close enough to NYC to escape the boring-ness of Hempstead lol
• need a car
• just didn't vibe well with the school on interview day for some reason idk why

UMIAMI
Pros:

• cost (~54K/yr)
• large class size (~200)
• amazing clinical facilities
• will hopefully be forced to improve my Spanish lol
• weather!
• Miami is fun
• don't need a car

Cons

• far from home
• reputation/ranking??
• didn't really vibe well with other interviewees on interview day but I don't think this is too important
• not on undergrad campus

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[wowdascoo]

bump

 

[mrcoffee24]

UCI is one of your cheapest options and increases your odds of staying in SoCal for residency. Easy choice

 

[puahate]

If you want to stay in SoCal then you would be going to UCI without a doubt.

 

[LukaDoncicLuk]

UC Irvine feels dead because Orange County sucks. Endless suburban sprawl.

That being said, going to a school in socal will help your chances tremendously. I think it is a well regarded school in California.

 

[djsbaseball2014]

@wowdascoo FYI OP, some current UCI students told me at my interview that med students are the last to be considered for on campus housing so do not bank on that