UC Irvine vs UWSOM-Spokane

[carneasdasd]

Hi everyone! I am currently debating between the two schools. Haven't got the financial package yet but I am assuming the cost will be comparable. I am planning on specializing in general surgery in the future as well. I am a Washington state resident, currently. It's my lifelong dream to settle down in California.

UC Irvine Pros:

• Location. I'm not too familiar with Irvine as a city but I know you can't really beat SoCal weather
• New hospital right next to campus opening in 2025. It'll be cool to do rotations at a new facility
• Better research opportunities perhaps?
• Students seem to be more less stressed. Better social life?

UC Irvine Cons:

• Less prestigious than UWSOM? Not sure about this.
• Unknown match list
• Cost of living is higher

UWSOM Pros:

• T20?
• P/F all 4 years
• Rotations across different states - I think it will be fun to travel for rotations
• Smaller class

UWSOM Cons:

• Weather and location. Not a huge fan of Spokane nor Seattle. I have never lived in Spokane either.
• Students seem more stressed here
• Lack of research opportunities in Spokane for the first 2 years

Any input will be greatly appreciated!!

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[Dom Dolla]

take my input with a grain of salt as I am an applicant and a CA resident so I can't speak too much on the medical side. But your cons for UWSOM seem to outweigh UCI's! not to mention you eventually want to end up practicing in CA and if I had any acceptance to a CA school rn I would take it and run

Irvine is a planned city with heavy suburb vibes but the food there and in surrounding cities is hard to beat. COL is insane in SoCal but there truly is an endless amount of things to do with both LA and SD being about an hour away (maybe more depending on traffic but Irvine is right in the middle)

 

[Basalganglia4life]

UCI any day