UCF v FIU (urgent!)

[doctoringbeaches]

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Hi all!!! I am very torn between the two schools. For context I am an IS resident - native to South Florida. I am really torn between the two as I can see myself at either. In terms of specialties as of right now I don’t think I am interested in anything crazy competitive but I don’t want to close any doors for myself. Any opinions are helpful.



UCF

• Competitive match list
• Prepared well for STEP, students typically score above national average
• Faculty seemed very knowledgable, supportive, and truly wants you to succeed
• Lots of resources available for students - residency advisor for your specialty, expansive student affairs
• Felt like any specialty is attainable with proper work
• Research embedded in the curriculum
• College of Medicine Campus is only for med students, so libraries, financial aid, etc is all tailored for med school classes
• Easy parking - not shared with main campus
• Teaching hospital nearby
• New experience, new city, learn new things
• Cheaper tuition (29K yearly)
• 5k gift aid yearly, total COA is 52~k yearly

Cons

• Graded system, H/HP/P/F
• Living on my own & starting over in a new city
• Worried about the social scene among students, people seemed more introverted/less of a community feel outside of the classroom
• Orlando < Miami
• HCA hospital affiliation, which has negative connotations (although match list doesn’t reflect this?)
• Traveling for rotations, might have to leave Orlando because rotations can be all over the state / north central FL
• Far from home (3 hours)

FIU

PRO

• Live at home with family, have support system of my family and friends near by
• True Pass/Fail curriculum, less high stakes (still have internal rankings)
• New partnership with Baptist and Nicklaus, really good hospitals in South Florida
• Vibe between students seems really friendly and great community
• Miami is where I would like to end up in the future

CON

• Faculty seemed less knowledgeable, they recently changed a lot of their Deans
• Have to commute 2-3x a week (~40 min But Miami traffic) for mandatory classes, on top of my school work
• Clinical rotations all throughout South Florida (also long commutes)
• Social life might suffer because I live at home, I won’t be on campus all the time
• Not as great of a match list, but they still match very well
• More “community/primary care” focused in terms of specialties
• Parking shared with undergrads (although med students said they never had any issues with this)
• Living at home, limitations to my independence, possibly not growing much as a person
• More expensive tuition (43K yearly)
• No financial aid as of yet, total COA living at home is 57k~ yearly

 

[Agape_ornis]

I like UCF, I toured there when I interviewed and they are super friendly and the students seem happy. I also toured the hospitals and it was super welcoming. Also lake nona is not as busy as Orlando, is more new but a nice area and there is always places to visit in Orlando.

 

[BigDawg101]

I would take UCF, also grew up in South Florida so I'm familiar with the place. Try to ask UCF students about the pre-clinical curriculum being graded and how it affects them. I have a friend at USF, which is also graded, who didn't seem to find it that much of an issue. I think that the tuition difference negates the money you would save living at home for the most part, but if FIU does give you better financial aid (maybe matching UCF's tuition), I would give them more consideration. I would not worry too much about the social scene, as you will be studying a lot, and Orlando isn't that bad of a place. I doubt UCF will give you trouble matching back into Miami. Best of luck!