UCF versus SLU

[Awesomegamer13]

I'm a CA applicant and currently have one acceptance to UCF and a waitlist at SLU. I'm debating whether I should even put in the effort to get off the waitlist at SLU or take UCF. Mainly I don't want to write a letter of interest if I really don't have to.

UCF:
Pros:
Very supportive and communicative to the interviewees and the students seemed happy
Better weather than SLU
Required research which could help for residency apps

Cons:
It's still a pretty new school so I don't know how established it is
I'm thinking of going to pathology/radiology and I'm not sure how established these are at UCF
Graded classes concerns me a bit

SLU:

Pros: Better ranked I assume? Idk how much of a difference there actually is between SLU and UCF
Opportunities for research at WashU
P/F curriculum

Cons:
Definitely colder weather
Not as much research funding it looks like

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[chilly_md]

No harm in trying if the cost is the same and you want to try to attend a P/F school. It would be one less headache vs letter grades.

 

[BenzeneToluene]

Congrats on your acceptance(s)! I don’t know anything about SLU, but I’m very familiar with UCF! I will say that letter grade preclinical is the biggest gripe a lot of people have with the school. The only good thing is that theoretical everyone can get As on courses(and I’ve heard from some students that a good amount of students do), whereas some schools that are not P/F for preclinical explicitly cap the number of students that can honor each course.

UCF is also definitely a new school, but the match list seems solid. They consistently have a good number of rads matches per year and pathology isn’t super competitive regardless. Although I’m not sure where you want to match, I can definitely tell you that at least here in Florida, UCF is decently well-regarded.

The only thing I would strongly advise you to consider is that you will need to travel for many rotations third and fourth year, and they will mostly be with HCA institutions. UCF’s flagship hospital is also still very small and expanding, so you really do not have a “home” hospital and program the way that many older med schools have. Lastly, SLU is rank 85 while UCF is 98, which is not a significant difference imo.

Disclaimer: I’m a UCF undergrad alum and I currently have an A there.

 

[BarrBodyGuy]

Hi im also semi familiar with UCF, I can tell you from what I hear from friends who attend that it is a solid choice, it does have some downsides. With regard to the grades, I have heard that around 60-70% of the class gets A, 20% or so get Bs, and 10% get Cs. Also I think they have low stakes quizzes, ungraded, every 1-2 weeks or so to help you stay on track, which is good. It is definitely not ideal, but also in my opinion, not the worst part, I think the HCA connection is a big downside. They had Orlando Health and Advent Health prior which were amazing, but HCA is kinda caca. But that's pretty much all the downsides.

The upsides is that the school, at least from the FL schools, seems to be the most inclined and determined to grow, if you listened to Dean German speak, then you know what I mean, she's awesome and I appreciate that they want to grow the reputation of the school. FIRE can be annoying but yes, it will help for residency apps, specially you really dedicate to something path/rads related and commit to it long term. The match list for UCF is surprisingly strong for a newer program, they are very open and realistic in telling you that their home residencies are meh, and that they want to help you get to the top programs if you can. Weather is very nice in FL, and Disney World is not too far.

 

[BattalionX]

The students at SLU seemed to enjoy their school when I interviewed and I think you'd be better off there with the P/F curriculum. Unfortunately neither Orlando nor Saint Louis are anything exciting, but SLU seems like the better option here.

 

[m1redsox]

Gotta go with SLU for the home hospital and affiliated residency programs.

 

[Busy11pk]

I know several students who go to SLU and are happy there. For me at least the P/F curriculum would be a game changer.