- Joined
- Nov 10, 2011
- Messages
- 16
- Reaction score
- 3
Hi all,
Just another applicant here struggling with deciding on a school. I'm hoping to get any opinions on my personal situation. These are the two schools I've managed to narrow my choices down to:
UCF
- Prestige: new M.D program, not very well known at the moment; however many say it has lots of potential
- Location: Orlando is an amazing city, 2 hours away from family & close friends, warm and sunny, beaches!
- Tuition: in-state applicant, so about 50k a year
- Hospital System: M.D Anderson, Orlando Health, Florida Hospital, Nemours Children's, new V.A hospital (second largest in nation). Also Florida Hospital is ranked as the best in FL, great diversity and huge population to serve.
- Match List: charter class just graduated, but according to doctors I've spoken with, it's a pretty strong list for a first year match. http://med.ucf.edu/media/2012/08/Match-Results-2013-without-names.pdf
- Step Scores: charter class' was like a 224, but has improved to about a 235 since then.
- Research: required research project for all students, plenty of opportunities I think
- LizzyM Score: 70
MCW
- Prestige: excluding the new 2015 USNews rankings, has consistently been a rank 45-50 school, so solid middle-tier.
- Location: Milwaukee/the suburb MCW is in are pretty decent. However, I've been living in the north for the past half a year and I pretty much hate the cold and potholes everywhere. Also, very far from family and my support network
- Tuition: about 70k I think
- Hospital System: Milwaukee Regional Medical Center is pretty solid. I like how everything is located in one spot. Children's Hospital of Wisconsin is consistently ranked as one of the best pediatrics hospitals. Froedtert is also pretty solid.
- Match List: after searching for the past few years worth of match lists, according to my med school and doctor friends, they look pretty solid. Students match into all specialties each year.
- Step Scores: reported average on my interview day was about a 235 also.
- Research: many opportunities, I glanced through their excel sheet they have put up, lots of research projects available for students to chase after
- LizzyM Score: 69.2
I think there are some other minor details that I've considered, but these are the major highlights. I feel myself leaning towards UCF at the moment. I'm just not fully convinced it's the right step because of how new the school is. I have trepidation about my abilities to pursue competitive specialties. I've talked with a couple M4s there who are matching into competitive ones and they tried to reassure me. I think that I'm feeling UCF, despite its reputation, because of how much potential it has and honestly, location. I'm more of a family and friends-oriented person than I thought unfortunately. I don't know how I feel about being in the north anymore for medical school, residency, or even practice in general. Florida boy!
In a nutshell, I think if I want to be happy, UCF is probably the better choice. However, MCW could maybe be better for me career-wise? Thank you very much for taking the time to read and consider my issue. Sorry if it's long, I tried to keep it brief!
Just another applicant here struggling with deciding on a school. I'm hoping to get any opinions on my personal situation. These are the two schools I've managed to narrow my choices down to:
UCF
- Prestige: new M.D program, not very well known at the moment; however many say it has lots of potential
- Location: Orlando is an amazing city, 2 hours away from family & close friends, warm and sunny, beaches!
- Tuition: in-state applicant, so about 50k a year
- Hospital System: M.D Anderson, Orlando Health, Florida Hospital, Nemours Children's, new V.A hospital (second largest in nation). Also Florida Hospital is ranked as the best in FL, great diversity and huge population to serve.
- Match List: charter class just graduated, but according to doctors I've spoken with, it's a pretty strong list for a first year match. http://med.ucf.edu/media/2012/08/Match-Results-2013-without-names.pdf
- Step Scores: charter class' was like a 224, but has improved to about a 235 since then.
- Research: required research project for all students, plenty of opportunities I think
- LizzyM Score: 70
MCW
- Prestige: excluding the new 2015 USNews rankings, has consistently been a rank 45-50 school, so solid middle-tier.
- Location: Milwaukee/the suburb MCW is in are pretty decent. However, I've been living in the north for the past half a year and I pretty much hate the cold and potholes everywhere. Also, very far from family and my support network
- Tuition: about 70k I think
- Hospital System: Milwaukee Regional Medical Center is pretty solid. I like how everything is located in one spot. Children's Hospital of Wisconsin is consistently ranked as one of the best pediatrics hospitals. Froedtert is also pretty solid.
- Match List: after searching for the past few years worth of match lists, according to my med school and doctor friends, they look pretty solid. Students match into all specialties each year.
- Step Scores: reported average on my interview day was about a 235 also.
- Research: many opportunities, I glanced through their excel sheet they have put up, lots of research projects available for students to chase after
- LizzyM Score: 69.2
I think there are some other minor details that I've considered, but these are the major highlights. I feel myself leaning towards UCF at the moment. I'm just not fully convinced it's the right step because of how new the school is. I have trepidation about my abilities to pursue competitive specialties. I've talked with a couple M4s there who are matching into competitive ones and they tried to reassure me. I think that I'm feeling UCF, despite its reputation, because of how much potential it has and honestly, location. I'm more of a family and friends-oriented person than I thought unfortunately. I don't know how I feel about being in the north anymore for medical school, residency, or even practice in general. Florida boy!
In a nutshell, I think if I want to be happy, UCF is probably the better choice. However, MCW could maybe be better for me career-wise? Thank you very much for taking the time to read and consider my issue. Sorry if it's long, I tried to keep it brief!
good luck making your decision!
