UCLA vs. Mayo

[nojdog]

When Do you have to let them know? (Mayo)

May 25th.

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[drpibbplusme]

I've lived in California all my life and have only been to the beach ~11 times total. Some years I never even go to the beach. That stereotype is like saying it rains gold in the United States. You can go to the beach anywhere if you're willing to spend the time to drive there.

 

[jackbauer]

Mayo for sure - UCLA is way overrated, not to mention they have the worst college football team in the history of the world. Mayo could put together a squad that could easily beat the bruins, even if it was just the ICU patients running around in gowns with IV drips

 

[owenmichael]

I was set on attending UCLA until a phone call from Mayo a few days ago saying they accepted me. Mayo will be about half the price, but I am impressed with what I know about UCLA's curriculum (block schedule, less class time, etc.) Any help?

Hey I'm in your shoes too.
I am deciding between Mayo and U of Wisc. Offered $$ at both schools so tuition is the same price at both. My decision deadline is next week
Help!

 

[Arginine]

Hey all, thanks so much for all the input. Tough decisions. I'm still in "gathering information" mode, but my wife and I are leaning UCLA. The main factor is having the ability to live a balanced life. I want medicine to be a part of my life, but not my life. It's really important to me to have free time away from the books to spend with my wife and enjoy our experience. I think that would be harder to to in an environment so saturated with medicine as Mayo. I don't know....maybe I'm exaggerating the difference between the two schools as they pertain to that factor, but that's the impression I get talking to students.

One of the things I love about UCLA: my class is fairly easygoing and (despite the seemingly large size of the class ~150) closeknit. Everything is pass/fail which makes a huge difference: less stress during exam time, very little "cutthroat" mentality. The weather is amazing and there are so many wonderful opportunities for hiking, museums, concerts, beach outings....Most of my classmates are very well-balanced people with interests outside of medicine.

Whether Mayo vs. UCLA is a better fit for you depends on what your biggest priorities are, and what your optimal learning style is. At UCLA, there is a lot of emphasis on problem-based learning (PBL) and small group interaction. The trade-off is that, with less formal lecture time, you have to be motivated to fill in the puzzle pieces on your own. My class was the guinea pig class for the new curriculum, and I remember many of our lecturers commented that they had to cram 2-3 hours' worth of info into a 50-minute lecture after UCLA cut down the lecture time to 2 hours per day. But it works well for me because I hate sitting in lecture all day, and I remember things better if I have to do a little research on my own.

In the clinical years, we have exposure to many different types of medical settings: academic hospitals, county hospitals, VA hospitals, HMOs, private practice. You're not guaranteed to match in a California residency, but you do get more exposure to southern Cal programs (and there are some perks: for instance, all UCLA med students who are applying for Anesthesiology spots are guaranteed an interview at UCLA; of course this is not standard in other departments).

Good luck with your decision. Both are excellent programs. Get as much info as you can, and you will eventually get a sense of which one is a better fit for you.

 

[nojdog]

One of the things I love about UCLA: my class is fairly easygoing and (despite the seemingly large size of the class ~150) closeknit. Everything is pass/fail which makes a huge difference: less stress during exam time, very little "cutthroat" mentality. The weather is amazing and there are so many wonderful opportunities for hiking, museums, concerts, beach outings....Most of my classmates are very well-balanced people with interests outside of medicine.

Whether Mayo vs. UCLA is a better fit for you depends on what your biggest priorities are, and what your optimal learning style is. At UCLA, there is a lot of emphasis on problem-based learning (PBL) and small group interaction. The trade-off is that, with less formal lecture time, you have to be motivated to fill in the puzzle pieces on your own. My class was the guinea pig class for the new curriculum, and I remember many of our lecturers commented that they had to cram 2-3 hours' worth of info into a 50-minute lecture after UCLA cut down the lecture time to 2 hours per day. But it works well for me because I hate sitting in lecture all day, and I remember things better if I have to do a little research on my own.

In the clinical years, we have exposure to many different types of medical settings: academic hospitals, county hospitals, VA hospitals, HMOs, private practice. You're not guaranteed to match in a California residency, but you do get more exposure to southern Cal programs (and there are some perks: for instance, all UCLA med students who are applying for Anesthesiology spots are guaranteed an interview at UCLA; of course this is not standard in other departments).

Good luck with your decision. Both are excellent programs. Get as much info as you can, and you will eventually get a sense of which one is a better fit for you.

Thanks, Argenine. As you said, the fact that "most classmates are very well-balanced people with interests outside of medicine" at UCLA is a real draw for me. I'm very excited about medicine, but in the end, it's only one part of my life.

 

[nojdog]

Hey I'm in your shoes too.
I am deciding between Mayo and U of Wisc. Offered $$ at both schools so tuition is the same price at both. My decision deadline is next week
Help!

Cool, when do you have to decide?

 

[attaboybambeeks]

Cool, when do you have to decide?

pardon my ignorance, but hasnt may 15 already passed? Isnt it only possible to hold a single acceptance at this point? just curious...

 

[tifa]

Congrat!...and I vote for UCLA. There's nowhere like California. Good luck.

 

[CubanDoc]

Maybe the reason people choose Mayo is because some of us just can't stomach the idea of living in LA. There's more to life than beachs, parties and year round warm weather.

i agree i live in Miami, FL. i wouldnt complain about a COUPLE of hot days but guess what we have been in the 90s for the past 2 or three weeks . and it is not going to get any better. We definetly don't have snow but we have plenty of hurricanes , Cali earthquakes, everyone is going to have something. i would love to get into Mayo, but again i would never move to California.

 

[L8DYV]

Ucla!!

 

[nojdog]

That's a good question. Technically, I only hold a spot at UCLA. I was offered a spot by Mayo on May 12th, and they gave me two weeks to decide whether or not to accept their offer.

 

[attaboybambeeks]

That's a good question. Technically, I only hold a spot at UCLA. I was offered a spot by Mayo on May 12th, and they gave me two weeks to decide whether or not to accept their offer.

gotcha. well, thats a toughie...you going to fly out to mayo to check it out again? Are you from So Cal?

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

I can't speak for Mayo, but I can give you my "3 cents" about UCLA:

1. I ran into an M2 at UCLA over winter break while I was doing an EMT class over there, and he was definitely not very happy with his decision. (I was very surprised and disappointed to learn this, because as a native Californian I basically hold the UC med schools up there with the best of the best "dream schools"). We only talked for a minute, but he said that there is too much case-based stuff (PBL-style) and that he had to, "learn everything on his own because lectures are a complete waste of time." This could be a personal preference thing, but definitely something to consider I think.

2. The room our class used is shared with med students, and frankly it is a p.o.s. Definitely had a "public school" feel...super old computer and slide projector, 15 year old TV that was all green-ed out and had the lines on the screen and everything. In addition, 3 of the 4 elevators in the building were broken. I'm sure it is one of their least impressive facilities though, considering where our little class stood on the totem pole... at least I hope it is.

3. I think California is the best place on Earth, but L.A. is way overrated. The traffic can be terrible sometimes.. like don't even think about going south from Westwod after 5. It doesn't sound that bad but it can really trap you in a place, so just make sure Westwood is for you. Westwood, by the way, is a very nice place. My big point about LA is that people either love it or hate it. There is a certain type of person who is a natural fit with Los Angeles, so make sure you are one of these people or you will most likely be very unhappy there.

Both are awesome schools though, definitely a tough choice.

p.s. About the Cali residency thing. It is true that UCLA will give you lots of California options, but I would also have to question the sanity of someone who says Mayo will limit your residency options in any state. The match results are highly self-selective as far as out-of-state placement goes.

 

[UCLAstudent]

2. The room our class used is shared with med students, and frankly it is a p.o.s. Definitely had a "public school" feel...super old computer and slide projector, 15 year old TV that was all green-ed out and had the lines on the screen and everything. In addition, 3 of the 4 elevators in the building were broken. I'm sure it is one of their least impressive facilities though, considering where our little class stood on the totem pole... at least I hope it is.

That doesn't sound at all like the classroom my class uses. There's no slide projector, computer, or TV. Everything is done via PowerPoint and lecturers bring their own computers. Also, I've never seen any elevator problems. Now, I'm not saying that the lecture hall is great, but it's not as bad as you describe it. Plus, it doesn't really matter since we're only in the room a maximum of 2 hours per day.

Regarding the PBL comment --- we only have 4 hours of PBL per week. That doesn't sound like a lot to me.

 

[owenmichael]

I can't speak for Mayo, but I can give you my "3 cents" about UCLA:

You go to school at Mayo, I would say your chances of getting a CA residency are the same if not greater than UCLA. I really think that UCLA is a great school, but Mayo is just on whole other level. Have you seen Mayo's match list? Let me summarize.

6 - radiology
2- radio-oncology
14 - some form of surgery
4 - anesthesiology
2 - emergency medicine
6 - ob/gyn or some form of primary care (internal medicine, pediatrics, or family medicine)

Almost all of the students (except 5 or 6) went to HUGE name institutes.
Duke, Mayo, UCSF, John's Hopkin's Baylor, Austin, UCLA, UPenn, U of Chicago Oregon University etc...

The school is just amazing, so is the teaching, and the new curriculum cuts lecture time by a third and gives you four periods of two weeks of to do whatever (vacation, shadow, volunteer) after one month of class (this not including summer and winter breaks).

The new curriculum sold me. The fact that you can do your rotations at ANY HOSPITAL (international and domestic) you choose your forth year is amazing. I don't know any other school (except JHU and Harvard) that can hook you up with ANY hospital for rotation. Most schools have specific ones in designated areas that you can choose.

I dunno, again I was picking between this and another. It became a no brainer after I visited again. The students are amazing, and so is the staff.

I just really don't think in terms of name value, that UCLA is on par with Mayo. Again UCLA is a great school with a great reputation, but Mayo's name and repuatation for training (because your learning from lreaders in their field) far surpasses UCLA.

My biggest reservation was going from a hug ecollege town where I go out alot and love to meet new people, to Rochester (90,000 people). I think the fact that students are completely not stressed with the pass/fail system and work so well together allows them go get out more than typical med studnets. Most of them go to the twin cities/madison every weekend. The way I looked at it was that it was relaly just two years in rochester. Your third year you can do rotations in Jacksonville, scottsdale, or rochester for the entire year, or split your time between them. Forht year is anywhere!
Plus financially speaking, they coddle you!

Again these are my opinions based on experience, talking to residency directors, and what students have said.
Good luck, you can't go wrong either way

 

[chickenpotpie]

UCLA's match results are very impressive:

14 Anesthesiology
6 Orthopaedic surgery
5 ENT
1 Urology
1 Plastics
2 Dermatology
9 Radiology
2 Rad-Onc
11 General surgery
8 Optho
12 Emergency med
4 Neurology

 

[mimivirus]

i truly loved both

-ive been offered the dean's scholarship at mayo (makes tuition ~$4000/year)
-ive also been accepted to ucla-prime which is a dual degree 5-years masters program where they pay for your fifth year (some consider it a 'free masters'" MBA, MPH, Masters in Public Policy etc..) and also has a mission statement that is a perfect fit for what i hope to do (work in academic medicine/policy regarding health disparities in urban underserved communities with an emphasis on substance abuse issues...)
-im sure mayo will also support my goals, but does not have as ready access to the patient population i hope to work with (the lesser debt and travel stipend though may facilitate the realization of my goals)
-obvii i like the sun and and being tan, but i think i would enjoy the change of pace of living in a small town
-both mayo and the ucla-prime program will afford the opportunity to be within a smaller 'family'--which i like.

please respond!! sdn has been so helpful to me this entire application process and i really appreciate the insight you guys have!!!

oh! and i guess i might add that after revisit i was pretty sold on ucla---but cruising these other mayo v. ____ school threads...im getting confused ;!!

 

[Long Dong]

i truly loved both

-ive been offered the dean's scholarship at mayo (makes tuition ~$4000/year)
-ive also been accepted to ucla-prime which is a dual degree 5-years masters program where they pay for your fifth year (some consider it a 'free masters'" MBA, MPH, Masters in Public Policy etc..) and also has a mission statement that is a perfect fit for what i hope to do (work in academic medicine/policy regarding health disparities in urban underserved communities with an emphasis on substance abuse issues...)
-im sure mayo will also support my goals, but does not have as ready access to the patient population i hope to work with (the lesser debt and travel stipend though may facilitate the realization of my goals)
-obvii i like the sun and and being tan, but i think i would enjoy the change of pace of living in a small town
-both mayo and the ucla-prime program will afford the opportunity to be within a smaller 'family'--which i like.

please respond!! sdn has been so helpful to me this entire application process and i really appreciate the insight you guys have!!!

Okay what do you want to know? Are you single or in a comitted relationship, this is the big question.

If single go to UCLA, tons of things to do makes for a happier med student. Comitted relationship go to mayo, study you a$$ off and snuggle up with you S.O. save money on cost of living. Both great places I went to ucla for med school, going to mayo for residency. If you have more ? hollar at ya boy.

 

[BurnEmUpBears]

UCLA: ranked 9. Mayo: ranked 23.

UCLA Hospitals: ranked 3. Mayo Hospitals: ranked 2.

 

[Shadowboricua]

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