premed2o24
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Decided!
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UCLA vs UMich
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So I only skimmed through the first bullets of each sections, because it's clear you thoroughly thought through this. I'd say it's hard to turn down UCLA here, with the better finances and P/F curriculum. Reputation wise they're about the same within and outside of medicine, UCLA probably is seen as more desirable because of its location. But education wise, around the same.
I see the things tipping in Michigan's favor is its proximity to your family. But think of how many flights you can buy back home with 100k lol.
Also, if you are from the Midwest, matching back to Ann Arbor will not be a problem coming from UCLA.
I see the things tipping in Michigan's favor is its proximity to your family. But think of how many flights you can buy back home with 100k lol.
Also, if you are from the Midwest, matching back to Ann Arbor will not be a problem coming from UCLA.
tunameltsandwich
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I’m in the exact same boat as you, and for what it’s worth I think I’m choosing UCLA over Michigan for its discovery year! The Michigan third year seemed to be less flexible for actual research.
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Be advised:
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UCLA Medical School in Crisis
I am a faculty member at UCLA and while this is my first post I think everyone will quickly understand why I want to remain anonymous. I also realize that when someone posts something like this as their first post everyone should be openly skeptical of the post and try to understand what motives...
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Both schools have excellent reputations and will set you up for success. If you do well at either, you will match well. For me, the deciding factor is the amount of debt you would incur. For that reason, I would choose UCLA.
This is a tough one!
1. I'm someone whose happiness is easily influenced by the environment and support system- so if you're the same I would recommend really weighing the location into your decision. For me I would chose staying closer to family because they keep me sane and I can't imagine not seeing them when I really need their support.
2. No debt is amazing and that extra savings can help with travel to family (but time for travel is limited during school). but also 100k is also not much compared to average medical debt. and going into one of the specialties u mentioned will set you up to pay it off fairly quickly.
3. Opportunities & education seem fairly equal. The research year seems great but also keep in mind it will be a year without clinical exposure/ not as prepared I saw the recent ucla crisis thread so I recommend looking through that. But to sum it up their 1yr curriculum is still a work & progress and both faculty and students have voiced concerns. They posted that a lot of studying for step 1/2 is up to the student and the short curriculum doesn't prepare students well for step and prior knowledge entering clerkships. I think you would definitely need to be a disciplined and self motivated student if you chose ucla based on that thread. I think pass fail is great and will lessen day to day stress though! but going into competitive specialty and not being able to distinguish yourself in step 1 or grades is going to put more weight on other parts of your application.
I'm sure you will thrive at either school- congrats on both acceptances! Let us know where u end up!
1. I'm someone whose happiness is easily influenced by the environment and support system- so if you're the same I would recommend really weighing the location into your decision. For me I would chose staying closer to family because they keep me sane and I can't imagine not seeing them when I really need their support.
2. No debt is amazing and that extra savings can help with travel to family (but time for travel is limited during school). but also 100k is also not much compared to average medical debt. and going into one of the specialties u mentioned will set you up to pay it off fairly quickly.
3. Opportunities & education seem fairly equal. The research year seems great but also keep in mind it will be a year without clinical exposure/ not as prepared I saw the recent ucla crisis thread so I recommend looking through that. But to sum it up their 1yr curriculum is still a work & progress and both faculty and students have voiced concerns. They posted that a lot of studying for step 1/2 is up to the student and the short curriculum doesn't prepare students well for step and prior knowledge entering clerkships. I think you would definitely need to be a disciplined and self motivated student if you chose ucla based on that thread. I think pass fail is great and will lessen day to day stress though! but going into competitive specialty and not being able to distinguish yourself in step 1 or grades is going to put more weight on other parts of your application.
I'm sure you will thrive at either school- congrats on both acceptances! Let us know where u end up!
premed2o24
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Thank you all so much for your time, input, and thoughtfulness!! This past week I've been talking to my family, friends, current med students, and advisors to weigh my options carefully. Just to address people's comments: First, I agree that UCLA has several advantages like location, finances, curriculum, etc., and given the areas of medicine that interest me, I need time to focus on research, making the Discovery year a convenient opportunity for me to increase pubs. I would like to add that from my understanding, we still have to be in clinic two half-days per week during M3 which I think is good because I had also initially been concerned about how my clinical skills would be impacted by a research year.
I also read through that interesting thread and I'm glad I got to hear perspectives from multiple students about their experiences. Since no med school is perfect, what matters most to me about any program (besides financial aid lol) is learning "what are the things that students don't like about their school?" in order to decide if I can live with those flaws or not, but up until now I found it a little difficult getting any straightforward complaints/criticisms from students at any of the second looks and admitted students events that I attended. Learning how UCLA students have handled the condensed pre-clinical curriculum (which is the same length as UMich's), shelf exams, step 1/2, etc.---both the good and the bad--is exactly what I needed to hear. It has served as an important reminder that self-directed learning and pushing myself beyond a set standard will be necessary all throughout med school (and beyond) regardless of where I go.
In the end, the one thing that has taken up considerable thought for me is the distance from home. However, since my family is not from Michigan, I'm going to have to get used to the idea of relying on FaceTime and zoom to check in with them either way as a 5 hour drive (10 hrs round trip) is not something that can be done frequently. And, knowing myself, as I get older, the urge to remain close to home will only grow. Going to UCLA might very well be an opportunity of lifetime before settling down in the midwest. So even though this is not easy at all, I will likely be withdrawing my acceptance from UMich. I'm going to give myself the rest of this weekend though to think it through because committing to this huge life-changing event is nerve-racking!
I also read through that interesting thread and I'm glad I got to hear perspectives from multiple students about their experiences. Since no med school is perfect, what matters most to me about any program (besides financial aid lol) is learning "what are the things that students don't like about their school?" in order to decide if I can live with those flaws or not, but up until now I found it a little difficult getting any straightforward complaints/criticisms from students at any of the second looks and admitted students events that I attended. Learning how UCLA students have handled the condensed pre-clinical curriculum (which is the same length as UMich's), shelf exams, step 1/2, etc.---both the good and the bad--is exactly what I needed to hear. It has served as an important reminder that self-directed learning and pushing myself beyond a set standard will be necessary all throughout med school (and beyond) regardless of where I go.
In the end, the one thing that has taken up considerable thought for me is the distance from home. However, since my family is not from Michigan, I'm going to have to get used to the idea of relying on FaceTime and zoom to check in with them either way as a 5 hour drive (10 hrs round trip) is not something that can be done frequently. And, knowing myself, as I get older, the urge to remain close to home will only grow. Going to UCLA might very well be an opportunity of lifetime before settling down in the midwest. So even though this is not easy at all, I will likely be withdrawing my acceptance from UMich. I'm going to give myself the rest of this weekend though to think it through because committing to this huge life-changing event is nerve-racking!
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I just graduated from UCLA undergrad so if you have any questions about UCLA besides the actual MD program itself I would be happy to help answer those! And although I’m still only applying this cycle, I’d also choose UCLA here. I’m biased though because I loved my time here!
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