ucsd vs umich

[inspironmac]

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Hey guys! I'm trying to decide between ucsd and umich. I feel very blessed to have been accepted into two great medical schools, but it has made it that much harder to make my final decision on which school to matriculate into this upcoming fall. Here is my analysis on the two schools so far.


UCSD:
Pros:
1. Location/weather is awesome
2. New facilities
3. Cheap! I believe grad housing is only 450 - 500 a month.
Cons:
1. New curriculum
2. Less prestige?
3. Known to be cutthroat?

UMICH:
Pros:
1. More established curriculum
2. More prestigious?
3. Seems like the students at the school destroy the STEP exams
Cons:
1. Weather is abysmal
2. Expensive

I might be completely off base on this, but it seems like umich students match into more competitive residencies than ucsd students. I was able to find umich's match list this year but didn't have any luck finding ucsd's match list. I would really appreciate it if someone would post ucsd's 2012 match list! Also proximity to family is not a big issue (parents live in florida). Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[Narmerguy]

Moving to School-Specific forums.

 

[nadaba]

I might be completely off base on this, but it seems like umich students match into more competitive residencies than ucsd students.

I don't know anything about comparing the strength of matchlists, but 2011 UCSD grads had an overwhelming bias for California/Western residency programs, which is not a fluke. They want to stay in California. You can't really fault a school for not sending lots of students to MGH and Hopkins when they don't want to go in the first place.

I would probably wait for financial info and go from there 🙂

 

[inspironmac]

I don't know anything about comparing the strength of matchlists, but 2011 UCSD grads had an overwhelming bias for California/Western residency programs, which is not a fluke. They want to stay in California. You can't really fault a school for not sending lots of students to MGH and Hopkins when they don't want to go in the first place.

I would probably wait for financial info and go from there 🙂

i completely agree with you on ucsd students having a bias to stay in cali but i was referring more to not a lot of ucsd students going into competitive specialties such as derm, rad. onc., ent, optho, and so forth. i was wondering what the reason for that was.

nadaba, if i ended up getting a nice scholarship from umich, would you choose umich over ucsd?

 

[protonate]

i completely agree with you on ucsd students having a bias to stay in cali but i was referring more to not a lot of ucsd students going into competitive specialties such as derm, rad. onc., ent, optho, and so forth. i was wondering what the reason for that was.

nadaba, if i ended up getting a nice scholarship from umich, would you choose umich over ucsd?

I used to have that same mindset of looking at the match lists of the school. The thing is that the specialties that you match into is totally dependent on the specific class. Do you think that each class has a quota for certain specialties? i.e do you think there has to be an exact amount of people doing dermatology each year? My point is that it depends on the students experiences and preferences. The medical school may create an environment that favors a specific specialization, like UWash for primary care of Columbia for neuro, but it doesn't mean that it will replicate the same match lists each year. The valuable piece of information that you can obtain from match lists is the % of students that match into their top choice residency. I think US news has it for some schools, but I am wary to spend 26 dollars and risk not having the schools I am interested in not having data. As nadaba said, if location doesn't matter then I would look at cost and curriculum. Congrats btw!

 

[nadaba]

nadaba, if i ended up getting a nice scholarship from umich, would you choose umich over ucsd?

I would go to Michigan. It's a great school with a really good reputation in a nice town.

I like SD because of location/weather, closeness to family, better opportunities for California residency, and instate tuition. Being from Florida, a lot of those things don't apply to you.

 

[drizzt3117]

If you're not from CA and aren't dead set on going there, and can tolerate the weather, umich will give you a somewhat better national reputation.

 

[inspironmac]

If you're not from CA and aren't dead set on going there, and can tolerate the weather, umich will give you a somewhat better national reputation.

I would go to Michigan. It's a great school with a really good reputation in a nice town.

I like SD because of location/weather, closeness to family, better opportunities for California residency, and instate tuition. Being from Florida, a lot of those things don't apply to you.

I used to have that same mindset of looking at the match lists of the school. The thing is that the specialties that you match into is totally dependent on the specific class. Do you think that each class has a quota for certain specialties? i.e do you think there has to be an exact amount of people doing dermatology each year? My point is that it depends on the students experiences and preferences. The medical school may create an environment that favors a specific specialization, like UWash for primary care of Columbia for neuro, but it doesn't mean that it will replicate the same match lists each year. The valuable piece of information that you can obtain from match lists is the % of students that match into their top choice residency. I think US news has it for some schools, but I am wary to spend 26 dollars and risk not having the schools I am interested in not having data. As nadaba said, if location doesn't matter then I would look at cost and curriculum. Congrats btw!

thanks guys for your input! to clarify, I have been working in cali for the past 3 years so I will actually be receving instate tuition from ucsd. and protonate you bring up a valid point.

i would love to hear from current ucsd students about their experiences with the new curriculum! man if the weather at michigan was a little warmer... also does anyone know the average step scores at ucsd? i know i will receive a great education from both of these schools, but i have heard that certain schools teach more to the boards and as a result students tend to do better. i am also aware that if i put in the work, regardless of the med school i attend, i should do fine on the boards.

 

[inspironmac]

also if you guys know positives and negatives of each school that I did not list, I would love to hear them. thanks again guys!

 

[doctoroftha313]

also if you guys know positives and negatives of each school that I did not list, I would love to hear them. thanks again guys!

+1...interested in hearing this as well

 

[drizzt3117]

I used to have that same mindset of looking at the match lists of the school. The thing is that the specialties that you match into is totally dependent on the specific class. Do you think that each class has a quota for certain specialties? i.e do you think there has to be an exact amount of people doing dermatology each year? My point is that it depends on the students experiences and preferences. The medical school may create an environment that favors a specific specialization, like UWash for primary care of Columbia for neuro, but it doesn't mean that it will replicate the same match lists each year. The valuable piece of information that you can obtain from match lists is the % of students that match into their top choice residency. I think US news has it for some schools, but I am wary to spend 26 dollars and risk not having the schools I am interested in not having data. As nadaba said, if location doesn't matter then I would look at cost and curriculum. Congrats btw!

That % of top match thing is utterly useless. It's based on programs interviewed; let's say someone wanted to match in a big city but only got interviews at west bumblefck memorial Hosp, etc, they might match their top choice but it wouldn't be where they really want to go.

 

[kautionwirez]

If you want to match in Cali, go to UCSD. I wouldn't worry about the match lists because both schools are prestigious. San Diego is a great place to live with lots of things to do (surfing, hiking, kayaking, eating, drinking, clubbing, all of the above as well in Baja). I'm sure Ann Arbor does too.

 

[hopesolo]

Finally, found UCSD's 2012 match list. Should I be impressed or is this pretty mediocre?

Anesthesiology (7)

UCSD
UCSD
Stanford
UCLA
Yale
Mt. Sinai
Scripps Mercy, San Diego, CA

Dermatology (2)

UCSD
UCSF

Emergency Medicine (6)

UCSD
UCSD
UCLA
UCLA
Maricopa Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ
University of Rochester/Strong Memorial Hospital

Family Medicine (4)

UCSF
UCLA Santa Monica
Contra Costa Regional Medical Center, Contra Costa, CA
Scripps Mercy Hospital, Chula Vista, CA

Internal Medicine (23)

UCSD
UCSD
UCSD
UCSD
Stanford
Stanford
UCLA
UCLA
Harbor-UCLA
UC Davis
UC Irvine
University of Washington
University of Michigan
Baylor
University of Colorado
University of Colorado
Northwestern
Emory
Olive View Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
Scripps Clinic Green Hospital, La Jolla, CA
Scripps Mercy Hospital, San Diego, CA
Scripps Mercy Hospital, San Diego, CA

OB/GYN (4)

UCSD
UCSD
Baylor
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Los Angeles

Ophthalmology (5)

UCSD
UCSD
UCLA/Jules Stein Eye Institute
Baylor
Massachusetts Eye & Ear

Neurology (1)

UCLA

Neurosurgery (1)

UMDNJ – Newark

Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery (2)

USC
Northwestern

Pathology (1)

UCLA

Pediatrics (16)

UCSD
UCSD
UCSD
UCSD
UCSD
UCSD
Stanford
UCLA
University of Colorado
University of Florida
Phoenix Childrens – Maricopa Medical Center
Los Angeles Children’s Hospital
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Loma Linda
Oakland Children’s Hospital
St. Louis Children’s Hospital

PM&R (1)

Mayo

Psychiatry (14)
UCSD
UCSD
UCSF
UCSF
UCSF
UCSF
University of Washington
University of Washington
Oregon Health & Science University
New York Presbyterian Hospital – Columbia
Boston University
Harvard Longwood Psychiatry
George Washington

Radiation Oncology (5)

University of Texas Galveston
City of Hope, CA
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
Loma Linda
Brigham & Womens Hospital

Radiology (10)

UCSD
UCSD
UCSD
Stanford
Stanford
UCSF
UC Davis
University of Colorado
University of Cincinnati
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Santa Clara, CA

Surgery (General) (12)

UCSD
UCSD
UCSD
UCSD
UCSD
UCSD
Stanford
UCSF
UCSF – East Bay
UCLA
University of Virginia
Boston University

Surgery (Orthopaedic) (6)

UCSD
UCLA
USC
University of Vermont
St. Mary’s Medical Center, San Francisco, CA
Banner Good Samaritan, Phoenix, AZ

General Surgery & Urology (1)

UCSD

 

[hopesolo]

btw, I too am trying to make the same decision as OP.