UK vs University of Louisville

[m2k]

I did searched this thread on this topic. The responses are few years old. I would like to get some current perspective.

Why would you choose/differences UK or Louisville?

Thanks for sharing.

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[aclarke09]

I'm interested to hear more as well, since I couldn't find much from previous searches. Generally what I've heard is U of L has better clinical opportunities and UK has better research.

 

[bigdogrob4284]

I interviewed at U of L on Tuesday and I thought it was a great school. Definitely had some great clinical opportunities and it is in a awesome location. I don't know much about UK though.

On another note, this thread should likely be in the school specific section.

 

[m2k]

I'm interested to hear more as well, since I couldn't find much from previous searches. Generally what I've heard is U of L has better clinical opportunities and UK has better research.

That's what I heard...

at the end of the day, you'll get clinical experiences in all areas at UK - and you'll get in depth experience during residency/fellowship.

Unless you really want to get into research after graduation, how can it help you during your practice of medicine in real word?

 

[aclarke09]

That's what I heard...

at the end of the day, you'll get clinical experiences in all areas at UK - and you'll get in depth experience during residency/fellowship.

Unless you really want to get into research after graduation, how can it help you during your practice of medicine in real word?

Yeah, both are good schools and you'll get those opportunities at either one, I was just relaying the general differences I had heard (even if they are minute).

I've been accepted to Louisville and that is where I'm leaning right now, but I'll wait til after my UK interview next week before I say anything more concrete.

 

[m2k]

Yeah, both are good schools and you'll get those opportunities at either one, I was just relaying the general differences I had heard (even if they are minute).

That makes it harder to decide... How about residencies after graduation, i.e. more available in UoL hospitals - do they prefer UoL graduates?

 

[aclarke09]

That makes it harder to decide... How about residencies after graduation, i.e. more available in UoL hospitals - do they prefer UoL graduates?

As far as I know, most residency programs like applicants from their own school, and many students end up matching at the same place they went to for med school. I think also many students prefer to stay at the same school or city.

 

[Nymphicus]

Moved to School-Specific Discussions, the appropriate place to discuss specific schools.

 

[Member4126]

I am also very interested in this topic. Were you accepted at both places?

 

[opiperlou]

I'm leaning more toward UK right now, but I have lived near Lexington for the last four years. I feel like the only major difference is the environment. Lexington is a little smaller with a lot of outdoor activities nearby, Louisville is more urban with a lot of entertainment options in the city. The impression I got from the interviews is that Louisville has a slightly more closely knit student body and UK fosters slightly more competition between students.

 

[m2k]

3rd year UKY med student came to our school and during q/a, she mentioned that her friend who went to UoL at the same time was a lot less stressed during first two years of med school. She wondered if she should have gone to UoL where there is less stress.

Does anyone have this impression among these two schools? If so, why are you more stressed at UKY than UoL? Both schools should be covering same courses/content?

 

[bossplayer]

Yeah, both are good schools and you'll get those opportunities at either one, I was just relaying the general differences I had heard (even if they are minute).

I've been accepted to Louisville and that is where I'm leaning right now, but I'll wait til after my UK interview next week before I say anything more concrete.

Aclarke - any thoughts post UK interview?

 

[kentuckycc]

I have talked to a current UK third year who says he wished he went to UofL. He has friends at UofL and says they are much more laid back and less competitive with each other. Which kind of made me think that UofL might not be preparing their students as well, but their Step 1 scores were very good. Even my interviewer at UofL went to undergrad at UK and chose to go to UofL for the very same reasons.

Both schools seemed great to me, so I don't know where I'm leaning now. I'm still waiting to hear from some out of state schools and I'll figure it out later. At least this is a good problem to have! haha

 

[walkthesun]

I've been accepted both places and at first I was leaning towards Louisville but now I'm back to leaning towards UK (where I'm an undergrad) and I can't really give a strong explanation why....but I haven't heard anything from 3rd years wishing they had gone elsewhere. Everyone I talked to said they loved UK.

I'm still very much undecided....and I don't have a clue how I'm gonna make a final decision besides going to second look days.

 

[Member4126]

Do most people get accepted at both places? I know for an OOS student it is impossible to gain instate residency at UofL, but what about UK? Anyone know of anyone gaining instate tuition based on their spouse working in KY?

 

[Jas1360]

Do most people get accepted at both places? I know for an OOS student it is impossible to gain instate residency at UofL, but what about UK? Anyone know of anyone gaining instate tuition based on their spouse working in KY?

Has your spouse already started working in Kentucky or are they planning to when you get here?

 

[Member4126]

She is planning to start when we move there. I was planning on applying for instate tuition for M2...

 

[Jas1360]

She is planning to start when we move there. I was planning on applying for instate tuition for M2...

That wouldn't work, your reason for moving has to be related to something other than school. If she already had a job in Kentucky or if her job had transferred her and that is why you moved to Kentucky it would be different.

 

[airball426]

UK does have a much different schedule in the pre-clinical years compared to UL. UL has the typical block schedule where you take 3,4, or 5 classes at a time. UK, on the other hand, takes 1, 2, at most 3 classes at a time in the first two years (which does seem pretty awesome).

However, I have friends at both and my friends at UL seem significantly less stressed, more light hearted, and just in a better overall mood compared to my friends at UK. And my friends at UL were not the "light-hearted" type in undergrad... It makes me think UL does foster a better community, where UK does instigate a lot of competition between the students. Hence, the P/F vs actual grades grading systems.

I have lived half my life in Louisville, and half my life in Lexington, both are great cities with a lot to offer. Still, completely undecided between the two schools 😕.

Anyone agree / disagree with any of these observations?

 

[kentuckycc]

UK does have a much different schedule in the pre-clinical years compared to UL. UL has the typical block schedule where you take 3,4, or 5 classes at a time. UK, on the other hand, takes 1, 2, at most 3 classes at a time in the first two years (which does seem pretty awesome).

However, I have friends at both and my friends at UL seem significantly less stressed, more light hearted, and just in a better overall mood compared to my friends at UK. And my friends at UL were not the "light-hearted" type in undergrad... It makes me think UL does foster a better community, where UK does instigate a lot of competition between the students. Hence, the P/F vs actual grades grading systems.

I have lived half my life in Louisville, and half my life in Lexington, both are great cities with a lot to offer. Still, completely undecided between the two schools 😕.

Anyone agree / disagree with any of these observations?

I agree completely. I think I like the direction UK is taking their curriculum (they are in the process of changing it/ working out the kinks), but I agree that the entire mood of the U of L campus is different, more relaxed, more community, etc., despite it being a larger school.

UK also has class the first two years earlier in the day and is done much earlier; I'm not a morning person at all, so I'm not wild about that. I like the idea of being done early most days though.

Both have good match lists, board scores, so it seems mostly a matter of personal preference. I don't think there is a strong, compelling reason why someone should choose one or the other.

Anyone made their decision for sure? Any current students that picked one over the other? Of the two I'm leaning U of L.

 

[walkthesun]

UK does have a much different schedule in the pre-clinical years compared to UL. UL has the typical block schedule where you take 3,4, or 5 classes at a time. UK, on the other hand, takes 1, 2, at most 3 classes at a time in the first two years (which does seem pretty awesome).

However, I have friends at both and my friends at UL seem significantly less stressed, more light hearted, and just in a better overall mood compared to my friends at UK. And my friends at UL were not the "light-hearted" type in undergrad... It makes me think UL does foster a better community, where UK does instigate a lot of competition between the students. Hence, the P/F vs actual grades grading systems.

I have lived half my life in Louisville, and half my life in Lexington, both are great cities with a lot to offer. Still, completely undecided between the two schools 😕.

Anyone agree / disagree with any of these observations?

Interesting points on the atmosphere of UL vs UK. That seems to be the consensus here on this thread, though I think it is hard to tell whether those differences are significant or not. I haven't heard much first hand though, so what do I know.

The class schedule for UK is enticing considering that they go 8-12 everyday, whereas at UL their schedule constantly changes week to week (at least when I asked one of the med students on interview day).

Most of the people that I know who have been accepted to both schools are still undecided...myself included. I guess I'll just go to UK's info session in January and UL's second look day (whenever that is) and try to decide from there.

 

[m2k]

How's dorm situation? Does most people live in dorms or rent apts/hourse? How far are good places to live for each?

I hope some of current students share their experiences here. Has anyone bought house in either of these places? You could probably recover mortgage by getting room mates.

 

[Jas1360]

How's dorm situation? Does most people live in dorms or rent apts/hourse? How far are good places to live for each?

I hope some of current students share their experiences here. Has anyone bought house in either of these places? You could probably recover mortgage by getting room mates.

Lexington is easy to live close to campus. I doubt any med students would live in dorms. It is much less expensive to rent or purchase a house. The price of houses varies a lot but you can find some good deals.

My friends in Louisville seem to be able to find places to live close to campus with no problems.

 

[Hermione03]

I withdrew my application from UK when I had been accepted to UofL after hearing from students at both schools. The thing that really killed it for me was that the first years I know at UK spoke about one of their professors who is regularly incorrect about material, and even material that he specifies as exam material. She said that the students have to confront him about facts that they research and find are wrong.

I feel like saying this may get me into trouble but it is what the students told me. So hopefully everyone will just take that with a grain of salt as part of my decision making process.

 

[m2k]

I withdrew my application from UK when I had been accepted to UofL after hearing from students at both schools. The thing that really killed it for me was that the first years I know at UK spoke about one of their professors who is regularly incorrect about material, and even material that he specifies as exam material. She said that the students have to confront him about facts that they research and find are wrong.

I feel like saying this may get me into trouble but it is what the students told me. So hopefully everyone will just take that with a grain of salt as part of my decision making process.

It is hard to believe. I spoke to bunch of them... and no one mentioned this...

 

[Hermione03]

That was just what I was told, I think they said it was Embryology.

 

[m2k]

That was just what I was told, I think they said it was Embryology.

Everyone makes mistakes. You'll do a lot of reading and will easily catch it. Mistake here and there is not an issue, i.e. it will happen.

 

[walkthesun]

Has anyone that has commented here previously decided definitively on where they are headed? It would be interesting to hear everyone's final decision and why they ended up choosing that school.

Right now I'm leaning very strongly towards Louisville (I'll decide for sure after the 2nd look day in Feb.), because:
- I feel the environment there fits me better (ie. I would enjoy being there on a day to day basis)
- Their clinical years are very strong
- I like the Louisville's medical campus layout and location better

Though, being an undergrad at UK made it tougher to come to this conclusion. Go CATS!!

 

[CliveStaples]

I'll go ahead and share a new opinion:

I've been accepted at both UK and UofL and I've decided to attend UK. For the reason that many of you have already intimated, only in the reverse direction, I just felt more 'at home' at UK. UofL just seemed very large and spread out and I was also interested in having a smaller medical school class. In these tough economic times, I was also intrigued by the tuition guarantee which allows for easier fiscal responsibility. UofL's class schedule also goes from like 9-5 every single day while UK goes from 8-12 and so I really value the time to be able to study and honestly to be recreational as well. The grading system is almost irrelevant as your clinical grades have little bearing on matching into a residency. I spoke with several m1s and m2s and while they all do wish they were on a P/F system, they don't feel like it leads to too much competition. The people that want to be the best will gun to be the best no matter what school you go to, but most of the students work collaboratively and share a lot of their notes via a Dropbox system that the entire class is invited to.

I really think I just liked the vibe from UK more. Students seem to work together, get into the clinic from the first semester, seem to have every research opportunity afforded to them if they choose to do so, and they have the time to seek lives outside of being in the college of medicine building all day. Keep in mind that my opinion is just one of many, and I really do encourage you to trust your instincts while making an informed decision on school. I'm probably influenced by the fact that I have several friends who are first and second year students, but I think that gives me a more honest look into the school than "I talked to some medical student here once."

If you have the chance to pick between medical schools, you're in a small pool of people - so count your blessings if this is the biggest problem you face. Looking forward to being some of your colleagues some day soon!

 

[MedPR]

Won't be much help, but a friend of mine goes to UL and he loves it there.

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[m2k]

UoL spends that much time in classroom? I did not know that. What do they cover more compared to UK?

Seems like it is hard to get objective analysis... current UK loves UK and UoL loves UoL. - both great schools - can't go wrong with any of these two.

P/F does relieve you of some stress. I know some might get full speed, but I would guess, most would take it a little easy. That does not mean that you don't cover/understand subject matter... you just don't memorize as hard which you're going to forget anyways by the time you study for USMLE.

Still undecided 😕

 

[briamonto]

the appropriate place to discuss specific schools.

 

[walkthesun]

UoL spends that much time in classroom? I did not know that. What do they cover more compared to UK?

Seems like it is hard to get objective analysis... current UK loves UK and UoL loves UoL. - both great schools - can't go wrong with any of these two.

P/F does relieve you of some stress. I know some might get full speed, but I would guess, most would take it a little easy. That does not mean that you don't cover/understand subject matter... you just don't memorize as hard which you're going to forget anyways by the time you study for USMLE.

Still undecided 😕

Here is a link to an older thread where some UofL students discussed the curriculum.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=709416

Compared to UK (which is 8-12 everyday with the exceptions of ICM on Wednesday afternoons I think), UofL students do spend more time per day in class, but fewer total days (ie. longer breaks).

According to a Louisville student on the thread I posted:

First semester of first year, typical class schedule is 8-12 in class, 1-2 anatomy (MWF), with anatomy lab starting at 2 and going until whenever you are finished. You get most Wednesday mornings off for study time or preceptorship. You will also get some afternoons off, it just depends on the schedule.

Second semester of first year is lecture all the time, pretty much from 8-3/4.

Second year is lecture all the time. If you are not lecturing you should be studying (A LOT more material in second year).

The biggest difference is in the 2nd year curriculum. UofL still has a more traditional curriculum with classes such as Path, Pharmacology, etc. whereas UK is systems-based in year 2. Also, Louisville has block testing their 2nd year (where every 6 weeks or so you take exams for all courses on one day), but I think they have no classes the week leading up it.

But yeah m2k, it is still a tough decision as both are great schools. I was very undecided until fairly recently. Did you go to UK's financial aid day? And are you planning on going to UofL's 2nd look day in February? That may help you decide. Best of luck!

 

[walkthesun]

I'll go ahead and share a new opinion:

I've been accepted at both UK and UofL and I've decided to attend UK. For the reason that many of you have already intimated, only in the reverse direction, I just felt more 'at home' at UK. UofL just seemed very large and spread out and I was also interested in having a smaller medical school class. In these tough economic times, I was also intrigued by the tuition guarantee which allows for easier fiscal responsibility. UofL's class schedule also goes from like 9-5 every single day while UK goes from 8-12 and so I really value the time to be able to study and honestly to be recreational as well. The grading system is almost irrelevant as your clinical grades have little bearing on matching into a residency. I spoke with several m1s and m2s and while they all do wish they were on a P/F system, they don't feel like it leads to too much competition. The people that want to be the best will gun to be the best no matter what school you go to, but most of the students work collaboratively and share a lot of their notes via a Dropbox system that the entire class is invited to.

I really think I just liked the vibe from UK more. Students seem to work together, get into the clinic from the first semester, seem to have every research opportunity afforded to them if they choose to do so, and they have the time to seek lives outside of being in the college of medicine building all day. Keep in mind that my opinion is just one of many, and I really do encourage you to trust your instincts while making an informed decision on school. I'm probably influenced by the fact that I have several friends who are first and second year students, but I think that gives me a more honest look into the school than "I talked to some medical student here once."

If you have the chance to pick between medical schools, you're in a small pool of people - so count your blessings if this is the biggest problem you face. Looking forward to being some of your colleagues some day soon!

Yeah, I really do see the appeal of a set 8-12 schedule every day, giving you plenty of time to study and enjoy life. Also, the faculty that I met at UK was outstanding and they seemed to be very supportive of their students. It was definitely one of the reasons that made my decision to go to Louisville so tough. Best of luck to you at UK!

 

[m2k]

But yeah m2k, it is still a tough decision as both are great schools. I was very undecided until fairly recently. Did you go to UK's financial aid day? And are you planning on going to UofL's 2nd look day in February? That may help you decide. Best of luck!

I guess you decided to goto UK?

No, I could not go to UK's financial aid day. I got email for the videos and watched them.

I would definitely goto UoL for second look. I have not seen any invitation on that yet.

 

[walkthesun]

I guess you decided to goto UK?

No, I could not go to UK's financial aid day. I got email for the videos and watched them.

I would definitely goto UoL for second look. I have not seen any invitation on that yet.

Actually, I'm pretty sure I will go to Louisville. Sorry, my earlier post was probably confusing.

I just got an email from UofL this morning about the 2nd look day. It will be from about 8am to 3pm on Feb. 16th. It said they would send a more detailed schedule soon.

 

[HealthHare]

For an OOS URM with good stats for both of these school, would it be worth applying? Would they be likely to offer IS tuition scholarships?

 

[Member4126]

Anyone able to discuss how UK and UofL's second looks compared? Which way are you leaning after visiting both schools again? Pros,cons, etc..