UM vs. UCF

[purpy123]

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Hi! So I was incredibly lucky to get into both programs, but am having a lot of difficulty on deciding which school to attend. Tuition will be similar for me at both programs, but if I am able to establish in-state residency, it will be cheaper at UCF. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Career goals:
-Match into competitive specialty in NYC

University of Miami
Pros:
- Prestige of the school may make it easy to get into a competitive specialty later on.
- Lots to do during downtime (this may be a potential con because of distractions and such).
- Have connections already in the field I am thinking of going into.
- Affiliated academic hospital.
- Clinic experience is incredible.
- Have extended family close by.
- Great match list.

Cons:
- The curriculum is not as integrated as UCF's
- Students seem a bit competitive
- Administration is not incredibly organized
- Lower step averages

UCF
Pros:
- Felt good vibes during visits to the school.
- Very high step averages.
- Love the preclinical curriculum (not sure if this is enough to overcome the new reputation of the school).
- Supportive faculty and collaborative students.
- Up and coming. The school gets incredibly better match lists every year and seems to have a great vision.

Cons:
- Not the reputation of UM (newer school)
- Clinical rotations are spread out in various hospitals.
- No academic hospital.
- Location is not as desirable as Miami and I do not have family in Orlando.
- Do not know faculty in the field I am thinking of going into.

Thank you!!

 

[ScottTenorman54]

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[SteyrFWB]

UCF match 6, 7, 8 people to dermatology year after year after year. What is going on?

 

[The Unburnt]

Just to throw some things to consider out there (I'm also considering both of these schools so I've been thinking heavily about both programs/talking to friends at both)

I've heard mixed reviews from friends at UM about the grading system, but I've also heard stories from friends of people being competitive at UM (giving classmates wrong notes, etc). I imagine it depends on who you surround yourself with of course, but I think it's fair to say the atmosphere at UCF is much less competitive from what I saw on interview day/have heard.

Idk if you heard about UM's accreditation with warnings thing but they got warnings in 8 places, including mistreatment of students in clerkships. Now, I know people who go to UM and have not had bad experiences with this so take it with a grain of salt, and I watched the Town Halls where the administration talked about their plans for addressing the warnings so they are working on it.

Lastly, cost of living in Miami is extremely high compared to Lake Nona, so that's something to consider. If you like big cities, then it might be worth paying the extra money to be in Miami.

I think the research opportunities in Miami are incredible and although UCF does have the mandatory research project, I think UM would provide better opportunities in Research in your field. I think you'd have more time to devote to research at UCF though because it's built into the curriculum.

I also don't remember much about the exam schedule/style at UM but I know UCF only has 1 exam per block which allows the students to have lots of time to focus on other things and most of my friends who go to UCF have time to travel and do things for fun.

I've also heard great things about the rotation locations at UCF, and they do have the huge VA and Nemours right next to the med school which you will be able to rotate through, in addition to building an academic hospital which is supposed to be finished by the time we start 3rd year (wouldn't count on that). The experience of rotating through Jackson is amazing from what I've heard since they see all kinds of patients.


They are both great programs, you just gotta figure out what your priorities are in a med school!

Edited cause I'm silly and for some reason was looking at the wrong notes when I was talking about UCF's grading! Sorry!

 

[Dr. Meliodas]

Just to throw some things to consider out there (I'm also considering both of these schools so I've been thinking heavily about both programs/talking to friends at both)

UM has numerical grades while UCF is pass/fail which is a huge advantage in terms of creating a collaborative and stress-free environment. I've heard mixed reviews from friends at UM about the grading system, but I've also heard stories from friends of people being competitive at UM (giving classmates wrong notes, etc). I imagine it depends on who you surround yourself with of course, but I think it's fair to say the atmosphere at UCF is much less competitive because of pass/fail.

Idk if you heard about UM's accreditation with warnings thing but they got warnings in 8 places, including mistreatment of students in clerkships. Now, I know people who go to UM and have not had bad experiences with this so take it with a grain of salt, and I watched the Town Halls where the administration talked about their plans for addressing the warnings so they are working on it.

Lastly, cost of living in Miami is extremely high compared to Lake Nona, so that's something to consider. If you like big cities, then it might be worth paying the extra money to be in Miami.

I think the research opportunities in Miami are incredible and although UCF does have the mandatory research project, I think UM would provide better opportunities in Research in your field. I think you'd have more time to devote to research at UCF though because it's built into the curriculum and because pass/fail allows you to focus on extracurricular things.

I also don't remember much about the exam schedule/style at UM but I know UCF only has 1 exam per block which allows the students to have lots of time to focus on other things and most of my friends who go to UCF have time to travel and do things for fun.

I've also heard great things about the rotation locations at UCF, and they do have the huge VA and Nemours right next to the med school which you will be able to rotate through, in addition to building an academic hospital which is supposed to be finished by the time we start 3rd year (wouldn't count on that). The experience of rotating through Jackson is amazing from what I've heard since they see all kinds of patients.


They are both great programs, you just gotta figure out what your priorities are in a med school!

Just one point of clarification, UCF has grades from what I was told during my interview and from what I can tell from the UCF COM student handbook.

 

[The Unburnt]

Just one point of clarification, UCF has grades from what I was told during my interview and from what I can tell from the UCF COM student handbook.

I was just about to edit my comment to reflect this! Sorry for the misunderstanding, I was looking at the wrong notes

 

[Dr. Meliodas]

I was just about to edit my comment to reflect this! Sorry for the misunderstanding, I was looking at the wrong notes

I'm sure with 10 II attended the notes from each of them must get a bit jumbled up from time to time 😉. Congrats on all your success this cycle! 🙂

 

[The Unburnt]

I'm sure with 10 II attended the notes from each of them must get a bit jumbled up from time to time 😉. Congrats on all your success this cycle! 🙂

Hahahah thank you so much! Same to you! I've seen you on a few threads and you always have great things to say. Looking forward to sharing a profession with you