UMiami vs UWSOM

[victoryatlast8]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hi everyone!!

I was super lucky to receive multiple acceptances this cycle :') and I've narrowed down my choices to the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and University of Washington School of Medicine (regular MD program for both). For reference, I am from Washington and have Washington state residency. I am pretty set on pursuing a surgical specialty (orthopedic hand surgery would be my top choice but I know that's a lofty goal), so the change of Step 1 to P/F definitely threw a wrench in my decision making. I'm young and single and am totally open to moving to a new part of the country. I was set to move to Miami until this change was announced but I really don't want to make a decision I'll regret later when applying to residency programs.

UWSOM

Pros

• Objectively a higher ranked school -> better chance of securing a competitive residency spot
• Close to family
• Better/more research opportunities
• WWAMI program is very cool and would give me an opportunity to have clinical experiences in a lot of different nearby states

Cons

• Seattle is rainy, cold, and not friendly
• I've been here for my entire undergrad degree

UMiami

Pros

• I fell in LOVE with this school and city after visiting and think the lifestyle would be a great fit for me
• Get to experience a new part of the country
• Younger/more social class (from my experience)
• Small merit aid scholarship (just enough to make both choices financially equivalent with the in-state tuition at UWSOM)
• Jackson Memorial provides access to a huge/diverse patient population that I'd never get to experience in Seattle and is also a safety net hospital which is really important to me
• Practice my Spanish!!

Cons

• Travel expenses
• Far from family, could be tough to match up here if I eventually want to come back to Seattle

 

[victoryatlast8]

Can anyone who voted tell me a little about your reasoning? UW is such a great school but I'm definitely worried about the social aspect as the cohort doesn't seem very close and you move around so much for your 3rd and 4th years.

 

[Sky138]

I’d go UW simply because you’ll make friends regardless where you go. Is it worth it to forgo the objectively better school and home field advantage for residency to feel a little closer with your cohort? Also for years 3 and 4 you wouldn’t be moving all over the place. UW is known for its clinical training because they don’t limit their students to a single rotation or even a few rotation sites. Outside of the spend a little time outside of Seattle rotations, I’m pretty sure you can stay in Seattle the majority of year 3 and 4. Also if you want to do research, you literally have access to as much research as you want. If as an undergrad, with zero medical training or knowledge at the time, could get many, many clinical research publications in the specialty I’m interested in... I can only imagine how easy it’d be for med students. If you really are concerned maybe ask admissions if it’d be possible to switch to the Spokane cohort?

 

[Sky138]

I don’t think you should hold UW’s primary care ranking against them simply because they have everything a student needs to chase a competitive specialty. Also with UW’s shortened didactic period, UW students should have higher step 2 scores and thus a competitive edge in the post-step 1 p/f era.