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I shudder to ask "which school is better", but I'm trying to figure out which would be a better match for me, between the two. Does anyone have any opinions about one school over the other?
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University of Kentucky v. University of Louisville?
- Thread starter Rafa
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I went to undergrad/grad school at UL for 7 years. They then decided not to accept me to med shcool there, whereas UK bent over backwards and gave me a scholarship to go there--so I am at UK now!
I have friends at UL, and they all seem to like it. I think our schedule at UK is much better though. UL goes 8-5 everyday, but UK goes 11 months the first year. But we only have class 8-12, and sometimes a class a couple times per week in the afternoon. This gives plenty of time to study, and FREE TIME, which is at a premium at any med school. UL classes are all at the same time basically, whereas we have block scheduling and do 1-2 classes per block, which can be 16 or 8 weeks long. I have no personal experience obviously at UL, but I know the professors and administration at UK really go out of their way to make your experience as smooth and low stress as possible. I really cannot compliment them enough for the true care they show us all.
My two cents...
Good luck!
I have friends at UL, and they all seem to like it. I think our schedule at UK is much better though. UL goes 8-5 everyday, but UK goes 11 months the first year. But we only have class 8-12, and sometimes a class a couple times per week in the afternoon. This gives plenty of time to study, and FREE TIME, which is at a premium at any med school. UL classes are all at the same time basically, whereas we have block scheduling and do 1-2 classes per block, which can be 16 or 8 weeks long. I have no personal experience obviously at UL, but I know the professors and administration at UK really go out of their way to make your experience as smooth and low stress as possible. I really cannot compliment them enough for the true care they show us all.
My two cents...
Good luck!
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I went to undergrad/grad school at UL for 7 years. They then decided not to accept me to med school there, whereas UK bent over backwards and gave me a scholarship to go there--so I am at UK now!
I have friends at UL, and they all seem to like it. I think our schedule at UK is much better though. UL goes 8-5 everyday, but UK goes 11 months the first year. But we only have class 8-12, and sometimes a class a couple times per week in the afternoon. This gives plenty of time to study, and FREE TIME, which is at a premium at any med school. UL classes are all at the same time basically, whereas we have block scheduling and do 1-2 classes per block, which can be 16 or 8 weeks long. I have no personal experience obviously at UL, but I know the professors and administration at UK really go out of their way to make your experience as smooth and low stress as possible. I really cannot compliment them enough for the true care they show us all.
My two cents...
Good luck!
I have friends at UL, and they all seem to like it. I think our schedule at UK is much better though. UL goes 8-5 everyday, but UK goes 11 months the first year. But we only have class 8-12, and sometimes a class a couple times per week in the afternoon. This gives plenty of time to study, and FREE TIME, which is at a premium at any med school. UL classes are all at the same time basically, whereas we have block scheduling and do 1-2 classes per block, which can be 16 or 8 weeks long. I have no personal experience obviously at UL, but I know the professors and administration at UK really go out of their way to make your experience as smooth and low stress as possible. I really cannot compliment them enough for the true care they show us all.
My two cents...
Good luck!
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cunam_amoris said:
Wow - thank you for bringing this up. So you sound very happy at UK - how is the city? I haven't spent much time in Lexington, so any experiences of yours (rent? food? entertainment) would be most helpful. And could you go into some more detail about the 11 month schooling? Does it start in September and go until August? What happens for the following three years?
And if you don't mind, what do you do with all the free time? Do students typically use it to study, or to catch up on other interests, or...
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Lexington is a very big small town. We have an excellent horse track, Keeneland, and it's pretty easy to get around in. There isn't a huge nightlife, but there are plenty of bars to go to.
Rent near campus can be high, but no higher than next to other big campuses in US. I am about 2 miles from capus, and my single bedroom apt is 475/mo+ electric. It's not a bad town at all to live in, and if you are just dying for a huge club scene (relatively) you can drive 1 hour to Louisville for the night and party there (I lived there my whole life until last year).
M1's start around the first week of August and go thru June. We get July and into August off since 2nd years start a week or so later. The first block of classes is 16 weeks and is anatomy with lab and histology with lab. Next is 16 weeks of biochem and genetics, follwoed by 8 of neuroanatomy/neurophys +lab and then 8 of physiology. There is plenty of time to study and do fun things, such as relax and do absolutely nothing, which is something you will appreciate doing once you're in med school.
There's the campus rec center accross the street from the med center, and it has bball, raquetball, workout rooms, a climbing wall, everything like that. We also have alot of med students in the intramural sports leagues.
There's a little over 100 M1's, and you get to know everyone and it may sound cheesey, but it's like a big family.
M2's don't go as long, and get off school in May to study for the Step 1 USMLE. M3's go year round on clinical rotations (pretty standard at any med school for that) and then M4's have a 1 year vacation, I mean, clinical electives, and then graduate in May.
Rent near campus can be high, but no higher than next to other big campuses in US. I am about 2 miles from capus, and my single bedroom apt is 475/mo+ electric. It's not a bad town at all to live in, and if you are just dying for a huge club scene (relatively) you can drive 1 hour to Louisville for the night and party there (I lived there my whole life until last year).
M1's start around the first week of August and go thru June. We get July and into August off since 2nd years start a week or so later. The first block of classes is 16 weeks and is anatomy with lab and histology with lab. Next is 16 weeks of biochem and genetics, follwoed by 8 of neuroanatomy/neurophys +lab and then 8 of physiology. There is plenty of time to study and do fun things, such as relax and do absolutely nothing, which is something you will appreciate doing once you're in med school.
There's the campus rec center accross the street from the med center, and it has bball, raquetball, workout rooms, a climbing wall, everything like that. We also have alot of med students in the intramural sports leagues.
There's a little over 100 M1's, and you get to know everyone and it may sound cheesey, but it's like a big family.
M2's don't go as long, and get off school in May to study for the Step 1 USMLE. M3's go year round on clinical rotations (pretty standard at any med school for that) and then M4's have a 1 year vacation, I mean, clinical electives, and then graduate in May.
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All the cool people do go to UK.
I live in a place called "the Lexington," how creative. It's just off Tates Creek road at New Circle. It's a straightshoot down Tates Creek to Alumni drive/UK. My single is 474/mo + water (10/mo) and electric, which includes a 5% discount for being a UK student. They have a pool and that's about it, but there is a park behind the complex with tennis courts and a running/walking track. LOL, if you end up here, tell them I sent you, I get like 200 bucks off rent or something. 🙂
There's all kinds of places within a few miles from campus, just depends what you are looking for.
I live in a place called "the Lexington," how creative. It's just off Tates Creek road at New Circle. It's a straightshoot down Tates Creek to Alumni drive/UK. My single is 474/mo + water (10/mo) and electric, which includes a 5% discount for being a UK student. They have a pool and that's about it, but there is a park behind the complex with tennis courts and a running/walking track. LOL, if you end up here, tell them I sent you, I get like 200 bucks off rent or something. 🙂
There's all kinds of places within a few miles from campus, just depends what you are looking for.
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cunam_amoris said:
Do you see any pets around you? Like labrador sized dogs? Ive found that a lot of the aprtments in lexington have a weight restriction, so my choices are very limited.
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Oh yeah, pets. I have seen a golden retriever, and some people have multiple dogs. I know there's a pet fee. I don't think there's a limit though.
Good luck!
It's bed time...
Good luck!
It's bed time...
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bump...
how do you get to/from an airport (like SDF) from Lexington? It seems at least an hour away from Louisville. I'm wondering how I'll get there if I'm lucky enough to get an interview next year.
how do you get to/from an airport (like SDF) from Lexington? It seems at least an hour away from Louisville. I'm wondering how I'll get there if I'm lucky enough to get an interview next year.
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Rafa said:
Hey Rafa, where are you from?
I'm an in-stater and go to school in Kentucky. Lexington has its own airport, called bluegrass airport http://www.bluegrassairport.com. It's about a 10 minute drive to campus (in good traffic, 30 in bad).
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Its a really small airport. Also, it is really expensive to fly directly to Lexington. It was cheaper for me to fly into Louisville, rent a car, then drive to Lexington(about an hour away).
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I've gone to both med schools 🙂. I went to UK first year and then transferred to UL for second year. Just starting 3rd now.
My 2Cents... Both great schools. I don't see anything about either that would make one or the other "better" generally. You can get pretty much anywhere you want to go in medicine from either school, as the match lists regularly show. But, as the poster above said, there are differences that might make one better for a particular person.
I picked UK over UL initially because of the schedule differences described above. I'm married with kid and the lighter but longer 1st year schedule sounded like it would allow me to have a bit more of a family life... and I'd say it did.
But, I can tell you that many of my classmates here at Louisville were pretty productive in their 3 month MS1-MS2 summer. That extra time out of the classroom was apparently a great opportunity to do specialty related research and/or get some experience in medicine. 5 weeks of summer at UK didn't allow for as much of that (but, there is the opportunity to do some research during the year at UK... so, maybe a diligent student could make up for the short summer). Anyway, if research is your thing or if you are going into a competitive residency where research is a must... then, UL might provide a better opportunity for you on that front.
Differences between the two schools that I've experienced (BTW, take all of this with a grain of salt... just one guys opinion). UL second year has been a LOT more time intensive that UK first year. Not sure how much of it is due to differences between schools vs how much is differences between years though. UL yr 2 has a lot more lecture time than UK (more like 8-3 than 8-5 though), but, if lectures aren't your thing you don't have to go. I didn't. There did seem to be a lot more required activities at UL, but that could have just been my imagination. Anyway, IMO there is a general (if subtle) difference between the schools in that UK seemed to be more "self-directed" where UL seemed to provide a little more "guidance". For me, I preferred the self-directed approach at both schools... and, since very little is required attendance at either school, my experience was about the same at both. I prefer a book to a lecture any day of the week... but, it could be good for some ppl to have all of those lectures and "help" learning the material.
Something I really disliked about UL yr 2 are the block tests. I think the idea is to prepare us for boards, so the tests for all the classes going on in a given block are grouped into one big test, put in MC format and spread out over 5-6 hours. No fun and counterproductive IMO, but some folks really like it.
Not sure there is any real difference as far as the "block" scheduling goes... I had 2 to 3 classes at a time at UK and the same at UL.
Anyway, both good schools. I'd pick UK again if I were back picking, but its not because its a "better" school... just better for me on some levels.
My 2Cents... Both great schools. I don't see anything about either that would make one or the other "better" generally. You can get pretty much anywhere you want to go in medicine from either school, as the match lists regularly show. But, as the poster above said, there are differences that might make one better for a particular person.
I picked UK over UL initially because of the schedule differences described above. I'm married with kid and the lighter but longer 1st year schedule sounded like it would allow me to have a bit more of a family life... and I'd say it did.
But, I can tell you that many of my classmates here at Louisville were pretty productive in their 3 month MS1-MS2 summer. That extra time out of the classroom was apparently a great opportunity to do specialty related research and/or get some experience in medicine. 5 weeks of summer at UK didn't allow for as much of that (but, there is the opportunity to do some research during the year at UK... so, maybe a diligent student could make up for the short summer). Anyway, if research is your thing or if you are going into a competitive residency where research is a must... then, UL might provide a better opportunity for you on that front.
Differences between the two schools that I've experienced (BTW, take all of this with a grain of salt... just one guys opinion). UL second year has been a LOT more time intensive that UK first year. Not sure how much of it is due to differences between schools vs how much is differences between years though. UL yr 2 has a lot more lecture time than UK (more like 8-3 than 8-5 though), but, if lectures aren't your thing you don't have to go. I didn't. There did seem to be a lot more required activities at UL, but that could have just been my imagination. Anyway, IMO there is a general (if subtle) difference between the schools in that UK seemed to be more "self-directed" where UL seemed to provide a little more "guidance". For me, I preferred the self-directed approach at both schools... and, since very little is required attendance at either school, my experience was about the same at both. I prefer a book to a lecture any day of the week... but, it could be good for some ppl to have all of those lectures and "help" learning the material.
Something I really disliked about UL yr 2 are the block tests. I think the idea is to prepare us for boards, so the tests for all the classes going on in a given block are grouped into one big test, put in MC format and spread out over 5-6 hours. No fun and counterproductive IMO, but some folks really like it.
Not sure there is any real difference as far as the "block" scheduling goes... I had 2 to 3 classes at a time at UK and the same at UL.
Anyway, both good schools. I'd pick UK again if I were back picking, but its not because its a "better" school... just better for me on some levels.
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cunam_amoris said:
OMG - $475 for a 1 Br apt??!! That isn't just "no more expensive than anywhere else"!!!
I'm getting outta Boston! How could anybody live here???!!! 😀
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Orthodoc40 said:
haha 475 is about average man..you do need to get out of boston. I say louisville simply because it is fun to say....you get to do that weird slur of the words that I only know because I am from southern indiana and hear it all the time.
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I was accepted to UofL as an out-of-state applicant this past application cycle and seriously considered attending b/c I was very impressed with the school and the city (I have family in Louisville). Ultimately, I decided to attend my own state school (why pay OOS tuition when I liked my own state school as much (except for maybe the city). A great school, IMO, especially if you're interested in surgery.
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DiFranco said:
I didn't transfer because I disliked UK or thought UL would be better. My wife's mom was in Louisville and was very sick... we needed to be here in the ville and the good people at both schools helped that happen.
If I had to pick over though (and family concerns didn't exist), I'd still probably be thinking that the schedule first year at UK was a better fit for me. But I can't stress enough that I think both are quality schools.
