University of Miami vs. University of Florida

[trigator]

I have been accepted to both of these schools and am torn. I can't stand living in Gainesville again but its a higher ranked school with a cheaper tuition. I can't justify being happy at a school for a $15,000 extra cost. Can anyone help?

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[8deuce]

well to be honest the rankings of u.s. news really has no bearing because even though uf was ranked higher on this years report, miami was ranked higher over the past years. but only by a few spots. the schools are about the same but miami is probably one of the top 3 schools in the country for clinical exposure (u. of maryland,washington u. being the others)if that is what you are looking for. but it is more expensive than florida so that is an issue. also the diversity of the students in the school and in the city of miami is great.if you are into academic medicine florida is the better route. what other parts of med school are you looking for? hope this gave you some info.good luck on the decision

 

[Cobragirl]

I guess I can't be totally objective about this since I didn't interview at Miami...I withdrew my application after being accepted to Florida!!!

Anyway, I do have a close classmate/friend that interviewed at both (he's going to FSU in the fall) and from what he told me, it's just going to come down to "personal" preferences. Both schools are well-known to be top-notch. Both encourage students to pursue THEIR interests. Both schools have LOTS of research & scholarship money. Both schools have excellent academic programs. And when I went to my interview, I saw PLENTY of diversity at Florida as well.

Basically, I think it really comes down to what YOU are looking for. Do you want to live in Miami or Gainesville? Do you have a spouse/family that needs to be able to find a job? Do you need to have the lower "state" tuition? Will you be able to find safe / affordable housing in Miami? What are your hobbies? Do you like to go camping or clubbing? Granted, there isn't a whole lot of free time in med-school, but when you have it, you'll want to enjoy it!

Personally, I would have been thrilled to have been accepted at either school, but since I'm married, I had to pick the school that would work for both of us...and for me, that was Florida (my hubby is Navy and will be stationed in Jacksonville).

Good luck in your decision...it's a tough one, but I don't think you could go wrong either way! Just remember to choose quickly...there's a LOT of people waiting on one of those seats to open up!!

 

[dirk18]

I would definately chose UF over UM eventhough i am from miami. I interviewed at both and was very impressed by UF. The tuition is much cheaper and UF is a better school. I was told by my interviewer at UM that they were having serious problems implementing their new curriculum. He told me many of the professors were against it and some were even quitting. Also they expect to see a decrease in their board scores because of the problem based learning curriculum. I felt UF was a better deal for the price. Not to mention the area around the school is dirty and Miami is an expensive city. With $200,000 debt + interest vs $70,000 debt UF seems to be the clear cut choice

[This message has been edited by dirk18 (edited April 28, 2001).]

 

[8deuce]

i have two friends one who went to uf and the other went to miami.they are both now doing their residency at jackson hospital and my friend who went to miami is light years ahead of my other friend. and this was admmited to me by both of them. the reason is the awesome clinical exposure you get at miami b/c jackson is the second busiest hospital in the country.my friend who went to florida is so upset because he was not prepared for the "real world" clinically. he did have less debt but look at what he got in return.

 

[dirk18]

you have no idea what your talking about. UF has an excellent reputation amongst residency directors. Shands is a great hospital with top notch research that is ranked higher than UM. i think hopkins, chicago and UCSF would have something to say about your claim that UM is top three clinically. "busy" doesnt mean better. these mysterious friends of yours probably dont exist. i would do some homework before i made such claims. Miami has old worn out facilities that have no ventilation and their library is pathetic. im sorry but the difference in clinical experience is minimal and not worth the extra 15,000 dollars.they are charging for an ivy league education and are not even ranked in the top 50. being fluent in spanish is also a must because many of the patients cant communicate in english

[This message has been edited by dirk18 (edited April 28, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by dirk18 (edited April 28, 2001).]

 

[8deuce]

you must be some kind of fool to think that shands hospital is higher than jackson. most people don't even know about shands.granted uf does have good research but guess which of the two schools got more money from nih. that's right miami and you can look it up. and if you want to talk about rankings this is the first year that uf was ranked "higher" after miami had been ranked better every other year. so hey lighten up. and how dare you claim my friends are mysterious and don't exist. who the hell are you? i was just writing the truth of what they told me. you are just a pre-med so how can you know more than them? you don't and you go by some ranking that everyone can tell you is a crap. you need to do your homework and stop thinking if you read u.s. news that you have good info about schools. as you can read in my earlier posts i was saying it depends on what the op wanted to do in medicine that will help him choose (clinical,academic,etc.) i was not bashing any school but giving info of what i"ve reaserched and what has been told to me by people who have been to both med schools.and what about this spanish issue? are you afraid of a little diversity? or ashamed of your ethnicity. i would expect more from you mr. torres and stop having a grudge b/c miami rejected you.


😱

 

[josejalapeno]

Yeah Mr. Torres just be glad your ass got a green card as soon as you got off the banana boat and stop complaining about the med schools.

 

[dirk18]

first of all you are ignorant and it shows. i was accepted into both unlike you who will end up in the carribean. UM was top 50 last year but still ranked lower than UF and dropped out of the top 50 this year. you forget that UF is a state school which receives state funding that UM does not and the difference in NIH funding is minimal. when it comes to residency match, board scores are the name of the game. when i interviewed at UM this past fall we were told that a decrease in board scores was expected because of the new PBL curriculum they are instituting. so go ahead and spend all that money you stupid idiot. your claim that no one knows Shands is a statement from a complete ignorant. Shand's new Brain institute is one of the best in the country and is nationally recognized. UF also achieved a higher ranking from residency directors than UM did. hope you enjoy medschool in mexico along with jose jalasmallpecker

 

[josejalapeno]

so was I right about Mr.Torres being a cubano?

 

[dirk18]

oye jalasmallpecker go back to da barrio where you belong. orale. and no im am not cubano.

"i dont follow your mom your mom follows me"

 

[8deuce]

hey ignoramus ask around about shands in hicksville and then ask about jackson. yeah just what i thought nobody knows shands. and the nih money was not minimal it was almost double. now i know you really have no clue about this. oh by the way resident matching is the name of the game and miami's resident match was way better. so what to do you think about that!!!! haha you are just a little wannabe who is afraid of your culture and ethnicity. don't think that moving to gainesville is going to make you feel like someone your not. they will never accept you mr. torres so wake up and smell the grits, boy! oh i forgot miami is still and will always be better than florida. later sorry gayter!!!hahahaha lol 😀

 

[Cobragirl]

Why don't you boys put your football uniforms on and take it outside? 😀

 

[dirk18]

hey ****head let me tell you something the reason you are talking **** is because you cannot get into UF. Everyone knows UM is the easiest of the Florida schools to get into and is a backup for most. a few of the students i spoke to didnt even get an interview to UF and were only accepted to UM so they had no choice. you do have a choice and its called the West Indies. you are probably some jackoff premed that hasnt even interviewed at UM or UF because your too stupid. you wish i was your daddy so i could have passed some intelligence to you but i passed on our mom because she bites to much. let me give you some fatherly advice to quit while your ahead because the only thing i see in your future is being my bitch. get this through your thick skull "ranking" matters because who the hell is going to remember that some school received more money than another. while im off playing golf with your girlfriend and your mom you will be working at my office hoping to get enough money to pay your $300,000 dollars worth of loans. one day you will wake up and face the reality that you will never get rid of your debt for a sub-par education. you really have no clue.

 

[josejalapeno]

DAMN DIRK! I guess you got a bit of an attitude there huh? Let me clarify that I am not mexican nor do I have any ancestry that I can trace back to Mexico. With that outta that way, I must say that you are a sorry ass hispanic who probAbly came to this country like we all did as immigrants. You or your relatives came to the US because in your country you(or your relatives) were eating rice and beans and had a pair of oxen as your mode of transportation. I am hispanic as well and I never forget where I come from. It ticks me off when I see another hispanic like you who gets into med school and thinks he is that ****. Baboso, pendejo don't you know that you will always be a ***** no matTer how many MD's you have after your name? Drop the condescending and the "I am better than you attitude". You are nothing but a cockroach. In case you are cuban I tell you "COMEMIERDA CHICO"

 

[8deuce]

first of all when we put on our uniforms everyone saw how the hurricanes stuck it deep in the gayters ass. and i think all the gayters are begining to like it. the gayter punks got their ass bucked in sec country and couldn't do **** about it. now to that little bitch dirk the guy who is afraid to admit he is hispanic and wished he was a wasp. first of all everyone knows that all you need to get into uf is a fishing license. all my friends got invites to uf and did not even bother going to it because it is a podunk town and is closer to the 50's than the 21st century. and another thing, i know who you are mrs. torres and you are the typical hispanic that resents his heritage and don't think that no one notices at our school you little bitch. admit it that you can't hang with the big boys in miami little girl. hurricanes will always be better than the hick gayters. so remember that when i get your sister, cousins and your girlfriend pregnant little punk. face the truth that when i am in miami making $400,000 a year and supporting half your family with child support payments, you will be in hicktown hoping that you will be able to support yourself on chickenfeed. wake up you sell out bitch and realize who you are! keep it real latino. 😱

 

[coop]

hehe, I may only have 3 years of high school spanish but I can still translate "COMEMIERDA CHICO" 🙂

PS: can't we all just get along?

 

[Jacky]

Dirk,
Quite entertaining, to say the least. You might want to lose the acrimony before you matriculate, though.

 

[Socceroo4ever]

Wee! Cobragirl, pass the popcorn, would ya? 😉

Erm... boys n' girls... *why* are we worried about bunking up with everyone's brothers and sisters? And... school rivalries aside, football season is quite over and there's always next year. Now, I'm *not* "yo mamma" or "yo pappa" but please... this isn't the place to bicker. 🙂 Take it to email if you must.

 

[8deuce]

i apologize to all except that sellout latino, wannabe wasp dirk. i normally do not go off like that and you guys on this site know me better. but this fool wanted to get stupid and thought i was some little dweeb that he can talk down to. so i had to put him in check. the rest of you guys rule!!!! we will save the world................ 😀

 

[trigator]

wow...i didn't know that my question would spark so much controversy. just so everyone knows, i didn't just depend on this website for information and i spoke with the admissions people from both school, a professor for the UF college of medicine, and several doctors in South Florida.
Sure, UM did drop just below UF this year but in the past it has been ranked above UF. Also, the Brain Institute has brought many top researchers to UF and UF's cancer center is very reputable. However, Jackson Memorial is in the top 50 for many specialties while UF is only top 50 for a handful. All of the people I spoke with esteemed both schools to be excellent medical schools with excellent teaching hospitals. The differences in the costs are huge and also a medical student will see a wider variety of cases at Jackson Memorial. Finally, the new curriculum has been implemented to improve board scores. Many other medical schools have implemented a similar curriculum and have seen success and improvement. Sure, some professors are reluctant to change their method of teaching but the people at UM have confirmed that NO ONE has quit because of this.
ALSO UM is not the easiest school to get into and i know students that have higher numbers than i do that were not interviewed there.
i have to say that i am disappointed that everyone is so competitive this late in the game. its over and done with and we should all be happy we're going to med school since there are plenty of people who would love to be in our positions.

 

[8deuce]

thank you trigator!!! i hope that dirk did not give you a bad impression of miami but he is not as informed as we are. i am glad you have researched this and everything you wrote in your last reply is a carbon copy of what i have been writing about both schools. good luck in your decision and i hope to see you in south beach real soon!!!!

 

[Socceroo4ever]

Incidentally, isn't University of Miami not in Miami at all? I thought it was in Coral Gables. Not to be technical and all... hehehe!