whiskyneat
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2018
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 4
FAU
Pros:
Cons:
USF
Pros:
Cons:
Career-wise, I’m interested in radiation oncology or surgery. USF has its own rad onc residency program and I’ve heard they favor their own for residency spots, plus I think it would be helpful to personally know people in the department for letters of recommendation. I think their clinical education is the best quality I can get in the state, and I like Tampa. On the other hand, they recently switched from P/F to a honors/high pass/pass/ fail grading system, which I’ve been repeatedly told is something to avoid. Also, a current medical student there told me a lot of students in his class didn’t feel prepared for Step 1 when they took it, and the below average scores were the reason for the change. I heard they are implementing a new preclinical curriculum starting this fall to try and improve this. Lastly, maybe it was just bad luck, but a lot of the other interviewees I met at USF seemed like gunners, which is a big turn off for me.
For FAU, I really felt a family-like vibe from the students and faculty there (a lot of schools portray themselves that way on interview day, but here it actually seems true), mostly because of the small class size. For undergrad, a lot of my classes were in auditoriums and I never spoke to the professors, so this really appeals to me. It seems there’s a lot of individualized attention to each student to help them succeed. I know a couple of med students there, and they all love the school and seem genuinely happy. On the other hand, I met an attending who works with medical students from the South Florida schools (FAU, FIU, UM, and Nova) and he said that FAU’s students were the weakest clinically. Obviously, that was the perspective of one person so I’m not sure how seriously to take it. Frankly, my main worry with FAU is that it wouldn’t give me as good a shot at the residency I want as USF would.
Tl;dr: I’m having trouble deciding between a more established school that I think would give me the best shot at the residency I want, and a newer school I love that I might be happier and have more support at. Any input it appreciated, but especially from USF or FAU students!
Pros:
- Unranked P/F grading for preclinical years
- Small class size
- Received a large scholarship
- Friends with several current students
- Close to home
- I loved the vibe I got, very close-knit and the people were chill
Cons:
- Lack of a teaching hospital
- Not completely sold on quality of clinical training
- Less established school
- Cost of living
USF
Pros:
- The best rotation sites in the state, especially Tampa General Hospital and Moffitt Cancer Center
- CAMLS, the simulation center, is very impressive
- New medical school building opening downtown next year
- Stronger match list
- Cost of living is very reasonable
- Home residency in rad onc
Cons:
- Honors/high pass/pass/fail grading
- Larger class size
- Did not vibe well with the other interviewees I met
Career-wise, I’m interested in radiation oncology or surgery. USF has its own rad onc residency program and I’ve heard they favor their own for residency spots, plus I think it would be helpful to personally know people in the department for letters of recommendation. I think their clinical education is the best quality I can get in the state, and I like Tampa. On the other hand, they recently switched from P/F to a honors/high pass/pass/ fail grading system, which I’ve been repeatedly told is something to avoid. Also, a current medical student there told me a lot of students in his class didn’t feel prepared for Step 1 when they took it, and the below average scores were the reason for the change. I heard they are implementing a new preclinical curriculum starting this fall to try and improve this. Lastly, maybe it was just bad luck, but a lot of the other interviewees I met at USF seemed like gunners, which is a big turn off for me.
For FAU, I really felt a family-like vibe from the students and faculty there (a lot of schools portray themselves that way on interview day, but here it actually seems true), mostly because of the small class size. For undergrad, a lot of my classes were in auditoriums and I never spoke to the professors, so this really appeals to me. It seems there’s a lot of individualized attention to each student to help them succeed. I know a couple of med students there, and they all love the school and seem genuinely happy. On the other hand, I met an attending who works with medical students from the South Florida schools (FAU, FIU, UM, and Nova) and he said that FAU’s students were the weakest clinically. Obviously, that was the perspective of one person so I’m not sure how seriously to take it. Frankly, my main worry with FAU is that it wouldn’t give me as good a shot at the residency I want as USF would.
Tl;dr: I’m having trouble deciding between a more established school that I think would give me the best shot at the residency I want, and a newer school I love that I might be happier and have more support at. Any input it appreciated, but especially from USF or FAU students!
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