UW vs Utah

[MontanaGirl2020]

Having a hard time choosing between UW (Idaho wwami) and Utah
Uw pros:
Better Prestige/Reputation
Maybe 10k cheaper a year (waiting for aid)
More faculty/students
UW cons:
Students are pressured to pursue primary care
Have to move after the first 3 semesters
Some rotations outside of the region
First three semesters are in Moscow Idaho
Less of what I like to do- still there but a bit further away
Worried about social scene with moving around
Utah pros:
I love skiing climbing and everything outside
No moving for rotations
Facilities are all close together
More research immediately available (don’t really like research)
Utah cons
Less diverse class
Many commuters to school?
Less prestige?
Maybe a bit more expensive

I’m not sure what my main goal is in medicine as far as specialties go so I’m trying to keep my options open. I could see myself doing something competitive (not academic) and ultimately would want to match at Utah.
Thanks!

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[MontanaGirl2020]

Any feedback people? I flip between each school on an hourly basis

 

[deleted894256]

Any feedback people? I flip between each school on an hourly basis

At my Utah interview, I ate lunch next to a med student from Idaho. She told me she chose Utah over UW because she wanted to feel like she was 'part of a community' and wanted to do residency in Utah. Much like what you said, she felt like the Idaho people were a bit isolated and the cohort was really small. Of the Utah med students I know, there are definitely a ton of people who love being outside and aren't mormon. That said, I think the LDS influence on Utah culture can surprising/jarring if you've never encountered it before. SLC (and nearby Park City) have a relatively strong mormon counter-culture (including a growing LGBTQ nightlife scene, progressive politics). Plus, it's hard to beat the skiing/climbing/hiking/etc there. I'd reach out to the Utah admissions office or on the FB page to see if you can talk to any Idaho students-- I think they'd be your best bet.

How do you feel about the curriculums? I'm sure you know UW has you move around a lot for clerkships (which is a con for me), but has a shortened pre-clin (major pro). Utah has all your clerkships in SLC, but has a traditional (2 year) preclinical, with very little elective time until 4th year (which was major con for me).

Good luck 🙂

 

[MontanaGirl2020]

At my Utah interview, I ate lunch next to a med student from Idaho. She told me she chose Utah over UW because she wanted to feel like she was 'part of a community' and wanted to do residency in Utah. Much like what you said, she felt like the Idaho people were a bit isolated and the cohort was really small. Of the Utah med students I know, there are definitely a ton of people who love being outside and aren't mormon. That said, I think the LDS influence on Utah culture can surprising/jarring if you've never encountered it before. SLC (and nearby Park City) have a relatively strong mormon counter-culture (including a growing LGBTQ nightlife scene, progressive politics). Plus, it's hard to beat the skiing/climbing/hiking/etc there. I'd reach out to the Utah admissions office or on the FB page to see if you can talk to any Idaho students-- I think they'd be your best bet.

How do you feel about the curriculums? I'm sure you know UW has you move around a lot for clerkships (which is a con for me), but has a shortened pre-clin (major pro). Utah has all your clerkships in SLC, but has a traditional (2 year) preclinical, with very little elective time until 4th year (which was major con for me).

Good luck 🙂

I think if students were usually so busy that they didn’t have enough time for friends/activities third and fourth year I’d probably choose UW but if there was enough time to enjoy 3rd and 4th year id go Utah

 

[deleted894256]

I think if students were usually so busy that they didn’t have enough time for friends/activities third and fourth year I’d probably choose UW but if there was enough time to enjoy 3rd and 4th year id go Utah

Diversity in student body is really important to me too. My Utah interview day had 15/16 interviewees that were white, and only 3/16 were women--and while I realize that is not completely representative of UUSOM, it made me hesitate. It made me think about how hard it can be to relate to people that have families and are part of the LDS community when you're not. I think Utah does have the benefit of having a larger class size, so you can find your people.

I will say, the students I met at Utah interview day (M2s) and the ones I know personally (mostly M3s and M4s) seem really well-adjusted. They regularly go skiing, climbing, backpacking etc. They did seem more content/less competitive than the UW students I met, but those were all Seattle cohort people (also this kind of thing is entirely subjective and likely not representative lol). I think the U does a great job of giving students resources for wellness--the Utah students I met went on and on about that. I'm not sure UW has the same resources, especially since it's such a large school with spread out cohorts.

I know Utah and UW have the same second look day-- can you go to one of them?

 

[Sky138]

Shortened didactic, instate tuition, and prestige make UW a slam dunk especially after step 1 became pass fail. Just my 2 cents

 

[MontanaGirl2020]

Thanks for the input. I am leaning more towards uw.

 

[victoryatlast8]

Having a hard time choosing between UW (Idaho wwami) and Utah
Uw pros:
Better Prestige/Reputation
Maybe 10k cheaper a year (waiting for aid)
More faculty/students
UW cons:
Students are pressured to pursue primary care
Have to move after the first 3 semesters
Some rotations outside of the region
First three semesters are in Moscow Idaho
Less of what I like to do- still there but a bit further away
Worried about social scene with moving around
Utah pros:
I love skiing climbing and everything outside
No moving for rotations
Facilities are all close together
More research immediately available (don’t really like research)
Utah cons
Less diverse class
Many commuters to school?
Less prestige?
Maybe a bit more expensive

I’m not sure what my main goal is in medicine as far as specialties go so I’m trying to keep my options open. I could see myself doing something competitive (not academic) and ultimately would want to match at Utah.
Thanks!

I'm glad I found this thread because I'm in a similar boat deciding between UW (Seattle cohort) and UMiami. I'm also really worried about the social aspect of UW, it seemed like the cohort wasn't very close and then you spend all of 3rd and 4th year moving around which sounds lonely. I understand UW is objectively a better decision but I'm really struggling with it

 

[MontanaGirl2020]

I'm glad I found this thread because I'm in a similar boat deciding between UW (Seattle cohort) and UMiami. I'm also really worried about the social aspect of UW, it seemed like the cohort wasn't very close and then you spend all of 3rd and 4th year moving around which sounds lonely. I understand UW is objectively a better decision but I'm really struggling with it

Lol I’m also pretty interested in ortho-hand still don’t know what school to choose

 

[IDapplicant]

Everyone is saying UW for prestige, but does the WAAMI program carry that same level of prestige? From what I've heard it is much harder to get research if you aren't in Seattle, and you rotate through different clinical sites.

 

[MontanaGirl2020]

Everyone is saying UW for prestige, but does the WAAMI program carry that same level of prestige? From what I've heard it is much harder to get research if you aren't in Seattle, and you rotate through different clinical sites.

Not sure- but technically everyone at uwsom is a part of the WWAMI program

 

[Cornfed101]

Everyone is saying UW for prestige, but does the WAAMI program carry that same level of prestige? From what I've heard it is much harder to get research if you aren't in Seattle, and you rotate through different clinical sites.

You can do all of your 3rd and 4th-year rotations in Seattle if you are concerned about it. You can also do most of your rotations in any of the other states if you are from Seattle.

 

[Sky138]

Everyone is saying UW for prestige, but does the WAAMI program carry that same level of prestige? From what I've heard it is much harder to get research if you aren't in Seattle, and you rotate through different clinical sites.

No ones going to hold it against you that you couldn’t do your first two years in Seattle because you’re an idahoan. It’s true there is more research in Seattle but let’s be real. Most people don’t do nearly as much as they want to and when they do, they’re more likely to do case studies rather than actual research which you can do anywhere. If you want to do clinical research you can definitely do it long distance which is why I applied to Spokane rather than Seattle for foundations. Smaller cohort, lower cost of living, and the ability to focus more on boards are the reasons why I and many others chose Spokane. I’m sure the other WWAMI sites are the same way

 

[MontanaGirl2020]

Everyone is saying UW for prestige, but does the WAAMI program carry that same level of prestige? From what I've heard it is much harder to get research if you aren't in Seattle, and you rotate through different clinical sites.

Why would being an Idaho student carry less prestige?

 

[IDapplicant]

Why would being an Idaho student carry less prestige?

I wasn't claiming it doesn't, I was asking if it does. I don't know much about the program at all, but generally satellite campuses of anything don't carry the level of prestige as the main site. Coupled with what I have heard about it being harder to do research where you aren't physically at the major academic medical center, I would be curious to see if the match results vary from site to site.

 

[MontanaGirl2020]

I wasn't claiming it doesn't, I was asking if it does. I don't know much about the program at all, but generally satellite campuses of anything don't carry the level of prestige as the main site. Coupled with what I have heard about it being harder to do research, I would be curious to see if the match results vary from site to site.

Not really sure- but upon graduation I would be just as much as a UW graduate as the next student- also I think Spokane is the most competitive site to gain admittance with Idaho being third? I don’t think residencies care which site you are from (Tufts and mayo have equally well respected “satellite programs to their home-bases)but obviously I don’t know a ton about this school nor do I know which school I want to attend.

 

[Cornfed101]

E19 Acceptance Rates

These are the average rates of acceptance for each applicant pool over the last three years for the M.D. program only. The percentage represents the number of applicants offered admission divided by the number that applied for that cohort.

Seattle 15%
Spokane 22%
Alaska 38%
Montana 31%
Idaho 26%
Wyoming 40%

Out-of-region applicants 0.3%

Acceptance Statistics | UW Medicine

Learn more about UW School of Medicine acceptance rates. Applied: 7,572. Admitted: 358 (4.73%). 96% of our class on average are residents of WA, WY, AK, MO or ID.

www.uwmedicine.org

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Having a hard time choosing between UW (Idaho wwami) and Utah
Uw pros:
Better Prestige/Reputation
Maybe 10k cheaper a year (waiting for aid)
More faculty/students
UW cons:
Students are pressured to pursue primary care
Have to move after the first 3 semesters
Some rotations outside of the region
First three semesters are in Moscow Idaho
Less of what I like to do- still there but a bit further away
Worried about social scene with moving around
Utah pros:
I love skiing climbing and everything outside
No moving for rotations
Facilities are all close together
More research immediately available (don’t really like research)
Utah cons
Less diverse class
Many commuters to school?
Less prestige?
Maybe a bit more expensive

I’m not sure what my main goal is in medicine as far as specialties go so I’m trying to keep my options open. I could see myself doing something competitive (not academic) and ultimately would want to match at Utah.
Thanks!

Lol I’m also pretty interested in ortho-hand still don’t know what school to choose

So this isn't really something you would pick up on at an interview day but UoU ortho does not consider their own in house candidates unless there are very extenuating circumstances. My friend there, will be applying ortho, was told by a senior resident they have only matched one in-house candidate in the last decade, and they currently only have one resident that came from the U.

 

[MontanaGirl2020]

So this isn't really something you would pick up on at an interview day but UoU ortho does not consider their own in house candidates unless there are very extenuating circumstances. My friend there, will be applying ortho, was told by a senior resident they have only matched one in-house candidate in the last decade, and they currently only have one resident that came from the U.

Thanks for the feedback! I am basically 99% convinced I will be attending UW.

 

[Zolift!]

U of U is a great institution. My friend is in the ophthalmology department there and loves it. I know their research in neuroscience is top notch.
Salt Lake City is pretty. Although sort of middle of nowhere.
And I do believe satellite sites can be of different prestige than the main campus in some programs.

 

[MontanaGirl2020]

U of U is a great institution. My friend is in the ophthalmology department there and loves it. I know their research in neuroscience is top notch.
Salt Lake City is pretty. Although sort of middle of nowhere.
And I do believe satellite sites can be of different prestige than the main campus in some programs.

Thanks for the feedback. I looked into the prestige difference.from what I heard because we are able to do our last 2.5 years in Seattle- and there is no distinction between sites all 4 years /we all take the same exams residencies don’t see students within the region differently. The only disadvantage is distance to research. Thanks for your input but I’m going with UW

 

[mittenz4blood]

Thanks for the feedback. I looked into the prestige difference.from what I heard because we are able to do our last 2.5 years in Seattle- and there is no distinction between sites all 4 years /we all take the same exams residencies don’t see students within the region differently. The only disadvantage is distance to research. Thanks for your input but I’m going with UW

Hey! I'm currently deciding between WWAMI Idaho and Georgetown. I'd love to know about your experience so far, our "cons" lists are similar. Could you DM me by chance?? Thank you!!