Vanderbilt vs. UVA

[hs764]

Vanderbilt

Pros:

• Very customizable and flexible curriculum
• Several months of the curriculum are dedicated specifically to a research project
• Strong neuro/psych research (an area of interest for me)
• Brand new anatomy lab (not in a basement!)
• Highly ranked
• I lived in Nashville from 2005-2010, I love the city and still have friends in the area
• I have friends who worked for Vanderbilt and they've all said that it's a great environment - doctors are wonderful, lots of teamwork, strong attention to safety rules and regulations
• Cheaper tuition than UVA

Cons:

• Higher cost of living
• Nashville is a rapidly growing city, so traffic and crowding are becoming worse
• Hospital is in a busy part of the city, so parking is difficult to find. May have to live nearby to be able to walk to class, which will be expensive.
• They have a smaller med school class, which can be a good thing, but I worry that would make it less likely for me to find other students like me (older nontrads)

UVA

Pros:

• Cheaper cost of living
• Opportunity to do work at the NIH
• Opportunity to do rural medicine work in southwestern VA (where I'm from)
• Lowest number of students per cadaver in anatomy lab of any place I've interviewed
• Small group, round table-based lecture format
• Close to family

Cons:

• No required research component
• Ranked lower than some other schools I've been accepted to
• Don't know if I'd get bored living in Charlottesville
• More expensive tuition (I am OOS)

Both schools have great global health opportunities and I've been incredibly impressed by the friendliness of the faculty and students that I've met at both places. I've had a very easy time communicating with both schools and loved my interview days at both. I have yet to find out anything about financial aid, so that may end up being a big determining factor.

I also have been accepted at Michigan and I really liked them too but I don't think I can handle four years of Ann Arbor winters.

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[libertyyne]

All of these are good choices. They will keep your doors open, pick the one you like the most.

 

[hs764]

All of these are good choices. They will keep your doors open, pick the one you like the most.

They are both good and I like them both, that's why I'm looking for a little advice.

 

[libertyyne]

They are both good and I like them both, that's why I'm looking for a little advice.

What sort of career goals do you have? Does the school have a home program of the specialties you are interested in ? I would personally choose michigan over Vandy and UVA , but that is me.

 

[hs764]

What sort of career goals do you have? Does the school have a home program of the specialties you are interested in ? I would personally choose michigan over Vandy and UVA , but that is me.

I'm probably going to specialize in neurology or GI, but I'm not 100% sure yet and I'm trying to stay flexible since I don't have much experience in any field besides neuro. I do know that I am interested in doing work in global and/or public health. Potentially looking to get a dual MD/MPH. I liked Michigan a lot but I've lived in the northeast for the past six years and the winters here have sucked my soul out, so I'm really hoping to move somewhere warmer. Also my family lives in southern Virginia and I would like to be closer to them. Both Vandy and UVA are fairly close.

 

[sunshine859]

I'd choose Vanderbilt--lower cost for a higher ranked school. You can definitely live further away from the medical center where rent is much cheaper and drive into school. Cheap parking permits (in a ramp) are available to both med and grad students, so parking should be a non-issue.