VCU vs. UNC

[sidalexis]

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At the risk of starting yet another comparison thread, I would like to ask the opinion of outsiders about these two schools. Please assume the following:

1. Cost is not an issue
2. Ignore school rank (I'm not a fan of US News and World)

Ignoring these two factors has made it exceedingly difficult for me to choose a school. I think both are great! I would really like some feedback from non-Virginia or non-North Carolina residents. Or from current students or people intimately familiar with the programs.

 

[Instatewaiter]

I am a current vcu third year so I can speak to vcu's pre-clinical and clinical years. while vcu doesn't have the same national reputation unc does I feel my education had been exceptional.

the first 2 years were prettly standard- in class from 8-12 with a 3h clinical course once per week and an occasional afternoon lecture. first year is basic sciences broken into a few month blocks. second year was microbiology, pharm and intro to pathology followed by organ systems.

we have a board prep "class" at vcu. it is not really a class perse but a few times a week we have review lecture during lunch that is optional. then at the end of second year we have an intense 3-5 day review of the most impt topics. during the spring each student meets w/ Dr. Costanzo who tailors a board study plan for us. that took some of the anxiety out of an anxiety-filled event. I felt very prepared for and did very well on the boards.

mcv (vcu) has always been know for its clinical education so my third year thus far has been a good one. the hours of course are longer than the first 2 years but that is to be expected. mcv's population is quite diverse and delivers a wide range of presentations. the hospital is huge at roughly 800 beds but has room for over 1000 if the state would fund those beds (that's a different issue entirely though) overall I feel my education has been excellent at mcv. pm me if u have questions of post 'em here

 

[Classic]

Instatewaiter -

Do you feel that your evaluations (grades) are fair? Specifically for your clinical rotations? Subjectively, is it fair vs. harsh, etc? Are objectives clearly identified? Are the physicians/residents you work willing to teach?

(comment on M1/M2 evals/tests as well if you want ...)

 

[BlackDr2b]

At the risk of starting yet another comparison thread, I would like to ask the opinion of outsiders about these two schools. Please assume the following:

1. Cost is not an issue
2. Ignore school rank (I'm not a fan of US News and World)

Ignoring these two factors has made it exceedingly difficult for me to choose a school. I think both are great! I would really like some feedback from non-Virginia or non-North Carolina residents. Or from current students or people intimately familiar with the programs.

Well Sid, since you won't be joining us at you know where🙂laugh🙂, I say you go to UNC. My only reasons for saying that is, I think that UNC is cool and I have heard it is a great school. I have friends at the dental school and they love it! Plus, they have a great Basketball and Baseball teams!

 

[shnuffles]

Hmmm withdraw from UNC...and tell them that I want your spot!!haha I mean, really, all that basketball would just distract from your studiescongrats on having such an exciting decision to make!

 

[Aladdin]

At the risk of starting yet another comparison thread, I would like to ask the opinion of outsiders about these two schools. Please assume the following:

1. Cost is not an issue
2. Ignore school rank (I'm not a fan of US News and World)

Ignoring these two factors has made it exceedingly difficult for me to choose a school. I think both are great! I would really like some feedback from non-Virginia or non-North Carolina residents. Or from current students or people intimately familiar with the programs.

Although I obviously have not been to UNC medical school, I did go to undergrad there and I did a post-bacc program at VCU that has many similar courses and same teachers. Here are some things from my POV to consider:

1. Chapel Hill and Richmond are VERY different. Housing is much more available (i.e. cheaper and closer) in CH. Richmond is much like a big city mixed with an old southern town (because that is essentially what it is).

2. If you have much interest in research, you are more likely to get funded at UNC. That's not to say MCV doesn't have research or even great research. Overall, your options will be more open in CH.

3. I knew many med students at VCU while I was there and they seem to study a significant amount less than UNC's students. That can be due to a TREMENDOUS variety of factors (none of which I will begin to cover). Both seem to do pretty well on USMLE. Dr. Costanzo (Mrs.) is incredible. One of the best teachers I have ever had in my entire life. Not only is she incredibly approachable, but she is entirely devoted to making sure students UNDERSTAND material - not just memorize.

4. Both have a "community week" or "community days." UNC's are twice during first year for a week each. VCU is once a week for several weeks (instatewaiter can give you more info about this).

5. Both have good facilities (classroom, etc.) and great hospitals where you will do rotations. UNC also does rotations away at Wake, New Hanover, Asheville, Charlotte, etc. This can be a positive or negative - take it for what it's worth.

Please keep in mind that I am going to UNC, so the above may be a little slanted, although I tried to give positives and negatives of both. If you have any specific questions about the location, facilities, etc. please don't hesitate to PM me or post again.

-A

 

[Instatewaiter]

Instatewaiter -

Do you feel that your evaluations (grades) are fair? Specifically for your clinical rotations? Subjectively, is it fair vs. harsh, etc? Are objectives clearly identified? Are the physicians/residents you work willing to teach?

(comment on M1/M2 evals/tests as well if you want ...)

I have felt my evaluations have been very fair. Much of it really comes down to how you do on the shelf exam anyway. If you are diligent and work hard, people will notice and it will show up on your evaluations.

In terms of teaching, it really depends on how busy the services is and who the person is. If the service is super busy, you often get less sitdown teaching and more on-the-go. Each clerkship has a bunch of video lectures on line, you have formal teaching sessions as well and you get teaching during rounds. I actually thought there would be more pimping going on. That's not to say that certain attendings dont pimp, but that i thought it was a universal thing rather than person-specific.

Objectives are clear and the attendings go out of their way to make sure you are getting a good learning experience. They also go out of their way to make sure you aren't getting harassed. In OB we had 2 residents who were kinda malignant. A student complained about them. Let's just say the words "fired" and "if you treat students like that again" came up. Needless to say, most of my third year has been free from worthless belittling that i hear so much about on SDN (frankly much of this is probably people bitching and whinning)

Although I obviously have not been to UNC medical school, I did go to undergrad there and I did a post-bacc program at VCU that has many similar courses and same teachers. Here are some things from my POV to consider:

1. Chapel Hill and Richmond are VERY different. Housing is much more available (i.e. cheaper and closer) in CH. Richmond is much like a big city mixed with an old southern town (because that is essentially what it is).

2. If you have much interest in research, you are more likely to get funded at UNC. That's not to say MCV doesn't have research or even great research. Overall, your options will be more open in CH.

3. I knew many med students at VCU while I was there and they seem to study a significant amount less than UNC's students. That can be due to a TREMENDOUS variety of factors (none of which I will begin to cover). Both seem to do pretty well on USMLE. Dr. Costanzo (Mrs.) is incredible. One of the best teachers I have ever had in my entire life. Not only is she incredibly approachable, but she is entirely devoted to making sure students UNDERSTAND material - not just memorize.

4. Both have a "community week" or "community days." UNC's are twice during first year for a week each. VCU is once a week for several weeks (instatewaiter can give you more info about this).

5. Both have good facilities (classroom, etc.) and great hospitals where you will do rotations. UNC also does rotations away at Wake, New Hanover, Asheville, Charlotte, etc. This can be a positive or negative - take it for what it's worth.

Please keep in mind that I am going to UNC, so the above may be a little slanted, although I tried to give positives and negatives of both. If you have any specific questions about the location, facilities, etc. please don't hesitate to PM me or post again.

-A

Good post.

Had I gotten into UNC, I probably would have chosen UNC. That's not to say that VCU has anything wrong with it at all. It seems I wont have problems getting the specialty I want in a very competitive location (knock on wood). I have also gotten a great education here. I think i am just more of a rankings ***** than the OP.

Frankly I doubt I would have had a better chance to go where I want had I gone to UNC... and maybe I would have been a lower half student at UNC. Who could know?

OP- go where you like. Take prestige, money, location, curriculum and specialty preferences into account. Listing the pros and cons may make it more obvious where you will fit better.

 

[sidalexis]

This has all been really helpful! The reason I'm not considering cost is because for me both schools would be about the same price (< 5k difference). Sorry B! HU is a little too expensive for my blood 🙂. I am originally from NC and so of course everyone there thinks UNC is the greatest ever. But now that I live in VA, everyone thinks VCU is the greatest ever (and some have never heard of UNC). Instate, you said something about not being able to get the residency you wanted at UNC...was that because you were suggesting that the student body would have been more competitive, or because of something you think is inherent to the school? The reality is that I don't want to do my residency in NC (i don't think), and I wonder about the potentcy of the name UNC outside of NC. Thanks everyone for the really great info!

 

[Instatewaiter]

This has all been really helpful! The reason I'm not considering cost is because for me both schools would be about the same price (< 5k difference). Sorry B! HU is a little too expensive for my blood 🙂. I am originally from NC and so of course everyone there thinks UNC is the greatest ever. But now that I live in VA, everyone thinks VCU is the greatest ever (and some have never heard of UNC). Instate, you said something about not being able to get the residency you wanted at UNC...was that because you were suggesting that the student body would have been more competitive, or because of something you think is inherent to the school? The reality is that I don't want to do my residency in NC (i don't think), and I wonder about the potentcy of the name UNC outside of NC. Thanks everyone for the really great info!

My comment was not meant to be a knock on UNC at all. I would imagine that UNC would have a higher proportion of competitive students so that I may be further down in the class rank and hypothetically this could affect where I match. I have no idea if it would positively or negatvely affect me. Would I be lower on the class rank? Would have a better chance of matching from UNC? I dont think anyone knows the real importance of which school you go to. They couldnt having only graduated from 1 school. This is all just hypothesis.

I think UNC has a pretty strong name nationally. UNC should not be a limiting factor in where you want to go at all. If anything UNC is better known nationally than VCU and VCU students have no problems match all over the US.

 

[flip26]

My comment was not meant to be a knock on UNC at all. I would imagine that UNC would have a higher proportion of competitive students so that I may be further down in the class rank and hypothetically this could affect where I match. I have no idea if it would positively or negatvely affect me. Would I be lower on the class rank? Would have a better chance of matching from UNC? I dont think anyone knows the real importance of which school you go to. They couldnt having only graduated from 1 school. This is all just hypothesis.

I think UNC has a pretty strong name nationally. UNC should not be a limiting factor in where you want to go at all. If anything UNC is better known nationally than VCU and VCU students have no problems match all over the US.

Don't you think that may have something to do with the high proportion of OOS students at VCU? That's not a knock on VCU, by the way. I actually think one of the strengths of the Virginia med schools is the high OOS student rate that raises their national profile among applicants and residency programs.

Whereas UNC, while it may be better known nationally than VCU among laymen because it is a flagship state uni with prominent sports programs as well as academic prowess more on a par with UVa than VCU, is more geographically "inbred" in terms of med students and more likely to have grads place in NC residencies? This is in no way a knock on UNC, either, just the reality of limited OOS matriculants as relates to the mission of the school.

As for the OP, I don't think you can go wrong with either school. VCU has some strong plusses - the whole board prep thing is a big plus in my mind. And since you don't care about a NC residency, although I don't believe UNC would in any way limit you in that regard, it certainly doesn't favor UNC in your decision making.

I would say "go with your gut" since money is not a big deal in your mind, and I would not focus too heavily on "match list / residency" analysis.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

I vote VCU

 

[sidalexis]

I vote VCU

Boo!

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Boo!

No seriously, not that I wouldnt love to have you as a classmate. FOr some reason, I just get this vibe that your heart really wants you to go to VCU.

 

[sidalexis]

No seriously, not that I wouldnt love to have you as a classmate. FOr some reason, I just get this vibe that your heart really wants you to go to VCU.

Actually it's the opposite...I've always loved UNC. If you're from NC, you know what I'm talking about. But I want to make sure that I'm not choosing it for the wrong reasons and that it's really the best school that's going to help me reach my goals. Not just because I get the warm fuzzies when I see Carolina Blue!

 

[drizzt3117]

Actually it's the opposite...I've always loved UNC. If you're from NC, you know what I'm talking about. But I want to make sure that I'm not choosing it for the wrong reasons and that it's really the best school that's going to help me reach my goals. Not just because I get the warm fuzzies when I see Carolina Blue!

I think you should go to UNC then. It has a stronger national reputation and it seems to be where you want to go, and has the same cost.

 

[chad5871]

I think you should go to UNC then. It has a stronger national reputation and it seems to be where you want to go, and has the same cost.

I agree. They're both good schools, though. Neither one is the "wrong" choice.