Virginia Tech, Temple, Vermont

[deleted1137926]

Hello,

I have been accepted to Virginia Tech Carilion, University of Vermont, and Temple.

out of these 3 schools, which is the best to attend if I want the best chance at matching in a competitive speciality, or which school is the best of the 3 in general?

if you had to rank them, how would the order look?

Thank you!

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[Putkernerinthehall]

There is a lot more to medical school selection than "ranking" -- for that you can just go to USNWR. What's important to you ? Cost, curriculum, location, prestige, class size, research, etc. ?

 

[deleted1137926]

There is a lot more to medical school selection than "ranking" -- for that you can just go to USNWR. What's important to you ? Cost, curriculum, location, prestige, class size, research, etc. ?

I'm interested in whichever school has the best learning environments (low stress, non-competitive, etc.) and creates high quality physicians (competitive specialties, matching in CA, etc).

basically, which school will give me the "easiest"/most enjoyable time at and be able to do well in, based on the general consensus of what is known about these 3 schools

thank you! 🙂

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

They’re all same tier, so one probably won’t make it any easier than the others.

VT is probably the best bet for research.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

None will be "easy" but you will likely fit better with one over the others.

I have some experience with Virginia Tech via a friend. Their average Step scores have been quite high --- I mean they compare well with some prestigious med schools. They also match pretty well --- quite well I would say for being such a new / small school. Surprisingly, I think almost a third of the class comes from CA and they do match folks back there.

The class size (~50) is tiny and likely provides for more interaction with faculty and less competition for opportunities like mentoring, shadowing, extracurriculars, etc. And when it comes to residency application, that small class size allows for more individual attention and help with preparation.

Maybe most important about VTC is the research requirement. It's a 3+ year deal with mandatory research blocks and producing a publishable paper at the end. Can be good because it builds the research into the program and it's not hard to find projects/mentors. But if research isn't your interest, then this might be a negative.

They do PBL there and while it is time consuming, I've heard good things from my friend. I've heard that there are a lot of in class hours at VTC, particularly during first year. This might be a turnoff for some, a plus for others.

For outdoor recreational stuff, I don't think you can beat VTC (though I imagine Vermont is good too). Biking and hiking (and craft beer) are part of the culture. You're literally like a 15 minute drive from Appalachian Trail trailheads. Shenandoah National Park is nearby, and the school is 5-10 minutes off the Blue Ridge Parkway. Probably the best weather of the three. Roanoke is a pretty decent place and cost of living is quite low.

I don't have much familiarity with the other two schools but they are solid and longer established institutions. The area around Temple is not great and so I think most students live some distance away and commute in. Vermont has an interesting mix of tracks with some doing clinical in Hartford area, some in Burlington area, and I think some in rural areas in Vermont and upstate NY. I think there is even an option in Palm Beach, FL.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[We Love Bacon]

Current UVM student! DM me for any specific questions

 

[m1redsox]

I would vote UVM or Temple simply because if you want something competitive, you will want home residency programs in that specialty for LORs and a good chance that you’ll match at the home program. Students applying to competitive specialties have a higher match rate if they have a home program.

 

[soggymoo]

If you want to split hairs, I’d argue that VTech has the ‘best’ match lists for competitive programs if you factor in the size of the class. But it’s pretty meaningless on an individual level.

Seeing as you are lumping ‘competitive specialties’ together, I’d say what’s more important isn’t the school having one particular home program (for example, VT doesn’t have ortho/ophtho, Vermont doesn’t have ophtho/platics, temple doesn’t have plastics - though of the 3 temple has the most competitive home programs) - although that is important - I’d consider which environment will allow you, personally, to thrive the most. Your level of well-being = energy to perform, and your med school performance will outweigh the edge any of these three schools would have over the other.

You should list your pros/cons for each school if you want useful input here. You won’t get a meaningful school A > school B/C in this case without that because at face value these schools are equivalent.

 

[deleted1065184]

They’re all same tier, so one probably won’t make it any easier than the others.

VT is probably the best bet for research.

I'd argue Temple probably does, tbh. Temple has twice the NIH funding as VT. In fact, VT has the least funding of the 3 schools listed. NIH funding isn't the end all, be all ofc, but it's usually a very strong indicator of research opportunities.

Also, Temple is in Philly so Temple students could probably get some research at Penn. At the very least, it'll offer better networking opportunities at other medical students considering Philly has 4 medical schools.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

I'd argue Temple probably does, tbh. Temple has twice the NIH funding as VT. In fact, VT has the least funding of the 3 schools listed. NIH funding isn't the end all, be all ofc, but it's usually a very strong indicator of research opportunities.

Also, Temple is in Philly so Temple students could probably get some research at Penn. At the very least, it'll offer better networking opportunities at other medical students considering Philly has 4 medical schools.

Yes, those are all good points. The case for Virginia Tech is that the class size (tiny) is small compared to the size of the Carilion health system and Fralin Research Institute. So less competition for research. Also VTC requires an in-depth research project across all four years and so the program is set-up to help you find it.

These three schools are pretty comparable when you look at them overall.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

I'm interested in whichever school has the best learning environments (low stress, non-competitive, etc.) and creates high quality physicians (competitive specialties, matching in CA, etc).

basically, which school will give me the "easiest"/most enjoyable time at and be able to do well in, based on the general consensus of what is known about these 3 schools

thank you! 🙂

Which did you choose ?

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

I'd argue Temple probably does, tbh. Temple has twice the NIH funding as VT. In fact, VT has the least funding of the 3 schools listed. NIH funding isn't the end all, be all ofc, but it's usually a very strong indicator of research opportunities.

Also, Temple is in Philly so Temple students could probably get some research at Penn. At the very least, it'll offer better networking opportunities at other medical students considering Philly has 4 medical schools.

Wouldn’t VT be higher on a per capita basis? Plus there are a lot of opportunities built into the curriculum at VT

 

[deleted1065184]

Wouldn’t VT be higher on a per capita basis? Plus there are a lot of opportunities built into the curriculum at VT

Wrt finding a lab generally, for sure. But it also means that there are different kinds of labs at Temple, more of them, and they likely publish more.

 

[deleted1065184]

Yes, those are all good points. The case for Virginia Tech is that the class size (tiny) is small compared to the size of the Carilion health system and Fralin Research Institute. So less competition for research. Also VTC requires an in-depth research project across all four years and so the program is set-up to help you find it.

These three schools are pretty comparable when you look at them overall.

Yeah def less competition which is good, although there will be fewer research project options. VT requiring a 4-year project seems like a good way to optimize research though.

I believe that Temple students having the opportunity to seek research within the Penn system could balance numbers out, though. I do agree that the schools are all comparable, though.

 

[medstudent247]

Personally I would go with VT

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

1. Virginia Tech
2. Vermont
3. Temple