nadalfan22
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- May 29, 2023
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Hey guys, I’m currently waitlisted at MUSC and Wake Forest, and Vermont has Delayed decisioned me. I need help deciding which is the best to send a Letter of intent. I am currently thinking about sending an LOI to MUSC since it's unlikely I will get off the waitlist at multiple schools, and it seems like I prefer MUSC the most, but I’m curious as to your opinions on if I should send an LOI, and where to?
MUSC
Pros:
Cons:
Wake Forest:
Pros
Cons
Pros
MUSC
Pros:
- In Charleston, close to family/friends, plus the city itself is beautiful and a lot of beaches nearby.
- P/F present, but internal quartiles (only reported to residencies if in top 2).
- Students seemed very happy, collaborative and a lot of resources are passed down to newer classes
- Looks like max COA is around ~290K, which is cheapish compared to my other options
- 1.5 year preclinical.
Cons:
- internal quartiles like I mentioned earlier. Supposedly any comments clinical instructors leave about you are also sent to residencies, but not sure if this is normal or not.
- Clinical years are mostly H/P/F, with some being P/F.
- No NBME
Wake Forest:
Pros
- probably the most prestigious of these schools, not that different compared to MUSC or UVM based on PD or USNWR. I don’t think this matters too much compared to MUSC/UVM, but I thought it was worth bringing up.
- Students seemed happy about the school, and lots of resources are provided, plus STEP 1 and 2 are reimbursed
- 1.5 year preclinical
- P/F first two years
- Students also said admin are supportive.
- Close to family/friends
- Match list is honestly the best of all of these. All are great, but Wake has more matches in competitive specialties.
- Most diverse class
Cons
- COA will be around 440k barring any scholarships
- Winston Salem seems boring as a city. Not much to do compared to Charleston, although more interesting than Burlington. Charlotte campus sort of alleviates this and is something I’m interested in, but it sounds like research is hard to do if you’re there.
- Clinical grading not great. If you honor one part of a rotation and pass the other, your grade for the rotation is the pass
- AOA calculated in M4, not sure if this is based on preclinical too
Pros
- PF all 4 years. Honestly the main reason I’m considering UVM.
- Students seem happy here.
- NBME
- Would allow me to leave my state, something that would be exciting. It seems like UVM also has a lot of ties to Northeastern unis. I’m also at the VT campus, so I would be rotating mostly in Vermont.
- pt population isn’t super diverse
- Very far from family/friends. Also very expensive, and I don't think its necessarily better than MUSC for the cost, or Wake in terms of the actual education since they cost the same OOS.
- Max COA of around ~380k. Cheaper than Wake, but more than MUSC.
- Matches similarly to MUSC for much more money, and worse than Wake for slightly less money
