Hello,
I am grateful to have acceptances at 3 FL (in-state) schools. I have been to all three seconds looks, and they were all exceptional.
Note: UCF and USF, although A/B/C/F graded, are not on a curve (no limit on the number of A's, B's, etc.) Students seem very friendly and collaborative. Also, all three schools had very similar match lists, with the exception of their home programs.
UCF
Pros: would live at home, received a good scholarship (cheapest of the three by 120k due to housing), faculty are very welcoming, new school and lively, research-focused and requires an independent research project, historically have very high STEP scores, students seem happy there and feel well prepared for STEP, strong advising program,
Cons: rotations are across FL (housing is provided) with HCA but rapidly expanding (esp. with Nemours), A/B/C/F for all four years, mostly in-house exams with some NMBE for pre-clerkship
USF Morsani
Pros: Tampa seems like a great place to live, and I liked the area, very academic-oriented with a good mix of in-house and NBME exams, a lot of prep for STEP, great rotations and heard great things from students, new building, provides funding for research projects, scholarship concentration that can be your independent project, lots of community service opportunities
Cons: about 4-5 hours from home, located in downtown Tampa, which is quite expensive, need to travel a lot (rotations, anatomy lab+simulations), A/B/C/F all four years, don't know about scholarships yet
UF
Pros: Highly ranked in the state and nationally (I know it does not mean much, but UF Shands is pretty well known in North FL, I don't know about outside of FL), heard there are plenty of research opportunities, P/F for the first two years, discovery pathways (which I believe can lead to research), great rotations at UF hospitals/clinics, a huge academic health center all in 1 place (with some time spent in Jax)
Cons: I grew up in urban places, so I am not sure how comfortable I would be in Gainsville, A+/A-/B+... for clerkships, all in-house exams for pre-clerkship, did not really speak much about problem/team-based learning, seems more like students are on their own than the other schools (I could be wrong), expensive, did not speak about advising or student organizations during second look, not transparent about SOAP or not matching, current students always talk about prestige
Any advice would be appreciated, thank you!
I am grateful to have acceptances at 3 FL (in-state) schools. I have been to all three seconds looks, and they were all exceptional.
Note: UCF and USF, although A/B/C/F graded, are not on a curve (no limit on the number of A's, B's, etc.) Students seem very friendly and collaborative. Also, all three schools had very similar match lists, with the exception of their home programs.
UCF
Pros: would live at home, received a good scholarship (cheapest of the three by 120k due to housing), faculty are very welcoming, new school and lively, research-focused and requires an independent research project, historically have very high STEP scores, students seem happy there and feel well prepared for STEP, strong advising program,
Cons: rotations are across FL (housing is provided) with HCA but rapidly expanding (esp. with Nemours), A/B/C/F for all four years, mostly in-house exams with some NMBE for pre-clerkship
USF Morsani
Pros: Tampa seems like a great place to live, and I liked the area, very academic-oriented with a good mix of in-house and NBME exams, a lot of prep for STEP, great rotations and heard great things from students, new building, provides funding for research projects, scholarship concentration that can be your independent project, lots of community service opportunities
Cons: about 4-5 hours from home, located in downtown Tampa, which is quite expensive, need to travel a lot (rotations, anatomy lab+simulations), A/B/C/F all four years, don't know about scholarships yet
UF
Pros: Highly ranked in the state and nationally (I know it does not mean much, but UF Shands is pretty well known in North FL, I don't know about outside of FL), heard there are plenty of research opportunities, P/F for the first two years, discovery pathways (which I believe can lead to research), great rotations at UF hospitals/clinics, a huge academic health center all in 1 place (with some time spent in Jax)
Cons: I grew up in urban places, so I am not sure how comfortable I would be in Gainsville, A+/A-/B+... for clerkships, all in-house exams for pre-clerkship, did not really speak much about problem/team-based learning, seems more like students are on their own than the other schools (I could be wrong), expensive, did not speak about advising or student organizations during second look, not transparent about SOAP or not matching, current students always talk about prestige
Any advice would be appreciated, thank you!
