Wake Forest vs. Temple vs. Drexel vs FIU (PLEASE HELP)

[AlphaDoctor]

So I know Wake, Drexel and Temple are way more established and solid than FIU but im a south Florida local and I have family, as well as my close friends here. Yet, I do ultimately want to pursue a competitive specialty (surgical subspecialty) and i know research and resume stacking is important. Judging by FIU's recent match lists however, it seems they matched pretty well. Although this is true, the structure of the curriculum seems more stressful. After speaking to a variety of students, they warned me not to be deterred by graded pre clinicals and they insisted that it was a collaborative environment.

Ultimately, I want to practice medicine in Miami, but i doubt the school i attend will have a significant effect on that.

As far as wake, way more connections with their healthcare system. Easier matching.
Money isnt a factor in my decision, I just want to go to the best school...

Temple over Drexel for sure but not sure other than that.... I think Wake and Temple over both Drexel and FIU... but not sure about
Drexel vs. FIU and Wake vs. Temple

Wake Forest

Pros:
- Ranked highest (50)
-Better Quality Education, more established, attracts better professors, available mentors in all fields
-Better matching for competitive residencies
-Bigger physical medical building (brand new and very nice) (vs FIU's cramped small space shared with PA students AND undergrads)
-New experience (Could be good or bad, listing under pros) (lived in SoFL all my life)
-Better simpler Curriculum (True P/F)
-1.5 year pre- clinicals
- Student body seemed very tight knit
- 2 cool dual degree programs available
- What i think of when i think of med school

Cons
-Away from family
-Less nightlife and stuff happening during downtime (vs Miami and Philly)
-Less Diverse student body and patient population
-Less time to study for STEP 1
- No MD/MBA (not huge con)


FIU HWCOM

Pros
-Stay close to family and friends (support system)
-I already know a few people going there and more minority as a %
-Miami Scene (Living in Brickell, although i dont know if I should consider night life as it may be a distraction and I will be very busy as a med student)
-Comfortable living in Miami where I have lived all my life
- MD/MBA available, completed in 4 years and receive GRE waiver.

Cons
-Traffic (lots) (potential 2 hrs/day wasted sitting in a car)
-New school (no reputation)
-No associated healthcare system (Contracts nearby hospitals)
-A/B/C Grading system (Could be a pro as it will push me academically to strive for an A)
-Some mandatory Class time
- Unranked

Temple

Pros:
-Ranked 60 (lower than Wake but higher than other 2)
- P/F first 2 years
- Amazing clinical program
- Felt really comfortable at this school
- Students seem really happy
- Philadelphia seems like a nice city to live in as a student, have a friend as Jeff and family in NY
- it would be a little easier to specialize from here than FIU due to more research opportunities and an extra year to prepare for any exams/letters of rec/applications etc.
- Brand new medical education building and library, seems like a good environment for preclinical learning.
- What i think of when i think of med school

Cons:
- Have to move OOS
- Would have to live like 20-30 from school

Drexel

Pros
-P/F first 2 years, no rank given to deans in MSPE (do use certain adjectives but dont describe what they mean)
-Seemed like a very friendly and progressive school
-Matches a good amount in competitive fields and also matches all over the country
-Philly is cool and also close to NYC
-Have Monday off for "Independent Learning" and there are no actual lectures, all online
-Philly has a lot of culture
-MD/MBA available but must pay for program in full and takes extra year (5)
-Ranked (mid 80's)

Cons:
-Facilities were not very impressive
-Lots of schools in Philly so lots of students fighting over limited resources and Drexel seems to get the short end of the stick at times in term of reputation
-Lottery system for rotations meaning I may have to travel to different cities and towns for rotations
-Heard the clinical years are eh

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[Goro]

I have a very good friend on the faculty at Wake, so it gets my vote.

You can do everything you want coming from all four schools, but most of them are 100% on you, not the schools.

 

[DokterMom]

I'm going to have to agree and vote for Wake. It is very well-regarded and can get you where you want to go.

But to be fair, I'm very strongly influenced by the up-to-TWO Hours wasted in a car -- yikes! Plus good friends and tempting night life will definitely be a distraction at a time when you can't afford too many distractions. Either your schoolwork or your friendships are very likely to suffer.

I'd also have to suspect that part of the school's early match list success may be attributable to some pretty aggressive networking efforts that are likely to mellow somewhat during the next four years -- at which point you'll just be at a newish unranked school.

 

[ciestar]

Based on your post, I’d choose Wake.

But, my clinical years at Drexel haven’t been eh FWIW.

 

[AlphaDoctor]

Based on your post, I’d choose Wake.

But, my clinical years at Drexel haven’t been eh FWIW.

I'm going to have to agree and vote for Wake. It is very well-regarded and can get you where you want to go.

But to be fair, I'm very strongly influenced by the up-to-TWO Hours wasted in a car -- yikes! Plus good friends and tempting night life will definitely be a distraction at a time when you can't afford too many distractions. Either your schoolwork or your friendships are very likely to suffer.

I'd also have to suspect that part of the school's early match list success may be attributable to some pretty aggressive networking efforts that are likely to mellow somewhat during the next four years -- at which point you'll just be at a newish unranked school.

I have a very good friend on the faculty at Wake, so it gets my vote.

You can do everything you want coming from all four schools, but most of them are 100% on you, not the schools.

So after Wake, in what order would you rank the other 3 schools?

 

[Goro]

So after Wake, in what order would you rank the other 3 schools?

What you need to do is add up all the pluses and minuses. The schools are equivalent.

 

[AlphaDoctor]

What you need to do is add up all the pluses and minuses. The schools are equivalent.

Biggest minuses I have for FIU is the graded pre- clinicals and TONS of exams in addition to not having their own hospital...
Biggest plus ... in- state meaning family and friends ect...

Biggest minus for Temple, Wake and Drexel is OOS (not sure if its a minus) and wont know anybody
Biggest pluses are being established schools with tons of research
-I enjoy the fact that Temple and Drexel are in a cool city with TONS of students
-I enjoy being surrounded by nature in an academically driven city with less distractions BUT less diversity
- Disliked Drexels facilities compared to others

Wake and Temple screamed MEDICAL SCHOOL

 

[AlphaDoctor]

Based on your post, I’d choose Wake.

But, my clinical years at Drexel haven’t been eh FWIW.

What type of medicine would you like to go into? and does Drexel do a good job at prepping students for STEP (Im aware a ton of self studying is involved)? The matches seem to be very solid year after year, no lectures just seems weird

 

[Pharaoh95]

Temple, especially if being in a city is important to you.

 

[AlphaDoctor]

Temple, especially if being in a city is important to you.

How important is class size? Wakes class has roughly 100 fewer students than Temple which most likely leads to better relationships with faculty and students and less crowded rotations....

 

[alligator3]

Definitely don’t choose a school based on whether the pre-clinical years are graded or P/F. Every faculty member, doctor and medical student I have ever spoken to all told me the same thing… residency programs don’t look at your preclinical years too heavily. What really is important are your step scores and regardless of which medical school you attend, you will be learning the same material. So I would choose a school where you will be the happiest and where you will strive the best.

If you don’t feel comfortable going to a school away from home for 4 years, then I would stick with FIU. (Although those long commutes would drive me insane and would just add on to the stresses you will already have in med school)

I personally think Wake Forest would be the better choice, especially since you said that money is not an issue. I also think your cons for Wake aren’t too bad.

1. Away from family - As cheesy as it sounds, your family will always be with you. You can always call/text them and in comparison to Drexel and Temple, Wake is closest to FL. I know that you’re worried about not having a strong support system but since Wake’s student body is “tight-knit”, I don’t think it will be too difficult to build a new support group

2. Less nightlife - in comparison to Miami and Philly, you’re definitely right. Students have said though that Winston-Salem grows on you. There are definitely bars around but I don’t know if there are any clubs (if that’s your scene). This could be good though since you are aiming for a competitive surgical subspecialty - more time to study

3. Less diverse student body and patient population - In comparison to Miami, Winston-Salem is a bit more diverse (Philly is the most diverse among the three cities).

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Population 2019 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs)
Miami, Florida Population 2019 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Population 2019 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs)

4. Less time to study for Step 1 - Wake doesn’t give as many weeks as some other schools to study for step but with good time management, this shouldn’t be too big of an issue. Also, your peers will be in it with you so you won’t feel as stressed - they will also keep you on track and motivate you

5. No MD/MBA - With the development of online programs, you can probably pursue an MBA later on in your career at your own time. If you were to pursue the MD/MBA now, you probably wouldn’t be able to utilize the MBA until after residency so you could probably pursue the MBA later

Sorry for rambling on - I hope this helped!

 

[ciestar]

What type of medicine would you like to go into? and does Drexel do a good job at prepping students for STEP (Im aware a ton of self studying is involved)? The matches seem to be very solid year after year, no lectures just seems weird

Our Step 1 average was 234. They prep us fine.

All lectures are recorded and incorporated into written notes. So you read the handouts given and they have supplemental videos embedded.

 

[Goro]

Biggest minuses I have for FIU is the graded pre- clinicals and TONS of exams in addition to not having their own hospital...
Biggest plus ... in- state meaning family and friends ect...

Biggest minus for Temple, Wake and Drexel is OOS (not sure if its a minus) and wont know anybody
Biggest pluses are being established schools with tons of research
-I enjoy the fact that Temple and Drexel are in a cool city with TONS of students
-I enjoy being surrounded by nature in an academically driven city with less distractions BUT less diversity
- Disliked Drexels facilities compared to others

Wake and Temple screamed MEDICAL SCHOOL

There are your choices.

Pick one, and then see if it passes the sleep test.

then don't look back.

 

[Lawpy]

I'd decide between Wake and Temple from what you provided and probably lean more towards Wake.

 

[AlphaDoctor]

Definitely don’t choose a school based on whether the pre-clinical years are graded or P/F. Every faculty member, doctor and medical student I have ever spoken to all told me the same thing… residency programs don’t look at your preclinical years too heavily. What really is important are your step scores and regardless of which medical school you attend, you will be learning the same material. So I would choose a school where you will be the happiest and where you will strive the best.

If you don’t feel comfortable going to a school away from home for 4 years, then I would stick with FIU. (Although those long commutes would drive me insane and would just add on to the stresses you will already have in med school)

I personally think Wake Forest would be the better choice, especially since you said that money is not an issue. I also think your cons for Wake aren’t too bad.

1. Away from family - As cheesy as it sounds, your family will always be with you. You can always call/text them and in comparison to Drexel and Temple, Wake is closest to FL. I know that you’re worried about not having a strong support system but since Wake’s student body is “tight-knit”, I don’t think it will be too difficult to build a new support group

2. Less nightlife - in comparison to Miami and Philly, you’re definitely right. Students have said though that Winston-Salem grows on you. There are definitely bars around but I don’t know if there are any clubs (if that’s your scene). This could be good though since you are aiming for a competitive surgical subspecialty - more time to study

3. Less diverse student body and patient population - In comparison to Miami, Winston-Salem is a bit more diverse (Philly is the most diverse among the three cities).

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Population 2019 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs)
Miami, Florida Population 2019 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Population 2019 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs)

4. Less time to study for Step 1 - Wake doesn’t give as many weeks as some other schools to study for step but with good time management, this shouldn’t be too big of an issue. Also, your peers will be in it with you so you won’t feel as stressed - they will also keep you on track and motivate you

5. No MD/MBA - With the development of online programs, you can probably pursue an MBA later on in your career at your own time. If you were to pursue the MD/MBA now, you probably wouldn’t be able to utilize the MBA until after residency so you could probably pursue the MBA later

Sorry for rambling on - I hope this helped!

You are amazing <3

Our Step 1 average was 234. They prep us fine.

All lectures are recorded and incorporated into written notes. So you read the handouts given and they have supplemental videos embedded.

There are your choices.

Pick one, and then see if it passes the sleep test.

then don't look back.

I'd decide between Wake and Temple from what you provided and probably lean more towards Wake.

Thank all of you guys so much for the help thus far. I will continue to evaluate my criteria and let you all know of my final decision.

p.s.
I’m not a clubbing type of guy lol

 

[AlphaDoctor]

On that note..... where I go to school will not dictate where I end up working correct?

I would love to practice close to my family in Florida.

Sorry about all the questions, all of this help means more to me than you know!!!!

 

[teenyfish]

No, where you go to school won't dictate where you end up working, but you may be able to swing a FL residency easier out of FIU just because of where the school is located. Local programs may be more familiar with the students coming out of FIU and know what to expect - does FIU have any home programs? That would also be pretty helpful in getting a residency in FL. Tbh, I don't know much about FIU or the FL schools though, so this is just my 0.02.

 

[AlphaDoctor]

No, where you go to school won't dictate where you end up working, but you may be able to swing a FL residency easier out of FIU just because of where the school is located. Local programs may be more familiar with the students coming out of FIU and know what to expect - does FIU have any home programs? That would also be pretty helpful in getting a residency in FL. Tbh, I don't know much about FIU or the FL schools though, so this is just my 0.02.

They do not have their own hospital but they do have residency programs at their affiliate hospitals....

 

[FamousLinen]

Wake