VCU vs UMiami

[littlebearfanpage]

Hi all! I just got off the WL for UMiami after putting in my PTE for VCU and am conflicted on what to choose. Both schools have very similar curriculum structures and tuition costs.

VCU
Pros
- Richmond, VA is closer to home - my family is from NY (which is not that close, but closer than Miami). I spent my undergrad at UCLA, so I've gotten comfortable with distance, but my family would much prefer for me to be more reachable in the future. My parents and grandparents are beginning to age a bit more, so it might be easier on them to be closer
- They have a 3 year program for a residency spot at VCU Medical Center
- Slightly lower cost of living
- Better public transport (I don't have a car, at least not yet)

Cons
- In-house exams
- Smaller city life
- They seem to match more in the south (I'm assuming regional bias as it's a public state school) and I'm trying to match back in the northeast
- Match rate is ~93% before SOAP. UMiami doesn't report their match rate before SOAP so I'm not sure how to compare


UMiami
Pros
- They seem to match competitive specialties pretty well? I'm interested in psych and anesthesiology so nothing too crazy in terms of competitiveness
- They seem to match all over the country
- Big diverse city life
- Slightly higher rank (44 vs. 64) - Idk if this makes a diff but there's a lot of speculation now that Step 1 is P/F
- NBME based exams

Cons
- Bigger class size (201 vs. 184)
- Farther from home
- Higher cost of living

Summary: I believe both have home programs in the specialties I'm interested in, so it's more of me just wondering if UMiami has more opportunities or a better reputation that make it worth moving farther away

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[thefirerisen]

Does distance matter if you're going to take a plane to NYC anyways? You said you don't have a car so a flight from Richmond vs a flight from Miami to NYC is not going to be significantly different in terms of time (2 hrs vs 3 hrs). As great as Richmond and VCU are, UMiami definitely has more of a national brand and if costs are the same, I'd go there.

 

[Bowel-Plumber]

If you’re going through the hassle and getting on a plane, I assure you the difference between flight time from Richmond to NY and from Miami to NY is negligible. I don’t know what value VCU has to being closer if they’re both pretty far and require a flight anyway. It’s not like you’re comparing a 6 hour flight from LA to a 2 hour flight from Richmond.

Also, your cons on class size (201 vs 184) has to be a joke, right? It’s one thing if you’re comparing 200 vs 100 people, but it’s literally a difference of like 15 people. Their class size is pretty much the same at those numbers and you’re not going to experience much of a difference.

The only factor I can think of that matters to choose VCU over UMiami is the total COA difference. Otherwise, UMiami is the clear winner. Better city, better match rate, better name, and NBME exams.