Columbia vs UMiami

[john smithhh]

Hi all. I’m in a tough spot, although I recognize that it’s a great problem to have. I’m currently trying to decide between Columbia and UMiami.

Columbia:
Pros
-NYC (a huge draw for me both in terms of fun/exciting things to do as well as a great support network)
-Very prestigious and a great program
Cons
-Likely to receive no financial aid, and will have to take out $300k-$400k in loans.

UMiami:
Pros
-Mainly a full tuition scholarship to the school, so I would likely graduate debt free
-Location seems good online, although I need to visit in person for myself
Cons
-Much lower tiered school than Columbia

Basically I’m trying to decide whether it’s better to go to a school I think I’d really love in a great location but have to take out more debt than I’m comfortable with, or go to a school I’d be so-so about but graduate debt-free. What would you do?

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[deleted1065184]

You're going to get very split opinions on this. I'm of the camp that says choose Miami. Miami is a good school...doesn't have Columbia's prestige, but still very well respected.

$300-400k is a LOT of money, and end up being $400-500k by the time it's all said and done. There are a lot of young folks here who will tell you that the debt is worth it for Columbia's name. But please understand that even if you choose an EXTREMELY high-paying specialty, that debt will take a very long time to pay off. It will linger for a while and it will impact your lifestyle.

Importantly, you may fall in love with a specialty that doesn't pay quite as much. With several hundreds of thousands in debt, you will feel immense pressure to shoot for a specialty that pays well. With no debt, choosing a specialty where you make $280k instead if $550k won't seem like a sacrifice. Do future you a favor and choose the debt free education.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Visit the campus. Take the scholarship. Your New York friends will love to visit you. You shouldn't be in South Beach all the time. You could even wind up back in New York.

Match Day Results

Official website for the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine

med.miami.edu

 

[Egg-Benedict]

I don't know a lot about either of those schools, but I will say that I took out about $400k in loans to go to a top 5 school instead of a state school with a full tuition scholarship, and I am massively regretting it now that I actually have to pay it back.

As someone mentioned above, it's easy to think that the debt is worth it for the prestige when the consequences of the debt are so far in the future. I thought so, and I was wrong.

 

[drstrangelove22]

Hey OP, I think this decision depends on the specialty you are considering going into. If you can see yourself going into a competitive specialty like neurosurgery, plastics, ortho, derm, then choose Columbia. The name and research will help you match, and you won't be worrying about the loans when you are on track to make $$$.

If you cannot see yourself going into a high paying surgical speciality, then choose Miami. You will certainly match and will probably enjoy your life way more in sunny Florida.

 

[Doja Stan]

FYI Columbia is known to be very open to negotiating aid. I have a friend there who negotiated a $25k/yr stipend for COL on top of $0 COA. One of the students in my interview also negotiated down to $0 COA.

I got rejected on Friday so no horse in the game, but give it a shot! If it genuinely comes down to Columbia sticker price vs. UMiami, I think it’s Miami by a mile.

 

[BrokenLlamas]

I don't know a lot about either of those schools, but I will say that I took out about $400k in loans to go to a top 5 school instead of a state school with a full tuition scholarship, and I am massively regretting it now that I actually have to pay it back.

As someone mentioned above, it's easy to think that the debt is worth it for the prestige when the consequences of the debt are so far in the future. I thought so, and I was wrong.

Just wanted to play devil's advocate and give an opposing perspective. I know multiple med students at various T5s who faced a similar situation (yes, I understand this is purely anecdotal evidence and should be taken with a grain of salt). Some students certainly regretted taking out $400k in loans to pay for their medical education, but others had absolutely no regrets about their decision. The students in the second camp truly leveraged the resources of their institution and also tended to have very specific goals in medicine (or outside of medicine) that were only really available at the T5 (real example, med student chose Hopkins for the connections with Bloomberg, over their state school with no major public health resources - I could absolutely see someone picking the T5/T10 in this or a similar situation).

Also, just clarifying, you should absolutely not choose the T5/T10 purely for the prestige. Prestige in and of itself will have little impact on your career trajectory - the networking, resources, and unique opportunities are where the true value lies within the elite tier of schools, not necessarily the prestige.

However, considering the OPs lack of a specific "mission" and plan to leverage the resources at Columbia, I'd honestly recommend U Miami. You can still get where you want to go from there, while also minimizing your financial burden.

edit: no conflicts of interest to disclose, R from Columbia, withdrew from U Miami

 

[Guggenburg]

Hey OP, I think this decision depends on the specialty you are considering going into. If you can see yourself going into a competitive specialty like neurosurgery, plastics, ortho, derm, then choose Columbia. The name and research will help you match, and you won't be worrying about the loans when you are on track to make $$$.

If you cannot see yourself going into a high paying surgical speciality, then choose Miami. You will certainly match and will probably enjoy your life way more in sunny Florida.

The UMiami match list gives me the impression that he won't exactly be suffering from the lack of opportunity if he chose UMiami over Columbia. UMiami's match list is honestly INSANE for competitive specialties.

PS: Also have no horse in this game -> R from Columbia and never applied to UMiami.

 

[pierty]

I think the majority of the obsession on this site with prestige is driven primarily by neurotic premeds that bought into the undergraduate social hierarchy for self-validation. It's all they've known since they were kids: get good grades to get the carrot (social reinforcement, validation); get into a prestigious college to get the carrot; get into medical school to get the carrot...

This is real life. Find the location where you will be able to succeed most toward your goals - for most at your stage, it's "become a doctor". You'll do that at either location, except one without a massive debt.

 

[ByThe+C]

I have gone to school and live in the Miami area. I got the R from Columbia and did not apply to UMiami so no bias other than hating Florida and being excited to leave this year. I have family in the NYC boroughs so visit often.

Please do not choose Umiami because of the location. The location and commute is terrible (Coral Gables still feels far from Miami proper because of the insane traffic) and years of dealing with Miami traffic is one of the many reasons I'm leaving FL.

If I, an applicant from a low SES background, were in your shoes, I would choose Columbia with no aid in a heart beat. Keep emailing the school to see if they give you some aid and wait until April and reevaluate.

 

[Mammothhighway]

So i may be biased since I got into Miami but did not apply to Columbia but I do see how this is a tough call.

My main thing is what do you want from medicine, do you want to be a neurosurgeon and match at mgh or do you want something else? UMiami has a very capable match list and although I’m sure plenty of people match better at Columbia, people still do great there. There are a bunch of opportunities and the patient population is huge (due to Miami’s diversity but also cases from the Caribbean).

I saw someone mention commute, and it’s not perfect but not terrible. To my understanding, most students live in brickell (expensive) and take the metro up to the med campus for 5/10 min a day. Also saw someone mention that your friends will want to visit you. They will lol. When I got in there versus other places my friends were sooo much more excited about Miami and constantly said they would want to visit. The class size is also very big so you would make friends regardless.

You may value certain things in particular but I think it comes down to if you think you can perform and match the same (or similar) if you went to Miami or Columbia. If you think this is a difference of career outlooks then idk, but if not, 400k is a lot of money so logically Miami makes more sense. Ik it’s hard to give up prestige and stuff bc it’s what we aim our initial goals to, but Miami is held very highly from my interactions I’ve had (also a FL resident)

Edit: location is kinda odd lol but the nearby areas where people live is nice and very “Miami” feel to it.

 

[Master_Momo]

I have gone to school and live in the Miami area. I got the R from Columbia and did not apply to UMiami so no bias other than hating Florida and being excited to leave this year. I have family in the NYC boroughs so visit often.

Please do not choose Umiami because of the location. The location and commute is terrible (Coral Gables still feels far from Miami proper because of the insane traffic) and years of dealing with Miami traffic is one of the many reasons I'm leaving FL.

If I, an applicant from a low SES background, were in your shoes, I would choose Columbia with no aid in a heart beat. Keep emailing the school to see if they give you some aid and wait until April and reevaluate.

The medical school is not on the Coral Gables campus. It's relatively close to downtown Miami, although Miami is a very spread out/suburban city anyway so you are simply never going to get an NYC-type experience where there is tons to nearby and good public transit. I grew up in Miami and am a Florida hater, but I would not use the aggravation of Miami traffic to turn down a full tuition scholarship. Location (generally like NYC vs Miami) and prestige are much more compelling factors, although, personally I would find it hard to turn down the scholarship to take on $300-400k debt.

 

[johnr42700]

Not everyone gets to be a Columbia physician. The connections, the mentoring, the sheer number of doors that will be opened...
Your classmates will literally be leaders in medicine. Some grads from Miami will be leaders too, but far less of them.

Wow this is dripping with toxic elitism. You'll have great classmates (and ones you want to push back with a 10-meter stick) anywhere you go. UMiami is a great school. It's in a great city. It has lots of great home residencies too (Ophtho, NSG, etc.). This site is wild.

 

[deleted1065184]

Wow this is dripping with toxic elitism. You'll have great classmates (and ones you want to push back with a 10-meter stick) anywhere you go. UMiami is a great school. It's in a great city. It has lots of great home residencies too (Ophtho, NSG, etc.). This site is wild.

Yeah, I'm at a point where I'm just starting to ignore these types of comments. You can't use logic to combat elitism. The conversations end up extremely circular 100% of the time.

On SDN and Reddit, many would have you think it's an incredible idea to go over $400k in debt just to have the name of an institution associated with you. From my experience, talented people will thrive wherever they go. And being a big fish in a lake is often more beneficial than being that same-sized fish an an ocean.

 

[BattalionX]

I have gone to school and live in the Miami area. I got the R from Columbia and did not apply to UMiami so no bias other than hating Florida and being excited to leave this year. I have family in the NYC boroughs so visit often.

Please do not choose Umiami because of the location. The location and commute is terrible (Coral Gables still feels far from Miami proper because of the insane traffic) and years of dealing with Miami traffic is one of the many reasons I'm leaving FL.

If I, an applicant from a low SES background, were in your shoes, I would choose Columbia with no aid in a heart beat. Keep emailing the school to see if they give you some aid and wait until April and reevaluate.

Everyone I know who went/goes to UMiami (as someone who lives in Miami) either hates their school, or loves it, but everyone who loves it studies like 12 hours a day and is a little on the crazier side (in terms of them being academic powerhouses. No disrespect to them). It's definitely a school that really pushes research very heavy and has a bit of a competitive vibe to it, although I am not saying your class will be like that. Miami traffic is awful and living in Miami is *nothing* like living in NYC. Like others said, Miller is at the Jackson Health center which is near Overtown/Downtown, and it is not the best of neighborhoods. UM students find themselves living 30-45 minutes away (traffic) in Brickell (expensive), Downtown, or more affordable areas like City of Miami and Little Havana.

However, you're talking full-tuition versus no aid. Miami is an excellent school with a great reputation, even if it's not 'Columbia' level. Look at their match lists. They match a large number of their class into Derm, Ophthalmology, Ortho, etc, at rates that very few schools at it's rank meets. It's a great school where you're bound to get an excellent clinical education. For a full-tuition scholarship, Miami is probably the better deal. However, I also know if I were in your shoes, I would not hesitate to get away from this city. Good luck!

 

[chord]

Have you tried talking to Columbia and letting them know about your scholarship at Miami? Columbia has a ton of money, might be worth at least talking to someone in the financial aid office if you haven't yet!