Umich vs. UC Davis

[Med83]

Hello, everyone! May 15th is quickly approaching, and I am stuck between UMich and UC Davis. I would really appreciate your feedback/thoughts/experiences. Here are my thoughts on both schools..

Umich = Drawn to Umich because I get the impression that matching to residency programs and getting the future job that I want will be easier. ? "top 10" med school. lots of NIH funding. grad schools close together (plan to pursue an MPh, i'm interested in global health and community/migrant health being a Latina from Cali.) like the artsy vibe (and school pride) of umich in AA but wish it was a bigger city. felt like i was "in a bubble" at times, everyone seemed to have had the privilege of attending a great school like umich but AA lacked the realism that you get from going to school in a bigger city. hard to get patient contact/volunteer time in a clinic in your first 2 years. met a few awesome people from my class/M3s that i like, but also got a competitive feeling amongst my class. didn't get a great scholarship or financial aid package. reeeally scared of the winter! should i just suck it up since umich is such a great opportunity?

UC Davis = not ranked as high, but dig the people here more. more comfortable in sac being from CA central valley and attracted to the bigger city, but wish it wasn't so similar to my hometown. happier in beautiful, norcal weather. can focus on community health and a demographic that i want to serve in the future, espesh student-run free clinics that umich lacks. cheaper since i'm in-state. maybe i would have just as good of a chance getting into residency programs since i want to be in CA for residency and job placement?

So many pros and cons for both schools. Any feedback for me?

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[sunset823]

uhm, I might be missing something, but I've been to Davis, I would hardly call it a big city (or Sacramento, for that matter) - Ann Arbor has basically got big city life in small city package - as I've said in many other threads with UMich vs. CA/big city school decisions, A2 (as the locals call it) has tons of restaurants, and big name performers like Yo Yo Ma and the Royal Shakespeare Company come in regularly for the UMS (University Musical Society).

The public health program at UMich is amazing - I went to both the PH and Med commencements in the past couple of weeks, and the keynote speakers were Julio Frenk, former Mexican Health Minister and current Dean of Harvard SPH, and Sanjay Gupta, respectively, both of whom are UMich alums. That tells you something about the reach of the school. Research opportunities abound, especially since UMMS bought the old Pfizer site in Ann Arbor.

And seriously, I'm so sick of Californians being scared of the weather - I went to California over winter break and it was colder in Palm Springs than it was in Ann Arbor - yes, there's snow, it's beautiful, and if you live close to campus and don't need to drive much, even better.

Go with UMich

 

[honker]

If you plan to make a career out of academic medicine, then Michigan would be a better choice despite the $$ disparity. If your goal is to be a community doc, then UCD would be a more logical choice.
Worrying about things like the weather is a nonstarter.

 

[disorder]

i think UMich will give you a lot more opportunities in the future.... but that's just what i think.

 

[AlbaMD]

UC Davis is a great school (top 50, if rankings matter). Sacramento is a pretty big city, and it does give you access to a very wide range of population - urban to very rural, you get them all. While I am on this topic - we really don't have any connection to the city of Davis, so any advice you get that hinges on the city of Davis is irrelevant. UCD hospital is the only level 1 trauma center in the area, so trauma and ER here get an amazing variety of cases (if that interests you). Patient contact in the first 2 years is very easy. The faculty is extremely approachable. Plus the student-run clinics are great - all 7 of them. You can get very erly hands-on experience with such a variety of patients that they serve (we have clinics targeted towards African Americans, Latinos, Filipinos, Middle Easterners, homeless, war veterans, sex workers and IV drug users). Basically, by the end of 2 years here you can be comfortable working with such a variety of patients that your 3rd year will not seem anywhere as intimidating as it can be.
Plus, the cost of attendance is much cheaper.
Don't get hung up on rankings alone. I have turned down some top 10 - top 15 schools to come to Davis, and I never regretted it.

 

[RoadRunner17]

Go to Davis unless you really, really, really like Ann Arbor and Michigan gives you a scholarship so that it's cheaper than Davis.

Just my uninformed 2c

 

[bobdogsam43]

grad schools close together (plan to pursue an MPh, i'm interested in global health and community/migrant health being a Latina from Cali.)

it would make no sense to go to the state of Michigan to study community and migrant health lol (when your other option is California and the Central Valley). Obviously the MPH is not the focal point of your medical education but if its really important I think thats something to consider

 

[Pinkertinkle]

faced similar choice to you with high ranked and mid range.