<p>What are the atmospheres like at each school? Which is more highly regarded academically for premed)? Which is more of a party school? Which have the harder science and math classes?</p>
<p>UF is a college town, UM is Miami. Both have excellent pre-med programs. It’s a public vs. private school thing. There are huge differences, but you would get a great education at either.</p>
<p>If you have good enough grades and SAT, UM has a 6-year medical program which guarantees you admission into the medical school from the time you get admitted to undergrad. No worries about applying. This is HUGE. University of Miami is a small school with an 11:1 faculty to student ratio. UF is a huge state school. You really want either one or the other. They both have parties, but UM, because of its cost, tends to have more students who are really bent on graduating in 4 years, so there are limits to the partying. As an undergrad at UM, I knew people (including a current doctor) who had come from UF because their parents thought they needed to get more serious and stop partying. But UM is not without parties. They’re both great schools. If I was serious about premed and could get into the 6-year program (and if your grades are high enough, you’d also get a scholarship), I’d probably go that way.</p>
<p>UF is a huge party school. UM doesn’t have quite as much of a party reputation. My understanding is that getting into medical school is more about GPA and MCAT scores than what school you went to for undergrad. Either school is probably fine for this.</p>
<p>UM is very, very expensive. UF is very reasonable in-state, and not too bad out-of-state.</p>
<p>One minor point: UM is in Coral Gables, not Miami proper. It’s only a 10 minute drive to the city, but I just wanted to make this point so no one expects to have a dorm within walking distance of South Beach.</p>
<p>Yes, but Coral Gables is a bustling place as well. There’s plenty to do there, unlike in Gainesville, and the metrorail train runs right to the UM campus, so you can take it wherever even if you don’t have a car. If it’s not rush hour, it’s a short drive to the beach. No one actually lives in the City of Miami. It’s mostly businesses.</p>
<p>Yes, UM is expensive, but they give a LOT of merit aid. Agree it is probably not worth going there if you have to pay the whole $40K yourself.</p>
<p>Yes, but Coral Gables is a bustling place as well. There’s plenty to do there, unlike in Gainesville, and the metrorail train runs right to the UM campus, so you can take it wherever even if you don’t have a car. If it’s not rush hour, it’s a short drive to the beach. No one actually lives in the City of Miami. It’s mostly businesses.</p>
<p>Yes, UM is expensive, but they give a LOT of merit aid. Agree it is probably not worth going there if you have to pay the whole $40K yourself.</p>
<p>Things must have changed dramatically at UM… my brother attended in the 90’s and he all but FORBID my son from applying because it was nothing BUT a party school back in the day. Ha!</p>
<p>Well, your brother may have just been a partier. There has always been that crowd, and I’m sure there still is. But UM has come up in the world. US News ranks it as the top national college in Florida, over UF, FSU, everyone. Of course, many would argue that those are party schools too. When you’re in Florida, a certain percentage of people are going to come for the sun and fun. Whether those people will stay is another thing entirely. Both schools are pretty hard to get into, though, so that probably cuts the non-serious people way back.</p>