March 18 2010 – UVA Match Day

Match Day is March 18 2010.

Every year, I do research into the Match Day process, and every year I find interesting blog post. This one is a particular favorite because of the insight one gains into the thought and process.

We’ve been contemplating where we want to go for Residency for months, maybe even years. I spend hours and hours on Internet websites, like CNN MONEY, and FORBES and MSNBC, researching:

I wanna end up in a place that I’ll love. A place that’s safe for my kids. A place where one orange doesn’t cost 150 pennies. A place where I can have a white Christmas and a dry mild Summer. A place that has lots of trails, parks, museums, and green trees that make a canopy over the street. A place with low crime, great schools, good air quality and a Target. Oh, and places that have a temple within an hours drive and some mountains and beaches would be nice too! A place that is close enough to see family within a days’ drive, you know, a place with few earth quakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, kinda like the BEST OF EVERYTHING?!

Sounds to me like she’s describing Charlottesville, Virginia. Of course I’m biased. Shouldn’t I be?

I’m particularly curious about this link in the Match/Medical Residency timeline:

JANUARY 15 2010: Submit Rank Order Lists. It is based on the applicant’s preference and the programs do the same for their applicants. (With 1 being our first preference, we list our top 1-20 programs that interviewed Rick.)

I wonder how many people submit the University of Virginia as one of their top three programs.

Match Day 2009 – March 19

Match Day 2008 – March 20

Usually, Medical Residents coming to the University of Virginia Medical Center are looking for homes in either the City of Charlottesville or County of Albemarle under $300k. Usually. There are always exceptions.

If you think you’re going to match at the University of Virginia and have questions about the area that you may not have found the answers to online, please feel free to contact me with any questions. If you’re putting Charlottesville at the top of your list and have questions about relocating to Charlottesville, please take a look at this work-in-progress page.

(here’s a tip: “Charlottesville” frequently means “Charlottesville, Albemarle, Greene, Fluvanna, Nelson and/or Louisa” Most likely, you will be targeting Charlottesville, Albemarle, and maybe parts of Greene and Fluvanna )

These are a few homes for sale that meet the admittedly basic and broad criteria used by many incoming UVA Medical Residents. For instance, these are sorted by Walkscore.

[idx-listings linkid=”62884″ orderby=”Price” orderdir=”DESC” count=”5″]

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3 Comments

  1. vanessa January 8, 2010 at 10:36

    Jim!

    Great post! I will have you know my Husband interviewed at VCU in December and LOVED the city! I wish so badly I could have joined him no that leg of the trip, as I am sure I would have fallen in love with the area! he brought home about 5 pounds worth of pamphlets of the areas and I poured over them for hours. The program wasn’t his most favroite, but he enjoyed it nonetheless!

    Reply
  2. Waiting to Buy January 9, 2010 at 22:16

    This isn’t a snarky comment…I’d really like to see the math on this, and don’t know how to do it.

    If prices are going to decline +/- 10% in this area this year, how does it make sense for somebody on a resident’s $40,000/year salary to buy anything here? If interest rates go up, how will they sell?

    Reply
    1. Jim Duncan January 10, 2010 at 08:55

      Thank you for the comment. It’s *never* a good time to buy for everyone. For some, it doesn’t make sense, particularly those who will be here for a relatively short period of time (i.e. less than four-five years).

      This is one of the best Rent versus Buy Calculators I’ve found over the years.

      This is a great post from the Get Rich Slowly blog about the “realities of home buying” ….

      And I’m not sure that all properties will drop by 10% this year. The Charlottesville market is very localized, so I don’t think that blanket statements are a wise. I would be happy to talk to you “off blog” …

      Reply

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