Fordham University vs Stony Brook vs Binghamton

Doc2019

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Hi. I'm currently a senior in High School about to go on the Pre-Med Track and I was wondering if anyone here could give me a little insight on which college to attend for Pre-Med. I'm stuck between Fordham University, Stony Brook University and Binghamton University. Right now, I'm 75% in favor of Fordham because I plan to be a commuter so I'd have the advantage of staying home and studying at the comfort of my home. I'd also have time to spend with my parents which is partially why I don't like Bing because I'd leave for 4 years and be 5 hours away from them. In addition to that Fordham is linked to Kaplan and they have a ton of MCAT classes going on during the school year. Also Fordham doesn't have that many Pre-Meds so I'd have the chance to compete for opportunities without too much competition and they also seem to be very involved with their students. All Med School applicants submit their applications to a Medical Committee who gives mock interviews, helps with the essays. It's also close to Mount Sinai hospital and other hospitals so I'd have a lot of volunteering opportunities and shadowing. The money isn't an issue because they've given me a lot of financial aid with scholarships so the price of Fordham would be equivalent to that of Bing and Stony. Also if worst comes to worst, I was offered a transfer option at Cornell so I can immediately transfer to Cornell if my GPA is above a certain criteria and I take certain classes. But what I wanted to ask all of you was, is it good to go to a school without a ton of Pre-meds? I'm not saying Fordham doesn't have any Pre-Meds, there's a good amount where I can find a friend to study with. But would it be better to go to somewhere like Stony Brook where there a lot of PreMeds. I just think I can thrive at a school without a lot of Pre-Meds. You see, I came from a very competitive and prestigious High School so I believe that going to a prestigious college wouldn't be a good idea if I wanted to go to a prestigious Medical School because these schools select only a one or maybe none from each college. I feel that if I can work hard, do well on my MCATS, take the research opportunities given to me at Fordham, and work on my EC's then I think I have a good shot at my childhood dream of Harvard Medical. So, if any of you, who's read up to this part, have any experience with this then please give me your advice. At the end I'm pretty much asking: Am I making the right decision to go to Fordham? Is it a good idea to go to a school without that many Pre-Meds? Am I going in with the correct mindset?

P.S I'm not blaming all of my faults due to the competitiveness of my high school. I admit that I did slack here and there during High School and I take fault. I consider myself so lucky to have a transfer option at Cornell and that maybe not going to an elite college now would be a good thing for me going into medical college. Also I appreciate that I've been given the opportunity to be exposed to research a great work ethic at my high school and I want to move on learning from my mistakes in High School to be the best Pre-Med student possible.

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Post this in pre-allopathic for better answeres

Also: the undergrad you pick(out of those three) really won't make a difference for medical school
Go where you think you'll be the happiest and will get the highest GPA
Do some research
Volunteering
Shadowing
Ave the MCAT.
And you'll be fine.

And for your Q whether there's a lot of pre mess or not it doesn't really make any difference. There are advantages and disadvantages to both which just cancel out.
Also, dorming may be a good thing depending on how much your commuting . If your commute is over an hour you may want to consider dorming to save time
If you have any more Q just ask
Your welcome
 
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I would strongly consider the Cornell transfer route if you really are gunning for top medical schools, as private medical schools have stated in an AAMC survey that being from a selective undergraduate school is of highest importance along with GPA and MCAT (see page 7).

I'm at WUSTL which is among the 5 universities with the most percent premeds (1/5 graduating seniors applies to med schools) and I can tell you it's a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, there is almost unlimited support for premeds and a million easy opportunities including courses for shadowing in hospitals, a prehealth center with MCAT study support, personal statement support, walk-in advising from past adcom members at top med schools, etc. Cornell has a lower premed percent by a little bit but still will have opportunities left and right. On the other hand, the majority of people who go in as premed are weeded out, so you need to be confident you can consistently outperform premed Ivy League peers in curved science coursework to keep a solidly competitive GPA.

If you aren't at all interested in the transfer, then between those three schools it doesn't matter much where you go. I personally have enjoyed the many premed dedicated resources and having a lot of premed peers to commiserate and study with, but as long as you stay well-informed via SDN you'll be able to build a competitive application at any of those schools, and should go Fordham if it's a better location and campus vibe.
 
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The choice to attend the above three colleges would not make a difference, medical schools do not care if you went to say a 110 rank school vs a 130 rank school. Now if you were to throw in a top 20 university - like your cornell plan - then that would change things.
 
My number one advice is go to the best school that you want to go to. Remember that undergrad is also a life experience, and it's not only about school anymore. You could have external factors that could affect your performance and/or motivation. I believe that 1. everything happens for a reason, and 2. you should make the best of what you've got. So in my opinion, if you're set on becoming a physician, you will become a physician and you will stop at nothing to get there.

Now, regarding your specific questions. I have no clue about the specifics on any of these schools. However, I'm currently at a small school where students in pre-health professional tracks are not the majority. I had to actively seek out opportunities to build my resume, and I think that if I went to a larger school with a better system in place for these tracks that I could have had a easier time finding opportunities. That being said, I have high school friends who went to larger state universities that have had to compete for opportunities due to the sheer number of people that are pre-professional. I too went to a selective/competitive high school, and I ended up going to a "safety" school of mine just because I was afraid I wouldn't do well. If I could go back and do it over, I would have gone to a bigger more prestigious university.

My two cents.
 
medguy24: Thank you for the advice and the commute is no more than 20 minutes.

efle and styphon: I appreciate the advice a lot and I think I'm going to go to Fordham. They have a good enough community of premeds even though its not a majority of premeds but I should have people to study with. Thanks for the advice but I have a question for both you an efle. I've read a LOT on SDN and they're always saying name doesn't matter yet you just said name did play a factor. I just want to know should I go to Cornell for name even if I don't think I'd be happy. I personally like Fordham because I think I'd be happy since it's a smaller school than Cornell and I hear Cornell deflates grades.

Para-dox: Thank you for your advice. I feel like I really like Fordham right now. Because although it doesn't have a majority of Premeds, there are opportunities for Premeds. It's connected to a few hospitals. And I love how our stories are similar because I'm ending up at a "safety" too. However my question is, why would you want to go to a bigger more prestigious university. You just mentioned on how it's harder to land opportunities?

Although I asked questions to specific members if any of you could add input that'd be great!
 
medguy24: Thank you for the advice and the commute is no more than 20 minutes.

efle and styphon: I appreciate the advice a lot and I think I'm going to go to Fordham. They have a good enough community of premeds even though its not a majority of premeds but I should have people to study with. Thanks for the advice but I have a question for both you an efle. I've read a LOT on SDN and they're always saying name doesn't matter yet you just said name did play a factor. I just want to know should I go to Cornell for name even if I don't think I'd be happy. I personally like Fordham because I think I'd be happy since it's a smaller school than Cornell and I hear Cornell deflates grades.

Each aspect of your medical school application has different weights - by far the greatest impact is your GPA, science GPA, and MCAT. Outside of that is when your EC activities, "elite school" status/prestige, and letters of recommendation come into play.

Now if someone went to Cornell/Yale/Princeton but were an "ok student" with a GPA of 3.2 MCAT of 28, vs someone who went to a state school and did well w/ GPA of 3.6 and MCAT of 35 - then the school has no meaning as the GPA/MCAT become the main factors.

But on the other hand, lets say you both have about the same GPA and MCAT, then the ivy league guy has an edge and will have a higher chance of acceptance.

One large detail - this only goes for top ranked schools (top 10 or 20 in the US)- if you compare 50 vs 60 or 100 vs 110, etc - then it does not matter.
 
Para-dox: Thank you for your advice. I feel like I really like Fordham right now. Because although it doesn't have a majority of Premeds, there are opportunities for Premeds. It's connected to a few hospitals. And I love how our stories are similar because I'm ending up at a "safety" too. However my question is, why would you want to go to a bigger more prestigious university. You just mentioned on how it's harder to land opportunities?

It's more of a personal preference I suppose. Also, hindsight is 20/20. I know the type of student I am and I would have found a way to thrive in any environment. During my undergrad career, I wasn't challenged very much academically until recently. I kept busy and involved through extracurricular activities. I think that had I gone to the bigger university, I would have thrived from the environment there and had a completely different experience (read: a better one). I suppose it could be a "grass is greener on the other side" kind of thing, but if I could go back, that's what I would choose. I would go for the challenge and reach for the best I can do.
 
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Stony Brook's pre med is very very competitive.
 
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