2010-2011 Stony Brook Application Thread

[Phoenixi]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey! What did you guys think of Second Look?

So if you haven't heard about a decision by second-look day, does it mean that you are rejected? waitlisted?

 

[jgonka]

The second look was great basically everything stonybrook2015 said. The part that I really like was that all their students seemed so happy to go there, and seemed to be really enjoying their experiences there. The revisit definitely reaffirmed my love for the school and I will be going there this fall!!! Good luck to everyone that is still waiting.

 

[Eliz22]

Sure! The day was from 11:30-3:30. We started off with an overview about the school. I guess I received a little bit more information than what we received on the interview day. They really emphasized that an education at Stony Brook is excellent and affordable. Dr. Fuhrer, Dr. Jordan, and Dr. Agnetti welcomed us. We then headed over to lunch. Basically about 10 students a table and a med student sat with us and answered all our questions. That was helpful in terms of putting things in perspective from the student end.

Then we were able to see the simulation center. The coolest part..something I have not seen at other schools... is a surgical simulation center. So there were like dafts of skins and even blood vessels so you can practice your surgical skills. Two accepted students also role-played for an OSCE and that was cool.

We then headed back to the auditorium and heard a lecture on global health. Stony is really increasing the opportunities for students to serve abroad. They had several programs that would fund this opportunity!

Finally, what I thought was the best part was the Med Student Panel. They were all happy to be at Stony and couldn't see themselves anywhere else! Off the top of my head, I remember that the student panelists consisted of students matching into emergency medicine, plastics, and anesthesiology. Overall a decent day. I just wish there was more opportunity to interact with fellow students...

Anyone else want to chime in...

Cool, thanks for sharing! Wish I could have gone. I'm most likely going to pre-orientation though, I'm excited for that 🙂

 

[jaqydoc]

I interviewed recently and the assistant dean for admissions told my group that your chances at an immediate acceptance do not depend on what time during the cycle you are interviewed, i.e. you have a chance even if you interview on the last day.

i doubt that they're gonna come out and say "we're interviewing for waitlist slots"
...just sayin'...

 

[Isles7]

Current MSIII at Stony Brook here, happy to answer any questions

 

[gamefreak]

just got the packet 🙂

 

[Phoenixi]

Just checking. I thought only orientation was mandatory.

 

[jgonka]

Just checking. I thought only orientation was mandatory.

No i don't think its mandatory. Im just going down to meet more people and try and look for an apartment.

 

[Eliz22]

Current MSIII at Stony Brook here, happy to answer any questions

I'd like to take you up on that offer!

1. Can you comment on your clinical experience at Stony Brook? What do you think of the different rotation sites? 2. I know that most students choose to live off campus...what are some popular housing locations? 3. Are most lectures recorded? 4. What sort of preparation did you receive for the board exams? Did you feel it was adequate? 5. Are satisfied overall with your experience at SB?

Thanks!

 

[evusq]

I was hoping someone could give me any insight on this. I interviewed last December and have not heard back at all, not even a rejection letter. Do you know if they keep people on some kind of hold list and re-consider them after May, or should I consider this a silent rejection? At this point I would rather get a rejection letter than be waiting any longer sigh.

Thanks and good luck to all.

 

[Sandy22]

I was hoping someone could give me any insight on this. I interviewed last December and have not heard back at all, not even a rejection letter. Do you know if they keep people on some kind of hold list and re-consider them after May, or should I consider this a silent rejection? At this point I would rather get a rejection letter than be waiting any longer sigh.

Thanks and good luck to all.

Hm that's weird, maybe they sent you something and it got lost. Did you try calling them or e-mailing them. I would definitely contact them as soon as possible. Good luck

 

[packerm1]

wow they make me wait 5 1/2 months post interview, and tell me nothing until I get a rejection letter. WTF Stony Brook.

Hope you all have better luck with this school....

 

[mcgyver]

I'd like to take you up on that offer!

1. Can you comment on your clinical experience at Stony Brook? What do you think of the different rotation sites? 2. I know that most students choose to live off campus...what are some popular housing locations? 3. Are most lectures recorded? 4. What sort of preparation did you receive for the board exams? Did you feel it was adequate? 5. Are satisfied overall with your experience at SB?

Thanks!

Hi i'm a MS II so I can asnwer 3 and 4.
3. Yes almost all lectures are videotaped and a student is assigned to transcribe each lecture.
4. Board prep is not bad. We've changed all our 2nd year final exams to NBME. To me that alone a huge plus because you'll be studying for the boards while you study for these exams. Other than that we do have weekly board review small groups of 4-5 led by 4th year students. So if that's your thing you can do it. But in my opinion setting your own study schedule for the boards and use First Aid + Rapid Review pathology + a online Q bank is the best combo.
5. I think most lectures are not so helpful but i'm not a lecture person. and most lectures are not mandatory. so if you just like to read on your own like me, you can do that too. The class structure is not bad though. So far I like stony brook so far because it gives you the versatility of choosing your own studying method for the first 2 years.

 

[Foshadowfax]

Any other medical students starting at Stony Brook this fall interested in a monthly Dungeons and Dragons game?

 

[Isles7]

I'd like to take you up on that offer!

1. Can you comment on your clinical experience at Stony Brook? What do you think of the different rotation sites? 2. I know that most students choose to live off campus...what are some popular housing locations? 3. Are most lectures recorded? 4. What sort of preparation did you receive for the board exams? Did you feel it was adequate? 5. Are satisfied overall with your experience at SB?

Thanks!

Sorry for the delayed response...I offered to answer questions and then forgot to check the thread for a few weeks!

1. I suppose I don't really have anything to compare the clinical experience to, but so far I've really enjoyed my rotations. I've done some of my rotations at Stony Brook and some at Winthrop and have been very happy with the amount and quality of teaching at both sites. At Stony Brook, you work really hard and really long hours on most rotations, but you get a ton of practice working up patients and get to do a fair amount of procedures. Winthrop is a bit more of a relaxed environment (it's a community hospital), the hours are not quite as long, and you are not always as busy depending on the rotation.

2. I would definitely recommend living off campus, unless you don't have a car (which would be pretty awful). Most students share a house or an apartment off campus. My first year, I shared a house with six other med students (which, in retrospect, was a few too many) in the town of Centereach, about 10-15 minutes from campus. One of the secretaries in the administration will also send out a housing packet. This usually consists of current students who are looking for roommates or have available rooms in their houses. Most students live in Stony Brook, Port Jefferson, Lake Grove, or Centereach, but many commute from Nassau County or other parts of Suffolk.

3&4. I believe one of the MSIIs posted a pretty thorough response to these questions so I won't go into detail, but basically - yes, the lectures are recorded. I felt very prepared for Step I based on my first and second year courses and the review sessions/study groups that were available to me.

5. I have been extremely satisfied with my experience at Stony Brook. I don't know what other medical schools are like, but I can't imagine being in a more supportive environment. The administration is incredibly responsive to students' feedback. The hospital itself is a great place to be - it's a friendly environment with a diverse and generally appreciative patient population. The attendings and residents are always willing to teach and seem to be pretty happy. And, of course, you can't beat in-state tuition. I never really thought about paying back my loans, but now that graduation is only a year away for me, I think choosing a state school was probably one of the smartest decisions I've made.

I'm happy to answer any more questions from anyone...and looking forward to meeting the new MSI's!

 

[Eliz22]

Thanks so much Mcgyver and Isles7 for your responses! 99% sure I'm going here, so these questions are more to satisfy my own curiosity than anything else but I really appreciate your input.

I actually remember being surprised by how happy people seemed at SB hospital during my interview day, which seemed kind of unusual (in a good way!). I'm looking forward to starting in August!

 

[Sandy22]

-sigh- wish we had some info about waitlist movement..wish we would start getting calls

 

[Sandy22]

LOL okay so based on the facebook group...
"Stony Brook School of Medicine Class of 2015"

there's 35 spots definitely taken....
LOL i feel like such stalker hahahahhahaa smh

anyone remember how big they said they want the class to be =/

btw anyone accepted and decided you're going...you should join that group hehhehe

 

[235009]

anyone remember how big they said they want the class to be =/

btw anyone accepted and decided you're going...you should join that group hehhehe

The class is probably going to be either 124 or 132 depending on whether or not they've decided to expand

 

[SoccerDocker]

I know! I wish there was some news on the waitlist/movement! Have you heard if they've started making calls? I heard a significant portion of this years class came off the list --wondering around what time the list @ SBU tends to move and how far they get.

 

[NYBills987]

I know! I wish there was some news on the waitlist/movement! Have you heard if they've started making calls? I heard a significant portion of this years class came off the list --wondering around what time the list @ SBU tends to move and how far they get.

I just recently withdrew from here.. good luck to you guys waiting to hear!

 

[Premedapplicant]

I'm kind of sort of hoping to get a call...

Anyone know when the news starts to go out?

 

[HINKLO]

I'm kind of sort of hoping to get a call...

Anyone know when the news starts to go out?

I would probably expect the list to start moving tomorrow full bore. It wouldn't hurt to call the admissions office though. I would myself if I was by a phone.

 

[waterbottle10]

they'll probably go through the high priority wait list first. might be a while before the actual waitlist moves

 

[Sandy22]

they'll probably go through the high priority wait list first. might be a while before the actual waitlist moves

yea the high priority is probably going first....i think there are only a few people on that list though....any mentions of high priority list (in this thread) only occurred at the last set of decisions (people that were getting responses from 3/4-3/15)....and there was only one person that posted on this thread about getting a notification about high priority..soooooo hopefully there aren't a lot in high priority soooo there's movement for the regular waitlist 0=) lol im biased

 

[Pearlized]

Hey guys, I've been looking at this thread for a while and the wait is killing me as well. SB notified me that I was in the high priority list, early march; I'm not completely sure about this information, but when I first called them about the high priority list, they told me the HP list only had 12 ppl in it (which was surprising). I don't know how accurate it is since they never told me how big it was when I called later in the season. So yea, let's try to keep our hopes up & good luck to everyone!

 

[Premedapplicant]

When I called they told me to expect movement in June for the regular waitlist just fyi

 

[HINKLO]

Good to know, but...more waiting.

 

[waterbottle10]

anyone know if accept off waitlist is by email or phone?

 

[235009]

anyone know if accept off waitlist is by email or phone?

it's definitely not by email

my guess would be that it is by overnight letter but wouldn't be surprised if they call you the closer it is to the first day of orientation

 

[girlinthegarden]

Accepted off the high priority list! Received a letter in the mail today to my permanent address. Hang in there everyone!

 

[Eliz22]

Accepted off the high priority list! Received a letter in the mail today to my permanent address. Hang in there everyone!

Sweet, Congrats!!!! Do you plan to attend?

 

[HINKLO]

Seconded on the congrats, and without trying to make it sound *too* much like I want you to withdraw...are you planning on attending/did you have other acceptances? 😛

 

[girlinthegarden]

Seconded on the congrats, and without trying to make it sound *too* much like I want you to withdraw...are you planning on attending/did you have other acceptances? 😛

Haha yeah I get the feeling everyone is soooo happy for me 😉 I'm really not sure if I will attend. I just got off the waitlist at Downstate as well and am holding an acceptance to BU. BU is definitely my dream school but the $$$ may not be worth it. Not sure what to think at this point - I have a lot of thinking to do!

 

[iniquus]

I'm biased because I want off the waitlist too, but if BU is your dream school, you shouldn't let cost be the main factor in your decision. Don't completely discount it, and I believe the financial aid officer at Stony said a similar thing.

I think you should e-mail/call BU to up your need/merit aid, especially now that you have bargaining chips. Explain to them your preference for BU, but the price is killing you. Worst case scenario you're in the situation you're still in now, and best case scenario BU becomes more affordable. I did a similar thing for another school, and I got my aid doubled, although it wasn't much to begin with.'

And Downstate and Stony are comparable in some ways, but unless you have a strong inclination for the city life (Downstate matches well in general, but which school doesn't?), Stony is the better choice in my mind.

 

[wkl]

in response to the above comment, i am in the same position (choosing between stony and BU)
bu will not increase aid. first of all, they do not give much aid to begin with. they are known for this. and, they do not increase aid based on other schools, etc.
BU is also my "dream " school but stony isn't a bad option. it is a really tough decision. anyone have comments on what it would be like living in stony and working in the hospitals?

 

[HINKLO]

Are you in state for NY or MA? That would make a difference. I would look at the average indebtedness though, which is:

BU: ~166k
SB: ~123k
Downstate: ~125k

In the grand scheme of things, 40k is not THAT much. Are you willing to pay 40 grand to go to your dream school? Think opportunity cost.

Anyway, best of luck wherever you choose to go! I won't blame you if I don't get in at SB 😛

 

[wkl]

average indebtedness is taking into account out of state for SB (increasing avg) and student's who have assistance from parents, etc for BU. In reality, if you take out all loans, its about a 30k difference per year..

 

[HINKLO]

average indebtedness is taking into account out of state for SB (increasing avg) and student's who have assistance from parents, etc for BU. In reality, if you take out all loans, its about a 30k difference per year..

I know in NY you can apply for state residency after your first year. So...realistically, it probably looks more like the average plus or minus the difference between IS and OOS tuition for 1 year (or however many it takes to get residency). Does BU offer lower IS tuition?

 

[wkl]

good point. and no it doesn't -bu is private so for everyone its about $49,000 for the 1st year tuition

 

[HINKLO]

good point. and no it doesn't -bu is private so for everyone its about $49,000 for the 1st year tuition

Ah, well it looks like any way you slice it then, SB is pretty significantly cheaper. Still though, does happiness have a price?

 

[FIREitUP]

I liked SBU, I wished they didn't reject me post interview last year (after 5 months of waiting), and they were the only SUNY to not re-invite me to an interview 🙁. The hospital is magnificent and it seemed like a really cool place. My only gripe is that I would get lost in that place if I got accepted. Good luck, class of 2015.

 

[anbuitachi]

Haha yeah I get the feeling everyone is soooo happy for me 😉 I'm really not sure if I will attend. I just got off the waitlist at Downstate as well and am holding an acceptance to BU. BU is definitely my dream school but the $$$ may not be worth it. Not sure what to think at this point - I have a lot of thinking to do!

In my opinion BU is the way to go if it is your dream school. I don't see why not. BU is a great school and an extremely difficult school to get into. I know they've rejected many great applicants with very high stats. Medical school is a stressful time and if you think you will be happier at BU then BU should be the one. Sure you will have a bit more debt when you get out really, when you are making 150k -300k depending on what doctor you become later on, is that 40k really a big deal?

Btw I noticed you got into downstate, do you plan on withdrawing from DS? Since you only mentioned Stony vs Boston.

 

[HINKLO]

I liked SBU, I wished they didn't reject me post interview last year (after 5 months of waiting), and they were the only SUNY to not re-invite me to an interview 🙁. The hospital is magnificent and it seemed like a really cool place. My only gripe is that I would get lost in that place if I got accepted. Good luck, class of 2015.

Haha, I had the exact same thought -- if I go here I am going to be lost for the first month.

 

[girlinthegarden]

In my opinion BU is the way to go if it is your dream school. I don't see why not. BU is a great school and an extremely difficult school to get into. I know they've rejected many great applicants with very high stats. Medical school is a stressful time and if you think you will be happier at BU then BU should be the one. Sure you will have a bit more debt when you get out really, when you are making 150k -300k depending on what doctor you become later on, is that 40k really a big deal?

Btw I noticed you got into downstate, do you plan on withdrawing from DS? Since you only mentioned Stony vs Boston.

Yeah, BU is great but it's a 100K difference not 40K. Tuition at BU is 50K a year (and will probably increase) while at Stony it's 26K. I don't have financial help from my parents so I would need to take out the full loan amount. Not sure where the 40K figure came from but that won't be the case for me.

I'm not sure yet about Downstate. I really want to do urban medicine but I didn't feel safe in the area around Downstate. I'll have to go back and see it in the next week. I'm afraid that I won't get exposed to the things I'm interested in at Stony (urban health, underserved populations) so that is why I am hesitating.

 

[chingster]

Yeah, BU is great but it's a 100K difference not 40K. Tuition at BU is 50K a year (and will probably increase) while at Stony it's 26K. I don't have financial help from my parents so I would need to take out the full loan amount. Not sure where the 40K figure came from but that won't be the case for me.

I'm not sure yet about Downstate. I really want to do urban medicine but I didn't feel safe in the area around Downstate. I'll have to go back and see it in the next week. I'm afraid that I won't get exposed to the things I'm interested in at Stony (urban health, underserved populations) so that is why I am hesitating.

I know a friend who was expected to both these fine schools, but Stony was never a topic of discussion and he was in-state.

At Stony, I'm sure you'll be exposed to urban health and underserved populations-- just not at the same degree as BU or Downstate. This should not be a reason to base what school you want to learn medicine from. Downstate is in a shady location, but like some areas of NY with a bad rep, they're not so bad if you are street-smart.

I don't think you can put a price on happiness because there's a chance you'll be punishing yourself later on. For undergraduate, I graduated with an exorbitant amount of debt close to your figure, but when compared to the solid schools I passed up, I still feel like I made the right decision. I would not trade my undergraduate experience for anything else, and the countless opportunities of going to my school was worth it. A dream school is just that, it should be something you want above all else and the PROs outweigh the CONs. If you want to redefine BU as something other than a dream school, then that might be a tough choice.

And that 100K is a conservative overestimate. Don't forget transportation costs (you need a car) of going to Stony and the more expensive housing in Boston. You might even waive health insurance for your parents' coverage. A school's proposed cost of attendance usually has a margin of leniency. Boston has amazing medical opportunities, and while Stony is somewhat close to NYC, you'd probably have to get a new place if you were going to do an away rotation in the city.

And to people who say Stony's hospital is magnificent. Yes, it is nice after the renovations, but you really need to compare Stony's hospital to a top 20 school's hospital before you say things like you're going to get lost in it 😉. Stony's hospital doesn't really have many strong programs, if any. So you might lose the allure of matching to your own school's programs.

 

[HINKLO]

The 40k that I came up with was assuming you were an MA resident, my mistake.

 

[futuredoc528]

I know a friend who was expected to both these fine schools, but Stony was never a topic of discussion and he was in-state.

At Stony, I'm sure you'll be exposed to urban health and underserved populations-- just not at the same degree as BU or Downstate. This should not be a reason to base what school you want to learn medicine from. Downstate is in a shady location, but like some areas of NY with a bad rep, they're not so bad if you are street-smart.

I don't think you can put a price on happiness because there's a chance you'll be punishing yourself later on. For undergraduate, I graduated with an exorbitant amount of debt close to your figure, but when compared to the solid schools I passed up, I still feel like I made the right decision. I would not trade my undergraduate experience for anything else, and the countless opportunities of going to my school was worth it. A dream school is just that, it should be something you want above all else and the PROs outweigh the CONs. If you want to redefine BU as something other than a dream school, then that might be a tough choice.

And that 100K is a conservative overestimate. Don't forget transportation costs (you need a car) of going to Stony and the more expensive housing in Boston. You might even waive health insurance for your parents' coverage. A school's proposed cost of attendance usually has a margin of leniency. Boston has amazing medical opportunities, and while Stony is somewhat close to NYC, you'd probably have to get a new place if you were going to do an away rotation in the city.

And to people who say Stony's hospital is magnificent. Yes, it is nice after the renovations, but you really need to compare Stony's hospital to a top 20 school's hospital before you say things like you're going to get lost in it 😉. Stony's hospital doesn't really have many strong programs, if any. So you might lose the allure of matching to your own school's programs.

100k isn't an overestimate, it's a way underestimate, because it's before interest, which means you're looking at an extra $250-300k in the long run, that's the difference between paying off your loans in 5-10 years, or being stuck with them til you're nearly 50, that's a BIG deal.

There's a reason people go to state schools, and neither SB or DS are bad schools.

I hate the break it to you girlinthegarden, but if your goal as a doctor is to work with the under-served, you're probably going to have to get used to areas like the one around downstate (and the people who populate it), which really isn't that bad, if you can't cut it there, you might want to re-evaluate your career goals.

 

[futuredoc528]

The 40k that I came up with was assuming you were an MA resident, my mistake.

BU is a private school, no diff for in/out of state

 

[chingster]

100k isn't an overestimate, it's a way underestimate, because it's before interest, which means you're looking at an extra $250-300k in the long run, that's the difference between paying off your loans in 5-10 years, or being stuck with them til you're nearly 50, that's a BIG deal.

There's a reason people go to state schools, and neither SB or DS are bad schools.

I hate the break it to you girlinthegarden, but if your goal as a doctor is to work with the under-served, you're probably going to have to get used to areas like the one around downstate (and the people who populate it), which really isn't that bad, if you can't cut it there, you might want to re-evaluate your career goals.

I meant 100K was an overestimate of the initial debt. Obviously interest will be a lot more than that, but there are plans available to pay back loans. Debt with a physician's salary only becomes a major problem if you are irresponsible. You won't be living on the streets.