Albany vs UVM vs Upstate

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HopeIsStrength

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Hey y'all I have the following three options and wanted to see what people's opinions are on what I would be best served picking. I am not listing any ranking based pros/cons because I don't really know the difference between any of them. I would like to go into Ortho or Psych so it would be helpful if that's kept in mind.

UVM
Pros:
The nicest staff of any interview I was in.
Some of the coolest people.
Seemed really relaxed.
I liked Burlington, it was a cute town and had gorgeous natural surroundings.
Seemed to have mentoring be really accessible.
Cons:
Most expensive option
Far from home and my sup. system

Albany
Pros:
I liked Albany the most as a city. Seemed like a mini Brooklyn which is where I am from.
It seemed as though cost of life is fairly low.
It seemed as though very little was mandatory as opposed to UVM. I prefer to learn independently.
Closest to home.
10k cheaper than UVM.
Students were EXTREMELY enthusiastic about their counselor.
Cons:
Seems fairly hard to get my hands on some research.
The grading is a modified A/B/C/D

Upstate:
Pros:
Cheapest option. Another 10k cheaper than Albany.
The Cost of life seemed super duper low.
I liked the campus the most from everywhere I interviewed.
The students were also super nice.
The mentoring system they spoke about was fire.
NBME tests.
Cons:
Syracuse
far from home too
 
UVM has the best name recognition / reputation and ranking if that is important to you!


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How do your feel about active learning? UVM has 90% active learning, so basically no lectures. You should definitely consider what is best for your learning style


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Hey! I’m an AMC student and just wanted to comment on the grading. It is not modified A/B/C it is modified pass fail. So the top 8% of the class gets honors (E or EH), and pretty much the remainder of the class passes with a G! If you wanna PM me I can chat about research! I got some within two weeks of matriculating.
 
Current UVM student here! If grading systems is something you are comparing, UVM has Pass/Fail for pre-clinical and Honors/Pass/Fail for clinical years. We also have NBME exams at the end of courses as additional means of preparing. Many of our instructors previously or currently write board questions, so I feel there is ample experience with that style after the 1st semester. The first semester material does not lend itself to the NBME style so much because it is foundational. However, there is an NBME at the end of the first course/semester. Happy to answer any questions or provide insight on the active learning modalities as well.
 
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