- Joined
- Jan 23, 2014
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
Hey all, my application cycle has pretty much ended for me and I'm left with a decision between two schools I like very much. Just want to see what you're thoughts are, even though I know that ultimately no one on the internet can make a decision for me. So far I've come up with this list of pros and cons:
Stony Brook University School of Medicine
+ Very close to home, friends and family ; I also like the suburbs of Long Island and the proximity to NYC
+ Smaller Class Size (124)
+ Students were very friendly and seemed like a tight knit community I could click with.
+ Cost: tuition is $35,000 since I'm IS (merit based aid does not exist for 1st year students however, so I do not anticipate this changing)
+ Curriculum is almost 90% assuredly switching to 1.5 years of preclinical starting in 2014 (with a mix of block and systems based learning), meaning faster transition to clinical years.
+ depending on how the new curriculum is adjusted, somewhere in the region of 6-8 weeks of prep time given for Step 1 compared to 5 weeks at Boston.
- H/P/F system with ranked quartiles (H/HP/P/LP used internally for AOA)
Boston Univerisity School of Medicine
+ Cirriculum is an interesting mix of Systems with elements of PBL inspired small group discussions. Less time spent listening to lectures.
+ BMC is a great location for the clinical years given the interesting issues/cases and diverse patient population.
+ P/F system unranked
+ Has a higher prestige factor than SB
+ Strong commitment to help the underserved evident in the school's programs and overall feel
+ Cost: I was given a scholarship, adjusted tuition as it stands now would be $37,000 (about the same as SB). It could be potentially less after I submit aid forms and hope for merit based aid/loans (and BU, unlike SB, offers institutional loans that don't collect interest until after I complete residency)
+ "better" research opportunities than SB
- Boston is a great area, especially for students but it is far from home and the cost of living is higher.
- The students here were really nice people, but I didn't get as much of a sense of class unity as I did at SB when I interviewed.
- Larger Class Size (181)
It's funny to me that this decision is stressing me out so much, because just half a year ago I was stressing over whether or not I would even get into a medical school in the first place! Anyway, thanks for the help guys. I'll probably take a good amount of time to make my decision but I'll update this thread when I make that decision.
Stony Brook University School of Medicine
+ Very close to home, friends and family ; I also like the suburbs of Long Island and the proximity to NYC
+ Smaller Class Size (124)
+ Students were very friendly and seemed like a tight knit community I could click with.
+ Cost: tuition is $35,000 since I'm IS (merit based aid does not exist for 1st year students however, so I do not anticipate this changing)
+ Curriculum is almost 90% assuredly switching to 1.5 years of preclinical starting in 2014 (with a mix of block and systems based learning), meaning faster transition to clinical years.
+ depending on how the new curriculum is adjusted, somewhere in the region of 6-8 weeks of prep time given for Step 1 compared to 5 weeks at Boston.
- H/P/F system with ranked quartiles (H/HP/P/LP used internally for AOA)
Boston Univerisity School of Medicine
+ Cirriculum is an interesting mix of Systems with elements of PBL inspired small group discussions. Less time spent listening to lectures.
+ BMC is a great location for the clinical years given the interesting issues/cases and diverse patient population.
+ P/F system unranked
+ Has a higher prestige factor than SB
+ Strong commitment to help the underserved evident in the school's programs and overall feel
+ Cost: I was given a scholarship, adjusted tuition as it stands now would be $37,000 (about the same as SB). It could be potentially less after I submit aid forms and hope for merit based aid/loans (and BU, unlike SB, offers institutional loans that don't collect interest until after I complete residency)
+ "better" research opportunities than SB
- Boston is a great area, especially for students but it is far from home and the cost of living is higher.
- The students here were really nice people, but I didn't get as much of a sense of class unity as I did at SB when I interviewed.
- Larger Class Size (181)
It's funny to me that this decision is stressing me out so much, because just half a year ago I was stressing over whether or not I would even get into a medical school in the first place! Anyway, thanks for the help guys. I'll probably take a good amount of time to make my decision but I'll update this thread when I make that decision.
