Choosing undergrad institution: URochester vs Stony Brook

[Thanatos0403]

I am in the difficult situation of choosing between a more prestigious private uni (URochester) and a state school (SUNY Stony Brook). I am planning on majoring in biochem and doing a bunch of research. So far I have narrowed the characteristics down, please provide your opinions.
University of Rochester
Pros:
-More prestigious (top 30 school)
-Large endowment (2.5 billion, more opportunities?)
-Many research opportunities, especially in natural sciences(350 mil research budget)
-Good medical center/university hospital nearby with high research output (Strong Memorial Hospital, 850 bed, good in cardiac, cancer, neurology, orthopedics and pediatrics.)
-Cold climate (I like cold)
-Small school size (10k students, 5k undergrad)
-Really nice chem dept
Cons:
-Hella expensive (70k but I get ~45k in aid so 25kish)
-Dreary climate (I might get depressed, who knows)
-Might get screwed by aid (have to take loans if they reduce aid)
-Farther away from home (6-7 hours by car)
-Slower paced than the city (from NYC)
-Biochem is part of bio dept rather than chem dept (less chem edu, I prefer chem)
-Bio electives are meh

SUNY Stony Brook
Pros:
-Dirt cheap (Full ride)
-Part of honors program (Rochester doesnt have honors programs but still)
-Also great research opportunities at Cold Spring Harbor and Brookhaven
-Separate biochem/cell bio department --> better major organization
-Really cool bio electives
-Is state school so I can pretend I am going because Ivies were too expensive (I can actually afford them but I got rejected.)
Cons:
-Is state school --> worse facilities
-2x more students (Larger classes)
-Research opportunities are more difficult to get to (Cold Spring Harbor and Brookhaven are 30 min car trips)
-Food is legendarily bad (or so I've heard)
-More premed students (more competition/cancer?)
-Ghost town on weekends (commuter school)
-Reduced funding from state (over the past few years (or so I've heard))

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[Cheezin]

I don't know much about Stony Brook except that the med school is really good and their BS/MD program is really popular. It is true, Rochester weather is dreadful, but UR is a really good school. It seems to me that your two deciding factors would be money and social life (pretty common). I guess keep in mind that med school tuition is generally 60k with no aid and other fees etc bump it up to 90k, so you could look at it like 25k a year for undergrad is pretty cheap or its an extra 100k you'll have to pay total. Like I'm from Rochester and want to get out of here, but I would also want a school with an active social life so out of these two, if the money is fine then go UR. Good luck!

 

[Osminog]

As someone who was admitted to both SBU Honors and UofR in high school (though I ultimately attended neither), I'm putting in a vote for Stony Brook.

Closer to home, full ride, honors program (RateMyProfessors + priority registration = win), great research/volunteering/shadowing opportunities... Sure, it has a lot of pre-meds, but the ones who put in the work are quite successful:

 

[Thanatos0403]

As someone who was admitted to both SBU Honors and UofR in high school (though I ultimately attended neither), I'm putting in a vote for Stony Brook.

Closer to home, full ride, honors program (RateMyProfessors + priority registration = win), great research/volunteering/shadowing opportunities... Sure, it has a lot of pre-meds, but the ones who put in the work are quite successful:

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What makes you like SBU more? Isnt Rochester just a better college given equal financials.

 

[Osminog]

What makes you like SBU more? Isnt Rochester just a better college given equal financials.

As a SBU Honors student, you get priority registration. That means you can snag spots in the most sought-after classes. That's a very serious advantage. You'd be able to dodge ESL instructors, notoriously tough graders, and incompetents. ALSO, you'd get a better chance to work closely with faculty (think strong LoRs). ALSO, you'd get to be involved in URECA (undergraduate research).

Prestige of undergrad is a factor in medical school admissions, but UofR isn't Yale or Brown. The UofR name wouldn't make much of an impact on your application.

SBU would save you $100K, keep you closer to home, and give you an academic edge. It'd give you literally all of the resources you'd need in order to get into a great MD program. Does UofR's greater name recognition alone outweigh these factors? Not even close.

 

[Thanatos0403]

As a SBU Honors student, you get priority registration. That means you can snag spots in the most sought-after classes. That's a very serious advantage. You'd be able to dodge ESL instructors, notoriously tough graders, and incompetents. ALSO, you'd get a better chance to work closely with faculty (think strong LoRs). ALSO, you'd get to be involved in URECA (undergraduate research).

Prestige of undergrad is a factor in medical school admissions, but UofR isn't Yale or Brown. The UofR name wouldn't make much of an impact on your application.

SBU would save you $100K, keep you closer to home, and give you an academic edge. It'd give you literally all of the resources you'd need in order to get into a great MD program. Does UofR's greater name recognition alone outweigh these factors? Not even close.

Wow, thanks for putting that into perspective