Cincinnati vs. Hofstra

[wontonsoup]

Cincinnati pros/cons
+ Interested in some kind of peds (maybe child psych, but I am also potentially interested in surgical pediatric subspecialties) and the associated children's hospital is #2 in the country
+ Super friendly staff/administration and seemed overall very responsive to student needs
+ super happy students (especially my host and his friends who were all very excited to show me around)
+ ranked higher (not sure how much this matters since Hofstra seems likely to move up because it is newer)
+ High Step 1 Scores (241 average)
+ In-State tuition after M1

- many of their matches tend to be in the midwest as well and i want to match back to the east coast
- P/F but with a quartile rank
- Match list for non-peds isn't great
- weekly quizzes (i don't like these, although they will probably improve my focus in the short term )

Hofstra pros/cons
+ progressive preclinical curriculum with focus on small group learning + newer preclinical facilities
+ everyone seemed super happy there
+ high step 1 scores (~236 last year)
+ match list is really strong across the board
+ have family within driving distance (not a dealbreaker at all, but it is nice to be able to go home some weekends)

- Don't really want to live in Long Island
- seemed very "commuter school"
- Mandatory classes
- Essay based exams
- reputation not really solidified yet since it is a new school, but it seems like they are on upward swing

Of course, I don't have to decide for a few months still, but I wanted to get an idea what SDN thought about my options so far.

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[ginsengreset]

My family is in Cinci and I live around the Long Island area, so my thoughts are:

- UC definitely is very strong in peds, and I've heard somewhere that they have the #1 EM residency program, so that's a definite plus. But then again, I've also heard that you should keep your options open during med school.

- My personal opinion is that when it comes to rankings, Northwell suffers from the same regional bias that Mount Sinai does - a very reputable, almost household name in the Northeast and NY metro area, but not quite as well-known elsewhere (the residency director ratings on USNWR bear this out to some degree).

- At my Hofstra interview, they mentioned that you could potentially do all your 3rd/4th year rotations and electives at Lenox Hill in Manhattan if you wanted to be in the city all the time.

I don't really have much to say on mandatory classes / weekly quizzes / free response questions since they're a matter of personal opinion, but most of my exams in undergrad were free-response and it was nice to be able to get partial credit.

 

[AliBabaMD]

UC for sure.
Also, where you are comfortable

 

[931408]

I would go for UC if I were you. Stronger reputation in the medical community and is more established than Hofstra, which I believe is relatively new. You also have to evaluate how much of staying close to home is important to you compared to prestige and having a home institution with a strong pediatrics residency program. You seem leaning heavily towards peds -- if so, UC is a great place to be!

STEP scores are more of a function of the caliber of the students present rather than the curriculum. Medical school curriculum is incredibly homogenized, so I don't think that should factor to your decision too much. Also, the difference is 5 points. Match lists are also very hard to evaluate as someone who is not in either medical class. You don't know too much about the reputation of each center nor do you know the priority of each student, as many students want to locate to a place close to family. You can also contact UC adcoms to ask about the possibility to match back to the east coast - they can probably supply you with statistics with regards to how many students match in regions of the U.S. If you're concerned about the match for non-peds specialties (i.e. if you decide to switch your interest during med school), also look into research and opportunities in different specialties at UC versus Hofstra.

 

[foxm1]

100% UC if you're interested in peds at all

 

[FamousLinen]

You're intrinterein Peds, plus your cons list for Hofstra sound horrendous lmao. Go cinci