Current SUNY Upstate and Buffalo Students

[b2bmd]

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Hello All,

I am currently trying to decide between SUNY Upstate and SUNY Buffalo. I would appreciate feedback from current students about the strengths and weaknesses of your respective programs. Also, I would like to know about the quality of life outside of school in Buffalo vs. Syracuse, weather differences if any, etc.

From what I have gathered both schools seem to have integrated curriculums, although Buffalo's curriculum seems to be more integrated than Upstate's. Also, Buffalo has class from 8-12, while class time varies at Upstate. However, from what I have gathered from Upstate's website, it seems to be very student friendly.


Thanks I really appreciate your input!!!

 

[Random]

Right now, the MS2 year at Upstate is the same way (800-1200 or 1230) at least the majority of the time. There are some small group activities in the afternoon a couple of days each week. As for the first year, while the lecture component may be shortened to the same schedule (maybe even by next year but no guarantees), because a number of classes have lab components, there'll still be things to attend in the afternoon.

I can't speak to actual differences between the cities but I can tell you that Syracuse has had a fairly mild winter this year, but I'm told that's atypical. Other than that, it is kind of cloudy, which actually works well for me since it keeps my attention inside but that's certainly not true for everyone. As for life outside of school, it's really variable on how much you're planning to study. If you don't need to study very much, it is possible that you'd find the city a bit lacking but our proximity to the SU campus helps with that somewhat. Additionally, we're about an hour from Cornell so it's not uncommon for people to take weekend trips to the Ithica area.

And yes, you're right; the place is fairly student friendly.

Either way, best of luck.

Dave

 

[OccptlMed]

i lived in syracuse for two years
the winters are long and grey and the summers can be cloudy and hot
i dont think buff is much different

not bad though if you are active
i took up x country skiing and they was lots of snow
i would ski every sat for 4 hours and the cloudy light reflects bright off the snow - so i would get a good boost for the weak
plus the serious exercise helped alot
plus there is a good symphony there and SU has lots too offer like concerts and movies and art exhibits

buffalo is a bigger city though and closer to canada if that makes any diff
best

 

[Supercluster]

I know quite a few people who chose Buffalo over Upstate (since I go to UB) but I'm sure that there are also a bunch who made the other choice. All of the people I've spoken too ultimately went with their gut feeling about which school they thought they would be happiest at. From what I've heard, it seems like the positive aspects of the student populations are really similar between the 2 schools. I have found my peers to be non-competitive, helpful, and overall cool and nice people.

As for classes at UB, 1 day a week we have afternoon class, once every other week we go to our preceptor in the afternoon, and twice a week there are optional review sessions, but other than that we only have class 8-12. It's a pretty nice set-up--we definitely have a lot of time to study.

I don't know much about Syracuse, but I think Buffalo is a decent city. There's stuff going on, I mean it isn't NYC but there are lots of concerts and nice restaurants and cool bars and stuff like that. I doubt Buffalo and Syracuse are much different in that respect. Buffalo is a larger city, population-wise, though, so it might have a bit more? I'm not sure. It is also very close to Canada and my classmates frequently make trips there.

Regarding weather, Syracuse typically gets more snow, because it can get lake-effect and Nor'easters and Buffalo only gets lake-effect, but that is not always true. This year Syracuse got 123.1" and last year 137.6". This year Buffalo got 77.4" and last year 109.1". So as you can see, both cities had a milder winter, and Buffalo in particular had an unusually dry winter. It was still very cold though. I actually think the Buffalo summer weather is quite lovely, it's not humid and it's usually not too too hot either.

 

[rpkall]

I'm an MS1 at Upstate, and I love the program. After bumping around to various post-bac grad programs (one in nuclear medicine and PA school for a little while), Upstate definitely has its act together when it comes to the faculty and the administration actually *caring* about the students. Most of the profs here are genuinely interested in teaching medical students (not just passing time between experiments they're running). The administration runs a slew of advisor-type programs designed to get feedback from students so they can implement changes to the curriculum to make our experience better.

I live outside the city of Syracuse, and drive in to school in the mornings; traffic isn't bad at all, and some of the outlying suburbs are gorgeous--and affordable. I think there's plenty to do in the city and outside town (lots of good skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer). A big thing for me was that Syracuse is close to the mountains, Lake George, Boston, Albany, NYC, New England (went to undergrad outside Boston, and love it over there).

Syracuse also has the RMED program, which is an optional thing for most of 3rd and some of 4th year--you actually move out to a rural town and become the town doc's only medical student (or the town hospital's only student). There are tons of "sites" to do this at--north, south, east, west--and if you're interested in family medicine or primary care (and being trained well to handle a lot of situations that come up in rural practice) you might want to look into this program. It's a great way to get tons of exposure and hands-on experience, apparently. This is what people say, anyway, who've been through it. 😉

In any case, good luck picking the right place for you!

 

[nonegood]

As many students from upstate have told me . . . we would choose UB over upstate. Yes first year the faculty are supportive and helpful. Once you get past the preclinical years the support is lacking. No one stays for residency unless they have to. Most of the residents are imgs. IF you are from NYC it is hard to match back in New York. UB is a bigger city. There is more to do. You can take a trip up to toronto on the weekends. The depth of your clinical expereince will be much more exciting at UB. The macthlsit is better. Good luck.

Hello All,

I am currently trying to decide between SUNY Upstate and SUNY Buffalo. I would appreciate feedback from current students about the strengths and weaknesses of your respective programs. Also, I would like to know about the quality of life outsid am a e of school in Buffalo vs. Syracuse, weather differences if any, etc.

From what I have gathered both schools seem to have integrated curriculums, although Buffalo's curriculum seems to be more integrated than Upstate's. Also, Buffalo has class from 8-12, while class time varies at Upstate. However, from what I have gathered from Upstate's website, it seems to be very student friendly.


Thanks I really appreciate your input!!!