- Joined
- Nov 29, 2017
- Messages
- 44
- Reaction score
- 69
Hi SDN friends! I recently got accepted off the waitlist at Drexel and I’m so grateful to have this dilemma but I’m having trouble deciding if it’s worth giving up my acceptance at Upstate. Pros and cons:
Upstate
PROs
- cheapest option - will be about 60k / year with instate tuition and small scholarship to live in their campus housing
- more traditional systems-based curriculum with optional lectures
-P/F and seemingly very chill, no competitive atmosphere
CONs
- Syracuse is far from my support system in NYC and in the middle of nowhere - been feeling bummed about moving away from all my friends and family which is masking my excitement to start med school
- not strong in research / few opportunities
- will need to get a car
- dreary weather for most of the year and the SNOW
- match list is heavily weighted to upstate NY, and ideally I would love to be back in the city or in a bigger east coast city
- not excited about living in a dorm building again but this may just be me being overly-picky. But makes sense financially cuz they are giving me a huge discount to live there so I figured I can suck it up for a year
Drexel
PROs
- much closer to NYC and easy to get back and fourth by train / car
- Philly is a much bigger city with a lot more going on than Syracuse
- can get by without a car for first 2 years
- much more research going on
- surprisingly good match list
CONs
- much more expensive, will be about $80 k / year with the tuition spike and higher COL
- will need to find an apartment last minute and buy furniture and crap. BUT more excited about the ability to have an apartment of my own and possibly get a pet
- very odd curriculum - no lectures at all with lots of mandatory PBL and online modules instead. Definitely not what I’m used to and not sure if this flipped classroom will fit my learning style
- they’re losing their main teaching hospital apparently??
- lots of competition and overlap with other philly med school students for research opportunities / rotation sites? Not sure if this is actually a problem so please correct me if I’m wrong
I think I’m.mainly struggling with justifying if an extra $80k in loans is worth living in a better area, or if I should just suck it up and live in Syracuse for 4 years. Any insight would be much appreciated!
Upstate
PROs
- cheapest option - will be about 60k / year with instate tuition and small scholarship to live in their campus housing
- more traditional systems-based curriculum with optional lectures
-P/F and seemingly very chill, no competitive atmosphere
CONs
- Syracuse is far from my support system in NYC and in the middle of nowhere - been feeling bummed about moving away from all my friends and family which is masking my excitement to start med school
- not strong in research / few opportunities
- will need to get a car
- dreary weather for most of the year and the SNOW
- match list is heavily weighted to upstate NY, and ideally I would love to be back in the city or in a bigger east coast city
- not excited about living in a dorm building again but this may just be me being overly-picky. But makes sense financially cuz they are giving me a huge discount to live there so I figured I can suck it up for a year
Drexel
PROs
- much closer to NYC and easy to get back and fourth by train / car
- Philly is a much bigger city with a lot more going on than Syracuse
- can get by without a car for first 2 years
- much more research going on
- surprisingly good match list
CONs
- much more expensive, will be about $80 k / year with the tuition spike and higher COL
- will need to find an apartment last minute and buy furniture and crap. BUT more excited about the ability to have an apartment of my own and possibly get a pet
- very odd curriculum - no lectures at all with lots of mandatory PBL and online modules instead. Definitely not what I’m used to and not sure if this flipped classroom will fit my learning style
- they’re losing their main teaching hospital apparently??
- lots of competition and overlap with other philly med school students for research opportunities / rotation sites? Not sure if this is actually a problem so please correct me if I’m wrong
I think I’m.mainly struggling with justifying if an extra $80k in loans is worth living in a better area, or if I should just suck it up and live in Syracuse for 4 years. Any insight would be much appreciated!
