Help: Drexel vs. SUNY Upstate

[quetzal10]

Hi all, I am about to enter MS1 and I'm looking for some advice on whether to choose to attend Drexel College of Medicine or SUNY Upstate Medical University. I went to undergrad at Drexel University and love Philadelphia, but I am originally from New York. If I chose Upstate, my clinical rotations would be at the Binghamton location, while Drexel's would probably be in the Philly area. I am torn because I'm so familiar with Drexel and I know I would be happy there, but I know Upstate is also a great school that I would fit into and it would be much better financially speaking for me. I listed some pros and cons below. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and I wish you all good luck on your paths to medical school!

Drexel:
Pros - familiarity with the area, established support group (friends, boyfriend, etc), a lot of opportunities in a medically dense city
Cons - very expensive

Upstate:
Pros - in state tuition, medical spanish elective, better campus environment, new opportunities in rural medicine
Cons - moving upstate

I am also currently interested in ENT, pediatrics, and surgery for residency, preferably ending up somewhere in the northeast

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[JDTURKLETON]

How much is difference in cost over the course of 4 years?

Personally, I'd choose the one that would make you happy the most and be able to do well in school and it seems like your support system is in Philly.

 

[echidna001]

Unless the difference in cost is monumental (which it very well may be between private tuition and the expense of living in Philly), I think area familiarity and support network come first. If we're talking nearly a 100K cost of attendance difference over the next 4 years with accruing interest, it's hard to recommend Drexel. Can you imagine yourself living in Syracuse/Binghamton for the next four years? Will you be relatively happy at Upstate or will you just be wishing you were still in Philly? Taking the boyfriend out of the equation for a moment, do you still have a really strong preference for Philly? You'll perform better if you're content/happy, so you can't really put a price on that.

I am originally from Upstate NY, went to Syracuse for undergrad, got into Upstate this cycle and ultimately decided against going there (I'm OOS in NY at this point-so cost was the factor for me). Upstate has definitely invested a lot of money in recent improvements and I was very impressed with their facilities. However, the actual city of Syracuse is generally economically devastated with most big industries having relocated elsewhere. If you love being out in nature and hiking, upstate NY is amazing (as I'm sure you know) and Syracuse has a lot of hidden treasures within a 30 minute drive. Do remember the snow: I'm sure Philly gets snow, but Syracuse gets SNOW with winters that were a bit too long for my personal preference.

I feel you'd see a more diverse patient base, a higher volume of patients and more interesting cases in Philly versus Binghamton (I think Binghamton is a level II trauma). The strength/diversity of clinical rotations was a big thing I considered when deciding. Also think: are you wanting to attend residency and ultimately practice in an urban or more rural area? I would definitely look at their match lists if you haven't already and see where people are matching in the specialties you're interested in.

Best of luck in your decision. It's amazing to have the choice, but also makes things that much more difficult!