Hofstra vs. Downstate vs. UMiami - help!

[Magnolia423]

Summary: NY resident whose main goals are to 1) enjoy medical school and 2) put myself in position to match into a competitive residency if I choose to go that way (ortho or ENT? but still totally undecided). My family lives on LI right near Hof and my girlfriend will be in Manhattan for the next few years. Went to undergrad at Miami, so pretty comfy there. If I go to Hofstra, there’s a chance I will live at home (10 mins away), although I really feel like I would be better off more independent and not coming home to my family every day. Prices are rough estimates. Any input at all is mucho appreciated!


Hofstra ~265k living off campus ~208k living at home
Pros

• True P/F preclinical
• Very supportive faculty and administration. They really get to know every single student and this could def help with mentoring/finding research/LOR etc, plus making it such a friendly environment
• Beautiful facilities
• GF and family (dogs) accessible on weekends
• Northwell Health- I already have connections in the system, infinite doctors/subspecialties/research/shadowing ops both hospital and outpatient clinics
• PEARLS/PBL- I can see this helping with learning clinically important info. Also encourages classmate interaction, I want to be friends with rest of the class
• EMS training – I feel like this will be cool and helpful, but the students made it sound like it’s really not a big deal (one shift a month for the first year or something).
• Done at noon every day, plenty of self study/do your own thing time
• Organized early clinical exposure (ICE)
• integrated/systems based (learn the anatomy, patho, histo, etc.) of each organ system seems like a practical way to learn things
• Seemingly tight-knit class with social programming and camaraderie
• Offer an MBA at 33% discount price for one grad school year, might want to take advantage of this

Cons

• Mandatory PBL and lectures 8 am every day
• PBL-nervous about learning everything I need to, although step scores indicate students are more than fine
• Essay-based exams — I am not great at/don’t really like writing. May be difficult transitioning to step 1 MC questions, but also forces you to really know material
• suburbs, have to drive everywhere. I’ll be right where I have lived my whole life minus college, kind of want a change of scenery
• no recorded lectures. Feel like those would be great

SUNY Downstate ~288k?
Pros

• I feel like I would really stretch my comfort zone being in a new and tough environment academically and otherwise. The idea here is I’d come out the other side a better person/doctor with great experiences
• Early clinical exposure and supposedly awesome and unique clinical presentations and experiences
• exams made to mimic USMLE
• SO in Manhattan and family on LI both accessible
• P/F
• Live off campus in a cooler part of Brooklyn-feels more like living in a city, things to do-probably my biggest ‘pro’

• 1.5 year preclinical curriculum
• a lot of autonomy during medical school in working with patients
• integrated pathways curriculum- doesn’t seem like it’s a very big deal but can be interesting to pursue one
• Recorded lectures

Cons

• Facilities are pretty old and dreary
• A/B groups for anatomy lab (so you don't do everything with your group)
• Possibly outdated way of learning? Lectures with slides, anatomy lab with flagging every single thing
• Facilities and gym are def a step or two down
• Been described to me as ‘dysfunctional,’ ‘antagonistic,’ and “it’s like its own third world country.” However, people always seem to follow up with “that’s why you come out the other side with such great training and skills”
• The area right around the dorms/school is not pleasant and has nothing to do/eat/shop
• Administration, financial aid, the website, emails, aren’t as receptive/helpful/inviting/accessible as the other schools
• Large class size (190), although split in half to be made manageable
• May only be respected regionally?

Miami ~280k
Pros

• Lots of research/other opportunities, similar to Northwell but maybe not as much
• Weather and beauty-after college, I really appreciate this. Walking around palm trees in shorts has a way of de-stressing you
• Living in Brickell would be awesome-beautiful apartment, things to do, super easy metro commute, young and popular area. Have some friends that live there
• Recorded lectures
• Campus/medical center is so nice and all centrally located! Really loved this aspect of everything being a short walk

• Really like the school spirit/pride, especially as a UM alum
• Best Eye hospital in the country along with a large trauma center, never know if these might come into play
• Very strong clinical training. They have a really diverse patient population (underserved at Jackson, rich people at UMH, veterans at VA). All three hospitals are within walking distance of the med school
• offer MBA

Cons

• Long distance from GF and family. Have done long distance before, but 4 yrs is a long time
• Graded! Their justification for this was pretty weak.
• hassle to relocate
• harder to match back to northeast/NY?

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[icedude2010]

I would choose Miami. It’s p/f with a percentile, which isn’t quite as bad as regular graded IMO. For what it’s worth, the exact % really doesn’t have much sway in your app because there’s not much to compare it to, and preclinical grades in general don’t rlly matter. Also a lot of schools will say they’re p/f but include info on percentile rank and whatnot, so this isn’t hugely different from what a lot of places.

I feel like the Hofstra curriculum is a bit too rigid and I’m also not super thrilled about the essay tests. Miami has some PBL and unique learning styles mixed in with their more traditional format which I like. Since you put suburban as a con, I’d assume you’d like the urban environment at Jackson much better as well. Also IMO you wouldn’t have an issue finding a residency in the northeast from Miami, they match pretty well all over. That being said, Hofstra is probably a better way to guarantee a match in NYC specifically if that’s what you want.

As far as LDR, tell your girlfriend to visit Miami a lot .

Both are great schools and think you’d be happy at either. Can’t go wrong.

 

[sss1219]

Hofstra. Same reputation range as UM, way cheaper, and you seem like you would be happier with your support systems nearby. You would have plenty of opportunities for getting a change of scenery during rotations/research over summer, so I would not be too worried about that. If you also plan to do residency in NY in the future, doesn't make much sense to leave.

 

[SuaveCardigans]

My 2 cents as someone holding an acceptance to Hof and also shared some of your concerns: the fact that its unranked p/f really put my mind to ease. I think that makes the essay exams a lot easier to approach; you wont have to microanalyze your wording to try and eek out higher ranking. Just need to pass.

I get the concern with the PBL base curriculum, and most students say its an adjustment at first, but their step average is still good so I am not really that concerned. I think the PBL will pay off once you get further down the road as well.

I think it should be between Hof and Miami, you have a lot of cons for Downstate. And basically how do you weigh the comfort of home vs the location of Miami. Thats a decision for you to make based on your preferences.

 

[RockMcat520]

go to Miami lol

 

[Magnolia423]

go to Miami lol

Why do you say that? Academics, lifestyle, mix?

 

[Magnolia423]

Thanks everyone. I want to make clear I really do think I would be happy at any of the schools, I just want input on if one has an edge academically, would provide a path to a more successful match/future, or if I am leaving out any important points or being superficial in priorities. Thanks!

 

[sss1219]

Thanks everyone. I want to make clear I really do think I would be happy at any of the schools, I just want input on if one has an edge academically, would provide a path to a more successful match/future, or if I am leaving out any important points or being superficial in priorities. Thanks!

Your future path will be contingent on your clinical grades and step 1 score, and most med students on here agree that these are linked more to personal dedication rather than what school you go to. Neither Hofstra nor Miami have a tangible advantage over one another reputation/opportunities wise and your goals would be attainable at both. IMO at that point it's more important to make sure you go to the school where you are more likely to stay sane throughout the 4 years to put yourself in a position to actually reach them in the end.

 

[Aspiringphysiciann]

I have an acceptance at both downstate and Hofstra and I am dead-set on Hofstra. I truly see myself learning at my best with their curriculum and the professors there are outstanding. Considering the small class size, there is ample opportunity to immerse yourself in the Northwell Health system and get involved in the plethora of clinical research that goes on there. I also believe there is something to be said about the high step score average of such a small class. The only roadblock I have right now is finding housing but once thats figured out I don't see any other issues with the school at all and am really excited to start.

 

[kbac13]

Hofstra (yes, I'm biased)! See the Hofstra thread for some more insight, or feel free to PM me!

 

[PugsAndHugs]

It seems like your sights are set on Hofstra and I don't want to convince you out of it, but just wanted to add some things incase others in the future read this:

To address your Downstate Cons First:

1) Downstates A/B anatomy: Actually EXTREMELY efficient and a blessing in disguise. Although dissecting is awesome at first, it eventually becomes tedious, and you realize you are just dissecting to find the structures and their relations. It actually saves A TON of time when your other half explains to you in 20 minutes what they have dissected for 3-4 hours. Most of the time it's with an instructor watching, so you know it will be a good learning experience.

2) Outdated way of learning: You will most likely not be spending the majority of the time on the school's lecture in any school just because it is not an efficient way of learning (unless you like to know every little detail about a particular topic) - this is why non-mandatory lectures are super important (which Downstate has). However, if you chose to look back on the lectures because your other resources did not teach you well or because your school writes the exams based on lectures , recorded lectures are SUPER helpful (which Downstate has also)

3) Been described to me as ‘dysfunctional,’ ‘antagonistic,’ and “it’s like its own third world country. This is a little ridiculous. Every other post I paints Downstate to be some sort of a chaotic jungle. Obviously it's not as pretty and glamorous as your Manhattan hospitals, but it's one that operates efficiently and depends on all their healthcare workers (especially medical students) to function smoothly. If that intimidates you, then it's probably not a good fit.

4) Administration: The administration is SUPER receptive and makes changes every year based on the feedback from the students from the previous years. The website is not the prettiest but are we really using that as a parameter?


To sum it up, this is a list of what I thought to be the MOST IMPORTANT factors for choosing a medical school:
Objective: (Downstate has all of these, coincidentally)
- Non-mandatory lectures
- Recorded lectures
- NBME exams (step 1 style questions)
-P/F grading system preclinical
-1.5 year preclinical ORGAN systems curriculum (makes so much more sense than traditional 2 yr curriculum + gives you more time in clinical to fig out what you want to do for residency)



Subjective
-Cost
-Comfortable living area (Do you like living in an urban/suburban area?)
-Beneficial for where you want eventually want to do residency
-Close to support system (SO, family, etc)

Hope someone finds this helpful!!!

 

[Magnolia423]

Thanks for your input! I really am not super set on one yet and didn't mean to insult Downstate at all (I like it a lot and am very much still considering it).