Hofstra vs Rosalind Franklin

[TheBossDoctor]

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Hey everyone. One of my wait-lists came through and now I am completely undecided between these two schools. What would you guys recommend?

Here's my pros and cons for both schools

HOFSTRA
Pros:
-North Shore-LIJ Health System is really strong
-Many good opportunities for early clinical experience
-Organ based curriculum
-The PBL seems really nice
-Small group sessions for classes would help me learn more
-First class did well above average on USMLE
-Location seems nice to me (not too far from Manhattan; still stuff to do nearby)
-I do prefer New York over Chicago in general
-Got good vibes during interview day; students and faculty were nice

Cons:
-No match list available because the school is new
-Class size seems almost too small
-Not too many alumni connections, again because the school is fairly new
-Not too many research or global health opportunities
-There don't seem to be too many student orgs/clubs established yet (not too sure how student life is there)

ROSALIND FRANKLIN
Pros:
-Their match list was very nice; many people matched into California, which is something I want to do
-My interviewer said they had a lot of alumni connections in California (specifically in the UC's)
-Good global health opportunities and decent research opportunities
-Their interprofessional-learning mission seems nice
-Student life seems really good (lot of good student orgs as well)
-Got a good vibe from the students and faculty on interview day

Cons:
-They are located an hour away from Chicago, and the students talk about how their is nothing to do there
-The campus is also far away from most of its affiliated hospitals
-Very few clinical opportunities during the first two years
-Probation issues
-I'm a little hesitant on the traditional curriculum


The most important things I'm looking for are ability to match into California, better clinical opportunities, location, and student life.

 

[smpbound]

Does Hofstra have its own teaching hospital? If so, that's a big plus. Nothing wrong with CMS, but it doesn't have a hospital.

 

[UlahSnackbar]

Clearly you've already looked at all the pros and cons...make your own decision. No one has attended both these schools at any time in history, so no one can give you an answer on what to do. Honestly, it just seems like you are bragging about the hard decision you have to make between schools when some people don't even have 1 school they could attend next year.

 

[kittykattat]

Clearly you've already looked at all the pros and cons...make your own decision. No one has attended both these schools at any time in history, so no one can give you an answer on what to do. Honestly, it just seems like you are bragging about the hard decision you have to make between schools when some people don't even have 1 school they could attend next year.

Seriously? And you couldnt even save this snarky comment for one of the dozen Hopkins vs. Columbia or whatever other Top 10 threads made this year? Take your sour attitude elsewhere.

OP - What are the finances looking like? will one cost significantly more than the other over the course of 4 years?

 

[Azimuthal431]

If you want to match into Cali, I'd say go with Rosalind Franklin. Other possible cons for Hofstra is that the med school/hospital has a very corporate feel to it, and that third year evaluations are very complicated (you have to write essays).

 

[smpbound]

If you want to match into Cali, I'd say go with Rosalind Franklin. Other possible cons for Hofstra is that the med school/hospital has a very corporate feel to it, and that third year evaluations are very complicated (you have to write essays).

The Hofstra hospital has a corporate feel to it? Is that good or bad? every hospital I have been in has been owned by a corporation, so I guess that's a good thing? or is that bad?

 

[Azimuthal431]

The Hofstra hospital has a corporate feel to it? Is that good or bad? every hospital I have been in has been owned by a corporation, so I guess that's a good thing? or is that bad?

In my opinion, it's good because North Shore LIJ is continually looking to expand and gain more resources but also bad because it feels very bureaucratic. I saw some students on the Hofstra thread complaining about how they are clueless regarding third year grading (which is the most important year in med school).

 

[smpbound]

So I wonder what OP decided on? I'm very interested in knowing. Don't leave us in the dark.

 

[TheBossDoctor]

OP - What are the finances looking like? will one cost significantly more than the other over the course of 4 years?

There may be a slight tuition difference, but I don't plan on it being more than $5000-10000 (still waiting to hear back from them about this). As far as the third year grading, I did see the students complaining about that, although I'm imagining that it could just be that way because they're the first class to go through clinical rotations. I would imagine the school would fix the confusion with grading and make things more clear by the time I start clinical rotations.

I haven't decided yet (still have a few more days to decide), but hopefully I'll start leaning towards one side soon.

 

[Azimuthal431]

There may be a slight tuition difference, but I don't plan on it being more than $5000-10000 (still waiting to hear back from them about this). As far as the third year grading, I did see the students complaining about that, although I'm imagining that it could just be that way because they're the first class to go through clinical rotations. I would imagine the school would fix the confusion with grading and make things more clear by the time I start clinical rotations.

I haven't decided yet (still have a few more days to decide), but hopefully I'll start leaning towards one side soon.

Do you learn best on your own or with other classmates? Also, keep in mind that the board scores were high because they recruited top-caliber students with scholarships for the first couple years.

 

[smpbound]

hofstra has a nice location. its in long island, near queens and manhattan. Tough choice to make.

 

[kittykattat]

If location is one of the more important factors I would lean towards Hofstra because I just thought the location of Rosalind Franklin was awful, especially if youre a city person like me! (Its so suburban and spread out that youd probably have to drive a bit whenever you want to do something fun or go out to eat or whatever) If student life is more important, I would lean towards Ros Franklin, because like you, I too thought it sounded like there were tons of fun student orgs, dance classes, events, and more that the students talked about on interview day.

Congrats on your acceptances and good luck with the decision!!

 

[smpbound]

well, Hempstead is still suburban-ish but close enough to the city to make it worthwhile. North Chicago is kind of out there.

 

[danicakes]

Hey everyone. One of my wait-lists came through and now I am completely undecided between these two schools. What would you guys recommend?

Here's my pros and cons for both schools

HOFSTRA
Pros:
-North Shore-LIJ Health System is really strong
-Many good opportunities for early clinical experience
-Organ based curriculum
-The PBL seems really nice
-Small group sessions for classes would help me learn more
-First class did well above average on USMLE
-Location seems nice to me (not too far from Manhattan; still stuff to do nearby)
-I do prefer New York over Chicago in general
-Got good vibes during interview day; students and faculty were nice

Cons:
-No match list available because the school is new
-Class size seems almost too small
-Not too many alumni connections, again because the school is fairly new
-Not too many research or global health opportunities
-There don't seem to be too many student orgs/clubs established yet (not too sure how student life is there)

ROSALIND FRANKLIN
Pros:
-Their match list was very nice; many people matched into California, which is something I want to do
-My interviewer said they had a lot of alumni connections in California (specifically in the UC's)
-Good global health opportunities and decent research opportunities
-Their interprofessional-learning mission seems nice
-Student life seems really good (lot of good student orgs as well)
-Got a good vibe from the students and faculty on interview day

Cons:
-They are located an hour away from Chicago, and the students talk about how their is nothing to do there
-The campus is also far away from most of its affiliated hospitals
-Very few clinical opportunities during the first two years
-Probation issues
-I'm a little hesitant on the traditional curriculum


The most important things I'm looking for are ability to match into California, better clinical opportunities, location, and student life.

Hello! I actually have a few suggestions to add to your pro/con list:

Rosalind Franklin is currently on probation.

International Opportunities: Hofstra has established international health partnerships in Uganda and the Dominican Republic. Hofstra also has a unique partnership with Ben Gurion Medical School in Israel. Hofstra students are able to both travel to Israel and access the schools international health opportunities in Sri Lanka and various locations in Africa!

Research: Hofstra NSLIJ has the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research with innumerable opportunities for summer and year round research in almost every aspect of medicine. The majority of students take advantage of this extremely productive research facility that is on the North Shore Hospital campus

Clubs/ Student Organizations: The Hofstra students have established over 30 clubs/ interest groups/ and student organizations covering both academic and extra curricular interests!

 

[TheBossDoctor]

If location is one of the more important factors I would lean towards Hofstra because I just thought the location of Rosalind Franklin was awful, especially if youre a city person like me! (Its so suburban and spread out that youd probably have to drive a bit whenever you want to do something fun or go out to eat or whatever) If student life is more important, I would lean towards Ros Franklin, because like you, I too thought it sounded like there were tons of fun student orgs, dance classes, events, and more that the students talked about on interview day.

Congrats on your acceptances and good luck with the decision!!

That's the thing. Location and student life are both important factors for me, and that too, about the same importance. I am a city person, so Hempstead seems more appealing than North Chicago. But then again, most Rosalind Franklin students move to downtown Chicago for rotations during M3 and M4, so it's only 2 years in that original location.

Hello! I actually have a few suggestions to add to your pro/con list:

Rosalind Franklin is currently on probation.

International Opportunities: Hofstra has established international health partnerships in Uganda and the Dominican Republic. Hofstra also has a unique partnership with Ben Gurion Medical School in Israel. Hofstra students are able to both travel to Israel and access the schools international health opportunities in Sri Lanka and various locations in Africa!

Research: Hofstra NSLIJ has the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research with innumerable opportunities for summer and year round research in almost every aspect of medicine. The majority of students take advantage of this extremely productive research facility that is on the North Shore Hospital campus

Clubs/ Student Organizations: The Hofstra students have established over 30 clubs/ interest groups/ and student organizations covering both academic and extra curricular interests!

I didn't know about a lot of these things at Hofstra (I mainly asked about the curriculum and health system during interview day), so this is actually pretty helpful. I read up a bit about Feinstein, but I didn't know they had already set up a lot of global health partnerships and student orgs.

2 days left to decide and I'm still undecided

 

[kittykattat]

I completely forgot that most RF students live in a dt Chicago neighborhood of their choice for years 3 and 4 but thats a great point... I would actually lean towards RF then. I think I could tolerate a couple years in north chicago if the other 2 were dt. Plus, idk if you've seen their latest match list but its quite impressive for an unranked school, I was completely surprised.

 

[smpbound]

Well, whatever decision you make, I am sure it will be the right one.

 

[reddishh]

As a current M1 at Hofstra, I would choose Hostra over RFUMS any day! I'm obviously biased towards my own school but in your given situation, choosing Hostra is only logical to me..

I would also like to second this from last year I believe..

So to current students, especially MS2s now that your year is coming to a close (already ended?):

1) After two years, how do you now feel about Hofstra's curriculum? I absolutely believe that case-based learning helps with retaining material (big picture), but there are arguments that it's less time efficient in terms of learning massive amounts of material (small picture). Step 1 is obviously a whole lotta material to memorize. Do you think the trade-off is still worth it now that Step 1 studying is ramping up (or already over with)?
Click to expand...
I think the case-based PEARLS curriculum has been great. There is a lot of study time each day to learn on your own and there are relatively few meaningless lectures to attend. Four hours of required class each day, with two of those hours being PEARLS is a better use of a school day than six or more hours of watching a tape of someone read slides to you at 2x speed. It's good to be engaged in class when you are required to be here. If you motivate yourself and don't need to be told exactly what to read for when, it's a great system.

I think the "trade off" is worth it in that we are learning through clinical vignettes from day 1 -- and answering questions based on clinical vignettes is the name of the game for Step 1. Anyone with enough time, a book and a Qbank can learn the stupid things you need to memorize for step 1, like which agar you use to culture Neisseria.

 

[bearonfire12]

http://www.lcme.org/directory.htm
Take a look at this. RFUMS is on probation and Hofstra is not. RFUMS does not have its own hospital and did poorly on their step 1 score last year. There's literally nothing you can do in North Chicago except to welcome windy snow of more than 5 inches. I'd choose Hofstra without a doubt.

 

[HockeyDocFan]

That's the thing. Location and student life are both important factors for me, and that too, about the same importance. I am a city person, so Hempstead seems more appealing than North Chicago. But then again, most Rosalind Franklin students move to downtown Chicago for rotations during M3 and M4, so it's only 2 years in that original location.



I didn't know about a lot of these things at Hofstra (I mainly asked about the curriculum and health system during interview day), so this is actually pretty helpful. I read up a bit about Feinstein, but I didn't know they had already set up a lot of global health partnerships and student orgs.

2 days left to decide and I'm still undecided

so did you make up your mind?

 

[TheBossDoctor]

Thank you guys for all the advice. Hofstra came through with a good financial aid offer, so I ended up choosing them. Looking forward to orientation!

 

[smpbound]

Great choice. good luck.