Hofstra vs. Stony Brook

[Irish Luck]

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I was lucky to be accepted to a number of schools this season and have gotten my choices down to two schools: Hofstra and Stony Brook. I read the older forums but a lot has changed since Hofstra has now matched their first class and Stony Brook started their new curriculum.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Stony Brook

Pros:
Close to family
Good research opportunities
Better match list
18 month pre-clinical curriculum
USMLE style exam questions
Established school
All facilities in one building

Cons:
Didn’t feel like I meshed well with other students
Pre-clinical is pass/fail/honors
New curriculum (my class will be the 2nd year)

Neutral:
Non-mandatory lectures

Hofstra

Pros:
Nice facilities
Close to my boyfriend, can continue to live together
True pass/fail
Meshed well with students

Cons:
Match list (most stayed within LIJ and the majority (~75%) did not get their first choice)
Short answer exams
New school ( my class will be 5th year)
Travel required between sites (school, hospital, clinical skills center)

Neutral:
Primarily PBL learning

Overall I’m leaning towards Stony Brook because I think I would be better prepared to choose a specialty with the extra four months of rotations and also think I would have better opportunities in terms of residency. Are those reasons worth ignoring the fact that I felt more at home at Hofstra, meshed better with the students, and the stability I would have from continuing to live with my boyfriend?

 

[mik30102]

Is cost the same or not a factor? Stonybrook is not exactly far from Hofstra so you could definentily visit each other probably weekly. How are your thoughts on PBL? I personally thought Stony Brook was a better school.

 

[Irish Luck]

Sorry - I meant to mention that. The cost is equal after scholarships. Hofstra will be marginally cheaper (~8k in total) because I was also offered an interest free loan (stays interest free for 4 years post graduation)

I like PBL as a concept but I felt like there could be a significant amount of time wasted digesting the case/finding your own sources. I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other regarding the curriculum.

 

[mik30102]

I would still choose Stony Brook then but only by a VERY slim margin. I feel that Stony Brook will match better for a few more years but I do think that NSLIJ is a stronger health system to train with. Are your interests in something very competitive? The research at Hofstra also is decsent to, I was told its fairly easy to get funding. Either way you would be going to a fine school though.

 

[bluejay456]

I am interested how you learned most Hofstra 4th years didnt get their first match option?

 

[Irish Luck]

from waterbottle10's qoute in the hofstra 2014-2015 forum. Page 18.

Now that you ask about it, I'm not sure how he got that information. I believe he is a part of Hofstra's matching class, and it was inferred from seeing where his classmates matched to. I am going to ask him where that number came from.

Here is my honest opinion of Hofstra.

The 1st year class i believe is composed of stronger applicants than subsequent years due to it's financial aid. If i'm not mistaken, the averages dropped the following year. Anyway, there are many plusses and some negatives to the school. Positives include it's curriculum, EMT training, and being part of a very wealthy system. Negatives include short track record, etc.

Since ~10 ppl decided not to participate in the match, that is literally 25% of the class for whatever reason. That is significantly much higher than other medical schools.
The match list is not bad for a new school, however compared to other schools with comparable avg MCAT/GPAs (Stony, Downstate), the match list is subpar, but since it is a new school, it will probably improve in the future. Also ~25% of the class got #1 choice which is half of national average of 50% for US grads.

For pre meds, and even MS1/MS2s, it's hard to judge a rank list solely based on name of the program because while Yale might sound very impressive and have a very big brand name to the general public, it might not be a great program in certain specialties. (one example is Emergency medicine. The top 3 not order, is NYC/LI is Jacobi, Downstate, NYU, not cornell/columbia, sinai, so just becareful when you are looking at a rank list)

Breaking down the rank list for you, hofstra did very well in Internal medicine. Also props for sending a person into ENT, Ortho, Optho, and Rad Onc, all very competitive specialties. With that said, the rest is subpar/par except here and there.

I marked some opinions below, but keep in mind that Hofstra did well for it's first ever graduating class!




Anesthesiology
Yale-New Haven, CT - mid tier. Less competitive than the 3 Manhattan programs

Emergency Medicine
Hofstra NS-LIJ, NY - uncompetitive
Maimonides, NY- uncompetitive
Maimonides, NY - uncompetitive
NY Presbyterian, NY - mid
Kaweah Delta Health Care District, CA - dont know
Yale-New Haven, CT - mid

Internal Medicine - overall, very strong list for IM
Duke, NC - very competitive
Tufts, MA - mid
Hofstra NS-LIJ, NY - mid
Jefferson, PA - competitive
Mount Sinai, NY - very competitive
Albert Einstein/Montefiore, NY - competitive
Vanderbilt, TN - very competitive

Neurology
Jefferson, PA - very strong program
Hofstra NS-LIJ, NY - weak.

Ophthalmology - any match is good in optho.
Boston University Medical Center, MA

Orthopedic Surgery - any match is good.
Hofstra NS-LIJ, NY

Otolaryngology - any is good
UConn, CT

Pathology
USC, CA

Pediatrics - peds uncompetitive
Jefferson, PA
Hofstra NS-LIJ Cohen's Children's Hospital, NY - mid

PM&R - PMR is uncompetitive in general
Schwab Rebab Hospital, IL

Psychiatry -
Hofstra NS-LIJ Zucker Hillside Hospital, NY

Rad Onc - competitive
SUNY downstate, NY

Radiology - not impressed
Lenox Hill Hospital, NY
Hofstra NS-LIJ, NY
Boston University Medical Center, MA

Surgery - not impressed
Hofstra NS-LIJ, NY

 

[Irish Luck]

I would still choose Stony Brook then but only by a VERY slim margin. I feel that Stony Brook will match better for a few more years but I do think that NSLIJ is a stronger health system to train with. Are your interests in something very competitive? The research at Hofstra also is decsent to, I was told its fairly easy to get funding. Either way you would be going to a fine school though.

I honestly have no idea what speciality I will end up in, so I think it's best to keep myself as competitive as possible. It is definetly possible that I will want to get into a very competitve field.

 

[Irish Luck]

I can't believe I'm still dealing with this decision on the last day possible...

I did a coin toss to help decide, and I realized SB feels like the choice I'm supposed to make, but I'm excited by the idea of attending Hofstra.

Any additional thoughts would be great- I'm making the decision within the next few hours.

 

[halfwaycrooks]

I can't believe I'm still dealing with this decision on the last day possible...

I did a coin toss to help decide, and I realized SB feels like the choice I'm supposed to make, but I'm excited by the idea of attending Hofstra.

Any additional thoughts would be great- I'm making the decision within the next few hours.

If your guts telling you stony brook then go with stony brook op. I'm a firm believer in the idea that you can find people you 'mesh with' at any medical school. Stony brook isn't so far away that you wouldn't be able to visit your boyfriend correct? Part of this decision is whether you want to be close to your bf or close to your family. The hpf curriculum shouldn't be a concern at stony brook as long as it's not curved. Hofstras match results are mildly concerning but you'd have to be a fortune teller to know what it will look like 4 years from now.

Maybe you could elaborate about what excited you about Hofstra...I've tried to express why I think you should go with stony brook but you can't go wrong either way. I think you'd be happy at either place.

 

[Irish Luck]

-

 

[Irish Luck]

If your guts telling you stony brook then go with stony brook op. I'm a firm believer in the idea that you can find people you 'mesh with' at any medical school. Stony brook isn't so far away that you wouldn't be able to visit your boyfriend correct? Part of this decision is whether you want to be close to your bf or close to your family. The hpf curriculum shouldn't be a concern at stony brook as long as it's not curved. Hofstras match results are mildly concerning but you'd have to be a fortune teller to know what it will look like 4 years from now.

Maybe you could elaborate about what excited you about Hofstra...I've tried to express why I think you should go with stony brook but you can't go wrong either way. I think you'd be happy at either place.

The feel of the school. All of the staff seemed very committed to the students doing well and the students themselves seemed significantly more relaxed and happy than the students at stony brook.
I have been living with my boyfriend for 2 years already as well and it's hard to leave that to go to school an hour away, even if it's not that far. He's in grad school at hofstra so wouldn't be able to relocate any time soon.

 

[halfwaycrooks]

The feel of the school. All of the staff seemed very committed to the students doing well and the students themselves seemed significantly more relaxed and happy than the students at stony brook.
I have been living with my boyfriend for 2 years already as well and it's hard to leave that to go to school an hour away, even if it's not that far. He's in grad school at hofstra so wouldn't be able to relocate any time soon.

It sounds like your relationship is pretty serious so Hofstra may be the better option in that case. One final point I think we all can agree on, it's difficult to gauge how happy student are based on one day's visit. For all you know the stony brook students may have had a huge exam the day after your interview while Hofstra students had theirs the day before your interview.

 

[Snivellus]

Hofstra and Stony Brook are c lose. You could easily visit him if you wanted to. Don't make your decision based on that.

 

[Irish Luck]

Hofstra and Stony Brook are c lose. You could easily visit him if you wanted to. Don't make your decision based on that.

thanks for the tip, although I already chose. going to stony brook

 

[Psai]

good choice

 

[Snivellus]

thanks for the tip, although I already chose. going to stony brook

Nice, congrats! I could tell from your pros and cons that you preferred Stony Brook. Seems like a good choice!