How to look at Matchlists in comparing SUNY schools

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Hello,

I've been lucky enough to have been accepted to several schools at this point, and I'm trying to decide which school I want to go to. As a NY resident, I was fortunate enough to have gotten into all four SUNY medical schools (Upstate+Downstate+Stonybrook+Buffalo)

I've done some research on my own both online and also by asking current med students and doctors, but would like more opinion on how to choose the school I want to go to.

In my opinion, curriculum style and other academic structures are not that significant to me. I sort of think that whichever studying style or class style I have to follow, I'll have to study the same material like crazy.

To me, what's important is getting into residency spots in Manhattan NY. I've been living in Manhattan working at a lab since graduating from college, and I've grown to really love being around all these great academic places like Cornell/Columbia/NYU/Mt.Sinai, etc.

At this point in my life, my goal is to be able to remain in NYC area, and ultimately become a resident in NYC, and live in the city for as long as possible.

So considering this, I was wondering which SUNY schools would be the bet for me to go to. I know that SUNY Downstate is the closest school to NYC geographically, and they also are known for matching their students very well to academic institutions in NYC. So as far as I know, Downstate is my top choice right now. So I was looking at the matchlist for all four schools, and as far as I could tell Downstate did really send so many students to residency programs in NYC (though not all of them are in Manhattan)

I'd really like more input on this matter as I really know nothing about these residency programs other than their locations...

Sorry for such a long post but to sum up, my questions are

1. If my goal was to get matched to programs in Manhattan, would Downstate be a good choice out of all SUNY schools?

2. I understand that getting matched to programs in NYC is competitive, but why is that? seeing that the pay is low compared to other geographical locations in the U.S. (perhaps because others are kind of like me in that they just like being in the city?)

thanks so much and would appreciate helpful opinions!

 

[Patros]

I think the difference in match lists between these four are mainly due to student preference. As far as getting into NYC is concerned, I didn't see much of a difference between Downstate and SBU. Buffalo also sends quite a few to NYC locations, and the Upstate less so.

From a brief perusal for match lists, here's what I found (ignoring matches into the home institution, which is always most frequent):

Downstate: Overwhelmingly into Manhattan, Bronx and Nassau (Northshore-LIJ)
SBU: Mostly into the NYC boroughs, many into Long island, some going to Boston and Philly.
Buffalo: Some go into NYC, many stay in upstate NY (especially U. Roch)
Upstate: The broadest array of matches, people seem to go everywhere across the US. A few go to NYC.

It seems to me that Downstate has the highest % matching into Manhattan specifically, a lot go to the NYP hospital, which is most competitive. However, don't let that be your main rationale for choosing your school, since I am sure the difference is only due to the way students rank their preferred schools. You can match to NYP regardless of where in NY you go. And who knows? You might decide that you want to get away from NYC and go to Boston or Los Angeles later on. Also consider what specialty you are interested in, since these schools have different strengths.

 

[midnight0il]

Downstate seems like your best bet because it is the closest to Manhattan (so you can be close for the immediate future) and has the highest % of matching into Manhattan (per the last poster). However, have you considered where you would be happiest for the next four years? I think quality of life and academic performance is probably a better predictor of where you match (i.e., competitive residencies in Manhattan) than where you end up attending between these four SUNYs. Also, have you gotten your financial aid packages yet? Were there differences?

 

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thanks for all your replies! So I guess Downstate would be the way to go for me at this point 🙂

I'd appreciate more input on this!