Mich vs. Stony Brook vs. Dartmouth

[knicksfan3131]

Sitting on a couple waitlists but would like to start thinking about the potential choice between the places I've been accepted:

Career goals:
-Match into competitive specialty in academic hospital in NYC
-Potentially go into health administration later in career

Personal preferences:
-Be close to SO and family (NYC)

University of Michigan
Pros:
-Top 10 med school (great research opps, reputation, etc.)...one caveat maybe being that they don't match a ton of people in NYC
-Students seemed very happy/administration seems really in touch with students
-New curriculum (12 month pre-clinical- although I'm not sure if this is exactly a pro or not)
-Ann Arbor a nice college town
-MD/MBA (very reputable MBA program)

Cons:
-A plane ride away from SO
-I don't like cold winters

Stony Brook
Pros:
-In-state tuition (saving 15K a year)
-Close to family and SO
-Good research opps, potentially better than I think its USNWR rank would suggest
-Ambitious new expansion, building new hospital pavilion, cancer research building, etc.
-Good match list for NY-area residencies (where I'd like to be)

Cons:
-MD/MBA option, but MBA not reputable (most likely wouldn't pursue)
-Not the reputation of UMich

Unknowns:
-Happiness of the student body (hard to gauge on interview day)

Dartmouth:
Pros:
-Small class size (lot of individualized attention)
-Solid reputation and good match list in the Northeast (would likely want to match in NYC)
-MD/MBA (great MBA)
-Dartmouth Institute (interested in health policy)

Cons:
-Middle of nowhere
-Cold winters
-Not the reputation of UMich (although good match stats so I don't know how relevant this is)

Please refrain from simply stating the name of the school you think I should choose without reasons, thanks! Would love to hear from attendings, residents and/or current medical students, but all opinions welcome.

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[Uqbar]

I don't think going to Michigan would stop you from matching in NYC. It's got an awesome reputation. I think you should choose between UMich and Stony Brook. If being away from your SO and family is manageable, I would definitely pick Michigan. I interviewed at Michigan and liked the school, but did not like the location at all, so that's a con for Michigan in my eyes. I can't speak about Dartmouth or Stony Brook's locations though.

 

[Willy38]

UMich for sure. Its a powerhouse med school with great residency programs which means great department heads to write you letters for NYC residency.

 

[knicksfan3131]

@WedgeDawg @Goro @gyngyn

 

[coffeeandcodeine]

Another vote for UMich! I was accepted here and it's one of my favorites -- super warm, collaborative environment; awesome research/mentorship opportunities; excellent hospitals; terrific reputation. The students I met were wonderful!

 

[libertyyne]

UMich.

 

[Goro]

All fine schools. I'd vote U MI > SB > Dartmouth. Now, do you like covered dishes, deli food and pizza, or cheese curds and maple candies??????

Sitting on a couple waitlists but would like to start thinking about the potential choice between the places I've been accepted:

Career goals:
-Match into competitive specialty in academic hospital in NYC
-Potentially go into health administration later in career

Personal preferences:
-Be close to SO and family (NYC)

University of Michigan
Pros:
-Top 10 med school (great research opps, reputation, etc.)...one caveat maybe being that they don't match a ton of people in NYC
-Students seemed very happy/administration seems really in touch with students
-New curriculum (12 month pre-clinical- although I'm not sure if this is exactly a pro or not)
-Ann Arbor a nice college town
-MD/MBA (very reputable MBA program)

Cons:
-A plane ride away from SO
-I don't like cold winters

Stony Brook
Pros:
-In-state tuition (saving 15K a year)
-Close to family and SO
-Good research opps, potentially better than I think its USNWR rank would suggest
-Ambitious new expansion, building new hospital pavilion, cancer research building, etc.
-Good match list for NY-area residencies (where I'd like to be)

Cons:
-MD/MBA option, but MBA not reputable (most likely wouldn't pursue)
-Not the reputation of UMich

Unknowns:
-Happiness of the student body (hard to gauge on interview day)

Dartmouth:
Pros:
-Small class size (lot of individualized attention)
-Solid reputation and good match list in the Northeast (would likely want to match in NYC)
-MD/MBA (great MBA)
-Dartmouth Institute (interested in health policy)

Cons:
-Middle of nowhere
-Cold winters
-Not the reputation of UMich (although good match stats so I don't know how relevant this is)

Please refrain from simply stating the name of the school you think I should choose without reasons, thanks! Would love to hear from attendings, residents and/or current medical students, but all opinions welcome.

 

[Astra]

U mich! The cons you listed are very insignificant

 

[WedgeDawg]

Not totally sure if my opinion will be valuable, but it really depends on what your career vs. family balance priorities are. If you're looking at it in terms of your career alone, I would say UMich hands down. Basically has everything you're looking for, but it makes long distance tough.

It is not very easy to get from Dartmouth to NYC. There's a bus you can take between NYC and Hanover, but it costs like $80 each way (so 160 round trip) and the ride is like 5 hours long. Ann Arbor, on the other hand, you can get a flight between LaGuardia and Detroit for ~$200 round trip (less if you take a non-big airline) and the flight is like 1.5 hours each way, though you would have to Uber to Detroit (unless Michigan has shuttles there and back, which probably wouldn't be out of the question). In terms of distance, I would say Ann Arbor is no worse off than Hanover and actually might be better off. So between those two, I would say UMich no question.

UMich is also going to have a huge leg-up on Stony Brook academically. I think a lot of Michigan's match list is self-selected in that people who go there may want to stay in Michigan or the greater Midwest, and there aren't too many people looking to go to NYC. However, that doesn't mean that it will bar you from matching back there. You just need to lay the groundwork for that a little earlier than if you had attended a NYC school (which is absolutely possible).

So my vote is UMich.

 

[thenucleusaccumbens]

Not totally sure if my opinion will be valuable, but it really depends on what your career vs. family balance priorities are. If you're looking at it in terms of your career alone, I would say UMich hands down. Basically has everything you're looking for, but it makes long distance tough.

It is not very easy to get from Dartmouth to NYC. There's a bus you can take between NYC and Hanover, but it costs like $80 each way (so 160 round trip) and the ride is like 5 hours long. Ann Arbor, on the other hand, you can get a flight between LaGuardia and Detroit for ~$200 round trip (less if you take a non-big airline) and the flight is like 1.5 hours each way, though you would have to Uber to Detroit (unless Michigan has shuttles there and back, which probably wouldn't be out of the question). In terms of distance, I would say Ann Arbor is no worse off than Hanover and actually might be better off. So between those two, I would say UMich no question.

UMich is also going to have a huge leg-up on Stony Brook academically. I think a lot of Michigan's match list is self-selected in that people who go there may want to stay in Michigan or the greater Midwest, and there aren't too many people looking to go to NYC. However, that doesn't mean that it will bar you from matching back there. You just need to lay the groundwork for that a little earlier than if you had attended a NYC school (which is absolutely possible).

So my vote is UMich.

Agree 100% with this and have no doubt the fact that they don't match a ton of students to NY is based on student choice and not because their students can't match to NY programs if they wanted to.

 

[thenucleusaccumbens]

I'd go to UMich

 

[knicksfan3131]

Thanks everyone, I chose UMich!

 

[citykid92]

Good choice! Congrats