Money vs Happiness: Tufts Maine Track vs SUNY Stony Brook

[help_me_choose_throwaway]

Tufts Maine Track
Pros

• Really felt like I would be the happiest here. Perfect "fit" for me between the mission, the students, and the vibe from second look (very laid back)
• Being in Boston for 2 years seems like a great place to do pre-clinicals as you can go out and have a solid social life in a small manageable city.
• P/F & unranked
• The facilities were very nice and new
• Easy access to research in Boston and I have connections in various labs already
• High Program Directors Rating, I think Tufts is slightly underrated in USNWR

Cons

• TUITION...yikes COA comes out to 90K a year
• 75% of Maine Track grads go into a primary care specialty while I am considering internal med or surgery (urology)

Stony Brook
Pros

• Parents are on Long Island and I grew up here
• Cheaper total but surprisingly not by much. We were told at the second look that COA for In-State is still 69K per year.
• Stunning match list
• Well regarded in the NYC area

Cons

• The surrounding area is meh
• Graded preclinicals
• Older facilities
• Recently lost a big clinical site to NYU
• "Clicked" less well with the students

Summary: Is an extra 80K worth the perfect "fit" school? Is Tufts itself even worth the tuition?

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[hebrewBAMmer]

To me personally, I would rather eat the cost and go to a school I'm happier. As much as the extra cost would suck, I know that I would eventually be able to pay it off and would rather do that than go somewhere I'm miserable

 

[darkpauladin]

I would go to Tufts because 80k over 4 years doesn’t seem like a whole lot in regards to my happiness. If you think about what you’ll be making as an attending, it’ll probably take you an extra half year/year to pay back the increased cost.

 

[Chewy0211]

Mind me asking what clinical site Stony Brook lost?

 

[help_me_choose_throwaway]

Mind me asking what clinical site Stony Brook lost?

They recently lost Winthrop Hospital to NYU. SBU 3rd and 4th years can no longer do rotations there.

I actually heard about this first at Second Look last week. Other admitted students asked the dean this question directly.

This is a rumor but apparently NYU is opening up a primary care track as part of their MD program and that will be the clinical site.

 

[Chewy0211]

They recently lost Winthrop Hospital to NYU. SBU 3rd and 4th years can no longer do rotations there.

I actually heard about this first at Second Look last week. Other admitted students asked the dean this question directly.

This is a rumor but apparently NYU is opening up a primary care track as part of their MD program and that will be the clinical site.

Hmm good to know. I didn't get to go to second look. I am actually in the same position where I am deciding between Tufts (non-maine track) and Stony Brook.

I think Tufts has a slightly better match list and definitely more prestige, but its been dropping on rankings consistently the past few years which worries me. It used to be a lot higher.

I am still undecided but slightly leaning towards Stony Brook because I like a smaller class size and because I think it's on its way up with all the money that's going into it (MART + Children's hospital). Was also surprised by how much it costs to live on Long Island.


Lol did they say anything about the new naming to "Renaissance School of Medicine?" Hope that doesn't end up on the white coats.

 

[help_me_choose_throwaway]

Hmm good to know. I didn't get to go to second look. I am actually in the same position where I am deciding between Tufts (non-maine track) and Stony Brook.

I think Tufts has a slightly better match list and definitely more prestige, but its been dropping on rankings consistently the past few years which worries me. It used to be a lot higher.

I am still undecided but slightly leaning towards Stony Brook because I like a smaller class size and because I think it's on its way up with all the money that's going into it (MART + Children's hospital). Was also surprised by how much it costs to live on Long Island.


Lol did they say anything about the new naming to "Renaissance School of Medicine?" Hope that doesn't end up on the white coats.

AH no way. Nice to be in the same boat as someone else.

No mention of the name change to Renaissance lol, wish I could have asked that! Don't worry about missing SBU second look. It was just three hours worth of lectures on fin aid, curriculum, global health (surprisingly big here) etc and a quick student panel at the end.

Not sure if you made it to Tufts Second look but Stony Brook had the complete opposite vibe. The administration orchestrated everything and it felt like all the answers that were given were very pageanty (skewed to paint the school in a good light). At Tufts, the students ran everything and while it was disjointed at times, at least it felt genuine.

I will say my favorite part at SBU second look was the beginning where they had tables set up and admitted students sat with two M1s. These students were very honest and really seemed to enjoy the school. One thing that was mentioned here was the dislike for the graded pre-clinicals and that's something I'm really weighing in my decision between the two schools right now. The students at Tufts repeatedly emphasized to pick a school with P/F curriculums even if it wasn't Tufts.

I think that competition, even perceived competition, really brings out the worst in people after seeing it happen in undergrad. SBU isn't even graded on a curve, IIRC, its percentile based (eg: everyone over a 90% gets Honors or High Pass I forget which) so there literally is no competition but the med students still commented on their dislike for the graded system and referenced how it makes other people crazy.

Another interesting thing you may not know about SBU since you couldn't make it to second look is that they've switched their to curriculum so that you take Step 1 after third year now instead of allowing students the choice to just "defer" taking the test after preclinicals.

 

[Bryant088]

Tufts. I definitely think the extra money is worth it for your personal happiness. Being in Boston will be way more enjoyable than being stuck in LI for 4 yrs.

 

[Giraffe_Funk]

AH no way. Nice to be in the same boat as someone else.

No mention of the name change to Renaissance lol, wish I could have asked that! Don't worry about missing SBU second look. It was just three hours worth of lectures on fin aid, curriculum, global health (surprisingly big here) etc and a quick student panel at the end.

Not sure if you made it to Tufts Second look but Stony Brook had the complete opposite vibe. The administration orchestrated everything and it felt like all the answers that were given were very pageanty (skewed to paint the school in a good light). At Tufts, the students ran everything and while it was disjointed at times, at least it felt genuine.

I will say my favorite part at SBU second look was the beginning where they had tables set up and admitted students sat with two M1s. These students were very honest and really seemed to enjoy the school. One thing that was mentioned here was the dislike for the graded pre-clinicals and that's something I'm really weighing in my decision between the two schools right now. The students at Tufts repeatedly emphasized to pick a school with P/F curriculums even if it wasn't Tufts.

I think that competition, even perceived competition, really brings out the worst in people after seeing it happen in undergrad. SBU isn't even graded on a curve, IIRC, its percentile based (eg: everyone over a 90% gets Honors or High Pass I forget which) so there literally is no competition but the med students still commented on their dislike for the graded system and referenced how it makes other people crazy.

Another interesting thing you may not know about SBU since you couldn't make it to second look is that they've switched their to curriculum so that you take Step 1 after third year now instead of allowing students the choice to just "defer" taking the test after preclinicals.

Hey sorry this is kinda off topic but did they say anything about the pre-clinical attendance policy at Stony Brook?

 

[Chewy0211]

AH no way. Nice to be in the same boat as someone else.

No mention of the name change to Renaissance lol, wish I could have asked that! Don't worry about missing SBU second look. It was just three hours worth of lectures on fin aid, curriculum, global health (surprisingly big here) etc and a quick student panel at the end.

Not sure if you made it to Tufts Second look but Stony Brook had the complete opposite vibe. The administration orchestrated everything and it felt like all the answers that were given were very pageanty (skewed to paint the school in a good light). At Tufts, the students ran everything and while it was disjointed at times, at least it felt genuine.

I will say my favorite part at SBU second look was the beginning where they had tables set up and admitted students sat with two M1s. These students were very honest and really seemed to enjoy the school. One thing that was mentioned here was the dislike for the graded pre-clinicals and that's something I'm really weighing in my decision between the two schools right now. The students at Tufts repeatedly emphasized to pick a school with P/F curriculums even if it wasn't Tufts.

I think that competition, even perceived competition, really brings out the worst in people after seeing it happen in undergrad. SBU isn't even graded on a curve, IIRC, its percentile based (eg: everyone over a 90% gets Honors or High Pass I forget which) so there literally is no competition but the med students still commented on their dislike for the graded system and referenced how it makes other people crazy.

Another interesting thing you may not know about SBU since you couldn't make it to second look is that they've switched their to curriculum so that you take Step 1 after third year now instead of allowing students the choice to just "defer" taking the test after preclinicals.

Glad to know I didn't miss much.

I definitely like the administration at Tufts better, I have been told that Stony Brook's administration doesn't have the best relationship with their students.

I totally agree the 5-tiered grading scale is definitely a major negative. While I actually like the fact that they take Step 1 after the third year since most schools that have done it have had pretty solid results.