New York Medical College vs University of Vermont

[MeGoodManIThink]

I'm having a real tough time deciding between the two schools. I was wondering what SDN thought?

NYMC

1. Close to home (from the area), friends and family
2. Did a master's here, know how close knit the community is/how great the faculty is
3. Cost would be about 5-10K cheaper a year
4. Much more diverse than UVM
5. Excellent match results
6. Great pass rate for step 1 (>98%)
7. Very diverse affiliated hospitals

UVM

1. Ranked higher (44th in primary care and 59th in research)
2. I loved facilities, and people
3. Great curriculum and up to date with technology
4. Students seemed to absolutely love the school and Burlington
5. Take your step 1s in Feb and thus earlier clinical experience
6. Excellent match results
7. Much bigger school (more students/activities going on)


Greatly appreciate your help! SDN has been huge for me this past year

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[plumhill]

Both are good schools. Since you did your masters at NYMC, you should know by now whether you liked the environment and want to continue there, or if you want to try something else. You'd be saving $20-40k total by going to NYMC, which is not a small number. Also, rankings are mostly meaningless, so I wouldn't count that too much in your decision.

You can do well and go far from both schools, and from what you've described it seems like they're overall pretty even in terms of educational quality and atmosphere. So...where would you be happier?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Where do you think you'll be happier at? Is size a concern?

 

[MeGoodManIThink]

Both are good schools. Since you did your masters at NYMC, you should know by now whether you liked the environment and want to continue there, or if you want to try something else. You'd be saving $20-40k total by going to NYMC, which is not a small number. Also, rankings are mostly meaningless, so I wouldn't count that too much in your decision.

You can do well and go far from both schools, and from what you've described it seems like they're overall pretty even in terms of educational quality and atmosphere. So...where would you be happier?

I think I would be happier at NYMC because it is so much closer to home (30 min) rather than 6 hours...my main concern was the ranking really, am I shooting myself in the foot by not going to UVM?

 

[MeGoodManIThink]

Where do you think you'll be happier at? Is size a concern?

Size is not really a concern but I think size and diversity go hand in hand.

UVM has a larger student body but less diverse student and patient population. NYMC is the opposite

 

[plumhill]

I think I would be happier at NYMC because it is so much closer to home (30 min) rather than 6 hours...my main concern was the ranking really, am I shooting myself in the foot by not going to UVM?

Absolutely not; rankings are virtually meaningless. If you're worried about matching, all that really matters is how well YOU do in med school, whichever med school you choose. You said yourself, the match results from both schools are excellent.

 

[MeGoodManIThink]

Absolutely not; rankings are virtually meaningless. If you're worried about matching, all that really matters is how well YOU do in med school, whichever med school you choose. You said yourself, the match results from both schools are excellent.

thanks for your opinion plumhill, much appreciated

 

[sector9]

Moving thread to School Specific Discussions

 

[circulus vitios]

I'm having a real tough time deciding between the two schools. I was wondering what SDN thought?

NYMC

1. Close to home (from the area), friends and family
2. Did a master's here, know how close knit the community is/how great the faculty is
3. Cost would be about 5-10K cheaper a year
4. Much more diverse than UVM
5. Excellent match results
6. Great pass rate for step 1 (>98%)
7. Very diverse affiliated hospitals

UVM

1. Ranked higher (44th in primary care and 59th in research)
2. I loved facilities, and people
3. Great curriculum and up to date with technology
4. Students seemed to absolutely love the school and Burlington
5. Take your step 1s in Feb and thus earlier clinical experience
6. Excellent match results
7. Much bigger school (more students/activities going on)


Greatly appreciate your help! SDN has been huge for me this past year

Do you really think anyone is going to care that UVM is ranked higher than NYMC when it's ranked 44th in primary care (which is irrelevant) and 59th in research (which is barely relevant)?

Early clinical experience is a joke.

5) early patient contact- I think this is a total sales pitch: To provide an anecdote: It was january of my second year. we were in our physical diagnosis class, having our first group interview with a patient with renal failure and volume overload causing CHF.

so the encounter goes like this.....

A classmate "so what brings you to the hospital today"
patient: "I am having a tough time breathing, it feels like im drowning when I lie flat"
Classmate "that sounds bad"

long silence.

This classmate was a smart guy and ended up being AOA and this was 1 1/2 years into medical school.....

so if thats 2nd year what are you really going to do interviewing patients 1st year.......basically acquire bad habits that you will need to fix later in life. Is it a total waste? no. However do not make this any more than a minor consideration.

 

[MeGoodManIThink]

Do you really think anyone is going to care that UVM is ranked higher than NYMC when it's ranked 44th in primary care (which is irrelevant) and 59th in research (which is barely relevant)?

Early clinical experience is a joke.

We'll I wasn't sure which is why I wanted the opinion of fellow SDNers.

Thanks

 

[byaaaaaaah23]

If your gut is telling you NYMC, then go there!

 

[Depumcrc]

Just a clarifier I am a third year at NYMC. I am only going to comment on a few of the things you said.

Of the things you stated, I think the proximity to home is the most important thing. Being from across the country from NYMC, it sure would be nice to have family around at times.

Are you going to "shoot yourself in the foot" if you go to a school with lower rankings? Absolutely not. 44th in primary care is meaningless (so is everything outside the top 10) considering every school includes internal medicine under primary care title. Of the people who go into internal medicine from most schools, less than a quarter will go into general internal medicine. NYMC does not produce much in the way of primary care physicians, but the students we do, match at great places.

Research rankings are pointless (unless you are in the top 10-20 school).

When it comes down to it, you'll get the same education and become just as good of a doctor at both places. It comes down to, do you want to be close to your family/NYC for 4 years? Or do something completely different and move to Burlington? Do what feels right. The points you are bringing up are splitting hairs.

On a side note, I have a friend who matched from Vermont this year and loved his experience there, so I have nothing but respect for the school.

 

[MeGoodManIThink]

Just a clarifier I am a third year at NYMC. I am only going to comment on a few of the things you said.

Of the things you stated, I think the proximity to home is the most important thing. Being from across the country from NYMC, it sure would be nice to have family around at times.

Are you going to "shoot yourself in the foot" if you go to a school with lower rankings? Absolutely not. 44th in primary care is meaningless (so is everything outside the top 10) considering every school includes internal medicine under primary care title. Of the people who go into internal medicine from most schools, less than a quarter will go into general internal medicine. NYMC does not produce much in the way of primary care physicians, but the students we do, match at great places.

Research rankings are pointless (unless you are in the top 10-20 school).

When it comes down to it, you'll get the same education and become just as good of a doctor at both places. It comes down to, do you want to be close to your family/NYC for 4 years? Or do something completely different and move to Burlington? Do what feels right. The points you are bringing up are splitting hairs.

On a side note, I have a friend who matched from Vermont this year and loved his experience there, so I have nothing but respect for the school.

Thanks for your advice. I agree with much of what you said. I think I am leaning towards NYMC, I absolutely loved my time there. I think the best part of the program that you don't see online is the faculty. The advisors there go up and beyond what you would expect.

Perhaps I'll see you soon! Thanks

 

[Chir0nex]

Based on my impressions from interviews I would be much more inclined towards UVM. I was generally unimpressed with NYMC, and felt that the faculty we met with were not particularly excited or interested in selling the school (obviously this was a single experience though). A larger concern, is that if I recall correctly, NYMC is on a grade system (F/LP/P/HP/H) whereas UVM is only F/P/H, and I would shoot for the closest to P/F possible as it really changes the community feeling of the school.

In terms of area, it is kind of a toss-up. UVM is in the middle of Burlington, which is just an awesome city, and has tons of access to ski resorts, hiking, lakes, etc... NYMC does not have much immedietly nearby, and requires train/car to get to NYC. On the other hand, only you can say how much being close to family matters, and if you are not very outdoorsy I can see UVM having less appeal.

In the end, if I had to choose between the two I would go for UVM as I think it has a better curriculum and nicer facilities, along with a more interesting location.

 

[yaoguai]

My impression (emphasize "my") was that UVM had a much stronger community feel. The students seemed ecstatic to be there. Also, Burlington is an amazing little city.

People just didn't seem as excited about NYMC.

If it were me, I'd go UVM. But family is always an important factor and might understandably sway your opinion.

 

[MeGoodManIThink]

thank you all for the good advice, opinions are always welcome...I love how the poll is tied at 17-17 lol

 

[tantacles]

I interviewed at both, albeit in different years. Had I gotten into both, I definitely would have chosen UVM, mainly because of the opportunity to start clinical rotations extremely early. Taking step I in February means you get an extra 4 rotations, all of which could be audition rotations.

 

[Dreamer29]

If being closer to home would make you happier during school, and you're already familiar with the school's atmosphere, (not to mention it'd be cheaper for you), I think the decision would be pretty clear