NYIT vs Touro NY Is location worth picking one over the other?

[LuluLovesMe]

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From what I've read on SDN, it's pretty clear that NYIT has the better reputation and is the more established school. I much prefer the location of TouroNY though. I only have enough funds to apply to one of these schools though.

How much of a difference is there in terms of quality of rotations, reputation and ability to match into more selective specialties?

Is it worth it to apply to TouroNY instead of NYIT purely due to location?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

What are your stats like? If you're under a 3.5/30 I would recommend putting you money into NYCOM as it will likely be a higher chance there. Touro-NY is the DO school with the highest accepted average.

 

[ChrisMack390]

I feel like Touro is a significantly worse school and the two really only an hour away from each other, so its not like the location is drastically different.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

What are your stats like? If you're under a 3.5/30 I would recommend putting you money into NYCOM as it will likely be a higher chance there. Touro-NY is the DO school with the highest accepted average.

3.4-3.6cGPA and sGPA / 36-38 mcat

Edited fot a bit of anonymity

 

[LuluLovesMe]

I feel like Touro is a significantly worse school and the two really only an hour away from each other, so its not like the location is drastically different.

What makes it significantly worse?

 

[Mad Jack]

I feel like Touro is a significantly worse school and the two really only an hour away from each other, so its not like the location is drastically different.

Touro is also much cheaper. You'll save a fortune.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

Touro is also much cheaper. You'll save a fortune.

Last I checked they were both mid 50k's

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Touro is also much cheaper. You'll save a fortune.

Is that supposed to be a joke though? Rent in NYC will cost an arm and a leg.

 

[Mad Jack]

Is that supposed to be a joke though? Rent in NYC will cost an arm and a leg.

Actually, it looks like Touro jacked up their tuition since I was applying. Used to be about 10k cheaper than NYCOM per year, but now they're about even with CoL included. Wow, I can't believe how much they've increased their tuition.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Actually, it looks like Touro jacked up their tuition since I was applying. Used to be about 10k cheaper than NYCOM per year, but now they're about even with CoL included. Wow, I can't believe how much they've increased their tuition.

Touro honestly is pretty much the worst. But at least with their acquiring of NYMC they may chill out a bit.... hopefully..

 

[Henry101]

Both schools have vastly different science and clinical curriculum. Make sure to look into those before you decide.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

Touro honestly is pretty much the worst. But at least with their acquiring of NYMC they may chill out a bit.... hopefully..

Hmm so the location isn't worth it? 🙁

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Hmm so the location isn't worth it? 🙁

If you are very interested in living in NYC then by all means proceed with applying to Touro-NY. That being said with your stats there's no reason to put your money anywhere other than the MD app.

Personally I live in a medium sized city. I.e I can get fresh air pretty easily. In NYC I get difficulty breathing. So I wouldn't want to live in NYC.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

If you are very interested in living in NYC then by all means proceed with applying to Touro-NY. That being said with your stats there's no reason to put your money anywhere other than the MD app.

Personally I live in a medium sized city. I.e I can get fresh air pretty easily. In NYC I get difficulty breathing. So I wouldn't want to live in NYC.

Thanks! I'm applying to a few DO schools just in case I don't get accepted to MD, I'm being very selective about which DO schools I'm applying to since I only want to apply to ones I would attend for sure.

I will go with NYIT then

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Thanks! I'm applying to a few DO schools just in case I don't get accepted to MD, I'm being very selective about which DO schools I'm applying to since I only want to apply to ones I would attend for sure.

I will go with NYIT then

Your call. I'd use the money to apply to some midtier MD schools and save the cash from the second app entirely.

 

[Henry101]

I’m going to play devil’s advocate and speak on behalf of Touro given the unanimous consensus of the previous posters and some of the other unjustified comments against Touro. Just as a brief disclaimer, I am in your shoes and am applying to both MD/DO schools as well as both NYIT and Touro. If I am lucky enough to be accepted at both schools, I would probably pick Touro. In fact, I’d probably pick Touro over a few MD schools in the Midwest that I applied to too.

From friends and other objective sources, NYCOM is on a decline. They have made significant curriculum changes every year for the past four years, treating students like guinea pigs and basing curriculum improvements based on test scores. Currently, they are transitioning towards a PBL curriculum from a lecture curriculum but no one knows what the curriculum will look like because of the constant changes. If you don’t believe me, review the academic catalogs from the previous few years. The school also has a HUGE attrition rate. You will begin NYCOM with a class size of ~300 but only about ~260 or so will graduate. This is also changing because the school has announced they will be slowly shrinking the class sizes. The one thing NYCOM is exceptional at is clinical education. You mentioned you liked the location of Touro. Well, most of NYCOM’s rotation sites are in NYC/ Manhattan. This is because NYCOM, currently, has a strong relationship with Barnabas health which runs many of the hospitals in the Bronx and Brooklyn.

I think Touro is much more innovative than NYCOM. They use a “flip” curriculum where you watch lectures at home and come to class for case studies and clicker quizzes. Also, as a result of location, it is easier for students to find research projects and be involved than Long Island. Finally, despite its youth, Touro grads have secured really strong residency spots across the country. However, the one con of Touro is clinical education. A majority of students at Touro move to New jersey to complete OMS III. The advantage of this is that you get to network in two states and New Jersey is more DO friendly than New York City. The con is that you aren’t in New York and the clinical campuses are newer. The class size at Touro is about 120.

Anyway, take it for what its worth. I just wanted to add something because I thought it was unjust to call Touro “the worst” without any justification.

 

[ortnakas]

Not to question your financial situation-- but primary applications are about $25 each, if I remember correctly, and secondaries are around $50 each. Would it be possible to apply to both and keep your options open a bit? That way you could make a decision between interview invitations or acceptances-- it would suck to eliminate one now and never know what could have happened.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

I’m going to play devil’s advocate and speak on behalf of Touro given the unanimous consensus of the previous posters and some of the other unjustified comments against Touro. Just as a brief disclaimer, I am in your shoes and am applying to both MD/DO schools as well as both NYIT and Touro. If I am lucky enough to be accepted at both schools, I would probably pick Touro. In fact, I’d probably pick Touro over a few MD schools in the Midwest that I applied to too.

From friends and other objective sources, NYCOM is on a decline. They have made significant curriculum changes every year for the past four years, treating students like guinea pigs and basing curriculum improvements based on test scores. Currently, they are transitioning towards a PBL curriculum from a lecture curriculum but no one knows what the curriculum will look like because of the constant changes. If you don’t believe me, review the academic catalogs from the previous few years. The school also has a HUGE attrition rate. You will begin NYCOM with a class size of ~300 but only about ~260 or so will graduate. This is also changing because the school has announced they will be slowly shrinking the class sizes. The one thing NYCOM is exceptional at is clinical education. You mentioned you liked the location of Touro. Well, most of NYCOM’s rotation sites are in NYC/ Manhattan. This is because NYCOM, currently, has a strong relationship with Barnabas health which runs many of the hospitals in the Bronx and Brooklyn.

I think Touro is much more innovative than NYCOM. They use a “flip” curriculum where you watch lectures at home and come to class for case studies and clicker quizzes. Also, as a result of location, it is easier for students to find research projects and be involved than Long Island. Finally, despite its youth, Touro grads have secured really strong residency spots across the country. However, the one con of Touro is clinical education. A majority of students at Touro move to New jersey to complete OMS III. The advantage of this is that you get to network in two states and New Jersey is more DO friendly than New York City. The con is that you aren’t in New York and the clinical campuses are newer. The class size at Touro is about 120.

Anyway, take it for what its worth. I just wanted to add something because I thought it was unjust to call Touro “the worst” without any justification.

Thanks for that perspective! How do NYIT grads match significantly better than Touro grads? It sounds like the education at Touro is better but the rotations are worse.

 

[Henry101]

Thanks for that perspective! How do NYIT grads match significantly better than Touro grads? It sounds like the education at Touro is better but the rotations are worse.

Well, like I mentioned, I'm just applying and not a student. But, I believe it is because NYITCOM is in charge of the New York OPTI. An OPTI is basically an institute that recruits hospitals and organizes residency programs based on regions. NYITCOM organizes the New York OPTI because NYITCOM is older than Touro. Students at NYITCOM, essentially, rotate in the same hospitals of the OPTI and, I would suspect, it's easier for them to network and obtain residency spots at the hospitals.
However, lately, NYITCOM is losing these hospitals to Touro. One example if Jersey City Medical Center which used to be a NYITCOM site but now share the site with Touro.
Also, because NYITCOM has about 3 times as many students, more students = more diverse matches. So it could be just about the number of students and may have nothing to do with their OPTI affiliation.

Touro has poor rotations because NYC is a hell hole for medical students. Students from Cornell, Columbia, NYU, Icahn Mount Sinai, Albert Einstein, Hosfstra, SUNY Downstate, Stony Brook (to a lesser extent), SUNY Upstate (to a lesser extent), NYIT-COM, Saint George, Ross, Saba, and AUA all rotate in NYC and, as a result, it truly is a dog-eat-dog world for rotation spots. Because Touro is the newest school, they get the smaller end of the stick and get all the leftovers. This will probably (hopefully) change over time as the contracts between Carribean med schools and NY Hospitals change. It will, however, probably be after we graduate. I don't think NYITCOM is totally exempt from this drama, but, given their location in Long Island, it has a tiny bit less of an impact.

 

[RurouniKarly]

Not to question your financial situation-- but primary applications are about $25 each, if I remember correctly, and secondaries are around $50 each. Would it be possible to apply to both and keep your options open a bit? That way you could make a decision between interview invitations or acceptances-- it would suck to eliminate one now and never know what could have happened.

The Touro secondary is $200.

 

[ChrisMack390]

I’m going to play devil’s advocate and speak on behalf of Touro given the unanimous consensus of the previous posters and some of the other unjustified comments against Touro. Just as a brief disclaimer, I am in your shoes and am applying to both MD/DO schools as well as both NYIT and Touro. If I am lucky enough to be accepted at both schools, I would probably pick Touro. In fact, I’d probably pick Touro over a few MD schools in the Midwest that I applied to too.

From friends and other objective sources, NYCOM is on a decline. They have made significant curriculum changes every year for the past four years, treating students like guinea pigs and basing curriculum improvements based on test scores. Currently, they are transitioning towards a PBL curriculum from a lecture curriculum but no one knows what the curriculum will look like because of the constant changes. If you don’t believe me, review the academic catalogs from the previous few years. The school also has a HUGE attrition rate. You will begin NYCOM with a class size of ~300 but only about ~260 or so will graduate. This is also changing because the school has announced they will be slowly shrinking the class sizes. The one thing NYCOM is exceptional at is clinical education. You mentioned you liked the location of Touro. Well, most of NYCOM’s rotation sites are in NYC/ Manhattan. This is because NYCOM, currently, has a strong relationship with Barnabas health which runs many of the hospitals in the Bronx and Brooklyn.

I think Touro is much more innovative than NYCOM. They use a “flip” curriculum where you watch lectures at home and come to class for case studies and clicker quizzes. Also, as a result of location, it is easier for students to find research projects and be involved than Long Island. Finally, despite its youth, Touro grads have secured really strong residency spots across the country. However, the one con of Touro is clinical education. A majority of students at Touro move to New jersey to complete OMS III. The advantage of this is that you get to network in two states and New Jersey is more DO friendly than New York City. The con is that you aren’t in New York and the clinical campuses are newer. The class size at Touro is about 120.

Anyway, take it for what its worth. I just wanted to add something because I thought it was unjust to call Touro “the worst” without any justification.

I agree with your assessment, however clinical education is MUCH more important than preclinical. Preclinical you can basically buy some books and do yourself save for anatomy lab.

 

[Nesmall2]

Well, like I mentioned, I'm just applying and not a student. But, I believe it is because NYITCOM is in charge of the New York OPTI. An OPTI is basically an institute that recruits hospitals and organizes residency programs based on regions. NYITCOM organizes the New York OPTI because NYITCOM is older than Touro. Students at NYITCOM, essentially, rotate in the same hospitals of the OPTI and, I would suspect, it's easier for them to network and obtain residency spots at the hospitals.
However, lately, NYITCOM is losing these hospitals to Touro. One example if Jersey City Medical Center which used to be a NYITCOM site but now share the site with Touro.
Also, because NYITCOM has about 3 times as many students, more students = more diverse matches. So it could be just about the number of students and may have nothing to do with their OPTI affiliation.

Touro has poor rotations because NYC is a hell hole for medical students. Students from Cornell, Columbia, NYU, Icahn Mount Sinai, Albert Einstein, Hosfstra, SUNY Downstate, Stony Brook (to a lesser extent), SUNY Upstate (to a lesser extent), NYIT-COM, Saint George, Ross, Saba, and AUA all rotate in NYC and, as a result, it truly is a dog-eat-dog world for rotation spots. Because Touro is the newest school, they get the smaller end of the stick and get all the leftovers. This will probably (hopefully) change over time as the contracts between Carribean med schools and NY Hospitals change. It will, however, probably be after we graduate. I don't think NYITCOM is totally exempt from this drama, but, given their location in Long Island, it has a tiny bit less of an impact.

To add on your note, I am a current first year at touro and loving it. With regards to clinical education, many of the contracts are expiring in December 2015 with hospitals and Caribbean schools. So take that for what it's worth in regards to clinical education.
Despite being a new school, the opportunities for research are amazing and pretty easily attainable living in the city. Also, the school has had pretty solid matches in the last few years. An acgme derm match for example in last year's class. But again, don't just use match lists to assess the school's quality.

 

[DwightSchruteDO]

Even though the schools are maybe 1.5 hours apart, their locations differ drastically as do their preclinical curriculum. Touro has rotations in northern NJ, SI, Brooklyn, LI, Upstate NY, a few in philly (though idk if they still send philly students there) and Middletown, NY. NYIT has rotation spots in LI, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, upstate NY, I think SI, and NJ. None schools have third year core rotations in Manhattan (except a few psych spots for touro). So you can go to either school and still end up having to move for your 3rd year rotations or not move and have a little longer commute to them.

I think both schools have good and bad rotation sites. I would go where you feel the happiest; suburbs of LI or the city life; big school feel vs small school feel. All of the NY DO schools are a part of the NYCOMEC OPTI; they even added an 's' in the name of NYCOMEC to make it collegeS. Also, since Touro is a part of NYCOMEC, a lot of their hospitals have joined NYCOMEC as has all of the Touro residency programs and they are uniformly named under NYCOMEC. You can go to either school and match into whichever specialty you want esp in the NY/NJ area. I feel like a lot of med students expect to be spoon fed (I was the same way before I started med school) during their first two years and during rotations. Some students say a site is bad because they have too much free time and nothing to do. Others may not like a site because they have to work too many hours or days (and they are lazy).

You just have to be proactive on your rotations and make the best of it; you can be at the best rotation site but if you just kind of hang around in the back and not get involved then it doesn't matter. If you go to a site that is not as busy, use it to your advantage...study for your boards, go shadow someone in the specialty your interested in at the hospital during your extra free time, go to the weekly education conference of a nearby residency program in your desired specialty, work on a research project, make use of your time instead of just waiting around for something to happen and complaining. Just my 2 cents having researched both schools, gone to both good and bad rotation sites from both schools, and now having students from both schools during their rotations.

As far as reputation goes for residency programs...outside of a couple of NYCOMEC programs (this number is decreasing) nobody cares where you went to school in the DO world. Nobody says omg you went to NYIT or PCOM or the Devry Institute for Osteopathic Medicine I gotta have you in my program. It's all about your board scores, LORs, audition rotations, and research for competitive fields.

 

[doapplicant2015]

You will get an interview at Touro so it will be money well spent. NYCOM will be a crapshoot especially if you are out of state although with your stats I'd assume you'd get an interview.

Tough call

 

[LuluLovesMe]

You will get an interview at Touro so it will be money well spent. NYCOM will be a crapshoot especially if you are out of state although with your stats I'd assume you'd get an interview.

Tough call

Touro tuition is actually like 10k more than NYCOM. But NYCOM is literally 2 hours away from the city. Ugh so hard to decide 🙁

 

[Henry101]

Touro tuition is actually like 10k more than NYCOM. But NYCOM is literally 2 hours away from the city. Ugh so hard to decide 🙁

Wait, how did you get 2 hours? I haven't been to Long Island in a while, but it's about an hour and half with public transit or about 40 minutes by car.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

Wait, how did you get 2 hours? I haven't been to Long Island in a while, but it's about an hour and half with public transit or about 40 minutes by car.

I'm not going to drive a car in NYC. 1.5 hours by public transit is a long time 🙁 Can't really have time to just go into the city for fun

 

[Henry101]

I'm not going to drive a car in NYC. 1.5 hours by public transit is a long time 🙁 Can't really have time to just go into the city for fun

haha trust me dude. I hear you. It's one the reasons why I mentioned in a previous post in this thread that I'd pick either of the NY DO schools over some of the Midwestern MD schools.
Uber should take us from Old Westbury to the Upper East Side for $20.
Or, if you go to Touro, you can just walk outside your apartment haha

 

[crazyboi1993]

I applied to NYCOM and interviewed and was very impressed! I like the school a lot and its only 45 minutes from the train to NYC!

 

[235009]

haha trust me dude. I hear you. It's one the reasons why I mentioned in a previous post in this thread that I'd pick either of the NY DO schools over some of the Midwestern MD schools.

Uber should take us from Old Westbury to the Upper East Side for $20.

Or, if you go to Touro, you can just walk outside your apartment haha

LOLWUT

UberX fare estimate from old Westbury to upper east side: $63-85!

Guess you meant $20 each if you shared the uber with 3 other people.

Also as a general rule you should always pick a US MD school over a DO school unless you have a very pressing reason to stay in a particular location.

 

[Seth Joo]

LOLWUT

UberX fare estimate from old Westbury to upper east side: $63-85!

Guess you meant $20 each if you shared the uber with 3 other people.

Also as a general rule you should always pick a US MD school over a DO school unless you have a very pressing reason to stay in a particular location.

I agree an MD degree is more marketable, there some people who only realize this in the fourth year when they begin applying for residency training.