OUWB vs Stony Brook

[NewYork69]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi everyone! Just got WL acceptance to Stony Brook. Have to make decision ASAP.

OUWB - Oakland University William Beaumont ($55,000 COA including living costs)
Pros

• Beaumont Health System is an amazing hospital system, very prestigious from what I am reading with multiple surgical specialties nationally ranked. I have broad surgical interests, namely in Urology, ENT, Ortho, Ophtho, and potentially thoracic surgery - the Beaumont system is valuable to me because I imagine I will be able to make + leverage connections to best prepare me to match into the residency of my dreams.
• Small class size (125), peer and physician-faculty mentorship program, research-focused curriculum that more or less makes research mandatory, all of which I believe will help my residency endeavors. As a first-gen everything, I know nothing and have to always learn from scratch. Mentorship is high-priority to me.
• Half tuition scholarship, personalized call to inform of acceptance and then a few weeks later, scholarship. After getting WL'ed by 5 schools, this school not only outright accepting me, but also offering me a scholarship has made an eternal impact on my life.

Cons

• OOS, away from family/friends.
• Non pass/fail pre-clinical education (don't really hate this because I know most schools still rank internally anyways and I plan on working hard no matter what)
• Newer medical school, not yet formally "ranked" - however it seems that it will be well-recognized considering the hospital system association

Stony Brook Renaissance (~$65,000-$70,000 including living costs)
Pros

• More established school, older, etc. Prestige as best SUNY med school.
• They did offer some money in response to OUWB's offer
• Higher stats, ranked
• Opportunity to make waves with Weill Cornell, Columbia, NYU hospital systems for residency apps
• Pass/fail curriculum
• In-state, family and friends in the city and immediate family 3 hours north

Cons

• Slightly larger class size, lack of mentoring programs (from what I know)
• Urban environment (Cost of living being the issue primarily but not thrilled about living on LI tbh.)
• Limited financial aid, lack of merit scholarship

Summary: I am nervous to leave NYS but excited if OUWB is really the place to be. OUWB has made me feel so valued as a future doctor. The scholarship made up for the pain I went through during this cycle.

I think I am leaning towards OUWB even considering SBU's name value. Let me know what you all think.

I think both of their match lists are impressive too.

Thank you all, future docs. I appreciate you all and wish us all the best.

 

[mdog31415]

I’d go with OUWB. Prestige, in my opinion, is not a factor- yeah, SB is ranked by USWN, but it’s not enough to outweigh OUWB (if you had gotten into one of the 4 NYC “Giants”, I’d say differently, but not in this case). Seems you are saving a little bit more money at OUWB. Also, consider pt population you will encounter. You will see a more diverse pt population in the eastern Michigan/Greater Detroit area than eastern Long Island. Finally, I think the ~$10-20k difference in CoA is the cherry on top.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Beaumont has mandatory attendance I think (or something like you have to be at y amount of classes to get x grade).

True, while 40k isn’t anything to sneeze at, it’s not a lot in the grand scheme of things

It would be about 444 per month for 10 years at 6%

Kind of ridiculous that a state med school costs 70k but that’s New York State, I guess.

I think Beaumont may be better because your gut is telling you to go there but it shouldn’t be a monetary decision or prestige because I don’t think either are strong enough differentiators.

 

[wysdoc]

OUWB Match list: #74

 

[NewYork69]

Thank you all for your input. I declined Stony Brook. Auburn Hills, MI - here I come! Good luck to all of you future docs.