Pitt Med vs Stony Brook

[syrupedbacon]

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I was pretty certain I was going to attend Stony Brook before I was surprised with a Pitt A, which left me in a conundrum. I would love some input!

Pitt Med
Pros:

• Highly ranked, definitive top 20
• Rotate through UPMC
• Excellent research opportunities
• In a city
• I was told Pitt is very low COL
• I heard the public transit system in Pitt is very convenient
• Loved the interview
• No internal rank or AOA
• Flex weeks seem interesting and potentially fun
• Lots of longitudinal experiences getting exposure in research and getting involved in the community
• Feels like a very collaborative environment
• Feels like Pitt offers more resources and opportunities to its students such as the Prologue to Medicine Program
• Impressive match list

Cons:

• If they do not offer any aid, Pitt would cost about $20k a year more for tuition/fees (website has COA at ~94.5k). Also I heard they were probably the stingiest T20 med school.
• I have a friend doing a PhD there but otherwise I don't know anyone
• Far away from family/friends/partner
• Required attendance and in-house exams (at least according to admit.org)

Stony Brook
Pros:

• 20k a year cheaper for tuition and fees
• My alma mater (literally just got my degree from the undergrad), would have more friends here and nearby
• Have clinical research experience with the emergency department that I could look to further explore
• Close to home
• Close to NYC
• Partner will likely be starting med school in NY
• Optional lectures
• Might be better if I want to stay in NY for residency?

Cons:

• Literally won't tell you if you get any aid until the fall (wtf?) so probably paying full cost (website has ~82.7k although I think the COA is overinflated based on the breakdown)
• Higher COL
• Prestige, ranked like 50+ instead of T20
• Poor experience with the research offered during undergrad (obviously med school research will be different, but I feel like Pitt does offer better opportunities research wise)
• Internal rank and AOA
• Felt like the admissions team was disorganized (hopefully it doesn't reflect on admin as a whole?). Found it frustrating to find any answers looking online or emailing.
• In a suburban area and need to travel more for interesting things (not a huge deal with LIRR into the city)

TLDR: Prestige/research opportunities vs saving potentially 10-20k/yr and staying closer to partner/family/friends.

 

[researchkid]

Commenting with no useful input other than to say I’m in the same situation with these exact schools and will be watching this thread closely. Best of luck!!

 

[Bowel-Plumber]

I’m a student at Stony Brook and I wanted to address 2 of your cons:

1) The Fall aid decision date is not true. They are not huge on aid but there was a need-based aid application sent to us in the end of March last year and I got a need-based aid scholarship by the end of April (a few days before commit to enroll).

2) We do have internal ranks and AOA but the deans have made it abundantly clear that they are solely based off clinical grades which aren’t P/F anyway (most schools use an H/HP/P/F system for clerkships and we do too). Your entire pre-clinical experience is 100% P/F and the grades have no bearing on ranks.

That aside, I think the answer comes down to what you’re looking for. Pitt is undoubtedly the better school research wise. But I also understand not wanting to move away from your friends and family and partner. I recommend attending both admitted students day

 

[syrupedbacon]

I’m a student at Stony Brook and I wanted to address 2 of your cons:

1) The Fall aid decision date is not true. They are not huge on aid but there was a need-based aid application sent to us in the end of March last year and I got a need-based aid scholarship by the end of April (a few days before commit to enroll).

2) We do have internal ranks and AOA but the deans have made it abundantly clear that they are solely based off clinical grades which aren’t P/F anyway (most schools use an H/HP/P/F system for clerkships and we do too). Your entire pre-clinical experience is 100% P/F and the grades have no bearing on ranks.

That aside, I think the answer comes down to what you’re looking for. Pitt is undoubtedly the better school research wise. But I also understand not wanting to move away from your friends and family and partner. I recommend attending both admitted students day

Thanks for the insight. I took another look at the Fin Aid email and it appears endowed scholarship notifications were in the fall while some need based ones were sent earlier. That's probably why I misremembered.

 

[Nyanderthal]

I’m a student at Stony Brook and I wanted to address 2 of your cons:

1) The Fall aid decision date is not true. They are not huge on aid but there was a need-based aid application sent to us in the end of March last year and I got a need-based aid scholarship by the end of April (a few days before commit to enroll).

2) We do have internal ranks and AOA but the deans have made it abundantly clear that they are solely based off clinical grades which aren’t P/F anyway (most schools use an H/HP/P/F system for clerkships and we do too). Your entire pre-clinical experience is 100% P/F and the grades have no bearing on ranks.

That aside, I think the answer comes down to what you’re looking for. Pitt is undoubtedly the better school research wise. But I also understand not wanting to move away from your friends and family and partner. I recommend attending both admitted students day

Sorry for hijacking this thread but do you mind sharing how much need-based aid you got? I see that a lot of students typically withdraw on SDN every year after Stony sends out financial aid notifications because the aid is either underwhelming or nonexistent. I was just wondering if I could get a rough ballpark of how much aid they give because they’re my only A right now and I’m lowkey scared of the debt, especially with everything that this administration has been doing (namely getting rid of PSLF).