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I'm having a really hard time deciding between these schools and was hoping maybe some current students (or acceptees who remember more about the schools than I do!) could help me out. I had extensive notes on all the schools I interviewed at written out and saved to my laptop, and the darn thing went and died on me last week. Now I can't remember what's what!
I've been lucky enough to get into Stonybrook, Upstate, and Buffalo. For boyfriend-related reasons, I think I'm probably not going to be attending Stonybrook, though I really was impressed by the board prep built into the curriculum at that school. Now I'm nervous about Upstate/Buffalo and I'm trying to figure out which will have the most supportive curriculum as that's really important to me.
Basically, these are my questions about each school:
1) What are the grading systems? All I can recall is that neither was P/F.
2) Are classes curved? By that I mean, will I be competing with my classmates for grades because only a certain percentage of us can get honors?
3) Are courses targeted towards Step 1? Are NBMEs or other board prep incorporated into the curriculum?
4) At Buffalo, is the 8 person to a cadaver thing an issue for you learning what you need to know? Is not having 24 hour access to the anatomy lab an issue?
5) Does anyone know the Step 1 averages for these schools? I know that Upstate had a 100% match rate this year, but I'm not sure about Buffalo... Can anyone comment on the strength of the matches at these schools? I'm currently interested in ophtho, derm, and possibly anesthesia and I don't know if one school has an advantage in terms of these residencies.
6) Pros/Cons of having a University hospital (Upstate) vs having multiple clinical sites but no university hospital (Buffalo)? My friend at Buffalo said she believes Buffalo has the advantage here, because she felt she got very well-rounded clinical training from having had so many different rotation environments.
7) Are lectures online and is attendance optional? I believe the answer is yes to both at Upstate and yes to attendance at Buffalo. I can't remember if lectures are online at UB too though. I actually like going to class, but I also like being able to review stuff online after class too.
8) Supportive-ness/ competitiveness of student body? I got the impression that everyone was really nice at both schools.
9) Supportiveness of administration? I'm a little worried that in Buffalo, financial aid and/or health concerns might be more difficult to get help with due to the undergrad being so huge and overshadowing the med school. I'm not sure about these things at Upstate. The admissions committees at both schools seemed very nice though, so I'm hoping this extends to the academic advisors/ faculty too.
10) Which city is nicer to live in? I don't need huge nightlife options but I do appreciate nice aesthetics and the option of walkable downtown areas though.
11) Which school has better facilities? I know UB had a pretty nice simulation center, and student lounge, but I can't recall what the lecture halls were like. I didn't get to see the lecture halls at Upstate, and I don't recall seeing a student lounge either, but I do know they had a new anatomy lab.
12) Is Buffalo better than Upstate in terms of research opportunities? Most people I've spoken with seem to say yes, though I'm not sure if I should even consider this as a factor since I don't know if I'm super into research and would likely only do it if necessary for residency apps.
I've been lucky enough to get into Stonybrook, Upstate, and Buffalo. For boyfriend-related reasons, I think I'm probably not going to be attending Stonybrook, though I really was impressed by the board prep built into the curriculum at that school. Now I'm nervous about Upstate/Buffalo and I'm trying to figure out which will have the most supportive curriculum as that's really important to me.
Basically, these are my questions about each school:
1) What are the grading systems? All I can recall is that neither was P/F.
2) Are classes curved? By that I mean, will I be competing with my classmates for grades because only a certain percentage of us can get honors?
3) Are courses targeted towards Step 1? Are NBMEs or other board prep incorporated into the curriculum?
4) At Buffalo, is the 8 person to a cadaver thing an issue for you learning what you need to know? Is not having 24 hour access to the anatomy lab an issue?
5) Does anyone know the Step 1 averages for these schools? I know that Upstate had a 100% match rate this year, but I'm not sure about Buffalo... Can anyone comment on the strength of the matches at these schools? I'm currently interested in ophtho, derm, and possibly anesthesia and I don't know if one school has an advantage in terms of these residencies.
6) Pros/Cons of having a University hospital (Upstate) vs having multiple clinical sites but no university hospital (Buffalo)? My friend at Buffalo said she believes Buffalo has the advantage here, because she felt she got very well-rounded clinical training from having had so many different rotation environments.
7) Are lectures online and is attendance optional? I believe the answer is yes to both at Upstate and yes to attendance at Buffalo. I can't remember if lectures are online at UB too though. I actually like going to class, but I also like being able to review stuff online after class too.
8) Supportive-ness/ competitiveness of student body? I got the impression that everyone was really nice at both schools.
9) Supportiveness of administration? I'm a little worried that in Buffalo, financial aid and/or health concerns might be more difficult to get help with due to the undergrad being so huge and overshadowing the med school. I'm not sure about these things at Upstate. The admissions committees at both schools seemed very nice though, so I'm hoping this extends to the academic advisors/ faculty too.
10) Which city is nicer to live in? I don't need huge nightlife options but I do appreciate nice aesthetics and the option of walkable downtown areas though.
11) Which school has better facilities? I know UB had a pretty nice simulation center, and student lounge, but I can't recall what the lecture halls were like. I didn't get to see the lecture halls at Upstate, and I don't recall seeing a student lounge either, but I do know they had a new anatomy lab.
12) Is Buffalo better than Upstate in terms of research opportunities? Most people I've spoken with seem to say yes, though I'm not sure if I should even consider this as a factor since I don't know if I'm super into research and would likely only do it if necessary for residency apps.
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