Rochester v. SUNY Downstate

[artisticdeviation998]

University of Rochester
Pros

• Well-ranked school (top 40?) with a great match list
• Received half in aid --> total cost would be around 160k
• Enjoy the biopsychosocial model approach/ great research and mentoring opportunities
• Have close friends that already attend the school, and also enjoyed the overall sense of community

Cons

• Located in the middle of nowhere really, also it gets really cold up there
• Far away from home, I am originally from NYC ~6 hr drive
• Currently have recorded lectures bc of COVID but traditionally don't have these so I'm assuming they'll get rid of them come Fall

SUNY Downstate
Pros

• Located in Brooklyn, NY where I am originally from and I love it here. Would be familiar with the environment already and super close to family
• Maybe a better chance at matching into NYC since it's known pretty well in the city? Not sure if Rochester has the same name recognition here?

Cons

• run-down facilities
• large class size vs Rochesters 104 students
• not so great research opportunities --> i am contemplating pursuing a competitive specialty and would want to start research early
• EXPENSIVE--> 78k with 0 aid but not sure if they overestimated cost of living as tuition here is only 41k as opposed to 64k at Rochester?

Summary: I would love to stay in NYC for medical school and ultimately will want to be here for residency so I do feel a pull towards downstate but not sure if I should just bite the bullet and make the move up for what seems like all around better school especially considering step 1 changing to pass/fail? Also not sure, if I'll end up having an equal chance at NYC residencies at Downstate anyway considering it has pretty good name recognition in the region?

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[biff_webster16]

Rochester >> Downstate. I don't think Downstate is overestimating the COL, Brooklyn is just super expensive. Step 1 going P/F is also huge and Rochester has a better reputation.

 

[Banco]

Follow the money, do your 4 years at Rochester, come back to NYC for residency. Plus, that area of upstate NY isn't "in the middle of nowhere," and it's actually quite nice/beautiful nature. You can obviously be successful from Downstate as well, just seems like it would be significantly more expensive.

 

[RunawayGrape]

Rochester. The money alone would be enough to make that decision for me.