RSOM Stony Brook vs Creighton (PHX)

[roveresque]

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Choosing bw RSOM Stony Brook and Creighton but am conflicted (CA resident, interested in derm) - Thanks!

Context: Cant afford to visit both, but prioritizing Stony Brook. Thinking about taking a dedicated research year. Biggest factors are grading/curriculum/step, research, and costs.

Stony Brook

Pros:

• IS tuition after 1 year ($70k → $47k tuition)
• 1.5 year Preclinical P/F
• Stronger research opportunities
• in-house derm residency (but may want to be in CA)
• More presitigious (if that matters?)
• Strong step 2 scores (250s) + match list

Neutral:

• Exams every ~4 weeks with quizzes?
• Step 1 and 2 taken together between MS3 and MS4, not sure if this is a pro or con)
• LI is suburbs and 2sh hour train ride for NYC, so it'll be a slower pace of life but safe
• Grew up visiting NYC for months at a time bc my brother lives there (but he may be moving away soon)

Cons:

• Ranked Clinicals, AOA
• clerkships are H/HP/P/LP/F (how much does this matter since most schools have some form a ranked clinicals)
• Far from home (have some extended family in LI, NYC)
• Student body seems more stressful, competitive? (not completely sure)

Creighton:

Pros:

• Clinical H/Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (Honors is for top 10% of class)
• 2 hour flight from CA (would i realisitically have time to go home often?)
• Student community seems a lot more collaborative, supportive, friendly (have a friend there who's an MS1 and thats been her experience)
• Matches more into CA

Neutral:

• Block schedule with weekly Friday quizzes and 1 cumulative exam per block (~5 weeks)
• Step 1 taken after preclinicals and Step 2 taken at end of MS3
• Phoenix has more things to do, in the middle of a city and suburb

Cons:

• 2 year Preclinical H/Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
• No rankings, but has GH and AOA
• Not much info on match rates/step scores bc the PHX location is newer
• Not huge on research + would have to take a lot more initiative to find them (but school really supports students and gives them lots of funding to do it)
• Expensive + no scholarships/grants ($70k)