SKMC vs Rochester vs Albany Medical College

[rkotla360]

Hey everyone! I apologize for posting on this thread as a high school senior, but I'm incredibly fortunate to have been admitted to three guaranteed medical (BS/MD) programs: Penn State's PMM Program (affiliated with Sidney Kimmel Medical College), University of Rochester's REMS Program (affiliated with the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry), and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (affiliated with Albany Medical College). I currently live in the Washington DC metro area. Here are the pros and cons of each program, and I would really appreciate any input on which one you think I should choose:

Penn State/Sidney Kimmel PMM:
UG Cost: ~65K/year
Pros:

• This is a 7-year program (3 years undergrad, 4 years med school), but many students finish their time at Penn State within 2.5 years and spend the rest of their time doing research/study abroad. This would cut down on tuition costs and allow me to get to medical school one year quicker.
• The overall quality of life at both Penn State and SKMC seems much better than the other two programs.
• I would have the opportunity to live in two vastly different environments for UG/med school (State College --> Philly).
• SKMC residency match seems good, especially for niche specialties like ortho.
• Opportunities to work with nearby medical facilities in Philly while in med school (Penn, Drexel, CHOP, etc).

Cons:

• I feel like Penn State gets a bad reputation as a "party school" and I'm not a fan of that type of environment. But I do love sports.
• SKMC ranking (~52) is about 20 lower than Rochester (~32).
• SKMC class size is very big (275), so there would be more competition (?)
• Would have to compete with other medical schools in Philadelphia for research/clinical opportunities.
• Has an MCAT requirement for matriculation into medical school: "minimum composite score of 504 with no less than 126 on any subsection on a single test date"
• Unlike Rochester, I wouldn't be able to apply out to other medical schools (locked into SKMC)

University of Rochester REMS:
UG Cost: ~68K/year
Pros:

• Rochester UG has an open curriculum (like Brown), which means that I can explore all of my interests outside of medicine while still keeping that core goal intact (gives me an opportunity to dive into my other interests like CS, anthropology, etc).
• Rochester's medical school is significantly higher-ranked compared to SKMC (32 vs 52)
• Nice sense of community/family within the REMS program.
• Exemption from taking the MCAT for matriculation into Rochester's medical school.
• Freedom to apply out to other medical schools while still keeping a guaranteed seat to Rochester Med regardless.
• REMS is considered to be one of the most prestigious BS/MD programs in the country.
• I admire the humanities-based focus that Rochester Med has.
• Rochester is a smaller school than Penn State, and the undergrad institution is also better.
• One of my passions lies in autism research, and Rochester hosts one of the largest autism research hubs in the entire country.

Cons:

• Rochester seems like a very gray/dreary/dull/cold/boring place with not much to do.
• Further away from home.
• I've talked to people in medical school, and from what I've been hearing, SKMC appears to be a more well-recognized name in medicine. Is this true???
• 8-year program, which means that the tuition cost would be higher.
• Even though Rochester is higher ranked than SKMC, I'm not sure if its residency match is better. My goal is to pursue a niche specialty (ortho, neuro, etc.), and people have said that Rochester matches more to primary care specialties (not sure how true this is).

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/Albany Medical College Physician-Scientist Program:
UG Cost: ~40K/year
Pros:

• UG cost is significantly lower than PMM and REMS.
• Like PMM, this is also a 7-year program, so it would allow me to get to medical school one year quicker.
• This is a research-focused program and trains me to become a physician-scientist (pursuing MD/PhD, etc).

Cons:

• Lack of community within the BS/MD program.
• Both UG and medical school aren't in prominent areas.
• Albany Medical College is unranked and I don't know much about its residency match.

I'm primarily trying to decide between Penn State/Sidney Kimmel's PMM program and Rochester's REMS program. Within the medical community, does Sidney Kimmel or Rochester have a better name, especially when it comes to matching into competitive residencies? They are both 50/50 in my mind right now, so any advice would be immensely appreciated. Some other information that might be helpful:

• I care more about the quality of the medical school than the quality of the undergraduate institution.
• I would prefer a medical school that has historically matched better for NON primary-care specialties (like neurosurgery)

Please let me know if there’s any pros or cons about the programs/med schools that I haven’t yet considered. Thank you so much!!

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[LunaOri]

Rochester. Rochester is the better school, for undergrad and for med school. You won’t need to take the MCAT to stay in the program, and you can apply out. If you decide after a couple of years that you don’t want to go to medical school, you are still at an undergrad that will give you an excellent education. If you do continue through, you can match into any specialty.