Stony Brook (IS) vs Columbia

[mastro27]

School 1: Stony Brook (IS)

Pros:

• Cheaper
• Medical school curriculum
• Small class size, could socially become a negative 46 is quite small.
• Seems to have good specialization rates
• No class rank

Cons:

• Less desirable location
• Not P/F
• Building is a little small/boring
• Slightly farther from home

School 2: Columbia

Pros:

• P/F
• Medical school curriculum
• Very good specialization rates
• In New York City
• About 1.5-2 hours closer to home

Cons:

• Expensive
• Slightly larger class size, could socially turn into a positive

Summary: I've been completely torn by this decision over the past few days. If you were to take away both the name and the price tag I would choose Columbia. I am very interested in specializing, particularly in OMFS. Columbia seems to have a reputation of putting a ton of students through to specialize, and the P/F is a big plus, but I just don't know if it's worth the extra money especially since to my knowledge Stony Brook does send a lot of students to specialize as well. In addition, living in New York City seems like a pretty unforgettable experience, though most of it will be spent studying. I also had a great time during my interview day, and something about that experience also made me feel like I'd be very happy there. Regardless, I would love to hear what you all think!

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[macsak]

School 1: Stony Brook (IS)

Pros:

• Cheaper
• Medical school curriculum
• Small class size, could socially become a negative 46 is quite small.
• Seems to have good specialization rates
• No class rank

Cons:

• Less desirable location
• Not P/F
• Building is a little small/boring
• Slightly farther from home

School 2: Columbia

Pros:

• P/F
• Medical school curriculum
• Very good specialization rates
• In New York City
• About 1.5-2 hours closer to home

Cons:

• Expensive
• Slightly larger class size, could socially turn into a positive

Summary: I've been completely torn by this decision over the past few days. If you were to take away both the name and the price tag I would choose Columbia. I am very interested in specializing, particularly in OMFS. Columbia seems to have a reputation of putting a ton of students through to specialize, and the P/F is a big plus, but I just don't know if it's worth the extra money especially since to my knowledge Stony Brook does send a lot of students to specialize as well. In addition, living in New York City seems like a pretty unforgettable experience, though most of it will be spent studying. I also had a great time during my interview day, and something about that experience also made me feel like I'd be very happy there. Regardless, I would love to hear what you all think!

you sound like you have made up your mind already

my input is that if you are smart enough to get into columbia, you are smart enough to specialize at stony brook and you should pick the cheaper school...

 

[Jaa_]

at sbu, you will be assessed by NBME question-based exams at the medical school. these are the same questions that you will be responsible for on the CBSE for OMFS. In this sense, it helps you prep for the exam because you are used to the question style and content they ask.

Though columbia is med-school integrated, im not sure if they take NBME-based exams or not..

Not a deal breaker but something to consider.

 

[JacquesVallee]

I am very interested in specializing, particularly in OMFS.

And you might become more interested in general dentistry, endo, or ortho when you gain more experience. In that case, you need to limit your debt as much as you can. You have no idea how debilitating 600k of debt is. Go to Stony Brook. It's a great school.

 

[dynamo72]

at sbu, you will be assessed by NBME question-based exams at the medical school. these are the same questions that you will be responsible for on the CBSE for OMFS. In this sense, it helps you prep for the exam because you are used to the question style and content they ask.

Though columbia is med-school integrated, im not sure if they take NBME-based exams or not..

Not a deal breaker but something to consider.

We do take NBME based exams. Very similar to the other med school curriculums. Pass fail is very worth it.

 

[dynamo72]

School 1: Stony Brook (IS)

Pros:

• Cheaper
• Medical school curriculum
• Small class size, could socially become a negative 46 is quite small.
• Seems to have good specialization rates
• No class rank

Cons:

• Less desirable location
• Not P/F
• Building is a little small/boring
• Slightly farther from home

School 2: Columbia

Pros:

• P/F
• Medical school curriculum
• Very good specialization rates
• In New York City
• About 1.5-2 hours closer to home

Cons:

• Expensive
• Slightly larger class size, could socially turn into a positive

Summary: I've been completely torn by this decision over the past few days. If you were to take away both the name and the price tag I would choose Columbia. I am very interested in specializing, particularly in OMFS. Columbia seems to have a reputation of putting a ton of students through to specialize, and the P/F is a big plus, but I just don't know if it's worth the extra money especially since to my knowledge Stony Brook does send a lot of students to specialize as well. In addition, living in New York City seems like a pretty unforgettable experience, though most of it will be spent studying. I also had a great time during my interview day, and something about that experience also made me feel like I'd be very happy there. Regardless, I would love to hear what you all think!

Columbia is a truly unique experience. Not sure what the price difference is between SBU and us, but a couple of my thoughts: pass fail is very valuable, lots of us want to pursue OMFS and are studying for the CBSE now, being closer to home is always a positive, & lastly: new york city is a completely different experience if you've never lived in a downtown atmosphere before.

 

[deleted923283]

The best OS applicants I’ve ever met came from Stony Brook.

 

[Hemingway3132]

Choosing Stony Brook for OMFS: Cheap tuition, NBME exams help get a feel for how to study efficiently for the CBSE, great opportunity to specialize and get face time with home OS faculty in the OR early on in dental school, extensive clinic exposure, etc. Seems like a pretty easy decision. As Ivy.ch always harped on and I 100% fully agree and you will too once you begin dental school curriculum, why pay a single $0.01 more for tuition. Your going to build wax rims and learn all about "festooning" at any school you go to so why put yourself in more debt? If your smart enough to become a surgeon, your smart enough to see the poor financial decision it is to attend a private school such as Columbia.