Stony Brook vs. Buffalo decision?

[Steelefed]

Got into both schools and can't decide? any ideas? i also got into NYU, but cost/location ruled it out...still hoping to hear from UR or OSU off waitlist, but can anyone says why one is better than the other?

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[235009]

Easy choice: stony brook

facilities are much nicer and newer
the location is much better....buffalo is rapidly shrinking and is not very safe
i got a vibe that many buffalo students are only there because they didn't have another choice.....this is why stony brook points out that 85% its class was holding multiple acceptances
buffalo is COLD

for my full take on all the SUNYs see post #40 here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=588840

 

[DrQuack247]

Easy choice: stony brook

facilities are much nicer and newer
the location is much better....buffalo is rapidly shrinking and is not very safe
i got a vibe that many buffalo students are only there because they didn't have another choice.....this is why stony brook points out that 85% its class was holding multiple acceptances
buffalo is COLD

for my full take on all the SUNYs see post #40 here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=588840

so you rated the 2 schools that accepted you the highest and the 2 that waitlisted you the lowest?

I thought the common consensus was SB/DS > upstate > buffalo

 

[235009]

so you rated the 2 schools that accepted you the highest and the 2 that waitlisted you the lowest?

I thought the common consensus was SB/DS > upstate > buffalo

thats coincidence ....if that's not what i really thought i wouldn't have withdrawn from the buffalo and DS waitlists...also i wrote that way before i got my DS decision!

i'm aware of the conventional wisdom. if i agreed with it i wouldn't have bothered posting. the only reason people rank downstate highly is because you can get "good clinical experience" there and because it's in NYC. However it is in a horrible neighborhood with very lax security (unlike columbia which is in a less dangerous neighborhood with much more security). I didn't feel the school had much of a community because students are scattered all over brooklyn (and manhattan for those who can afford it). As for the clinical experience, not sure where i read this but someone had written that Kings County hospital isn't exactly the best place to learn as a med student because it is a hectic environment with poor resources. Also the facilities are very outdated (except for the new anatomy lab).

after writing all that i remembered that this has nothing to do with OP's question

 

[suubchb]

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[nancy0223]

If I were in ur position, I'd go w/ Stony all the way. And I'm not saying this b/c I'm on the UB WL.
As for stony:
- easy access to the city
- better research facilities
- good clinical ed.
- cheap tuition
UB is very much the same as Stony except the first 2 items on the list. But considering tuition is the same, why wouldn't u want to go to a school where u can get more for the same price?

 

[disorder]

thats coincidence ....if that's not what i really thought i wouldn't have withdrawn from the buffalo and DS waitlists...also i wrote that way before i got my DS decision!

i'm aware of the conventional wisdom. if i agreed with it i wouldn't have bothered posting. the only reason people rank downstate highly is because you can get "good clinical experience" there and because it's in NYC. However it is in a horrible neighborhood with very lax security (unlike columbia which is in a less dangerous neighborhood with much more security). I didn't feel the school had much of a community because students are scattered all over brooklyn (and manhattan for those who can afford it). As for the clinical experience, not sure where i read this but someone had written that Kings County hospital isn't exactly the best place to learn as a med student because it is a hectic environment with poor resources. Also the facilities are very outdated (except for the new anatomy lab).

after writing all that i remembered that this has nothing to do with OP's question

and for this very reason, i have heard the opposite from several downstate students. they tend to think that their experiences have better equipped them to manage an array of situations, especially those in other hospitals.

 

[wrasler913]

If I were in ur position, I'd go w/ Stony all the way. And I'm not saying this b/c I'm on the UB WL.
As for stony:
- easy access to the city
- better research facilities
- good clinical ed.
- cheap tuition
UB is very much the same as Stony except the first 2 items on the list. But considering tuition is the same, why wouldn't u want to go to a school where u can get more for the same price?

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankings.../top-medical-schools/research-rankings/page+3

this was posted in the UB waitlist forum but it seems pertinent to this discussion. stony and UB are only separated by a couple of ranks, and surprisingly downstate and upstate were both unranked.

 

[235009]

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankings.../top-medical-schools/research-rankings/page+3

this was posted in the UB waitlist forum but it seems pertinent to this discussion. stony and UB are only separated by a couple of ranks, and surprisingly downstate and upstate were both unranked.

this is the first time (at least in the past couple years) that UB is ranked while stony brook is consistently ranked (and has unfortunately slipped down a few spots recently). SB is also ranked 45th in primary care (might as well throw that in since we're talking about these rankings)

upstate definitely didn't seem like it had any sort of focus on research and that's probably why they aren't ranked

 

[wrasler913]

I agree with this, but it does seem as though the gap has narrowed (at least if you're influenced by the rankings) to the point where other factors may come into consideration (geographical etc.) I wasn't interviewed at downstate or SB, but I felt like the student bodies at UB and Upstate were pretty different.

this is the first time (at least in the past couple years) that UB is ranked while stony brook is consistently ranked (and has unfortunately slipped down a few spots recently). SB is also ranked 45th in primary care (might as well throw that in since we're talking about these rankings)

upstate definitely didn't seem like it had any sort of focus on research and that's probably why they aren't ranked

 

[Shadowrun]

I wasn't interviewed at downstate or SB, but I felt like the student bodies at UB and Upstate were pretty different.

Can you elaborate on this point?