FYI the US News "Unranked" schools just didn't pay to have their schools on that list. Doesn't mean they aren't good schools.
I love SBU but am very biased. You definitely need a car to get around the area. Perhaps you could survive with a bike for a year or two but when the weather is bad (rain, SNOW, ice) you're in trouble. I've seen people waiting for buses there but have never actually seen the buses. Public transportation is not like it is in a city.
It has to come down to your own feelings/preferences. I personally didn't want to live around Downstate, but I'm less of a city person.
This is why I like SBU:
- its nearness to my own family support system
- students/faculty there that I've met.
- That you have access to all undergrad libraries (it's a big university so there is a lot of study space).
- that you have access to the gym/rec center (D1 university so nice exercise spaces/fields/etc)
- New curriculum (
http://medicine.stonybrookmedicine.edu/LEARNcurr)
- Only level 1 trauma center on long island!
- Stony Brook HOME Clinic in Central Islip
- Lots of cool electives
- Great match list (though you're not supposed to choose schools based on that)
- Classes are not mandatory
- 1.5 years of pre-clinical learning, 6 weeks to study for STEP1, then CLINICAL ROTATIONS START in FEBRUARY of 2ND YEAR.
- So more time to do clinical rotations and do clinical electives/ more opportunities to explore specialties of interest.
- It's a nice area (suburban if you like that sort of thing)
- lots of cool restaurants there, in port jeff, in selden/centereach and beyond.
- train to NY Penn station can be 1.5-2 hours (but gives you time to study on the train, sit back and relax - no need to drive into the city)
- The cost (and what that means for me to be able to hopefully choose a residency without thinking about my debt-load)
- 10 minutes from beach/long island sound/port jefferson ferry to Connecticut and beyond
- lots of parks/ places to hike/bike/fish/etc if you're into that sort of thing
- farms and apple orchards out east for fresh produce in late summer, early fall
