SUNY Downstate vs. Albert Einstein

[inocchi]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I'm sorry for posting my inquiry in multiple places, but I have not yet gotten anyone to respond. I am sure you are all trying to decide too, and might not have time, but if anyone does, I would really appreciate your response.

The reasons why I am stuck are as follows

SUNY Downstate

pros:
-cheaper (in state)
-great clinical
-down to earth people
-park slope is much nicer than the Bronx
-easy access to groceries and coffee places (having a home away from school)

cons
-I like active involvement of faculty and staff with students, which does not happen at Downstate
-I would need to commute (I'm NOT a morning person)
-I would need to find an appartment and roommates while I am away from the country over the summer -- seems risky and real difficult to do well
-1st and 2nd years seem not to be as great as 3rd and 4th
-I'm afraid of not making friends living off campus (but I refuse to live in those dorms) -- I am a SUPER people person, and need to be around people to be happy.


Einstein

pros:
-has lots of money because of research and thus, is very generous when it comes to study abroad opportunities, etc.
-lots of opportunities of extracirriculars (like research, study abroad, alternative medicine)
-faculty and staff are involved with students (it seems) and there appears to be lots of information sessions to "help" the students "survive".
-dorms are real easy to get and takes no work on my part
-dorm style living is great for studying in groups and helping each other out

cons:
-expensive
-no library
-I have no car
-no grocery store
-no restaurants or coffee shops (no life outside of classes -- except when going out to the city)
-location -- real grey and gloomy

Am I focusing too much on the details?? The two schools are so similar in quality of education, that I have gotten to the point where the only things i can distinguish the two schools are by lifestyle points and some things I can assume about the feel of the school.

can anyone help me??

 

[idealist]

I'm sorry for posting my inquiry in multiple places, but I have not yet gotten anyone to respond. I am sure you are all trying to decide too, and might not have time, but if anyone does, I would really appreciate your response.

The reasons why I am stuck are as follows

SUNY Downstate

pros:
-cheaper (in state)
-great clinical
-down to earth people
-park slope is much nicer than the Bronx
-easy access to groceries and coffee places (having a home away from school)

cons
-I like active involvement of faculty and staff with students, which does not happen at Downstate
-I would need to commute (I'm NOT a morning person)
-I would need to find an appartment and roommates while I am away from the country over the summer -- seems risky and real difficult to do well
-1st and 2nd years seem not to be as great as 3rd and 4th
-I'm afraid of not making friends living off campus (but I refuse to live in those dorms) -- I am a SUPER people person, and need to be around people to be happy.


Einstein

pros:
-has lots of money because of research and thus, is very generous when it comes to study abroad opportunities, etc.
-lots of opportunities of extracirriculars (like research, study abroad, alternative medicine)
-faculty and staff are involved with students (it seems) and there appears to be lots of information sessions to "help" the students "survive".
-dorms are real easy to get and takes no work on my part
-dorm style living is great for studying in groups and helping each other out

cons:
-expensive
-no library
-I have no car
-no grocery store
-no restaurants or coffee shops (no life outside of classes -- except when going out to the city)
-location -- real grey and gloomy

Am I focusing too much on the details?? The two schools are so similar in quality of education, that I have gotten to the point where the only things i can distinguish the two schools are by lifestyle points and some things I can assume about the feel of the school.

can anyone help me??

I have always thought of Einstein as a better quality school. My reasons? Bogus rankings, reputation..I know Downstate also has a good reputation for clinical experience, but that's really only in NYC. Albert Einstein might be more nationally acclaimed? I also got the sense that there are a lot of awesome, well-funded, and well-run programs at Albert Einstein. It just seems like a more nurturing place, and if I had gotten in, I would definitely go there over Downstate. Because despite loving Brooklyn and cheap tuition, and despite the students seeming pretty real and relatively happy, I just didn't get a very nurtured / high moral / high school spirit feel from the place. Now, maybe that's not that important to some of you. But I like that community feel..

 

[medschool9]

-- seems risky and real difficult to do well



Nocchi.....Just wondering why you would think that of Downstate?

 

[wei28]

Hi,
I don't know much about Einstein, but I'm going to DS, so here's my two cents. I had a major issue going to DS, cos i'm from Cali - so i didn't know much other than that the school wasn't ranked. After going there, and interviewing at other schools, I realized that location was really an important factor to me. I need to be in a big city where there's craploads of things to do. brooklyn, being fun in itself, also close to manhattan is a major plus.
2)To me, first two years are going to suck anywhere you go. so i looked at the 3/4 years to decide. clinical experience is what everyone has been rooting for at DS, and since I'm a hands on learner, I believe that DS is the place to be.
3) I'm also afraid of not making friends living off campus, but I realized I never had problems making random people into friends, whether through school or out. plus everyone I met in NY (from cab drivers, ds students, salsa dancers, to friends of friends of friends) were all super cool.

I chose DS because I believe i can be happy there. if I were judging between two schools where the quality of education is similar, then I would choose based on money and location.

Good luck with your decision. I'd be happy to talk to you more. and if you do decide it'd be great to talk about how to find housing...

 

[wendywellesley]

i'm going to echo what wei just said. i really wouldn't worry about making friends if you live off campus at downstate. i spent the day there, most of the people i spoke to lived in park slope and no one said they had any problems making friends. you spend a lot of time with your classmates, lots of time to bond no matter where you live.

also, where did you get the idea that there is no invovlment between faculty/staff with the students? i don't think that's completely true.
i also know people who have done well at downstate and went off to do competitive residencies. it's the amount of time and effort you put into studying, i do think downstate gives you the resources to do well and the students all seem to want to help each other out.

yeah, well, i'll probably be going to downstate next year over the private schools i've been accepted to. and einstein didn't interview me 😡 so i can't really compare the two schools but that is what i know for sure about downstate.