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SUNY Upstate vs Rush, please help
- Thread starter Tzikarii
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dogdayafternoon
Tzikarii said:
What did you get on the MCAT if you don't mind me asking? Especially on the verbal. Oh and are you right out of college?
dogdayafternoon said:
That seems like the most random response ever....
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dogdayafternoon
It is random alright. But I was rejected from Rush on the grounds of some of these areas. So I want to know what the heck they want from applicants... 😡
First off, I know nothing about Rush, but I did interview at Upstate. I didn't like that they don't have much early clinical exposure (practically none really), very traditional curriculum, I heard they have a lot of students score below average on the boards and I thought syracuse was semi-crappy (but not 100% crappy). But the advantage of Upstate is the cost (even OOS students get be NY residents after one year).
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In defense of Upstate, we don't have many required early clinical exposures but there are a number of them available. Two things I can tell you are that we're adding a "cases" course, which is essentially Pathophysiology 1 and is almost entirely problem-based. Also, we're looking to add a number of new clinical experiences to the Practice of Medicine course, which will probably translate to more clinical exposure in the first two years. As for the board scores, I can't speak to that (our intranet server's down for maintenance right now) but it's the first I've heard of that. As for the traditional curriculum, it's becoming more progressive but, since the curriculum is actually attractive to some people, I doubt if it'd ever change completely.
That said, I really like Chicago as a city (always lots to do; way more than Syracuse) and Rush has a pretty good reputation. The other major advantage that I see is that since you'd be dealing with a much larger city and would likely do some work at places like CCH, you're more likely to see some of the more exotic things (I've heard of malaria cases in Chicago coming there) than you would in Syracuse. However, because Upstate University Hospital has a large covering area, we do have a wide variety of patients, just not to the degree that large hospitals in Chicago do.
I think you can't go wrong either way. Good luck.
Dave
That said, I really like Chicago as a city (always lots to do; way more than Syracuse) and Rush has a pretty good reputation. The other major advantage that I see is that since you'd be dealing with a much larger city and would likely do some work at places like CCH, you're more likely to see some of the more exotic things (I've heard of malaria cases in Chicago coming there) than you would in Syracuse. However, because Upstate University Hospital has a large covering area, we do have a wide variety of patients, just not to the degree that large hospitals in Chicago do.
I think you can't go wrong either way. Good luck.
Dave
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I actually love the fact that SUNY Upstate's curriculum is more traditional, I personally think it suits my learning style better. In terms of early clinical opportunities, I think that if you really want them, you can find them, I am sure there is always something available.
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Very true. If you work things out in the right way (taking summer anatomy helps with this), there are a number of for-credit clinical opportunities. The ones that people in the MS1 year have done this year include family practice, OB-GYN, radiology, ENT, clinical pathology, and surgery. I did the radiology one as well as a non-credit oncology rotation. There's also an IM elective clerkship in the MSII year. That's in addition to the various clinics and skills workshops that clubs and interest groups hold throughout the year.
Random said:
I hope I didn't sound like I hated Upstate. It wouldn't be the best for me, but the students there seemed happy with the program. Compared to programs where you are spending 4 hours every week in the clinic starting the first week, Upstate's clinical exposure the first two years is weak. But certainly the clinical exposure in years 3/4 is fine.
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Naw, dude, it didn't sound that way at all. Of course, really, you've got to find a good match for your personality and Upstate's not that for everyone. The bottom line is just that you either love or hate the rather traditional curriculum but it'll be getting more progressive in the next couple of years (or so I've heard). I can't really give you specifics since there are a number of options that are being discussed. As for our clinical years, a couple of people have said that they've thought they've had less autonomy than at other schools but those have only been scattered reports so I'm assuming that those reports are limited to a few specific attendings.
