Temple (LKSOM) vs Stony Brook

[forrealthough]

I’m still on the waitlist for my top-choice school, but if that doesn’t work out I narrowed my choices to two schools: Stony Brook and Temple (LKSOM). I would appreciate it if anyone familiar with these two schools can provide insight or suggestions! Thanks!

ABOUT ME:

• CA resident who would like to come back to California for residency and beyond (but would be open to do residency elsewhere)
• Interested in pursuing a competitive specialty, or competitive IM subspecialty

COST:

• I am OOS for both schools, but Stony Brook is a bit cheaper because I can get in-state tuition after the first year
• However, for the purpose of this discussion, let’s assume cost is equal for both

LOCATION:

• Temple is in North Philly, which isn’t the most glamorous or safest. However, it is a short subway ride to Center City, which has plenty of things to do. I heard most students don’t have cars and take public transportation to school everyday. A little worried about having to rely so much on public transportation, especially at night, but could be exciting to live in the city. I would imagine that the patient population at Temple would be more diverse and clinical experiences would be more hands-on.
• Stony Brook is in Long Island, which isn’t the most exciting. It’s 1-2 hours to NYC, but other than that it didn’t look like there was much to do in the surrounding area. A little worried about feeling trapped/bored, but I don’t know much about the area so I could be wrong.

PRESTIGE/REPUTATION:

• Both schools seem to be similar in ranking
• Stony Brook seems to have a more impressive match list, but I know you shouldn’t always judge a school based on their match list

RESEARCH:

• Both schools seem to provide ample research opportunities, similar in USNWR research rankings.

CURRICULUM:

• I believe Temple is switching to P/F for pre-clinical.
• Stony Brook is H/P/F for pre-clinical. They also compressed the pre-clinical into 1.5 years, and students take step 1 after MS3.

MISCELLANEOUS:

• I absolutely loved Temple’s new building. Their students seemed very friendly and I liked the vibe.
• I’ve heard that Stony Brook has a reputation for being competitive/cut-throat, but the MS1's denied this during the interview day and seemed pretty genuine, so who knows
• Due to cost of travel, I most likely will not attend either of the second-look days

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[WillianIAm]

What school are you on waitlist?

The US News & World Report rankings come out tomorrow so if research opportunities and perceived prestige is important to you, take that into consideration.

Disclaimer: I've been accepted to Temple as well.

 

[Chelsea FC]

Ive been accepted to both as well.Temple is switching to pass/fail but it isnt a real pass/fail so you will still have internal ranking. Both schools are pretty similar with SB focusing more on research and Temple more on community engagement and serving undeserved communities. To me Temple walked the walk and talk the talk when it comes to helping underserved communities more than any school I interviewed at (or thats the impression i got from my interviews)

 

[forrealthough]

Can anyone speak to the clinical experiences at Stony Brook? From what I heard, they are not as "hands-on" as other schools. How are the clinical sites? Are they mostly community hospitals? I know the Stony Brook hospital is a large academic teaching hospital, but what about the others?