UChicago Pritzker vs. Stony Brook

[mcatscorer]

Hi! I've been accepted to both Stony Brook and Pritzker and very grateful for both! However, I'm torn on the decision. It's mainly a matter of price vs. prestige. Here are the factors for me:

UChicago
Pros

• Amazing new city and new experiences
• T20 prestige, ranking

Cons

• around 150k more expensive for 4 years
• farther from my family (I'm from Long Island)

Stony Brook
Pros

• closer to home, family support
• good reputation in NY
• cheaper (see above)

Cons

• Similar area in which I've lived my whole life
• lower ranked, less "prestige"

Summary: I'm still waiting on financial aid from both schools, but assuming I don't get any from either school, is prestige/ranking factor generally worth the cost?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[RNARNARNA]

Depends what your goals are. If you're into academic medicine, Pritzker will open more doors.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

Depends what you want to do. Stony Brook is a solid mid-range state school that matches pretty well, but Pritzker may provide more opportunity throughout one's career. For academic medicine as noted above, Pritzker would be the choice even with the higher cost, IMO.

 

[Banco]

SB has a good reputation in the northeast and a strong match list; it is the best of the SUNYs. 150k difference is a lot of money - you can ultimately pay it off as an attending yes, but it's not trivial. Secondly, if family/support is important to you, then SB definitely has the leg up.


That being said, if you want to climb the ivory tower and/or go to a highly competitive residency at a top place, Chicago will help.

 

[deleted1065184]

I think you should wait for the financial aid packages. Pritzker has a well-established history of giving really good financial aid. They may end up being cheaper for you than Stony Brook. To answer your question, I personally do not believe prestige/ranking is at all worth the cost. Even for competitive specialties, I don't think you'll have any trouble matching from either school.

I'd recommend looking more into factors like patient population and curriculum. Pritzker seems to really embrace the "pass now, or pass later" ideology, and their students seemed happier than almost anywhere else I interviewed this cycle. Is Stony Brook also like that? Pritzker also has a very traditional 2+2 curriculum, whereas Stony Brook is 1.5 years pre-clinical. Do you think that'll matter to you?

 

[BritainKittenMittens]

If you could narrow the difference to less than 100k, I'd go with Chicago.

 

[DermResidentYear3]

UChicago without a doubt!

 

[thetenthletter]

If cost is a significant factor and you don’t plan on going into a really selective speciality, pick SBU. Otherwise Chicago is a great option