UNECOM vs. NYCOM

[boopitybop]

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[bsa]

Jokingly (but mostly not) NYIT/NYCOM stands for Next Year I Transfer. You'll be hard pressed to find 3rd and 4th year students who have actually enjoyed their time here. Can you succeed without the support of the school? Sure you can but why handicap yourself? I know that all school do have their issues but some school more than others.

NYCOM is not in NYC but it is not far from it. There are a lot of fun things to do nearby but you definitely need a car to get around. If you have family close by then great but more likely than not, you won't be as free as you imagine.

My only suggestion is for you to read the reviews already written. I don't want to get into much detail but the reviews are VERY accurate. At times, NYCOM feels like a Caribbean for-profit school on US soil.

The cynics out there may believe that the reviews of NYCOM are probably from unsuccessful students but you'd be surprised at where we're going (or have gone to) for residency. No one likes to bad mouth their own schools because it looks negatively on ourselves but we would be doing a disservice to future students if we don't at least give you an insight to what actually goes on in here.

Best of luck on your choice.

 

[donkeykong1]

Go to UNE. You're from the area, and its the better school. Price is about the same.

 

[boopitybop]

thanks guys. any other opinions?

 

[DocEspana]

I'd recommend UNE over NYCOM, as a student from a third school.

And NYCOM is pretty deep into long island. You wont be able to go into the city unless you have the whole day off for travel. It's not a *long* trip to get to NYC, but its long enough to be a hassle if you dont have the whole day free for travel and sightseeing. So NYC proximity really means nothing. Long Island may be more interesting than Maine, but neither of them feel city like at all.

 

[Wolverines83]

I'd recommend UNE over NYCOM, as a student from a third school.

And NYCOM is pretty deep into long island. You wont be able to go into the city unless you have the whole day off for travel. It's not a *long* trip to get to NYC, but its long enough to be a hassle if you dont have the whole day free for travel and sightseeing. So NYC proximity really means nothing. Long Island may be more interesting than Maine, but neither of them feel city like at all.

If you're from NE and want to stay there...well, stay there. As DocE said, LI is NOT NYC. It's not even close...in fact, LI sucks. It's the long island expressway with towns occasionally on either side and with people that talk so strange you'd swear you were in a sci-fi movie. And it's bat-**** expensive. AND you have to go through the city traffic any time you want to go to or from LI...

You know what LI is? Long Island is the appendix of New York. It looks like it...and functions like it (you only notice it when it's irritating you)...and sometimes I think it's even full of poop like it. Lol, in all seriousness, though, Long Island should be its own state, it shares no commonality with the city. You will not have access to the city the way you think you do and if you're from New England you're probably going to do one of two things when you see the traffic on the Long Island Expressway:
1) Shoot someone
2) Shoot yourself

Save a life, stay in Maine. 😀

No comment on which school is "better" as I have no actual knowledge of it but the attrition rate at NYCOM seems to be a concern.

 

[bsa]

Well someone mentioned that the price was the same but it is not so I'd like to clarify the actual cost of tuition at NYCOM a little bit.

In order to better compare the cost between each school you have to look at the COA (cost of attendance) because NYCOM, for example, is more expensive than you think. There are a lot of 'hidden' fees which brings up the cost. The way it works at NYCOM is they show you the cost of the class before you (2015 in this case) and off to the side mention that your tuition should be 7-10% more.

I picked up a copy of the financial aid packet given to interviewees and here is what you can expect to pay as a member of the 2016 class:

Class of 2016 (Not actually shown, you have to calculate it yourself)
First year - Tuition: 52,871, misc fees: 1,300, NYCOM's health insurance: 5,200
Second year - T: 56,872, m: 1,100, NHI: 5,896
Third year - T: 60,533, m: 1,100, NHI: 6,485
Fourth year - T: 64,770, m 1,100, NHI: ~7,000

As you can see, because NYCOM's COA is very deceiving, this school tries to lure you in by giving you last year's figures--which are high but not high enough to scare you away. This does not include the cost of living because that is variable but let me assure you, living on LI is not cheap.

If you can afford to take on this much debt, you better be going to CCOM because at least you'll be getting your money's worth.

EDIT: And by the way, four years ago, I turned down PCOM, UMDNJ, and TOURO-NY because I thought NYCOM's location would give me an advantage but it turns out I was wrong. Not only did these schools cost A LOT less, they are exponentially better. If I could go back, I would have attended UMDNJ but hindsight is always 20/20.

 

[retro]

Well someone mentioned that the price was the same but it is not so I'd like to clarify the actual cost of tuition at NYCOM a little bit.

In order to better compare the cost between each school you have to look at the COA (cost of attendance) because NYCOM, for example, is more expensive than you think. There are a lot of 'hidden' fees which brings up the cost. The way it works at NYCOM is they show you the cost of the class before you (2015 in this case) and off to the side mention that your tuition should be 7-10% more.

I picked up a copy of the financial aid packet given to interviewees and here is what you can expect to pay as a member of the 2016 class:

Class of 2016 (Not actually shown, you have to calculate it yourself)
First year - Tuition: 52,871, misc fees: 1,300, NYCOM's health insurance: 5,200
Second year - T: 56,872, m: 1,100, NHI: 5,896
Third year - T: 60,533, m: 1,100, NHI: 6,485
Fourth year - T: 64,770, m 1,100, NHI: ~7,000

As you can see, because NYCOM's COA is very deceiving, this school tries to lure you in by giving you last year's figures--which are high but not high enough to scare you away. This does not include the cost of living because that is variable but let me assure you, living on LI is not cheap.

If you can afford to take on this much debt, you better be going to CCOM because at least you'll be getting your money's worth.

Wow, that's $hit load of money right there. Just to clarify, tuition that hovers around 60,000 does not include the housing, right?
A good friend of mine graduated from NYCOM in 2011, and I remember him telling me that NYCOM boasts the second highest tuition fee out of all DO schools when taking COA into account.
Anyway, I would lean towards UNECOM if I was in OP's shoes.

 

[bsa]

That is correct, housing is not included yet. Don't expect cheap rent on LI either.

 

[ShyRem]

I went to UNE. While UNE certainly has it's issues (you can search my posts for details of those, I was quite honest and the details would be better read from when they were written), let me discuss some of your concerns from the first post.

UNE is expensive. Depending on where you are from, cost of living is either expensive or cheap. Seafood is cheap, fresh fruits and veggies are not. They like to build nicer places to live right next to the interstate. The population of the entire state is less than the population of Denver, Colorado, so your diversity is a big lacking. So is your gene pool, so you see a lot of interesting genetic anomalies. (no offense, Mainers, but you don't exactly welcome foreign genetic material into your state. I say this with personal experience in several areas of the state over several years.)

UNE's tuition goes up about 6% every year whether they need it or not.

UNE's president is ... well ... read my prior posts about that. The dean situation seems to be stabilizing a bit and it seems they have actually had the same Dean for the COM for two years now. A veritable record from my time there.

It's easier to get around Maine than Long Island. But you will need a car. Fortunately insurance is much cheaper than in NY. And if you crave a big city, Boston isn't far away and you can even take the train there and back for a daytrip, thus avoiding the traffic. You do get some decent concerts in Maine, and with a smaller state population, tickets are easier to snag.

Regarding clinical sites, UNE has stable third year clinical sites. Each has good and bad points, just like any other clinical site from any other school. Fourth year you set up on your own for the most part, and you are given fairly liberal policies to do so. I did plastics at cleveland clinic, a derm rotation, ophtho, ER in cleveland, a few other away rotations. You do have to do your own legwork for this, but you can get a really good "in" with an attending quite often and get some really great hands on stuff. If you do rotations in Maine, there are few residencies there and you get 1:1 you and the attending. Other places folks have done rotations in NE: Boston, NY, Geisinger in PA, Dartmouth... pretty much anywhere you want to go folks have somehow made it happen. Just don't expect much help from UNE's administration in getting you set up for your fourth year.

I have no comments on NYCOM other than I have heard people love it or hate it. The haters seem to be more vocal, but the same can be said of UNECOM.

Bottom line: go with your gut. I think UNE might (MIGHT) be a little cheaper. Both will prepare you for boards. Both will provide you the education to get into a residency. Both have headaches with administration.

 

[doublefrick]

I went to UNE. While UNE certainly has it's issues (you can search my posts for details of those, I was quite honest and the details would be better read from when they were written), let me discuss some of your concerns from the first post.

UNE is expensive. Depending on where you are from, cost of living is either expensive or cheap. Seafood is cheap, fresh fruits and veggies are not. They like to build nicer places to live right next to the interstate. The population of the entire state is less than the population of Denver, Colorado, so your diversity is a big lacking. So is your gene pool, so you see a lot of interesting genetic anomalies. (no offense, Mainers, but you don't exactly welcome foreign genetic material into your state. I say this with personal experience in several areas of the state over several years.)

UNE's tuition goes up about 6% every year whether they need it or not.

UNE's president is ... well ... read my prior posts about that. The dean situation seems to be stabilizing a bit and it seems they have actually had the same Dean for the COM for two years now. A veritable record from my time there.

It's easier to get around Maine than Long Island. But you will need a car. Fortunately insurance is much cheaper than in NY. And if you crave a big city, Boston isn't far away and you can even take the train there and back for a daytrip, thus avoiding the traffic. You do get some decent concerts in Maine, and with a smaller state population, tickets are easier to snag.

Regarding clinical sites, UNE has stable third year clinical sites. Each has good and bad points, just like any other clinical site from any other school. Fourth year you set up on your own for the most part, and you are given fairly liberal policies to do so. I did plastics at cleveland clinic, a derm rotation, ophtho, ER in cleveland, a few other away rotations. You do have to do your own legwork for this, but you can get a really good "in" with an attending quite often and get some really great hands on stuff. If you do rotations in Maine, there are few residencies there and you get 1:1 you and the attending. Other places folks have done rotations in NE: Boston, NY, Geisinger in PA, Dartmouth... pretty much anywhere you want to go folks have somehow made it happen. Just don't expect much help from UNE's administration in getting you set up for your fourth year.

I have no comments on NYCOM other than I have heard people love it or hate it. The haters seem to be more vocal, but the same can be said of UNECOM.

Bottom line: go with your gut. I think UNE might (MIGHT) be a little cheaper. Both will prepare you for boards. Both will provide you the education to get into a residency. Both have headaches with administration.

Agreed. Shadowed with UNE students and they are wicked smart. Go there 🙂

Congrats! Top schools!!!!

 

[J1515]

As a NYCOM alumnus for the past 5 years, I can say it was a great experience. Expensive, yes. I was VERY happy during my 3rd and 4th years and got a great education at all but one of my hospitals. Rotations are what you make of them. Choose wisely and if you don't get your first choice, you make the best of the situation. Be ambitious when it comes to your education and learning everything you can about medicine. I was as prepared as I could be for intern year and residency. The problem is the school admits a bunch of people who don't belong in medical school to begin with and they ultimately drop out. The student population is known to be a bunch of immature whiners who act like they're still in college, but I suppose each class is different so that might not be the case each year. You will be stressed at NYCOM, always worrying about dropping out or failing a test... but you will receive an outstanding education if you are one of the people who belongs in medical school and you make it through. If you've hiden behind the "I'm not a good test taker" excuse your whole life, then you should probably go somewhere else.