VCU vs. NYMC vs. Buffalo

[cysky]

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I need some help in deciding between these 3 schools! I am from California and plan to go back for residency.

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

 

[music2doc]

VCU>>>>NYMC. I don't know much about Buffalo but based on the data I've seen, I'd say Buffalo and VCU are comparable with each excelling in different areas. US News ranking indicates Buffalo is more highly respected for research; however, when you look deeper into the data, it appears that residency directors actually view it as worse. (It's actually below the "average" line of 3.0, whereas VCU is above that line, for both primary care and research and in both the view of residency directors and that of peer schools.)

So... I guess I'd have to say:

VCU ≥ Buffalo >>> NYMC


Here's a brief comparison based on the US News data:

Category/VCU/NYMC/Buffalo
Residence Directors' Research Assessment Score (out of 5)/3.3/2.8/2.9
Residence Directors' Primary Care Assessment Score (out of 5)/3.2/2.6/3.0
NIH Funding per Faculty Member/62k/11k/165k
Early Clinical Experience/Very Frequent/Frequent/Frequent
Faculty:Student Ratio (Higher is better)/1.7:1 MEDIUM/1.7:1 MEDIUM/0.7:1 LOW

 

[flodhi1]

VCU>>>>NYMC. I don't know much about Buffalo but based on the data I've seen, I'd say Buffalo and VCU are comparable with each excelling in different areas. US News ranking indicates Buffalo is more highly respected for research; however, when you look deeper into the data, it appears that residency directors actually view it as worse. (It's actually below the "average" line of 3.0, whereas VCU is above that line, for both primary care and research and in both the view of residency directors and that of peer schools.)

So... I guess I'd have to say:

VCU ≥ Buffalo >>> NYMC


Here's a brief comparison based on the US News data:

Category/VCU/NYMC/Buffalo
Residence Directors' Research Assessment Score (out of 5)/3.3/2.8/2.9
Residence Directors' Primary Care Assessment Score (out of 5)/3.2/2.6/3.0
NIH Funding per Faculty Member/62k/11k/165k
Early Clinical Experience/Very Frequent/Frequent/Frequent
Faculty:Student Ratio (Higher is better)/1.7:1 MEDIUM/1.7:1 MEDIUM/0.7:1 LOW

Nice job!

 

[deleted103644]

Get your hands on a match list and decide whether you would rather spend 4 years at NYMC or VCU.

Honestly, none of the other stats really matter.

 

[music2doc]

Get your hands on a match list and decide whether you would rather spend 4 years at NYMC or VCU.

Honestly, none of the other stats really matter.

Those are really only helpful if you have the background to read them effectively and even then, they're really not that helpful, since you never know what the students were actually wanting to enter...or so I've always been told.

I do wonder whether looking at NIH funding by dept would be a good idea, since it should tell you how well-respected a school's depts are (which might correlate with the prestige of the relevant residency program as well as with a student's competitiveness for entering a given specialty from that school). You can find NIH rankings here (to include by department).

 

[deleted103644]

Those are really only helpful if you have the background to read them effectively and even then, they're really not that helpful, since you never know what the students were actually wanting to enter...or so I've always been told.

I do wonder whether looking at NIH funding by dept would be a good idea, since it should tell you how well-respected a school's depts are (which might correlate with the prestige of the relevant residency program as well as with a student's competitiveness for entering a given specialty from that school). You can find NIH rankings here (to include by department).

NIH funding is pretty irrelevant too unless you're planning on taking a year off to do research (in which case you're better off landing a NIH or HHMI fellowship).

Check the resident forums to get a sense of which programs are good for specialties that interest you. Then see how the schools do in their matches.

For a CA person, it's key to see people matching back in CA.

 

[kautionwirez]

I heard from other fellow applicants who interviewed at both VCU and NYMC, they liked VCU better.

I liked NYMC a lot (on campus housing/match/WMC/location).

I think you should go to where you feel fit. They are all pretty comparable. Maybe SUNY is cheaper in the long run after 1st year? Have you considered that?

 

[Oxer45]

I need some help in deciding between these 3 schools! I am from California and plan to go back for residency.

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

There's a lot of false advertisements when it come to Buffalo. Last time I went to Buffalo, I did not see even one f'ing buffalo. I see Palm trees when I go to Palm beach, so why no Buffalo? They want you to think Buffalo is a really cool place where the wild beasts run free, and you'll be all "one with the nature" and stuff. But in reality, its just a cold f'ing place.

🙂

 

[Ismet]

No clue about Buffalo, but I interviewed at both NYMC and VCU - I liked VCU a lot better and thought it offered a lot more opportunities than NYMC. I'd go for VCU.

 

[cysky]

Wow, nice job! Thank you. I saw that you are also deciding between a few schools. Good luck with your decision process.

VCU>>>>NYMC. I don't know much about Buffalo but based on the data I've seen, I'd say Buffalo and VCU are comparable with each excelling in different areas. US News ranking indicates Buffalo is more highly respected for research; however, when you look deeper into the data, it appears that residency directors actually view it as worse. (It's actually below the "average" line of 3.0, whereas VCU is above that line, for both primary care and research and in both the view of residency directors and that of peer schools.)

So... I guess I'd have to say:

VCU ≥ Buffalo >>> NYMC


Here's a brief comparison based on the US News data:

Category/VCU/NYMC/Buffalo
Residence Directors' Research Assessment Score (out of 5)/3.3/2.8/2.9
Residence Directors' Primary Care Assessment Score (out of 5)/3.2/2.6/3.0
NIH Funding per Faculty Member/62k/11k/165k
Early Clinical Experience/Very Frequent/Frequent/Frequent
Faculty:Student Ratio (Higher is better)/1.7:1 MEDIUM/1.7:1 MEDIUM/0.7:1 LOW

 

[cysky]

Thank you for the suggestion. I have looked at the match lists for these 3 schools, but I am not sure how to interpret them. It looks like NYMC has the most number of people matching back in CA, but I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that they have a lot of CA people wanting to go back to start with.

NIH funding is pretty irrelevant too unless you're planning on taking a year off to do research (in which case you're better off landing a NIH or HHMI fellowship).

Check the resident forums to get a sense of which programs are good for specialties that interest you. Then see how the schools do in their matches.

For a CA person, it's key to see people matching back in CA.

 

[cysky]

I like NYMC for the same reasons 🙂 Although I am not too fond of its super-long M1 year and the grading system.

I guess I will look into the possibility of getting in-state tuition at Buffalo after the first year.

I heard from other fellow applicants who interviewed at both VCU and NYMC, they liked VCU better.

I liked NYMC a lot (on campus housing/match/WMC/location).

I think you should go to where you feel fit. They are all pretty comparable. Maybe SUNY is cheaper in the long run after 1st year? Have you considered that?

 

[deleted103644]

Thank you for the suggestion. I have looked at the match lists for these 3 schools, but I am not sure how to interpret them. It looks like NYMC has the most number of people matching back in CA, but I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that they have a lot of CA people wanting to go back to start with.

If you post a link to the VCU and NYMC match lists, I'd be happy to weigh in... If you are interested in radiology particularly, NYMC is probably the better place to go, but I'm less familiar with VCU.

I wouldn't choose Buffalo over NYMC except for financial reasons.

 

[cysky]

Here are the links to their 2011 Match Lists

VCU: http://www.medschool.vcu.edu/stories/matchday/matchresults2011.html
NYMC: http://www.nymc.edu/Medical/match/2011/results.htm

Thanks a lot!

If you post a link to the VCU and NYMC match lists, I'd be happy to weigh in... If you are interested in radiology particularly, NYMC is probably the better place to go, but I'm less familiar with VCU.

I wouldn't choose Buffalo over NYMC except for financial reasons.

 

[kautionwirez]

Here are the links to their 2011 Match Lists

VCU: http://www.medschool.vcu.edu/stories/matchday/matchresults2011.html
NYMC: http://www.nymc.edu/Medical/match/2011/results.htm

Thanks a lot!

Looking at the VCU matches to CA (17) (also just looked at 2011 only)

Most were primary care.

Are you interested in ROAD or surgery? NYMC has lots of matches that go back to CA in these specialties. That's dating from 2007-2011.

From the 4th year we talked to during the interview, she said NYMC is great for matching into radiology.

 

[Maxwell7301]

Just the Buffalo match list, to shake things up a bit:

http://medicine.buffalo.edu/content...s/news/2012/03/match-day-2012-127.detail.html

I go to UB, and like it. Just 3 weeks of first year left.

UB was my only acceptance to med school, but it was always my first choice from the beginning, because I'm from Buffalo, and my entire family and support network lives here.

Anyway, to the OP, choose whatever school suits you best. Good luck!

 

[RedSox10]

I think you can get in-state tuition at Buffalo after your first year. If money is of concern that might be the tipping point, as long as you can stand living in Buffalo for the next four years. If not, VCU will have more temperate weather.

 

[Maxwell7301]

I think you can get in-state tuition at Buffalo after your first year. If money is of concern that might be the tipping point, as long as you can stand living in Buffalo for the next four years. If not, VCU will have more temperate weather.

That's true with the in-state tuition for years 2-4 at the SUNY med schools.

Also, living in Buffalo is really not bad at all.

It has its nice areas, housing is affordable, cold and snow is hardly a big deal and there are plenty of things to do (when med school doesn't consume the majority of available time).

When I interviewed at NYMC, I really wasn't crazy about the area at all. The nice thing is that it's a 35-40 minute train ride into the city, but most of the students I talked to said they only took advantage of that very occasionally.

 

[deleted103644]

That's true with the in-state tuition for years 2-4 at the SUNY med schools.

Also, living in Buffalo is really not bad at all.

It has its nice areas, housing is affordable, cold and snow is hardly a big deal and there are plenty of things to do (when med school doesn't consume the majority of available time).

When I interviewed at NYMC, I really wasn't crazy about the area at all. The nice thing is that it's a 35-40 minute train ride into the city, but most of the students I talked to said they only took advantage of that very occasionally.

Not sure about details as I'm not an NYMC student, but this is only true for the first two years.

For the clinical years, half the class ends up doing rotations at NYC hospitals (eg Metropolitan), so many move there. I think there's a bit of a turf issue with SGU and it may not be as clear cut (eg mix of rotations in NYC vs Valhalla), but you'll definitely spend time in NYC if you want to...

 

[drizzt3117]

I would definitely go to NYMC if these were my choices. All of these are low tier schools; I'd just choose by location and NYMC has the best location (even if Valhalla sucks, it's still close to the city).

 

[SDapplicant]

Im still deciding between UB and VCU, but im strongly in favor of UB. I liked the anatomy lab, simulation center, the people, etc. Their matches are very strong too. You deff can match in cali, my friend is the on that got the ortho residency at UCSF