VCU vs NYMC

[corinastasiak]

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Hi all,

Super excited to have gotten accepted into both NYMC and VCU, although I'm having trouble deciding. I'm from Ohio so both schools are basically the same distance from me. Since NYMC is private and I would be out of state for VCU, the cost is very similar, with VCU being slightly more expensive. Both schools seem amazing so I don't think there's a bad decision, which is making it a lot harder to choose!

VCU
Pros:
- Technically ranked higher but I'm not super swayed by that
- I go to UR for undergrad and I've lived in Richmond for 4 years so I know my way around/ area is familiar
- I know some people going to VCUSOM from undergrad
- No internal ranking
- Less travel since most of the core rotations are right in downtown

Cons:
- I have already lived in Richmond for 4 years and want to switch things up
- More expensive living since I'll be in downtown most of the time
- More expensive tuition (~20k more over the 4 years)

NYMC
Pros:
- Live in a new place
- Would be closer to my closet friends from undergrad (since I'll already be far from home it would be nice to have this support)
- Chance to live in NYC for rotations
- Student housing options which are cheaper than living on my own / a good way to meet people
- Very research-focused

Cons:
- Larger class size
- Internal ranking into quintiles (although it is P/F)
- Not a ton to do in Valhalla but a nice area
- I haven't been able to tour the school since I am finishing my undergrad so I would accept without seeing the school

Thank you so much for any help or advice!

 

[obscurecomplimenter]

Hey there, current NYMC student here (M4). First off, CONGRATS on your acceptance!

Disclaimer, I know nothing about VCU, so will just provide perspective on NYMC (and probably highly biased toward the same), so take this with a massive grain of salt and compare it against whatever you know about VCU!

To your points on VCU:

- No internal ranking

Are you certain of this? Unless you've heard this directly from a student, I would caution taking this as fact, as many schools keep their cards close to the chest about this / it can be difficult to find out from the website, info sessions, etc. I've heard that the number of schools that don't do some form of internal differentiation of students is far lower than I was led to believe as a pre-med, amounting to only a couple of the top-top ivy league schools who actually have true P/F. The reason is because residencies (especially competitive ones) rely on information in the school-written MSPE letter on a student's performance relative to their classmates. I imagine this will only become even more the case with Step 1 going P/F (giving residencies even less to work with in differentiating candidates in a semi-standardized/objective way). I certainly could be wrong about this, though.

- Less travel since most of the core rotations are right in downtown

At NYMC is definitely possible to get all/most of your rotations either at WMC (our primary teaching hospital located a 5-min walk from campus), if you prefer to live up here, or at NYC sites, if you prefer to live in NYC. For instance those who relocate to NYC their M3 year will rank Lincoln or Metropolitan highest for all their core rotations. There's generally a good mix of people who prefer one to the other, so most people get their preference (staying in suburbia vs the city).

For NYMC:

- Would be closer to my closet friends from undergrad (since I'll already be far from home it would be nice to have this support)

There is something to be said for this -- though bear in mind that your time to hang out with people outside of med school will be more limited, so even with them living close by it will be significantly more challenging to see them frequently. Also, many make friends in their med school class which become their primary community during med school. That said, I chose NYMC for similar reasons (sibling and friends in NYC) and ended up being really grateful for this (vs. going with a school that was nowhere near anyone I knew). Since you'll be so busy / time so limited, being a 35-40 min train ride away from friends vs. a 4-hour plane ride away from friends will 100% make a big difference in how often you realistically see them during the next 4 years.

- Larger class size

This is a good thing to consider. The main way that NYMC students have compensated for this have been students banding together -- there is a very strong culture of peers helping one another out and upper-years helping out the lower-years, which was very attractive to me / ultimately contributed to my decision to come here.
Additionally, admin/faculty make themselves accessible and seem genuinely invested in students' success. I have found the vast majority are very quick to respond to emails, meet with students for office hours, etc. Our course directors in particular are awesome. Comparing the current M1s curriculum to the curriculum I had 3 years ago, I can tell they've taken student feedback into account and sought to make improvements (most pronounced in the Physio and Neuro courses). There has also been a fresh wave of new, young attendings coming into WMC over the past few years that are very engaged with the students and have significantly enhanced the curriculum as well as augmenting research/mentorship opportunities for the students.

- Chance to live in NYC for rotations
- Student housing options which are cheaper than living on my own / a good way to meet people

True! Living on campus M1/M2 is definitely the move-- great way to build community and make friends, and the housing prices are the best you'll find anywhere in the area. M3, the class then generally splits into the NYC cohort and the WMC cohort (our main teaching hospital right next to campus), depending on their preference for city life vs. quieter life in Valhalla w/ a 5-min walking commute, respectively. I will mention that your experience at the NYC-area hospitals is bound to be a bit different from at WMC; though I moved into NYC M3/M4, I opted to commute up to WMC for a couple key rotations for my personal specialty interest (ie, IM clerkship M3 year and IM sub-I M4 year). You get a more formalized education experience at WMC vs. the city hospitals which are a little more 'wild-west' (lmk if you want me to expand more on what I mean by this). But it doesn't seem to have any long-term effects on people's careers; plenty of my classmates who did most of their rotations in the city ended up matching into top programs

- Not a ton to do in Valhalla but a nice area
- I haven't been able to tour the school since I am finishing my undergrad so I would accept without seeing the school

A couple other semi-unique strengths of NYMC (again, bearing in mind that I have no clue if VCU does this the same / better):

(1) its Standardized Patients (SP) program.

• With its proximity to NYC, nearly all of our SPs are professional NYC actors (many leave the job to go on to roles on Broadway, Netflix, etc.) and are VERY convincing.
• The SPs are also very engaged/passionate about our learning and invested in helping us succeed / become the best clinicians we can be.
• From talking to other people, I've learned this is fairly unique to NYMC; I'm told people at some other schools don't get as robust a training experience with the SPs as we do.

(2) its anatomy program.

• We are one of the few schools that still does cadaver dissection, with only 4-5 students per table. Our anatomy course director, Dr. Peters, is an infamous "surgeon's personality" and is polarizing to some (you'll see what I mean once you're here), but the reality is he genuinely cares for the students' success.
• Dr. Peters fought hard to keep our anatomy lab open during COVID when all others closed down/moved to 'virtual' anatomy learning (with Harvard leading the charge) -- we were the only one in NY state to remain open. That's something that my class of 2024 (the 'COVID class') will always be grateful to him for.
• There's also an M4 anatomy elective which allows you to return to the lab and do your own dissection in a chill, low-pressure context while acting as TA for younger students in the lab.

 

[thefirerisen]

VCU has an internal ranking and does use MSPE adjectives, atleast according to admit.org .

I agree that VCU and NYMC is similar in rankings though VCU has an edge. I would say go to VCU if costs were cheaper or the same but since NYMC is 20k less and if your heart seems to be calling to NY, go there.