Which SUNY school is best for premed?

[redence]

Hi, I'm a senior in high school, and I have to apply to colleges soon. I want to go to a New York State school to save some money, and I was thinking about SUNY Buffalo, Stony Brook, and Geneseo.

I'm leaning towards SUNY Buffalo as my first choice, anyone go there? Can you give me a review and about how premed life is like there, professors,classes..etc The only problem I have with Buffalo is that it's 7 hours away from me. What are some other SUNY schools good for premed?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Dox4lyfe]

Not too familiar with the SUNYs, but I have a few friends at Binghamton who are doing pretty well. Not too premed heavy and good amount of resources/opportunities.

Stony Brook is filled with premeds from what I've heard and a few people who I knew that went there are now doing some IT type stuff (so I guess it didn't work out for them). I'd suggest going here only if you're confident you can beat the competition.

If you really wanted to save money, I wouldn't go to a school that's seven hours away.

 

[njtrimed]

I’m sure a few SUNY schools are great for premed, but Stony Brook was downright amazing. It really prepared me for med school, and the foundation I got in the sciences there has made the first two years much easier than I expected. The research and volunteering opportunities are probably hard to match anywhere else; it was easy to find meaningful, real research projects and publication opportunities, as well as fantastic mentors. Since it is a big “feeder” school, the premed committee really knows how to advise you, and how to help you make your application stand out. Everyone in my major who applied to med school (or PhD programs, or PharmD programs) ended up at excellent programs, ranging from a Stony Brook to Duke, Columbia, Case Western, etc. And with academic scholarships, I ended up with basically no student loans going into med school. I would highly recommend it, personally.

 

[Medic741]

Apply to Bard, if you’re 7 hours away from Buffalo, guessing somewhere down near the city?

Not SUNY but can give out *huge* financial aid

 

[PaceMaker120]

I go to CUNY, but I seriously considered SUNY and have lots of friends that go there. I don't know as much about Buffalo, but Stony has a lot of great opportunities if you want to get involved in the medical center there. Be prepared to compete in either place. I personally think it's less important where you go and a lot more important what you do with what's available. I might be wrong though!

 

[Vyzzle]

I went to Stony Brook and can definitely attest to the resources they provide you in order to be a successful med school applicant.

It does foster a very competitive environment, though. A large portion of our student body are premeds (especially freshman, who end up getting weaned out by BIO 201/202). Our curriculum was definitely harder than friends I know who went to other schools, but they definitely prepare you for things like the MCAT and eventually medical school. As a M1 I was seeing lots of people become flustered by the sudden increase in courseload, but honestly I was unphased due to being so prepared by Stony Brook's pre-med courseload.

At the end of the day, it's what you make of it. I definitely recommend SUNY/CUNY due to cost but from there out I would honestly choose based off a location you'd be most comfortable with, or any other host of variables that will affect your quality of life.

Edit: I also had very positive experiences with Stony Brook helping me get into medical school even after I wasn't a student anymore. I sort of messed around as an undergrad so did not perform to the best of my abilities, they advised and guided me on a path that eventually led me into a US-MD (and a decent one at that!). I'm sure plenty of other schools would do the same, but here's my +1 for being a Seawolf.